All Employees Are in Sales- Part II

Posted on | April 24, 2009 | 1 Comment

In Part I of this blog topic, I discussed how employees impact a customer’s buying experience.  In this blog entry, I’ll explain how that is the essence of your sales efforts.

This will be short, because the concept is so simple.

Your employees can sell your products or services by showing that they value customers.  Period.  End of concept.  End of post.  (almost)

‘Value our customers?”

What’s that mean?

I mean that they should really, truly value your customers.  There should be genuine concern by your entire staff to help, serve and improve a client’s status or position.  Genuine effort is required, but genuine concern is equally important.  Most customers can detect when a clerk or salesperson is faking it.  That is a huge barrier to getting repeat business, which should be the goal of every business in some form.  It’s too hard winning all new customers every day.  It’s easier to sell a customer whose already accepted your product or service.  So, do everything it takes to get the customer to return.

The first and most important element in that effort rests with your staff.  They are your company.  That one rude (or exceptional) employee, as much as anything, will be remembered by your customer the next time she is going to buy your or your competitor’s product or service.  So, hire, fire and invest in people properly.  Don’t “train” your staff.  We train dogs, seals and show horses.  “Empower” your staff with skills, knowledge and rewarding work environments.  “Develop” your human resources.

Get  this. . .  in many European countries, the success of a company is measured largely by employee retention and job satisfaction.  We treat employees quite differently here in the USA, and it shows in the lack of employer-employee loyalty.  Who pays the price for that distrust and lack of loyalty?  The customer, that’s who.

Align your company’s vision and goals with those of your staff, and you’ll be on the path to making customers happy.  My guess is that most of your staff has no clue what your company is trying to become, accomplish or excel at.  So, it is no wonder that those values aren’t translated into quality customer relations.

Do you get it?  If you don’t, your business is almost assuredly underperforming.

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