Here is today’s audio version …

It is essential that more seasoned professionals fully understand both the value and importance of rigorous objective qualification, not just at the front end but right the way through the sales cycle.

Qualification is a process not a single event and even internal and reactive salespeople should be fully skilled in asking a small number of basic questions regarding precise requirements, time scales, budget, competition etc. before they are prepared to reveal their price and delivery.

As the value of the product, service or solution increases, the depth of the qualification should increase proportionally.

External salespeople have the opportunity to meet with prospective customers and it is far easier to extract information face to face than it is via the telephone, however, it is vital that some initial answers are elicited prior the that first exploratory meeting in order to ensure that the meeting will be worthwhile to both parties. With sales costs spiralling upwards and sales time becoming limited, considerable prudence is required on the part of the salesperson.

During that first meeting, a considerable amount of detail can and should be uncovered e.g. background and history of the company, the key individuals, the composition of the DMU (Decision Making Unit) if there is one, timescales, budget, competition, current suppliers, buying criteria etc. Only by rigorous questioning will the salesperson be able to answer the following questions when they get back to the office:

Is there a requirement/need that my company can satisfy?

Is it winnable?

Do I want it?

The very best sales professionals will not pursue the opportunity, after proper objective analysis, if the answer to any of those questions is “No”. They will rather invest their precious selling time seeking out and closing opportunities that will provide a profitable return on that investment.
At the very highest selling levels i.e. strategic “big-ticket” selling and marketing, clearly the sales cycle is much more protracted, complex, and typically moves through four stages i.e.

• Rigorous opportunity assessment
• Develop a strategy
• Present the solution and re-assess the opportunity
• Gain formal commitment, sign the order and develop

And in fact, I have expanded my thoughts on this topic in an article:

“The Formal Stages of a Consultative Sales Cycle”

In Summary:

Having a tilt at every windmill that presents itself, is neither practical nor profitable.

Qualification is a core competency that every professional salesperson should take on board as quickly as possible. Working to the maxim that “All business is good business” is unrealistic and totally erroneous.

It takes just as long to work an unprofitable opportunity through the pipeline only to lose it at the death, as it does a profitable one – the ability to determine which is which, can have a huge impact on your ultimate success in a front-line sales role

Here is your chance to listen in to today’s post …

When I was first introduced to psychometrics in 1983, I was somewhat sceptical and that scepticism has remained with me ever since; I will explain why in a moment, but first a little background information – this might be the boring bit but do stay with it!

Psychometrics evolved from the need to examine ability. At the end of the 19th century, French psychologist Alfred Binet worked on some of the first tests to measure children’s ability. The US army developed its own tests to help recruit fresh troops for the first world war, the so-called Alpha tests designed to work quickly through the hundreds of thousands of applicants and work out who had the required education and background. More notoriously, the tests went through a period of popularity with eugenicists – something psychologists are still trying to live down – with the invention of IQ and aptitude tests.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of psychometric tests. The first measures ability – verbal or numerical reasoning, for example. The second measures personality traits such as how a person might behave in a given situation or what motivates them. In the world of work, tests are increasingly tailored to the jobs they are used for. The choice of test is absolutely crucial: In order to decide to use a test, you must first analyse a job in terms of what makes one person more successful at it than another. You must be absolutely clear that what you’re measuring is relevant to the job performance

So why my scepticism and why do I believe that psychometric testing and professional salespeople are uncomfortable bedfellows?

Pick up a typical company report and what words do you find? Verbs like analyse, forecast, plan, assess and schedule, are used by organisations that are efficient, productive and predictable. What set of people are required? Obviously, people who are efficient, effective, proficient, competent, productive and co-operative. These traits we can measure and predict using psychometric testing.

