While it may be true that every picture tells a story, permit me to use two stories to paint a picture.

The first:

An acquaintance, whom we shall call Ed, recently related an experience with his insurance company and an automotive glass repair service. On finding a sizeable crack in his windshield, he placed a call to his insurance company to initiate the claims and repair process. After the requisite interrogatory, all parties agreed that with a policy deductible of $250, the cost for replacement would be $250 and as scheduled, the on-site repair specialist arrived shortly thereafter on-site to replace the damaged windshield.

On completion of the repairs their conversation eventually led to the price discussion, during which the specialist noted to Ed that with a modest increase in premium, $19 over six months to be specific, the repairs would have meant no out of pocket expense at all. Too late for this transaction but for future such occurrences, worth the investment and true enough after this episode, a phone call to the insurance company bore that fact out. While he would have been a bit happier and his wallet not quite as light had he known this before, Ed was grateful for the tip.

Within a month Ed found his second vehicle’s windshield had been damaged and in need of replacement. An aggravation to be sure but he was somewhat consoled by his recent decision to eliminate his deductible. After arranging for repairs, guess which company he called (another sale made by the installer!), Ed finds the same specialist from his initial repair work at his vehicle’s side again and in less than an hour this second windshield was now successfully repaired. Before departing, this same specialist learns from their discussion that it would not be too long before Ed and his family would be moving to Houston. Without missing a beat he recommends that for any such work once he does move, his company had recently opened an office in Houston and they would be ready to provide the same efficient service there.


And the second:

From a slightly different viewpoint, an employee whose role was that of Front Desk Receptionist has some great insight to offer as well. She writes to others in her same capacity:

"…Have a firm grasp of what your company does…even memorize a definition if you have to. Know your department and department heads and their support people…You will be asked to do all kinds of things: call cabs, order lunches, find a maintenance man… Do all of this with a smile, but never at the cost of ignoring your phone or guests. They come first!

There are many variances to your job, and many questions with no pat answers. That is why a good grasp of your company’s product and people is so vital! You must develop a way to listen to your phone caller, and your lobby visitor at the same time, keeping in mind, both are of equal importance. You can speak to your visitor with a smile, your eyes and hand movements, while you’re putting through a telephone caller.

The most important thing is, no matter how you feel, or what’s on your mind, everyone who enters your lobby, visitor or employee, needs a cheerful hello and a good morning or good afternoon. Your attitude sets the mood, and relaxes your visitors. The tone of your voice on the phone, or in person welcomes the caller to your company. Put your visitors at ease.

Remember that you are the gateway to your company. Your visitors’ impression is a lasting one. Make that impression a POSITIVE one."


A rhetorical question to be sure, but given the choice of rating these employees as either a Sales Builder or as a Sales Destroyer how would you rate them? The attributes demonstrated by both of these individuals are the same attributes Print Buying organizations are looking for in their day-to-day interaction with their print vendors.

It must become the way of doing business… the initial sale may be made by your sales rep, but the sales that follow are most likely the result of how the whole organization treats this customer. As a result, the bottom line is that for your company to succeed everybody needs to be part of the "sales team".

HOW ABOUT YOU…

So, how about your employees? Do they measure up? Are the employees, supervisors and managers in your Shipping, Customer Service, Production, Pre-press, Finance and Purchasing departments ready to join the new sales team?

Are the impressions they leave with each customer after each customer contact a positive one or a negative one? How do you know? What is your organizations’ Sales Quotient?

Clearly, there is not an owner, executive or manager that would not be most grateful if all of their employees would come to work with the same attitudes and behaviors both of these employees exemplify. Just as clearly, not all employees have or ever will come to your organization ready to treat your organization and its customers with the same care and attention, BUT most can…with the right leadership, coaching and systems.

WHAT TO DO…

The first step is to clearly define your vision for the organization and the goals necessary to bring that vision to reality. In an ideal situation, how should your customers describe their interactions with your company? How would they rate the level of service you provide? How easy would they say it is to do business with you?

The next step is to calculate your organizations’ Sales Quotient. To do this, divide the number of employees who can effectively deal with the customer by the total number of employees in your organization. The closer the ratio gets to 1 the better.

Next assess whether the skills, behaviors and attitudes that currently define your organization measure up to those necessary to achieve your goals. Your answers define the starting point for your team’s development plan. Take a thorough look from both inside and outside your organization using empirical as well as anecdotal evidence. Compare your findings internally with those observations made by customers and others (vendors, suppliers, your banker, etc) outside of your organization to look for congruence, as well as to identify any anomalies. Your customers and prospective customers can be an invaluable resource in determining the specific characteristics and behaviors that should define your new and more customer focused organization. Now work as a team to create and implement company and individual employee action plans to achieve those goals. Your action plans should address the hard factors (technical skills, procedures, etc) as well as those soft factors (interpersonal skills, etc.) that are relevant in having effective direct and indirect contact with both your internal and external customers. The specifics of each individual’s action plan should be congruent with and tied directly to the company’s objectives.

Each of your employees should demonstrate their buy-in into this concept. To give them an opportunity to do so, arrange for department meetings where employees would get together and develop plans for how they will "amaze", "delight", "wow", or whatever other expression they choose to signify the level of service they’ll provide the customer.

At a subsequent company meeting, each of the departments should present to the rest of their organization the changes they are making to assure the customer will rate every interaction with them as a "great" experience.

And finally, to assure that your implementation has been successful, go back to periodically assess what you have achieved and to set into motion any course corrections necessary to meet the initial objectives as well as additional goals due to changes in your customers’ needs.


"Selling (and service) is everybody’s business…" and it is a crucial step to finding and keeping more, profitable customers!

Keep selling!