Sales Culture

Create a "Sales Service Excellence" Culture

An Excerpt from Christine Corelli's Newest Book Release,
Capture Your Competitors' Customers and Keep Them.

Forget tough. Today competition is fierce! As a result, customers are more demanding than ever. They are more cost-conscious, less loyal, and have more choices. If you don't give them what they want, how they want it, at the price they're willing to pay for it, they will choose your competitor.

Imagine what it is like for your sales people. Have you ever considered what it must be like to sell in this environment?

You landed the deal!

You shouted a huge "YES!" from your desk as you hung up the phone and heard the good news. You captured a competitor's customer. You thought about all those sales calls, meetings, tough price negotiations, and endless hours it took to land that deal and earn that fat commission check. Your sales manager gave you a "thumbs up" and treated you to a delicious lunch to celebrate your big victory. You felt absolutely great!

Time to Change to a
Sales-Service Excellence Culture

Reality sets in.

While driving to the office the next morning, reality set in when you realized the real work has just begun. You successfully swayed a competitor's customer over to your company after running head to head for several weeks. It was tough. Real tough. Just like you, their sales person touted their great reputation, quality products, competitive pricing, best warranties, and excellent customer service. Now that you reeled in the new account, you know your company must do everything possible to KEEP that customer.

There's no lock and key on customers and other competitors will attempt to do everything in their power to take this new away from you—just like you took it away from one of them. In addition, your customer will be reviewing your pricing carefully and seeking bids from other competitors while they are doing business with you. You start to feel overwhelmed with all the effort it will take to keep that newly acquired customer.

You also know that as a sales person, you are not only judged by how many sales you close, but by how many sales generate repeat business and, ultimately, by how much profit your company makes. In the past, simply satisfying that customer may have been enough to keep the company coming back for more business...

...The people in your company can never forget that, when a customer phones your place of business or walks into your store, dealership, office, or facility, he or she must be treated exceptionally well. You want them to keep doing business with you and not have any reason to go back to your competitor. You can't afford to have one single person in your company treat your hard won customer with indifference—nor can you or your company afford to provide average customer service. The level of service your company provides must be exceptional. It must also be consistent.

Some companies describe exceptional customer service as "World Class." Others boast of having a "Service culture." I work with clients to help them transform their company culture into what I refer to as a "Sales Service Excellence Culture." No company can have one without the other. You and your entire sales team need the full support of everyone in your company.

Listen up: "Everyone's in sales!"
You may have heard this familiar mantra before. Still, it warrants repeating. Every person who works for your company is a sales person, even if they are not responsible for selling the initial product or service to the customer. Customers are constantly evaluating your company and whether or not they will continue to do business with you. Anytime they have contact with anyone in your company, for any reason, it is imperative that every employee demonstrates care and concern, and works hard to develop a strong relationship with that customer...

...Think about your company as it is today. Imagine you are an outside consultant and answer the following questions objectively.

How Would Your Company Rate?

How is your company viewed in the eyes of your customers? How is it viewed within your industry? What are your customers saying about you to other customers? What is your reputation?

How do your service technicians treat people when they go to your customer's place of business?

Do they act as your company's "brand ambassadors?"

How are customers greeted when they call on the phone or walk into your office, dealership, job-site, or store?

Does every person in your company sound like they're anxious to serve when they take a call?

Do they call your customers by their name if they know them and make them feel special?

Do they display a sense of urgency to serve customers and complete tasks?

Do they display this same sense of urgency when they serve each other?

Do they recognize and demonstrate that they must serve each other exceptionally well in order to do the same for customers?

Do they ask customers if there is anything more they can do for them before ending a call or serving them in your place of business?

Do they say "Thank you, Mr. Customer. We appreciate your business?"

Do they sound sincere when they say it? Do they help customers in every way possible?

What kind of answers does the customer get when he or she contacts your billing department?

What does the shipping department do when the customer has a special request?

How do the people in your call center treat customers?

If you outsource staff or hire other people (such as subcontractors) to represent you, what is their level of professionalism?

Do your service people stand on their heads to help customers and do all they can to support you?

Do they communicate with you and make sure you are informed of new orders or problems occur?

Do the people in your company take your value proposition seriously?

Does service excellence permeate your entire place of business?

Everything your people (and anyone who represents your company) say and do directly affects sales and customer loyalty. Failing to say and do the right things can destroy your company's reputation and damage the relationship you have worked so hard to build...

Company culture is important because it can make or break your company. Companies with a culture that is aligned to their business goals consistently outperform their competitors. Some studies report the difference to be 200 percent or more...

This final chapter will provide you with a detailed step-by-step process to help you transform your culture into a Sales Service Excellence Culture. You may not have to take every step. It will depend on the systems, procedures, and level of performance you have currently. Wherever you are, you should never be content. As discussed throughout this section of the book, great organizations (like the Customer Service Champs) consistently seek ways to improve in every area of business.

Buy the Book! Learn the best techniques for getting more new customers — by capturing those of your competitors. Buy Christine Corelli's new book now! Or call on her to share her insights and strategies for acquiring new customers at your next sales conference or seminar. No obligation, call now: (847) 581-9968. Price: $29.99 Add To Cart Interested in purchasing five or more copies? Call us for a special deal! (847) 581-9968

(A few steps from the book)

...Announce your major initiative to your team. Ask for their assistance in.

a) Finding ways to better support the sales team Ask a few people on your sales team to share their challenges and identify one way employees can better support them.

b) Creating guiding principles on how you will treat customers and each other. These principles will require people to uphold your core values. Give them these basic examples to help them get started. Ask them to write specific ways they are to be accountable, etc.

