Creating a Winning Sales Experience

Transcription

1 Creating a Winning Sales Experience Executive Summary The flaw in most business plans is a lack of planning on offense i.e. the sales strategies and, more importantly, measurements that link to future sales results. The white paper offers several topics to consider for every member of your sales organization starting at the C-Level with your CEO, President, and CFO down to VPs, Sales Managers, and Salespeople. Service is not a brand. Boasting about your good service is not a unique sales proposition. Everybody says they have great service and people and products. True differentiation means crafting a different experience. Give your message the We-We Test. A good marketing and sales message begins and ends by defining the benefit to your customer. It s the Experience that counts. Customers remain loyal when you meet expectations consistently. You must define a business model that produces profit from your desired target audience. Tailored special services require higher margins. Leadership is not rear view mirror management. Good leadership measures the behaviors that produce predictable future results and creates a predictable, consistent customer experience. Submitted by: Rick Davis rickdavis@buildingleaders.com Phone:

2 S a l e s L e a d e r s h i p U p a n d D o w n t h e C h a i n o f C o m m a n d P a g e 2 Service is NOT a Brand The common brand claim of sales organizations is that their competitive advantage is service, quality, and people. It may be true, but it s not a unique promise and therefore a poor brand definition. Consider the actual front page copy from a website of a building materials supplier. Acme Lumber Company, founded in 1937, is a successful, family owned building materials organization of dedicated professionals. We conduct business honestly and with integrity. We respect and support each other, our customers, our community and our vendors. We provide building products and value added services while establishing long term relationships with our building contractors, subcontractors, and tradesmen. Where opportunities exist, we offer specialty products and services for consumer, commercial, and governmental customers. We strive for excellence in all ventures and dedicate ourselves to our customers. Give Your Message the WE-WE Test Take a look at your website and listen to the presentations you and your salespeople make to prospects and clients. If your website and sales presentations focus on your company history, actions, and products instead of the outcomes you deliver, then it s time to rethink the wording of your brand promise. Shift your dialogue from We and Our to You (get) and Your. The key to sales and marketing success is a promise that: a) Differentiates you from your competition and, b) Defines a clear a benefit for your customer. Here are some examples of ways to shift your message: Instead of: We Pride Ourselves on Great Service Try: You Get Business Made Easy for You Instead of: We have Quality Products Try: You Get the Brands Your Customers Want Instead of: We Offer Value-Added Resources Try: Your Profitability is Our Top Priority Try: Training Events to Help You Succeed Try: Exclusive Contractor Referral Program Try: We Guarantee On-Time, Accurate Delivery The next time you hear yourself defining your own excellence, pause to rephrase your wording so that customers know that they will get.

3 S a l e s L e a d e r s h i p U p a n d D o w n t h e C h a i n o f C o m m a n d P a g e 3 It s the EXPERIENCE that Counts Your company brand is ultimately defined by the experience your customers receive and relative to the promise you make. If the Actual Experience (perceived) exceeds the Promise, you have exceeded expectations and created a positive Customer Experience. If the Actual Experience falls short of your promise, then you have created a negative Customer Experience. So: Customer Experience = Actual (Perceived) Experience Promise This formula infers that the best experience is one that exceeds expectations every time to create a wow factor. There is, however, a problem with the wow factor because ultimately you can t continue to raise expectations; there is a ceiling of performance. Sooner or later, the Experience you deliver should be identical to your promise. This should not infer that you are delivering a customer experience worth zero (i.e. Customer Experience = Actual Experience Promise = 0), but instead on par with a lofty promise. The market leaders in every industry are those who deliver a customer experience that exceeds the competition but is consistently on par with customer expectations i.e. the Promise. The wow factor is not in outperforming your own promise, but by making a better promise than your competition and delivering! Seven Degrees of Separation This requires engagement, specifically the transfer of a clear promise that starts at the C-Suite and seamlessly moves through Districts, Regions and Branches to ultimately be fulfilled by the different staff members who come into contact daily with your customers daily. As your company scales, this becomes increasingly difficult because the designers of your marketing vision are increasingly removed from the day-to-day interactions with clients. This means you must create definitions of execution (i.e. behavioral protocols) to produce a consistent delivery of your promise.

4 S a l e s L e a d e r s h i p U p a n d D o w n t h e C h a i n o f C o m m a n d P a g e 4 Business Models of Success In The Discipline of Market Leaders, Treacy and Wiersma argue that three fundamental business models define excellence. Product Innovation Customer Intimacy Operational Excellence In their original text, they asserted that top companies gravitate intentionally towards one of these three models. Many enthusiasts of their work believe that companies blend these models effectively. In practice, most companies are oblivious to these concepts and create chaotic environments in which employees perform with inconsistency and have difficulty delivering on a vague corporate promise. PRODUCT INNOVATION is the model in which companies are literally their own toughest competitor, commonly found in software and technology companies that are forced to continually out-innovate themselves. Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Intel and other high-tech companies are eternally researching versions 7 and 8 before they have even introduced version 6 to the market. This level of innovation is necessary to compete in a rapidly evolving world of technology. CUSTOMER INTIMACY occurs with consulting companies that tailor solutions for very individual company needs. SAP, IBM, McKenzie Consulting are examples of companies that use the same tools e.g. software and hardware to tailor individual solutions to unique customer needs. The Ritz Carlton and other high-end service providers provide an additional example of companies that cater to whims and demands of individual clients. OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE is a common term that infers a level of performance execution. In this case, Treacy and Wiersma infer that Operational Excellence is not an operation model at all, but instead a sales model. This means selecting customers that cooperatively work within the framework of you standard operating procedures. It s worth investigating to what type of model you should gravitate. My advice to product dealers is to strive for operational excellence. This means training your employees to sell what you got. It means selling your standard products and receiving payments within standard terms. It means deviations from the norm e.g. special product orders, custom delivers, and emergency fires should be provided at premium prices.

5 S a l e s L e a d e r s h i p U p a n d D o w n t h e C h a i n o f C o m m a n d P a g e 5 PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT CREATES RESULTS MANAGE ACTIONS TO MANAGE THE EXPERIENCE It s no secret that the measurements of expense are fundamental to profitability. These measurements include labor, overhead, amortization, capital expenses, and more. They make up the business defense of controllable expenses that make up the components of a larger picture. When it comes to business offense, the same philosophy must apply. It s not enough to measure only the sales results after they happen. A proper plan measures the sales activity that produce a predictable, consistent customer experience. You can t control the responses of your customers. You can only control the actions you take. This means engaging in calculated behaviors that lead to predictable future results. Timely Responses with a Caveat. Instead of telling your customers you will get things handled right away or ASAP, discuss tangible deadlines. Vague promises create risk that you fall short of customer expectations. Practice Bid Avoidance. The next time you are asked to blindly bid on a project to a noncustomer, honestly tell the potential client why you will likely be too high. You need to understand client expectations and business goals before you can accurately price. Request Orders on Time. Instead of delivering lead times and then waiting for customers to order too late, tell them when it s time to order. Own responsibility for scheduling orders on time to ensure timely deliveries. Say Yes. Your customers always want to hear yes. Say yes when you can. Deliver the No, but The fact is you cannot always meet the irrational demands of customers. If the client has a fire to extinguish, you don t always have the answer. Therefore, practice using crises as learning moments to share with your client. Start by delivering the options you can offer in difficult situations to handle the existing fire. Then use the crisis as an opportunity for better planning to prevent future problems.