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Are You Loosing Big Sales?
Why Interface Among Finance,
Production, Sales, and Service is
Essential
by Christine Harvey
A trade delegation
from abroad not long ago visited a factory in the Washington D.C. area. They
had a budget of $25 million. They wanted to visit companies and were ready
to sign contracts for equipment they needed.
The US Government
Liaison Official called one factory to arrange a visit for the next day. He
informed them that the delegation wanted to see machinery demonstrations.
No One There To Finalize Sales?
The next day the
delegation arrived. They were greeted by the production director and given a
demonstration. There was no one from the sales department on hand to assist.
The delegates were impressed and several were ready to place their orders.
But, would you believe, they were told by the production director that there
was no one to finalize sales details! So they moved on to a competitor's
factory and placed their order there!
"What
happened
to the internal communication of the first factory?" Bill and I asked in
amazement as we talked with the government official who related the story to
us. “Well, the production department heard that the delegation wanted a
demonstration tour and nobody at the company thought they were coming to
buy!” he said. As a result they lost that important sale..
This true story exemplifies how easy
it is for people, including key employees and even directors, to lose sight
of the fact that they are in business to sell.
The three vital questions to ask ourselves are:
-
Are
all our people trained to recognize a sales inquiry?
-
Do we
have a way of alerting sales teams of sudden important inquiries so that
sales can take place?
-
Do
other directors in the company have the authority to finalize sales when
necessary?
If this had been the case with the above company
they would be much richer today. Maintaining sales through a good interface
between departments interface between"
is essential. What steps can
you take to improve the link?
Very often in our seminars on developing
effective sales we have a wide range of staff members, not just salespeople.
Some come from production, some from finance, and so on. They learn,
alongside sales managers and sales staff, how other departments can win and
lose business. The results are enlightening.
Overcome Resistance To Selling
It's not easy to make everyone in the
company feel they are in business to sell. Yet, as we discussed in the last
chapter, the more progressive companies are doing just that--and making a
success of it.
Several years ago I was lecturing to a
group of bank, and the area manager who was in charge of 24 branches told me
his secret of success.
“Every
month I get my branch managers together and I tell them to remember that
they are salespeople,” he said. “With over 50 different services to offer,
and customers to keep happy, they cannot afford to think of themselves as
anything else.”
Everyone Lives By Selling
Something!
Robert
Louis Stevenson said in the late 1800s,
“Everyone lives by selling something.” Managers can create attitude changes
so that effective training can take place. It's not an easy job, but who
said success comes easily?
Will you
run into resistance from employees who don't believe their job relates to
sales? Dave Goillon found resistance from
his engineers when it came to sales training. Even though technical
inquiries came directly to them, they didn't feel that sales related to
them. Dave tried to entice them by offering a training film designed for
non-sales personnel, but they weren't convinced they needed it.
Be Creative in Training Non-Sales
Personnel To Be Sales Savvy
Dave
considered his options. “I could have
forced it on them, but I knew I needed their cooperation. Since the video
unit was in their area, I decided to show it to another group and let the
engineers just observe.” It wasn't long before the engineers were requesting
a showing of their own. Dave used the principle that there's nothing worse
than feeling left out of training.
If others are learning something
useful, everyone wants their share. By creating eagerness, he got results
when a direct approach failed. He achieved the training that was needed.
The engineers then kept a message pad
by the phone to record every prospect's name, phone number, and inquiry.
Dave estimated that a substantial increase in sales occurred because of
improved customer service, and the improved tracking system. Awareness and
training paid off.
Improve Relationships Between
Departments!
Large companies
face the same problems with relationships between sales and other
departments.
I once sponsored a
scholarship program called the Most Promising Young Businesswoman
Award. Part of the award was a sales internship that we arranged with a
leading FORTUNE 500 company. This company had a fine reputation for high
quality office equipment. They had a superb sales training program,
recognized internationally.
The award winner
spent three weeks with them, first having theoretical sales training and
then time with salespeople on the road. As a follow-up, she spent a week in
an after-sales department, where delivery schedules were implemented. “Much
to my amazement,” she said, “I discovered that the service department had no
idea how difficult sales were to achieve. In fact, they often treated new
sales indifferently. They paid little attention to delivery schedules and
didn't realize how easily they could lose sales!”
Stymied
By Indifference
They spent little
time in communicating with the sales department if there were outstanding
questions relating to the paperwork. They failed to recognize that a sale
could be jeopardized by delay or indifference. The whole sales effort seemed
stymied by their indifference.