"We will be accountable to each other not only for our performance, but also for the attitude we bring to our job each day."
"We will practice peer support."
"We will help our customer in every way possible and do our best to exceed their expectations."
"We will come forth with ideas and offer solutions to problems."
"We will look for every opportunity to help our sales team."
"We will think and act as 'brand-ambassadors' and project a positive image for our company."
"We will work together as a team with a shared vision for our common goal."
"We will consistently seek to exceed customer expectations and find new ways to exceed expectations." ...

Practice Proactive
Complaint Prevention

c) Documenting and reporting complaints... Give employees an "Incident Defect Form" or "Complaint Report"...

f) Coming forth with ideas to improve your level of service, identify service flaws, find ways to make it easier for customers to do business with you, and provide cutting- edge solutions to any service problems that may exist.

g) Finding ways to be proactive and prevent customer dissatisfaction, or worse, customer defections.

h) Coming up with new ideas to put the "Wow" into the customer experience. No detail is too small...

...Step #6: Set up a system for measuring customer service. What gets measured gets done. Set up a system for customer service measurement. Include customer retention rates, customer satisfaction, response times, number of complaints, and number of loyal customers. Determine what measures are important to your business and make your people accountable for improving them...

...Step #7: Obtain customer feedback. Implement ways you can consistently obtain information from customers. Surveys such as those previously discussed are good tools, but the most effective method is talking one-on-one with your customers. Ask every sales person to complete a monthly report on what they are hearing in the field or in your store—the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you sell through distributors or dealers, talk to each one to learn how you can assist them in their sales and service efforts. Implement the ideas you read in this section of the book for this and the next step...

...Step #11: Set up a communication system to stay connected. There are far too many companies that do not have a system to stay connected. Set up a communication for your sales teams so that together they can consistently communicate best practices with each other. This can be easily done through e-mail, teleconferences, brief meetings, or e-mail publications that are specifically for the sales team. Do the same for your employees. Instruct them to share examples of great service, along with examples of ways they successfully handled difficult customers and situations...

...Follow the example of the smart sales manager in the previous chapter. Make sure your sales team knows how to eloquently communicate the benefits of your product or service so their skills will be far superior to the skills of your competitors' sales team. Teach your team to create, memorize, and apply the most effective words and phrases that will influence customers to buy from YOU and not your competitors. Create the best responses to price and other objections and have the sales team memorize them. Most importantly, rehearse and perfect asking for the customer's business and making the close...

Providing your people with customized training on leadership, teamwork, communication skills, customer service, communication skills, and other skills discussed throughout this book can help. Make training a strong part of your competitive strategy and learn faster than your competitors. If you do, you will be far ahead of them...

...Step #17. Recognize whose job it is to keep employees motivated. Whose job is it to motivate employees? Yours! It is always up to the leaders in a company to maintain high morale. Studies have proven that an employee's manager or immediate supervisor determines his or her level of performance and engagement. Adopt a "Zero-Tolerance for Bad Bosses" policy in your company. Direct your leadership team to talk to employees, coach them, appreciate them, and treat them as well as you treat your best customer. Leaders can instill your new culture by demonstrating they value your employees and consistently treat them with dignity and respect. Make sure employees feel they can speak with you at any time and they don't need an appointment. If you are "being guarded" by your assistant or secretary, direct them to keep you informed of anyone who asks to see you.

Set the tone and be the example for others to follow. Be relent- less in your pursuit of Sales Service Excellence and consistently communicate its importance to others. And remember, you bring your attitude to your people and your customers each day. All eyes are on you and so are all ears!...

...Provide a working environment that breeds high performance
To support your Sales Service Excellence culture, strive to provide a working environment that fosters dynamic leadership, employee involvement, and empowerment. Find ways to put the "fun" back into the workplace so that creativity flows and people enjoy coming to work each day. Make your company a great place to come to work at and be a great person to work WITH (and not for).

Give your employees the leadership, motivation, training, and tools they need to excel. Show them you care about them as much as you care about your customers by focusing on their health, morale, and well being. When you do, it will make all the difference in the world. Here's a simple but smart formula Southwest Airlines uses:

Happy People = Happy Customers = Happy Owners/Shareholders

Be patient
Positive change does not occur overnight. At first, you may encounter some resistance and uncertainty. Your staff may doubt that establishing a Sales Service Excellence culture is possible and be uncertain that everyone will take ownership of their role. Nevertheless, establishing a Sales Service Excellence Culture is critical to your success. You can never take your competition for granted. Everyone in your organization must have total dedication to your customers and be engaged in your Sales-Service excellence culture.

Just Do It!
When you establish a Sales Service Excellence Culture, you will be in a better position to capture your competitors' customers, increase your profitability, establish high levels of customer loyalty, and maintain strength in the marketplace. With unrivaled expertise, strive to deliver intuitive and proactive service and a consistently exceptional customer experience.

Buy the Book! Learn the best techniques for getting more new customers — by capturing those of your competitors. Buy Christine Corelli's new book now! Or call on her to share her insights and strategies for acquiring new customers at your next sales conference or seminar. No obligation, call now: (847) 581-9968. Price: $29.99 Add To Cart Interested in purchasing five or more copies? Call us for a special deal! (847) 581-9968

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