But I believe we need to go beyond – as business captains we need to be inspired, motivated, creators, who are enthusiastic and able to consistently deliver against our key objectives. We should be developing individuals who are not afraid to challenge paradigms, who are prepared to go that extra yard in search of excellence and who understand that success is 80% attitude and only 20% aptitude. And this where my sceptism has its roots because the “personality” element or the “attitude” in my Attitude + Skills + Process + Knowledge = Success selling formula, cannot be accurately benchmarked.

Witness the admission of John Rust, professor of psychometrics at City University and director of the Cambridge Assessment Centre, “Some skills such as numeracy or language are easy to test. Others – creativity, for example – are more nebulous. Lots of people criticise creativity tests because they are very hard to do.”

The question is, are any of these assessments reliable or valid? Rust does believe creativity can be tested. He cites the example, now used more often in psychology lectures than HR departments, of giving a candidate a brick and asking them to come up with as many uses for it as possible.(The mind boggles) Here psychometrics enters a grey area. “Using personality tests for personnel selection is sometimes regarded as controversial. The difficulty is that people can often perceive what characteristics are desirable – you’re unlikely to admit to having hallucinations. People who answer honestly might be at a disadvantage and this tends to show up if you look at the relationship between test scores and performance.”

“Correlations between personality test scores and job performance are often weaker than a similar comparison with ability-based tests,” he adds. “Ultimately, psychometrics can only ever used by companies in the context of a wider selection process, the test will only inform the decision – it won’t make the decision.”

You see, returning to my ASP + K formula, at what point does a psychometric finding have reliable relevance? The attitude element is uncertain and for me this is critical, as it drives the motivation of all the other elements: Skills, including; negotiation, presentation, account management, relationship building, opportunity assessment etc, cannot be assessed. The individual’s commitment to appropriate sales process which might include; forecasting, pipeline development, activity analysis etc, cannot be assessed. And finally, knowledge, that includes industry knowledge, sector knowledge, company knowledge, product knowledge and even self-knowledge, cannot be assessed.

Having recruited, trained, mentored, coached and developed more than 70.000 thousand front-line sales professionals and sales leaders since 1994, my question is a simple one:

“In the field of professional selling, have we been seduced into allowing psychometric testing to become our bedfellows?”

 What we must do, is to understand the differentiation between psychometric testing, and candidate profiling, which frankly, every organization on the planet should be using. Not unaturally, there are a host of products and services on offer, but very few, in my opinion, compare with the accuracy and sophistication of those on offer from the Objective Management Group.

OMG are the original sales assessment company, used by more than 8,500 companies and on 500,000 salespeople. Why do the top sales development experts in the world choose to use OMG? Because they go wider and deeper than anyone else and all of their findings are sales specific, not adapted for sales.  

I now recommend OMG to all of my clients. You can discover them yourselves – HERE

Here is today’s audio version …

When a colleague loaned me Stephen Covey’s “The Seven Habits Of Highly Successful People” – more years ago than I care to remember -  it took me about three months to get round to reading it. I now realise that I wasted those three months! In fact, I read it three times in order to ensure that I had fully digested the wisdom.

Whilst I cannot claim to have experienced an epiphany of “Damascus Highway” proportions, it did cause me to make fundamental changes to the way I conducted business. In reality, I was practising much of what Covey suggests, but I was doing so in a fairly unstructured and ill-disciplined way.

However, in what I now term my “Post Covey” period, I do ensure that I audit myself regularly and I would urge you to do the same.

Covey is also responsible for the book “Principle Centred Leadership“, and many of his ideas and approaches relate to the management of people.

Covey’s view focuses on interdependence, on what he calls “mature interaction”. When we are truly interdependent, then we have achieved and are practising all seven habits. The habits are in fact steps, leading us from dependent through independence to interdependence and making use of our innate human characteristics – moving us in effect from what Covey terms “private victories to public victories”

In any situation, our natural human response is to look for similarities to situations we have previously encountered. In doing this, we fail to recognise the situation we are actually in and we fail to recognise opportunities and challenges presented to us. In effect “the way we see the problem is the problem” … which accounts for why we find ourselves repeating patterns of frustration and feeling unable to respond appropriately to situations facing us.