After graduation
from university, she interviewed for many high-power jobs. The interviewers
were intrigued with her sales internship and asked what important lessons
she learned. Her answer: “The importance of good liaison between sales and
other departments. To have a good sales department is not enough.” Her
insight landed her a prestigious position in international banking,
marketing its services to aerospace industries. Later she was transferred to
Singapore and held one of the top positions in Asia
with her organization. Her lesson served her well.
Awareness
Brings Understanding
Jim Kearns has
proved the value of getting internal support to ensure sales collaboration
from all departments. He believes that awareness brings understanding, and
that understanding brings cooperation. He's developed a unique and effective
way of bringing it about.
Achieve A 100 Fold Increase
While heading up
the international division of his company, Jim took sales of their products
in the US from $150,000 to $15,000,000 in a seven-year period.
To build a solid
base for his expansion, Jim knew he had to build everyone's awareness of
sales in order to get their cooperation. Only with this cooperation between
departments could he continue to dramatically increase sales.
Here's what Jim
told me. “On the last Friday of every month I run a sales meeting for my
department. At that meeting we have what we call 'Highlights and Lowlights.'
Everyone informally tells about the highlights--the goals that were met, and
the lowlights--the goals that still need attention.”
There are no notes
other than the secretary's and no formal paperwork. “Everyone is relaxed and
the atmosphere is supportive.” Jim is careful to bring up sensitive subjects
such as incomplete goals in a casual, supportive way. “I want to give
confidence to those involved that they can accomplish their goals.” This
subtlety, he finds, makes people want to use their full skills and effort to
reach their goals.
Create A
Cooperative Campaign
But Jim doesn't end
his cooperative campaign there with only his department! He invites other
key department employees to join in after the internal proceedings have
finished.
He says, “The
Friday meeting starts about 4:00 and runs until about 5:30. Then we invite
guests from other departments. This gives the International Division a
chance to recount successes and explain the needs and expectation for the
future.”
The value is
twofold. First, it provides vital awareness, understanding, and support from
other departments. Second, it provides the equally important communication
and motivation within his department. Now Jim's department gets support from
other departments in a way that far surpasses formal meetings of any kind.
When I talked with
Jim about his secrets of success, it seemed to me that there was a lot more
planning behind these meetings than met the eye. Was it really a casual,
impromptu evening where everyone spoke off the cuff? Perhaps not. Jim's
people know he has high expectations of them and they see the Friday
meetings as an important time to acknowledge their successes.
Does Jim run the
meeting off-the-cuff, with no notes? No. He's careful to review the notes
before each meeting, so that he can bring up unresolved issues or give
credit where it's due.
Would your company
benefit from a 100-fold increase in seven years as his company did?
Acknowledge The Back Office
Stuart Sanders, who
was head of a financial futures company, found that he was able to improve
the relationship between departments by acknowledging the value of the
people behind the scenes.
“I never dismiss
our back-office people, because I know they are one of our biggest assets.
They are the final link in the chain. If the final link is unsupportive or
uncooperative, the customer can be lost. If this happens, all the effort
leading up to that point is also lost.”
Stuart has found
that sales training for his non-frontliners has paid big dividends. It has
opened their eyes to the problems of the sales force and the value of good
customer relations.
Don’t
Wait For Others
Could you
personally benefit from better interface between departments? Undoubtedly
there are people in your workplace who influence your working style, your
attitude, your job satisfaction. Are you waiting for them to take the first
step? Are you waiting for them to improve the situation?
It may never happen.
Why wait? Why not
take the first step at home, on the job, in the community?
Let those around you see how their activities link to your activities. Let
them see the areas of mutual interest and the gain to be had from better
cooperation. Your reward will be immediate satisfaction. Why not make a
greater effort now and see what results you get?
What steps can you
take to increase the interface between departments? Look at every
possibility. Be creative. The results will speak for themselves.
Remember to stop losing
business needlessly:
Educate
and motivate all departments
to support
sales.
ACTION SHEET
Ideas for Development:
1.
Train everyone to recognize a sales inquiry.
2. Make sure
someone is trained and available to finalize sales every minute of the day,
even when the sales department is away.
3. Be creative in
training non-sales personnel to be sales savvy through training films,
all-inclusive meetings, etc.
4. Give recognition
to back office and non-sales personnel for their sales support.
5. Don’t wait for
others to take the first step for improving relations between departments.
6. List other
points here:
Of the above ideas,
which one is likely to yield the best results?
What percentage of
sales (or performance) increase could realistically be expected?
How long would it
take: to develop the idea? to get results?
Who would have to
be involved?
What date should we
start?
What is the first
step I should take?
Want to learn
more on this topic? Christine Harvey has written six books in 25 language
that cover many of the concepts found here.
You can get your own copy by
clicking here or visiting our eShop.
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