The Problem of Service
No discussion of marketing challenges in sales would be complete without mentioning the problem of service. In many industries, service levels tend to decrease as volume rises. When the market is slower, everyone competes for the business at a feverish pace, motivated to action by fear and increased competition. As the market starts to gain momentum, service levels become strained. Order volumes swell and customers begin searching for other options, hoping that changing companies will resolve their need to have phone calls returned promptly and to have a less apathetic service level. Then as the market takes a breather, sales people and sales managers point to the constant outflow of customers that occurred which causes market share to remain stagnant, existing customers to leaving for greener pastures as they are being replaced by new customers. At the end of all of this, the company is left in a similar market share position where it was in the beginning, only with different customers.
Creating consistent service levels is a group effort. Operations and Sales must be service driven and embody a customer-oriented work habit. Sales people must communicate with operations and customers, facilitating service level improvements. Sales managers need to be cognizant of service level fluctuations and help the sales force to communicate these fluctuations to the marketplace, while informing escrow and county managers about potential service weaknesses. When all these things work in systematic unison, service levels tighten and customer attrition slows.
The successful sales manager is one who defines themselves and their company as different, builds a knowledgeable sales force, creates and implements accountability systems, and actively participates in the evolution of service levels. This is an extremely difficult set of tasks in many industries with little to no existing resources for sales managers.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
The Problem of Accountability
The Problem of Accountability
Any comprehensive list of the consistent frustrations of many sales managers would have to include the problem of accountability. In many ways, the lack of the ability of sales managers to track and grade performance could be considered the largest inefficiency in the marketing arena of the title business. Too often, sales people focus on entire offices rather than specific target customers, or fill out general call sheets rather than activity-driven tracking reports. It is physically impossible to gauge a sales person’s actual performance without activity-specific business plans and individual target lists. These tools provide insight into a sales person’s strengths and weaknesses and provide aid to sales managers in both market share forecasting and profit projections. When sales people are held accountable to the right activities, their efforts yield more focused results.
Accountability is a difficult discipline in an industry where business originates from so many possible areas. It is sometimes difficult to determine whether a business development officer, a sales person, or some other activity brought in a deal. More importantly, it is difficult to determine who controls a customer over long periods of time as the customer becomes attached to many people and services within an operation. Long-term efforts to secure customer loyalty are hard to track and difficult to quantify, causing many managers to live in fear of a seasoned sales person’s departure. Accountability systems solve this challenge by giving sales managers the ability to measure results, both short and long-term.
Any comprehensive list of the consistent frustrations of many sales managers would have to include the problem of accountability. In many ways, the lack of the ability of sales managers to track and grade performance could be considered the largest inefficiency in the marketing arena of the title business. Too often, sales people focus on entire offices rather than specific target customers, or fill out general call sheets rather than activity-driven tracking reports. It is physically impossible to gauge a sales person’s actual performance without activity-specific business plans and individual target lists. These tools provide insight into a sales person’s strengths and weaknesses and provide aid to sales managers in both market share forecasting and profit projections. When sales people are held accountable to the right activities, their efforts yield more focused results.
Accountability is a difficult discipline in an industry where business originates from so many possible areas. It is sometimes difficult to determine whether a business development officer, a sales person, or some other activity brought in a deal. More importantly, it is difficult to determine who controls a customer over long periods of time as the customer becomes attached to many people and services within an operation. Long-term efforts to secure customer loyalty are hard to track and difficult to quantify, causing many managers to live in fear of a seasoned sales person’s departure. Accountability systems solve this challenge by giving sales managers the ability to measure results, both short and long-term.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Problem of Knowledge
The Problem of Knowledge
The most elusive of all marketing challenges in many industries; the problem of knowledge, can be broken down into two major areas: a lack of knowledge about the customer and a lack of knowledgeable sales people. The lack of knowledge that most sales people have about the customer begins with assumptions that have trapped the their industry into buying business rather than justifying worth in other ways. For Example in many in the Real Estate Services Companies (Title, Escrow, 1031 exchange etc...), sales people make the assumption that customers do business with companies because of long-term operations-driven relationships. The truth is that some customers do business with their present company of choice because of a internal relationship, but most customers would change companies if a competitor could show them how to increase their business or efficiency. In a recent survey of 300 customers, RightNow Business Development Systems found that over 77% of would change services companies if another could show them how to operate more effectively. The overwhelming message that these customers are sending is that these companies should be providing success resources and “intellectual capital,” rather than trying to sell basic feature and benefit services. Orders are the compensation received for providing these resources. The trick is to help sales people to get past assumptions by asking the right questions of prospective customers, even when they think they know the answer. The best armor against assumptions is questions, questions lead to answers that the customer feels are important, building customer specific knowledge in the process.