Einstein observed “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” Covey develops this theme into what he calls an “inside-out” approach. This means to start first with self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self – with your principles, your values, your motives and your character.

We each have, and can develop further, various assets. Covey’s view encourages wider recognition of these assets and the maintenance of them. Once we take for granted say effective working relationships, then we cease to actively maintain them. The result could well be a reduction in the effectiveness of the relationship and therefore of a very important asset. The key is balance between the use of any asset and maintenance of it.

You may enjoy this ebook, which is my complete synopsis of “The Seven Habits …”

First recording of the week! Something light, but nevertheless important, to get us on our way.

As I have said on numerous occasions, a common (and often overlooked) image feature for every would-be business professional, is the business or calling card (the summary information about yourself you choose to give to others).

Although there are no hard facts on the subject, it is estimated that 90% of people do not have a calling card at all. In fact the estimated breakdown looks as follows:

Of the 10% that do have a calling card:

* 25% have an informative card

* 35% have cards showing only name, address and phone number

* 40% have cards with out-of-date or incorrect information

This means that only 2.5% of people have a card that is up to date, accurate and gives a reasonably full picture of who they are and what they do.

Always Carry Your Calling Card

Having no calling cards (or one that is inaccurate or short on detail) is a major inhibitor. Even a supply of blank cards is better than none at all, as you can’t possibly expect people to remember everything that you tell them. Nor do you want to constantly write down names, phone numbers and any other information, in long hand, every time you meet someone.

The design of your calling card can vary enormously in style and look. However, it should be easy to read and include a minimum of name, address and daytime phone numbers.

However, I believe today that it is also appropriate to include fax number, e-mail address, and mobile phone numbers.

Focus On Your Skills Not Your Job

You’ll notice that a job title is deliberately not included in the list. Although in principle there is nothing wrong with including it, it is much more useful to use the space under your name to describe what you do in a precise and concise way that is meaningful to anybody that you meet. Words like designer of roads and bridges or seller of land and property are much better than engineer or sales consultant.

Don’t forget this is the information that helps others to know what skills you have or what you might offer. Hence secretary, for example, is unlikely to be useful in itself but expert in word processing and desktop publishing says a lot more.

You can listen or read – choices, choices, choices! Only on the JF Blogit ….

Spring arrived early here in Northern Europe, with temperatures hitting a very respectable 20C (70F) which meant lots of unsightly white flesh being exposed after winter hibernation, but it was certainly good to feel the sun on my face, after the coldest winter for almost twenty five years.

The team here have been totally focused on the Top Sales World project, and “Phase Two” is progressing nicely.

As I am prone to do, I surprised them all with my latest “cunning plan” last Monday, having spent the weekend creating my vision for the most ambitious online sales conference ever held – “The 2011 Sales & Marketing Success Conference” which will be held from May 9th to May 13th inclusive.

We will have thirty presentations featuring more than forty five of the world’s top sales and marketing experts – excited? Me too. And that is really the point. The Top Sales Awards create such a buzz in the sales space, and so I didn’t really want to wait a whole year for it to come round again, so here we are.

What’s in a name? You will have noticed the word “Success” in the title, and that will be our focus.

We have come through the toughest financial crisis in history, and I believe it is now time to be positive and look forward. This conference will be all about succeeding, winning and exceeding expectations. Against a backdrop of several years of below par performance – 50% of salespeople missed quota last year, for example – we want to stimulate growth, and provide the motivation and the advice that will help frontline sales professionals and their leaders kick-start a new beginning.

I have to say that the response so far has been amazing – everyone I have spoken to this week wants to be involved – now I know how Bob Geldof felt about Live Aid –  so do look out for more details shortly. Oh, and all profits are going to the Japanese Relief Fund – it will be our small contribution, to help them recover from what can only be described as a continuing catastrophe.

