The UPS slip was stuck to the door… By Steve Waterhouse

There is nothing more frustrating than coming home to find that you have missed an important delivery. Ok, there is one thing more frustrating…BEING HOME and finding that you missed the driver and the delivery is your new laptop!

When I am working from home, I have an office across the courtyard from my home. The regular UPS driver knows that and always comes to the right door. Yesterday, we had a substitute driver and the result was an upset customer.

Has this happened in any of your sales?

A minor player, maybe one new to your company or new to your team, has a negative contact with a prospect or customer and creates a mess? I can certainly remember a dozen or so cases in my time on the road.

Whose fault is it?

It’s yours!

I know, that sounds harsh, but here is what I mean. In today’s complex sales, the role of the sales professional has expanded. You are responsible for your entire team and making sure they know what to do (and what not to do). You must communicate to every player on your team the importance of each and every customer interaction.

This is why we need to expand CRM systems beyond the sales force to include all members of the sales team. Everyone must have access to the information that makes a coordinated effort possible. Without the right tools, it is much more difficult to communicate effectively.

What could UPS have done? Well, the regional sales managers could have asked the regular drivers to put a note in the file whenever they have an unusual delivery situation. That way, the replacement driver would have known what to do the first time and UPS would really look sharp!

Clients today expect the ‘owning’ process to look like the ‘selling’ process. In other words, if you have it all together in your initial meetings, they will assume you will have it all together after they commit to buy from you. You are auditioning with every customer contact.

Steve Waterhouse is Principal and Founder of Waterhouse Group (www.waterhousegroup.com), a sales consulting and training company that helps companies dramatically increase their sales. He can be reached at 1-800-57-LEARN or info@waterhousegroup.com.
 

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