The lack of knowledge that sales people have about the customer’s business creates a significant barrier to developing new business relationships. Real estate agents have shared with me that “all service companies are alike” and that the best thing they can do is provide the basic service. In most cases, customers feel that sales representatives don’t know enough about their business to be helpful and consider the reps to be nice, but unworthy of respect. The most successful sales people in any industry are considered to be experts by their customers whose business savvy advice and opinions are necessary and important. While knowledge that sales people possess about business is often perceived to be important by sales managers, knowledge about helping customers to run a more profitable business outranks product or services knowledge ten to one in the minds of top customers. Because of this, one of the goals of an effective sales management program should be to find, train, recruit, and evolve this knowledge.
The most elusive of all marketing challenges in many industries; the problem of knowledge, can be broken down into two major areas: a lack of knowledge about the customer and a lack of knowledgeable sales people. The lack of knowledge that most sales people have about the customer begins with assumptions that have trapped the their industry into buying business rather than justifying worth in other ways. For Example in many in the Real Estate Services Companies (Title, Escrow, 1031 exchange etc...), sales people make the assumption that customers do business with companies because of long-term operations-driven relationships. The truth is that some customers do business with their present company of choice because of a internal relationship, but most customers would change companies if a competitor could show them how to increase their business or efficiency. In a recent survey of 300 customers, RightNow Business Development Systems found that over 77% of would change services companies if another could show them how to operate more effectively. The overwhelming message that these customers are sending is that these companies should be providing success resources and “intellectual capital,” rather than trying to sell basic feature and benefit services. Orders are the compensation received for providing these resources. The trick is to help sales people to get past assumptions by asking the right questions of prospective customers, even when they think they know the answer. The best armor against assumptions is questions, questions lead to answers that the customer feels are important, building customer specific knowledge in the process.
The lack of knowledge that sales people have about the customer’s business creates a significant barrier to developing new business relationships. Real estate agents have shared with me that “all service companies are alike” and that the best thing they can do is provide the basic service. In most cases, customers feel that sales representatives don’t know enough about their business to be helpful and consider the reps to be nice, but unworthy of respect. The most successful sales people in any industry are considered to be experts by their customers whose business savvy advice and opinions are necessary and important. While knowledge that sales people possess about business is often perceived to be important by sales managers, knowledge about helping customers to run a more profitable business outranks product or services knowledge ten to one in the minds of top customers. Because of this, one of the goals of an effective sales management program should be to find, train, recruit, and evolve this knowledge.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Problem of Differentiation
From a previous post in October I thought some elaboration was called for with regards to the 4 problem areas that Sales Managers must deal with to be successful. Here's the first...
The Problem of Differentiation
A sales manager must separate his or her sales force from the competition to be successful in building and retaining profitable market share. Many times, it is difficult to tell one company from another in any given geography. Every company has good escrow officers and bad escrow officers, similar title products, and roughly equivalent price schedules. To be different, a sales manager must identify a potential opportunity (or opportunities) in the marketplace that the competition has not uncovered and define their company’s “brand” within that opportunity. This can include things such as developing a computer training program for real estate agents, teaching agents to market their services on the internet, or any number of other unique ideas. The basic rule of thumb should be that nothing the competition does well is worth doing the same way. Great sales managers look for ways to define their sales force’s uniqueness in the marketplace rather than giving in to the urge to look like every other company. Differentiation from competitors is critical for marketing success.