In addition, we are almost ready to launch the eagerly anticipated “Top Sales Hardtalk” interviews: Short, sharp, snappy, hard hitting ten minute recordings that you can download and listen to wherever takes your fancy. We go live on April 4th, and I’ll publish the details next week.

Then we are going to get really ambitious. We are replacing the Top Sales Masterclasses with recorded coaching sessions, presented by a host of top sales gurus. Each workshop will last around thirty minutes, and again you will be able to download for convenient listening – all FREE – yet another first!

In summary, we are creating the most exciting environment available to the sales community, and so much changes every day – whatever you do, don’t let the World pass you by!! Why not take a “World Tour” today?

This weekend, I am putting the finishing touches to the “Strategic Alliance Partner” program, which involves bringing together all of the top sales resource sites, and inviting them to make a significant contribution to TSW. This week, I spoke to most of them, and they all want to come and play with us, which is really exciting.

I’ll be posting every day next week as usual – plus of course writing my Sales Leadership Coach blog for AllBusiness – and I would also urge you to look out for a very special post next Friday, April 1st! 

Finally, to “Bill the Graphic” the genius who produces the designs that you see here, and on all of our sites – “Happy Birthday young Bill – have a wonderful Cornish day!!”         

Do please listen in, or read on …. because we always have choices!

Time and again you hear people say something like “Above all, I want to work with a manager from whom I can learn.”

The development of our people is not something to ignore or leave to training departments. The responsibility is ours. We must make sure our people have the right knowledge, skills and attitudes to do their jobs and to do them well.

Development is not only about correcting weaknesses, it is about upgrading and taking people forward, not least to keep up with change.

We should tell our people that we:

• Recognize that their development is important
• Will help them gain experience and extend their skills
• And…create a visible system so to do

As the old saying goes you can either “have five years’ experience or one year’s experience multiplied by five“. People want the former. We are the means for them to achieve it.

Use the development cycle:

• Analyze the job (what is needed to do it)
• Analyse the person (their competencies)
• Look ahead, anticipate what new skills, etc. the job might necessitate in the future
• Define the gap – what must be done to create a good fit between the person and the job.
• Specify development activity, methods, budget and priorities.
• Implement action and monitor results

This is a rolling cycle. Keep clear records, make sure everyone is reviewed in this way and create a culture in which people value development and what it brings. Part of our job is helping people to learn.

Development is sufficiently important to people (as well as being important in its own right) for us to address the process and give out the right messages about it. We may, sensibly, not want to send everyone off on a course so we must consider other actions, asking:

• Should development be on the agenda for meetings?
• Can anything be done on-the-job? (In any case, a key part of the manager’s personal responsibility for development.)
• Can any on-going actions be instigated now? (A simple monthly lunchtime session, perhaps.)

Make no mistake, the culture of an organization in terms of its attitude to training and development is important to people. Their view of it is, in part, dependent on us.

We have to send the right signals.

 
Listen or read? It’s your choice ….

Defining just what makes a leader effective, remains as difficult today as it ever was. But that does not prevent us from seeking to distil their secrets – quite the reverse.

Of course, there must be almost as many theories on leadership as there are leaders themselves and models for the best kind of leadership change with the times.

In the 15th century, Niccolo Machiavelli advocated a combination of cunning and intimidation as a way to more effective leadership. His philosophy, if not his practices, became unfashionable some time ago – thank God!

“Great Man” theories, popular in the 19th century and early this century, are based on the notion of the ‘born leader’ who has innate talents that cannot be taught. An alternative approach that is still in vogue is based on trying to identify the key traits of effective leaders.

Behaviorist theory prefers to see leadership in terms of what leaders do, rather than their individual characteristics, and it tries to identify the different roles they fulfill. More recently, attention has moved away from the individual in the leadership role, to embrace a more holistic view and investing less in what some commentators refer to as the ‘myth of the heroic leader’.

