Despite Job Function, Selling Opportunities - And Misses - Abound
Posted by mike - 12/02/09 at 04:12 pmEverybody Sells!
Leveraging Your Entire Organization!
Selling is not often seen as a profession by most, much less that salespeople are truly professionals. This is not necessarily an unfounded view of course. The question is, though, that if that is true in your company why are you allowing it to be so? Further, if your salesforce is not viewed, nor trained, as professionals, and realizing the leverage available to you by creating an “Everybody Sells” environment, then that means that not only are you losing out on this potent leverage from the predominant element of your employee population but also they are further removed from your market’s perception of them as professionals. After all, if you had a choice, would you rather (a) your company is not viewed as professional at all, (b) only your salesforce is viewed as professional, or (c) your entire organization is viewed as professional. Doesn’t take much of a rocket scientist here to figure out that one – and yet it largely remains nothing more than inactive head acknowledgement.
And what is selling? More than enough books have been published and articles written that elaborate on that question, but fundamentally it is the ability to extract money from another person’s pocket without getting punched in the face. Okay, that might be the street view of it, for comic relief’s sake, but nonetheless in order to do that one must become adept at the art of persuasion, with an innate ability to conceptualize not only a solution to the prospect, but what it is going to do to him or her in making their job more meaningful whether that be in more productivity, less cost, greater efficiency, to name just a few. But the point is this – if you hire and retain salespeople in your organization, and they are charged with providing the revenue pipeline that feeds your company, why wouldn’t you want the rest of your organization to be enlisted in this same endeavor attitudinally and significantly increase the sales momentum and effort you are applying to your market with the incidental benefit of overwhelming your competition? By doing so you will be capitalizing on one of the most consistent elements of successful selling, and that is that selling is completely dependent on being a numbers game. The more prospects that I have, the more calls that I make, the more follow up that I do, the more likely I am to realize more sales. So why limit yourself to your “traditional” sales organization, and why not annex the rest of your company?
It is common knowledge that the most effective marketing, bar none, is “buzz” – the positive chatter that takes place in the market about your company and/or product. So hard won, so easily lost, lingering unpredictably toward ever realizing it’s original hard-won gains. It certainly is common knowledge within the marketplace that negative news travels faster than positive news, in fact often many times faster, and at the higher speeds risks irrevocable damage. What is more important, training, or education? Whether you realize it or not, unless each and every one of the members of your organization beyond your traditional sales force have been sales educated and been exposed to the utter importance of having a sales mentality, meaning a razor-sharp customer focus, especially that of the after-sale element following in the footsteps of your “traditional” salesforce, it doesn’t matter how good your traditional sales force is, your market share rank or your competitive strength because ultimately your company has a greater ratio towards the likelihood of market stagnation, decline, or demise because of this group of people. Think about it. Let’s say you have 1,000 people in your company, and 50 of them represent your traditional sales force. They are doing what they are assumedly paid to do – to find, help keep, and satisfy your customers, ideally causing repeat business that is or nearly is an annuity to your organization. But they are one against nineteen, in this case. How often have you called a company whose product you have, whether you are a new or longstanding customer, and encountered a less-than-friendly receptionist? How about when you call for a billing inquiry? What about product service and support? What about scheduling a repairman visit? And how about those god-awful automated voice systems that seem to entrap you in a never-ending loop and never getting to the right person, or worse, waiting what seems an eternity only to be given to the wrong person who can’t assist you? If you think that there aren’t more opportunities for harm than good then you are at risk of losing more than winning in the most brutal of all arenas – the marketplace itself!
