Selling is everybody’s business. Any organisation that wants better sales results need to start by recognising this.
Selling has to be a whole business focus. Every person in a business needs to understand and acknowledge that we are all in sales now. Everyone, from production, credit, procurement to post-sales service, is part of the sales value chain.
Customer service
What better example to illustrate this point than customer service? How many clients are lost each year due to bad customer service? Research across the world shows that anywhere from 65% to 91% of clients that have a bad experience with customer service will leave the company. Considering the sales effort required to win a client in the first place, that is a lot of energy and resources going to waste.
Other areas of the business
Other areas of the business are less obviously exposed; however, still have a significant impact on customer satisfaction, client retention and continued sales growth. For instance, if procurement is cutting costs by diminishing the quality or limiting the choice of the suppliers it will impact sales; if there’s a lack of quality control in the production process this will impact sales; if poorly managed logistics prevents clients from receiving or finding products in a timely manner resulting in them switching to an alternative provider this will impacts sales; if the payments / credit department doesn’t manage data accurately or personal customer interactions professionally, this will impact sales; if senior management are too internally focused only looking for profits and shareholder return this will impact sales; and so on. The issues in most of these areas take more time to show up in terms of poor sales results than bad customer service but that doesn’t make them less of a problem.
On the other hand, it’s worth noting that good customer experiences (brought along by consistent good quality of product or service, positive interactions with the selling organisation, etc.) are an antidote against losing good clients.
Research shows that clients prefer to pay a higher price if they get good service and positive experiences every time they deal with the selling organisation.
Organisations need to keep up to date with the demands and expectations of their clients. Smart companies map their buying/selling-servicing journey and define clear accountabilities for each business area as they relate to customer attraction, retention, and ongoing sales. Retaining a client is as important, if not more important, as getting a new client on board and it has to be a whole business effort.
In the race for profits and cost cutting, many companies have forgotten this and resort to try to lure customers via other means. Loyalty cards, discount vouchers, special promotions, and more may work as short-term attraction tools, but they don’t make up for not having a human-centred organisation with good people in place who can deliver the promised products or services in a consistent manner where the customer is respected and cared for.
Within a business, everyone is in one of two roles: 1) actively involved in selling, or 2) supporting someone who is. Without sales there’s no business.
Remember, everybody lives by selling something.
Stories from the field:
Thank you! I know I have already said this but I will say it again. It was a fantastic day. We walked away with some practical tools and ways of elevating our way of doing business, growing our sales and selling better! You were engaging, insightful and aligned the content and delivery to suit our team. Looking forward to our follow up sessions.
I had a client meeting on Wednesday and applied the WWW and gained plenty of F’s!
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