Much recent work in this area has concentrated on trying to understand why some leaders are more effective than others by looking at their environment and the context in which their acts have been carried out. Situational theory views leadership as specific to the situation, for example, rather than to the personality of the leader. It is based on the idea that different situations require a different style of leader.

The basis of Situational Leadership is to provide a means of effective leadership by adopting different leadership styles, in different situations, with different people.

Situational Leadership is a model – not a theory. The difference is that a theory attempts to explain why things happen, whereas a model is a pattern of existing events which can be learnt and therefore repeated.

Requirements of a Leader

An effective leader needs to be:

• A good diagnostician who can sense and appreciate differences in people and situations

• Adaptable – have the ability to adapt the leadership style to circumstances

A leader must realize there is no one best way to influence people.

The Basis of Situational Leadership

Situational Leadership is a way of describing and analyzing leadership styles. It is a combination of directive and supportive behaviors.

Directive behavior involves telling people what to do, how to do it, where to do it, when to do it and then closely supervising this performance.

Supportive behavior involves listening to people, providing support and encouragement for their efforts and then facilitating their involvement in problem solving and decision-making.

There are four leadership styles: Directing, Coaching, Supporting and Delegating.

Each style is appropriate in certain circumstances. They can be shown as follows:

• Delegating – i.e. Low Supportive & Low Directive

• Directing – i.e. Low Supportive & High Directive

• Supporting – i.e. High Supportive & High Directive

• Coaching - i.e. High Supportive & Low Directive

In Summary

To those who would suggest that great leaders are born, not made, I would say this: We can examine all of the great leaders in history – and I have examined most of them -  and identify some common characteristics, but we cannot say they were “Born Leaders”. They all developed into their leadership roles over a period of time, learning the skills along the way.

I do believe that leaders can be developed – I have to believe that, because currently we have far too few of them in the world.

Here is the audio version of today’s post, in case you are an “auditory” as opposed to a “visual!”

This was a question in my inbox this week, and this was my response:

People will freely give referrals when they have benefited from your product/service and have an established relationship with you.

This rarely occurs during the initial meeting because, whilst they may like you, they haven’t yet validated what you can do for them. That’s why asking for referrals should be when the relationship you have established is a strong enough relationship to ensure their trust and belief in you.

Assessing the strength of your existing customer relationships can be very subjective, unless there is a meaningful set of relationship criteria in place. 

Although these will vary from organization to organization, they may include factors like:

• Communication frequency with key influencers
• Satisfaction with product/service
• Speed of response to queries/problems
• Length of relationship

The customers with the highest scores (based on the relationship criteria) are those that should be approached for referrals.

What is the best way of generating referrals?

1. Prepare a description, in the form of a criteria list that specifies the type of person or organisation that you are looking to approach. This should be based on the profile of your “Ideal Customer.”

2. Evaluate all your customers, using relationship criteria, and identify a list of those with the highest scores. For every customer, your aim is to generate a minimum of five referrals. Therefore, if you have 25 customers on your list, your target number of referrals will be 125.

3. Contact each customer on your list and take the pressure of them by explaining that you don’t want to sell to them – you would like their help. For example: “Do you know anyone who is (specify your criteria) that would be interested in learning about how our products/services can benefit them?” Preface your question with a softener such as: “I wonder if you can help me” or “I would really appreciate some advice.”

4. When customers give you referrals, ask their permission to use their name when making contact. Alternatively, where your relationship is ‘rock solid’, ask customers to make the initial introduction by letter or email. Often customers will give a glowing testimonial and create a relevant context when introducing people.

5. Thank customers for referrals and keep them appraised of your progress.This creates a positive association towards the giving of more referrals in the future.

Hope that helps, but if you would like to obtain some really expert advice, you really should pop over to www.nomorecoldcalling.com and connect with the world’s leading expert, and good chum Joanne Black.