I have also observed in my career that there is often nothing more than a “tolerance” for the sales force by the other members of the company. Indication right there that the company is at odds with itself, and therefore cannot be focused on the essential and single-most important aspect of your business which all point to customer satisfaction. And often it extends beyond mere tolerance of the sales force and includes “their” customers. How else can you explain that despite all of the commercials, the billboards, the magazine advertisements, the celebrity endorsements, the CEO himself or herself being the spokesperson for the company, all of which purport to put the customer first and by default position the competition in a less-than a customer-friendly comparison, that customers regularly still abandon a company even after having spent money with it, perhaps for even a long period of time? At this point you might say that, well, it is due to a competitor having a better product, or a lower price, or a special, or more convenience, or many other things. And yet, every one of those that you can come up with to dispute my claim is itself an indictment against the gap between where you and your company are today and Getting to Priceless, because pricelessness in the eyes of your customers has neither betrayers nor abandoners.
I frequently travel all over the world and in doing so encounter all sorts of people at hotels, restaurants, taxi’s, airlines, all as part of my daily repertoire in addition to the very people that I have scheduled meetings with. And in each and every case of meeting even one individual from the hotels, etc, they become that very organization in its’ entirety! If those companies knew, and I mean really KNEW, that each and every one of their staff fully, completely, and without prejudice represent their company in its’ entirety to me as a customer they might then pay more attention as to how they trained them to understand that Everybody Sells. Along with being a customer are my expectations about how I would like to be treated. I am not talking about treating me any differently than anyone else should be treated, which more often than not entails nothing more than good ‘ole common sense and courtesy. I am not one who believes that the customer is always right, but I do believe that the customer should be respected, and courteously so. The moment companies turn a deaf ear to their customers, even if that customer is irrational, it will become the beginning of the end. I fairly recently had an experience at a hotel in Sydney, Australia that I am a regular patron of. It is a large hotel with locations virtually everywhere that I have traveled and which therefore has frequent chances to further push me toward the goal of viewing them as Priceless and therefore eliminate all other competitive options as far as taking care of my most simple needs when traveling – a courteous and helpful staff, a comfortable bed, reasonable restaurants, good towels, and internet connection at a fair price. That is not too much to ask by virtually any standard. In fact, you might say it should be fairly easy to achieve by the hotel. Ah, but how easily the entire hotel chain and their brand can become blemished by the smallest act! And in the mind of this particular employee that I had this encounter with, I am sure that he thought he was doing right for the hotel – but in fact he was doing anything but.
Now remember, I don’t know anybody at all from this hotel chain. To me they are a brand, a certain level of expectation that I would like to count on and in this particular case have many times over. In order for that to continue to happen, though, not even the slightest negative item can be introduced into this equation, because as a customer I have many options of equally as good hotels which are more often than not right next door to this particular chain. I am sure that this hotel chain has a full-time traditional sales force whose job it is to go out and secure bookings for corporate events, holiday bookings for companies, etc. Not being part of any of those targeted companies though means that I personally never get to meet their traditional sales organization. So who do I end up meeting? The people at the front desk who check me in, the restaurant staff, and the housekeeping staff who essentially by default end up representing that other “non-sales” part of the hotel organization. That’s three touch-points of their organization who can either further develop my appreciation for them, or conversely can begin the process of destroying it. And all it took, after many bookings at this particular hotel, was one inconsiderate incident to completely cause an about-face in how I felt about their hotel, even though no one from headquarters, their sales organization, not anybody else who typically might be involved in “selling” was in fact involved.
