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Today's intense competition demands that everyone in a company be sales oriented—estimators, switchboard operators, billing clerks, press operators, production personnel, and even messengers. It is no longer sufficient that just the salespeople, sales manager, and top company management be sales-minded. If you are going to grow in the years ahead, it is necessary that everyone in your company apply the concept of marketing.
Production To Blame
Whether or not you realize it, your production department is responsible for losing more accounts than any other employees in your company. This department is not customer-oriented. In fact, in any number of plants, it is almost anti-customer.
A major problem you face everyday is that of retaining an account after someone has brought it in. Often, a new customer goes through a period of shock in putting that first job through your plant. The interior attitude is to blame for chasing many accounts away.
A well-known graphics consultant designated production personnel as the slammers. If you do not think this is a fair label, then I ask that you spend some time with your staff as they try to handle customer problems. By the end of a day's tour, if you do not see any evidence of telephones being slammed down, or rough talk as a basic language, consider yourself to be exceptionally fortunate.
In all probability, you will find you have some people in your plant, as well as your production department, who are in love with the word "can't." It is their favorite word whenever a customer or a salesperson asks for something that is a shade out of the ordinary.
Have you ever examined the reasons for a company going out of business? Was it the firm's inability to print properly? You better believe that it was not. It was based on its inability to handle customers properly. There was very little, if any, sales orientation to its mechanical staff. They never understood, because no one ever told them, that unless there was a sale, nothing would be happening in the plant.
You Go Your Way, I'll Go Mine
There is a common misconception that runs rampant through too many companies—the fallacy that all positions are compartmentalized. This is not true when it comes to selling. Everyone sells.
Take an internal survey. You will find that most employees have fallen prey to the idea that it is the province of the salesperson to sell; the salesperson is the only one in the company assigned the responsibility and the task of bringing in business. It is going to require an in-depth understanding of the need for, and the benefits to be obtained from, training other employees to be sales-oriented.
Anyone can see a loss of business when it happens as a direct result of something an employee did or did not do. However, what about the business you lose because you never had it? Do you know how many prospects could have been converted to customers if someone in your company had not unknowingly alienated them? Moreover, what about the business from a first-time customer who never came back or the business lost from customers who would give you more if they felt they were appreciated?
When I talk with a client's prospects and customers, the results are frightening. However, this does not have to happen to you if you are willing to recognize the problem, face it squarely, and resolve to spend the time and money required to solve it.
Making Attitude Adjustments
There is one important ingredient missing from the mix—Attitude. Unfortunately, many of the people who work for you operate on the premise that they are involved in a war, and the enemy is the prospect or customer. Consequently, their attitude is based on an us-versus-them approach. Changing this is not easy, but it has been proved that it pays off.
Some of the things employees do to turn off prospects and customers are: mispronouncing names; misspelling names; too much talking, not enough listening; doing things the company way, not the way the customer wants; failing to let customers know about late delivery; being combative; hiding behind company rules; delaying credit memos; taking customers for granted; increasing price structure without advance warning; failing to obtain complete information; assuming the customer is wrong; ignoring delivery dates; failing to bill promptly; and failing to live up to promises.
Do not let your customers become aware of your problems. There is nothing more disconcerting than for the buyer to be made aware of any controversy existing among various departments of your plant. Never place your customer in the position of being a moderator. While it may sound ridiculous, it occurs all too often. It does not add to your customers confidence.
While the hidden persuaders often exercise control over the making or breaking of a sale, always remember that nothing happens until somebody sells something.
George's company, ProTrain, is available for assignments in sales training, management, and marketing. He can be reached at georgemreinfeld@juno.com.
author: By George Reinfeld