Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/120608
Twelve Step Program continued from page 55 consistently communicate best practices with each other. This can be done easily through email, teleconferences or a blog on your Intranet. Do the same for your employees. Instruct them to share examples of great service, along with examples of ways they successfully handled difficult customers and situations. This encourages your Sales-Service Excellence Culture. Step #11: Evaluate on quality, performance and service! Make it mandatory for managers to evaluate their people, not only on the quality of their work, but also on how well they support your culture. If your people know they are being evaluated on their service performance, then it will become a priority to them. Step #9: Make training a priority. Never assume your staff automatically knows how to provide outstanding customer service and sell exceptionally well… especially when it comes to selling your parts and service. Top performing companies invest in training. Studies have proven these companies perform at much higher levels and have higher profits than their competitors. Make continuous learning and ongoing improvement a strong part of your competitive strategy. Provide basic and advanced sales training for your sales team. Train everyone in the company on customer service skills, teamwork and effective communication. Provide consistent reminders to ensure those skills are applied. Make sure your sales team knows how to eloquently communicate the benefits of your product or service, so their skills will be far superior to the skills of your competitors' sales team. Teach your team to create, memorize and apply the most effective words and phrases that will influence customers to buy from YOU, and not your competitors. Create the best responses to price and other objections and have the sales team memorize them. Most importantly, rehearse and perfect asking for the customer's business and making the close. Hold weekly meetings where a different salesperson does a product walk-around, expounding on features and benefits. Have the team coach the salesperson to keep them sharp. Make training a strong part of your Sales-Service Excellence initiative, and learn faster than your competitors. If you do, you will surpass them. Step #12: Reward and recognize employees and teams. Recognize and reward employees and teams who provide exceptional customer service and make an extra effort to help your sales team. In doing so, you will be sending a message to everyone about what you feel is important. Step #10. Recognize whose job it is to keep employees motivated. Whose job is it to motivate employees? Yours! It is always up to the leaders in a company to maintain high morale. Studies have proven that an employee's manager or immediate supervisor determines his or her level of performance and engagement. Adopt a "Zero-Tolerance for Bad Bosses" policy in your company. Direct your leadership team to talk to employees, coach them, appreciate them and treat them as well as you treat your best customer. Leaders can instill your new culture by demonstrating they value your employees and consistently treat them with dignity and respect. Set the tone. Be the example for others to follow. Be relentless in your pursuit of Sales-Service Excellence and consistently communicate its importance to others. And remember, you bring your attitude to your people and your customers each day. All eyes are on you, and so are all ears! IDA UNIVERSAL March-April 2013 Be patient Positive change does not occur overnight. At first, you may encounter some resistance or uncertainty. Your staff may doubt that establishing a Sales-Service Excellence Culture is possible and be uncertain that everyone will take ownership of their role. To support your Sales-Service Excellence Culture, strive to provide a working environment that fosters dynamic leadership, employee involvement and empowerment. Find ways to put the "fun" back into the workplace, so that creativity flows and people enjoy coming to work each day. Make your company a great place to work, and be a great person to work with (not for). Give your employees the leadership, motivation, training and human resources they need to excel. Show them you care about them as much as you care about your customers by focusing on their health, morale and well-being. When you do, it will make all the difference in the world. If you feel you already have great culture, think of how you can make it even better. Top-notch companies are never content where they are. Continuous improvement is a part of their culture. Execution Knowing what we should do and doing it are two very different things. Execution must occur. When you establish a Sales-Service Excellence Culture, you will be in a better position to create and sustain success in today's new world, increase your profitability, establish high levels of customer loyalty and maintain strength in the marketplace. ● ©Copyright, 2013 Christine Corelli & Associates, Inc. Christine Corelli was the keynote speaker for IDA's October conference. She is author of five business books, including the best-selling Wake Up and Smell the Competition. Her newest book release, Capture Your Competitors' Customers and KEEP Them, sold out the first print run in two weeks and is still selling strong. To learn more, contact the Agency for Speakers and Entertainers at (909) 894-0091. 57