I usually let my personal assistant make all of my travel arrangements for me, and at this point when I let her know that I am going to Sydney, Australia she automatically knows where to book me. She is a master at balancing cost efficiencies with conveniences and quality of the entire travel chain that is a normal part of my career. Outside of America, hotels often include a buffet breakfast in the price of their rooms, which is great if you are the type of person who regularly eats breakfast. I am not one of those people, as sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Wanting value for my money, and a fair exchange with the hotel in the process, when I don’t eat I don’t feel that I should have to pay that extra “hidden” cost as part of the overall room rate. In fact, most of these same hotels offer you a price that either includes or excludes breakfast, an admittance that there is a “value” to you if you have breakfast. In this particular incident, I did have the buffet breakfast paid for as part of my room rate. I stayed there for three nights, meaning that I had paid for three breakfasts – none of which I had had. And so, upon checking out, I reconfirmed with the young gentleman that my room rate included the breakfast buffet, to which he replied yes. I then proceeded to then ask him if I could please have that total amount credited to my account because I had not used it at all. He proceeded to tell me that “we” (now REALLY taking on the representation of the entire organization going all the way to the top) could not do that because it was already charged. I proceeded to say that I understood it had already been charged, but could he simply deduct it. Again, and more strictly so, he said no. I went on to tell him that I was a regular customer there (in case he did not know that but in fact he had on other occasions been the one to check me either in or out or both) and that in effect they had taken my money without my receiving any value for that, and that that was not right. Again, he continued to become even more unmovable. I asked to speak to a manager, and he proceeded to say that the manager was not available. Clearly, my patience was running thin especially since I had been a very frequent patron. So, we were at a standoff, right there with others checking out and certainly able to observe this incident. I again stated that they had taken my money for which I got nothing in return. I stated that I simply was looking for a gesture of understanding, and the incident would be quickly resolved, case closed. It wasn’t because he refused to budge. I then in as straightforward a manner as I knew how stated that I would be returning to this hotel in the future and could he at least give me some kind of coupon entitling me to a “free” breakfast next time I was there. In this case, no actual money would have to change hands and no “credit” applied to my account at that moment. I was willing to take the risk that I would return in the future and if I didn’t well then it would definitely be their gain. So what did he do? Remember, I said I had paid for three (3) breakfast buffets. He displayed a distinct look of disgust toward me, went to a different area of the desk, and then returned with two (2) coupons for a “free” breakfast should I return! This whole encounter was bad enough no matter how you slice it, but giving me two coupons when it should have been three now got me even more irate with him – and his entire organization! I took the two coupons, looked at him in a state of disbelief, and said that was it so much trouble to give me three coupons for the three breakfasts I hadn’t had? He again, but even more disgustedly, went back to the area from which he had just returned with two coupons from and then proceeded to hand me one more coupon. I said “thank you” in the most insincere fashion. I can only guess what language he used about me after I left, and I am sure he felt attacked but nonetheless righteous in his corporate attitude. Certainly, his manager would be proud of him, right?
Now, against this backdrop, imagine if he had simply said “Sir, I cannot do that, but what I can do is…..”. Wow, what a positive response! He had my best interests in mind and helped me to understand his. I’m a fair guy, I can accommodate that resolution. Yep, book that next visit at this same hotel – especially since I can now use those breakfast coupons. However, what a shame, he treated me as if I was unimportant and my problem too bothersome for him – and severely damaged what was heretofore a foregone conclusion that I would keep coming back. “Coming back” means that all-important annuity stream that we all strive for, and because his company in one way or another forgot to train, and continually reinforce, the fact that even though what he did was front desk registration and checkout what he was was a salesperson at all times. It takes more than a smile in today’s tougher market.
And so what is the point of all of this? Simply, that despite the titles that people have in your company, and what they think they do for you at your company, which most likely is not “selling” if they are not commissioned salespeople, they in fact “sell” every moment they encounter anyone, anyone, outside of your organization. Even if it is after hours. Today, many people wear polo-type shirts with their company logo on the shirt. Don’t kid yourself that if they are seen wearing those shirts or uniforms and are out for a night on the town and do anything beyond acceptable behavior wherever they are at that you risk creating a negative view of your organization by their behavior. We all wear two hats – on the one hand we are a member of a company, a representative and employee of it. On the other hand we are all customers – many times over and in a huge variety of ways. And, as customers, we vote with our dollars, our feet, but only after our mind has been conditioned one way or the other. And as a company member, it is up to each and every one of us to employ every sound practice to insure and assure that we are constantly engaged every opportunity (not chance, opportunity) that we are presented with to “lock up” our customers minds and hearts in an impenetrable fashion from anyone who wishes to take them away from us.
And so it is here that we can now launch into the journey that you and your company must make to arrive at Getting to Priceless in the hearts and minds of those that matter most – understanding the two most profound elements that no matter what will cause you to either adopt these principles, or risk utter market failure.