In fact, Joanne has just re-launched her site and has a host of amazing gifts for you: “Remember that you can access all of our free give-aways at the No More Cold Calling Launch Headquarters“

Too busy to read? Now you can download today’s post, and listen at your leisure. This is my first attempt, so the recording quality will get so much better!!! 

Let me begin by saying that a skilled negotiator will create high levels of rapport and be sensitive and empathetic to the people they are negotiating with, yet can still be hard on the issues.

The ability to separate the people from the issues, and recognise that negotiations are often fraught with emotional intensity, can help sharpen the focus on the interests of the other party to better balance perceptions. If the negotiation doesn’t appear to be going anywhere and your prospect is behaving like a bully you might feel angry and frustrated. You may already have considered simply agreeing to their demands.

In difficult negotiations, there are four vital behaviours that can increase your resourcefulness and consequently your opportunities for getting to “Win-Win”.

1. Manage your emotional state
Build rapport by matching the other person’s style, pace and approach until you have achieved a ‘connection’ Personalise the negotiation by using “I” rather than your organisation’s name. This demonstrates your belief in your proposal and highlights your credibility.

In the face of feelings like anger, disappointment, frustration, confusion, and resentment, we often react without thinking. In such a situation mentally detach yourself and think about it before you respond. It helps to reframe attacks and tactical manoeuvres as feedback that the other person’s interests have not been fully acknowledged. Stay focused on your goal of reaching an agreement.

2. Look for quick mutual wins to build the belief “we can agree”
The more abstract your communication the more likely you are to reach agreement. Therefore, seek to gain agreement at an abstract level first and then get into the detail.

For example, if two people wanted what appears to be very different things, such as a) nuclear disarmament and b) more resources spent on defence, if you looked at finding out both sides highest intention, you may discover that ‘peace’ was the desired outcome for both people. Therefore, at this abstract level they have found agreement so the negotiation can continue by gradually getting more detailed.

Questions that chunk up your prospect into the bigger picture include:
- For what purpose?
- What’s your intention behind (negotiating point)?

Seek to address the easy/quickest areas of agreement first to reinforce the process of agreement is simple and straightforward. If you discover an area where agreement may not be reached quickly then agree to leave it until later. If some points become contentious it can help discussions if you both move your body, because the mind and body are connected, physical movement helps to create mental movement. That’s why a walk can work wonders during tough negotiations. Provide regular summaries of what you have both accomplished to install the belief that the negotiation is making progress.

Some sales people write out all the points to be negotiated on separate sheets of paper, then ask each point is agreed they move the paper to a different place, so that the buyer can physically see the progress being made which serves to motivate the entire process.

3. Use active listening skills and ask questions to give you a greater understanding of the other person’s viewpoint
Giving good attention to people makes them more intelligent. Poor attention makes them stumble over their words and appear stupid. You are best positioned to change someone’s mind after you have listened to that person. People tend to close down and stick to their position until they feel heard. The goal of active listening is for you to hear and understand other people – their words, thoughts, and feelings, and to let them know you’ve heard and understood them.

Acknowledge their motivations, feelings, and point of view, even when you don’t agree with what they are saying. Your goal is to understand the message, not judge the validity of what they say.

4. Build trust by negotiating fairly
Demonstrations of power erode trust. If you are on the receiving end of this type of behaviour, describe your observations, and the consequences of continuing the current process. For example: “You know you’ve named what seems to me a low price, and so now I’ll name a higher price, and then we’ll each insist on our position until one of us gives in. I don’t find my best negotiations work like this.”

Then propose a different way to proceed, for example: “It would help me to understand the criteria of a fair offer if we could take a look at some of the relevant standards in this industry.” Before beginning the negotiation it can help to agree the ground rules and stick to them. Act with integrity and hold a healthy respect for the intentions of the individual you are negotiating with. There is always a reason why a point of negotiation is important to the buyer and if we can appreciate more about their underlying reasons, this knowledge can be used and acted upon.
News: Everybody is talking about the “World” and everybody that is anybody in the sales space is talking on the “World” and in fact ….

