Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/120608
A Twelve Step Program to Transform Your Dealer Culture By Christine Corelli F orget tough. Today, competition is brutal. Developing a reputation for exceptional customer service and establishing a "Sales-Service Excellence Culture" is not optional. It is critical to your success. No company can have one without the other. A salesperson cannot sell parts without being able to confidently communicate the consistently superior service your company provides. When they do sell, they know that your competitors will be circling in like a pack of wolves to take them away. If you want to close more sales and be able to retain your new and existing customers, you and your entire sales team need the full support and dedication of everyone in your company. You want the customer to continue to buy from you without being tempted to do business with your competitor. You also want your customer to spread the word to other buyers about the high quality product or service you sell and to build a reputation for your company for delivering consistently superior customer service. "Everyone's in sales!" You have heard this familiar mantra before. Still, it warrants repeating. Every person who works for your company should know that they are "in sales," even if they are not responsible for selling the equipment, part or service. Customers are constantly judging you. Anytime they have contact with anyone in your company, for any reason, it is imperative that every employee demonstrates an urgency to serve and strives to provide a consistently superior customer experience. Think about your company as it is today. Imagine you are an outside consultant and answer the following questions objectively: How Would Your Company Rate? • What is your reputation with customers? • What are your customers saying about you to other customers? • How is the company viewed within your industry? • Is the level of service you provide exceptional? • How do your employees treat people when they go to your customer's place of business? • Do you have adequate staff to serve your customers? • Does everyone in your company think and act as your "brand ambassadors?" • How are customers greeted when they call on the phone? • Do your people answer the phone with the highest level of professionalism? • Does every employee sound like they're anxious to serve when they take a call? • Do they call your customers by their name if they know them and make them feel special? IDA UNIVERSAL March-April 2013 • Do they display a sense of urgency to serve customers and complete tasks? • Do they display this same sense of urgency when they serve each other? • Do they recognize and demonstrate that they must serve each other exceptionally well in order to do the same for customers? • Do they ask customers if there is anything more they can do for them before ending a call or serving them in your place of business? • Do they say, "Thank you, Mr. Customer. We appreciate your business." ? • Do they sound sincere when they say it? • Do they help customers in every way possible? • Do your parts and service people stand on their heads to help customers and do all they can to support you? • Do they communicate with your sales team and keep them informed when a new order comes in or maintenance takes place, so the salesperson can call to make sure the customer is happy and to demonstrate that they CARE? • Does service excellence permeate your entire place of business, so that when a customer walks in, they are treated the same way they would be as if they walked into a high-class hotel? • Do you have a reputation for service excellence to the point where it is a "fear factor" to your competitors? Hopefully, you answered each question positively, as everything your people (and anyone who represents your company) say and do directly affects sales, profitability and customer loyalty. Failing to say and do the right things, even during a single customer interaction with just one individual, can destroy your company's reputation and damage the relationship you and your salespeople have worked so hard to build. Establishing a Sales-Service Excellence Culture Gallup researchers define a company culture as "the attitudes that employees have about the environment in which they work." It might be best described as "the values, attitudes and behaviors a company displays in the workplace and with every customer encounter." Establishing a Sales-Service Excellence Company Culture is vitally important, because it can make or break your business. Everyone who works at your company should recognize their performance impacts profitability and consistently seeks out every opportunity to build strong relationships, exceed customer expectations and provide a consistently great experience before, during and after the sale. Continued on page 52 51