“Top Sales World Announces:  The largest online sales and marketing conference ever staged …”The 2011 Top Sales & Marketing Success Conference” May 9th-13th. Forty of the world’s top sales and marketing experts will be presenting over the five days. Program timetable will be released w/c April 11th”

Most of the articles and blog posts that I have read recently discuss, in some detail, the need for sellers to raise their game. They identify what this new salesperson will need to aspire to, if they are to survive, let alone succeed in the “new brave world”

Indeed, I have been discussing this myself for years, and only very recently I wrote:

“Finally, those salespeople who remain, will become genuine “business consultants, strategic orchestrators, and long-term allies”

The 2015 sales professional will not only be an industry expert, but also have a solid grasp of commercial issues, and as a consequence, they will speak the language of the buyer, not their own”

This is a clarion cry to all sales professionals everywhere … “In today’s world of selling, there is less and less room for apprenticeship. Selling has become an exclusive club of highly skilled professionals, where product knowledge and time management skills, for instance, are the cost of membership, not leadership.

Ongoing research demonstrates that today’s ‘average’ salesperson is just as effective as the high performer in explaining features and benefits effectively, relating a service or product to customer needs and closing a sale. But, above this Level 1 plateau of competence, the exceptional salesperson is busy defining the “basic skills of tomorrow”

However, the stark reality is that increasing the quality and professionalism of our sales functions – and even our marketing functions – will not be sufficient to guarantee success. Organizations who ignore their existing customers, whilst pursuing exciting new opportunities, are doomed to failure – fact!

Now, more than ever, it is time to “love the ones you are with” to quote my colleague Colleen Francis. But how?

Customer care programs come under a number of titles – customer services; customer satisfaction; customer focus; customer orientated etc.

Their common theme is meeting the customer’s requirements and ensuring that all aspects of the business contribute to customer satisfaction. The intention is to build repeat business. If customers are satisfied with the product and the standards of service they receive, they will return again and again.

Inconsistent Customer Care
 
Inconsistent customer care performance can have a negative effect on customer perceptions. Petrol companies, for example, know that every time a customer walks into one of their outlets, wherever they are in the country, they should expect to receive the same standards of service. Nation-wide consistency is essential when customers are likely to visit multiple outlets – one poor performance can threaten the customer’s perception of the entire operation.

What Is Customer Care?
 
Customer care is about addressing three sets of requirements:
 
• Customer

• Staff

• Organization
 
These requirements are interrelated – i.e. it is more difficult to deliver consistently high standards in customer care, if the needs of both the organisation and the staff are not taken into account.

Customer Requirements
 
• Excellent personal service – feels valued, listened to, treated as an individual

• Products that meet expectations

• Encouragement to express views and give feedback

• Effective relationship with the organisation

• Problems and complaints are handled effectively

Staff Requirements:
 
Effective management style:

• Suitable working environment – pay and conditions / tools for the job

• Relevant training to develop skills

• Career potential

• Clarity of role / job description

• Performance standards and appraisal systems

• Sense of involvement / value

• Open communication

• Teamwork

• Rewards / Recognition

Organizational Requirements
 
• Mission statement

• Corporate structure

• Feedback and communication systems

• Profit

• Human and technical resources

• Demonstrated commitment

Only when we get all three elements right, can we consider that our organization is capable of delivering consistently high levels of customer service, and thus provide ourselves with a better chance of survival! 

News: An early “heads-up” for you: The Top Sales Hardtalk interviews will finally launch on April 4th – a daily ten minute, downloadable recording that you can play in your car, in the shower, or anywhere else that takes your fancy …more soon.

Oh, and nearly there with the audio version of these posts, bear with me ..

Talking of which, have you caught up with all of today’s World headlines?