The Problem of Differentiation
A sales manager must separate his or her sales force from the competition to be successful in building and retaining profitable market share. Many times, it is difficult to tell one company from another in any given geography. Every company has good escrow officers and bad escrow officers, similar title products, and roughly equivalent price schedules. To be different, a sales manager must identify a potential opportunity (or opportunities) in the marketplace that the competition has not uncovered and define their company’s “brand” within that opportunity. This can include things such as developing a computer training program for real estate agents, teaching agents to market their services on the internet, or any number of other unique ideas. The basic rule of thumb should be that nothing the competition does well is worth doing the same way. Great sales managers look for ways to define their sales force’s uniqueness in the marketplace rather than giving in to the urge to look like every other company. Differentiation from competitors is critical for marketing success.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
5 Inhibitors to Success
A colleague of mine recently put this together and I thought it was so good I had to post it... Thanks to Anthony George.
Five Inhibitors to Success
Reality continues to sink in. We have all recently felt the effects of the shifting market. In fact, we are reminded daily that ‘the sky is falling’ from a variety of sources: the media, the internet, the news and perhaps most notably, from our clients (or lack of!). During challenging times, sometimes we need to “let go” in order to “grow”. We need to stop doing the things that have gotten us here and focus on the things that will get us there. We need to step out and step up!
Here are five inhibitors you must STOP doing in order to grow your revenue and take your territory to the next level. These same five inhibitors can be shared with your clients/prospects to help them increase their sales and in turn strengthen your business relationships.
Five Inhibitors to Success
Reality continues to sink in. We have all recently felt the effects of the shifting market. In fact, we are reminded daily that ‘the sky is falling’ from a variety of sources: the media, the internet, the news and perhaps most notably, from our clients (or lack of!). During challenging times, sometimes we need to “let go” in order to “grow”. We need to stop doing the things that have gotten us here and focus on the things that will get us there. We need to step out and step up!
Here are five inhibitors you must STOP doing in order to grow your revenue and take your territory to the next level. These same five inhibitors can be shared with your clients/prospects to help them increase their sales and in turn strengthen your business relationships.
- Stop standing still. Stop being passively paralyzed and get into action. Start moving now! Get into action early each day and stay in motion all day. Set your attitude the second you wake-up and resolve to become an order-maker not an order-taker.
- Stop worrying about how much work you need to do and focus on what you need to work on. Spend more time on doing the right activities, such as those that contribute to new revenue growth, that are going to get you the best results. Prioritize based on productivity. Drive your schedule based on highest-return activities instead of letting your schedule drive you. Spend more time with top producing clients and prospects.
- Stop complaining and start contending. Excuses will get you nowhere you want to go. Identify the real issues and take action to get results.
Write down your top three excuses for lack of greater achievement. Now tear up that piece of paper and let them go! - Stop thinking of training as a luxury. Start thinking of training & education as a necessity for you and your organization. Now more than ever, we need to be the best and brightest professionals in the business.
Practice makes pros who out perform the competition. What is your current skill level? How effective are you as a sales reps? What is something new you’ve learned in the past week that will contribute to your success? - Stop hanging around with nay-sayers. Don’t answer the calls from Pessimistic Pete and Debbie Downer.
Spending time with losers will contribute to your losses. Cultivate a can do/will do attitude by associating with leaders who have a positive influence on your values, discipline and production. Reach out to other in and out of the industry that will pick you up and prime you for success.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Successful Sales Management - Four Problems to Solve
Over the past couple of years I have spent a good deal of time helping my clients to handle the trials and tests of managing sales reps in the real estate services industry. I have observed from my experience inside the industry and out that sales managers often feel powerless and frustrated, searching for resources that often don't exist and are generally hungry for guidance.
Many times sales managers find their way into that position through a variety of means, be it they were in operations and we needed a sales manager so voila! Or as a retention tool to keep a top producing sales rep, we promoted them to manager. Many organizations don't have the internal resources, training, or tolls which are designed to increase the effectiveness of sales management efforts.
All of the above contribute to four core problems of managing sales efforts (and specifically in the real estate services industry).
The four problems are (which I'll elaborate on in future posts, so stay tuned)
Many times sales managers find their way into that position through a variety of means, be it they were in operations and we needed a sales manager so voila! Or as a retention tool to keep a top producing sales rep, we promoted them to manager. Many organizations don't have the internal resources, training, or tolls which are designed to increase the effectiveness of sales management efforts.
All of the above contribute to four core problems of managing sales efforts (and specifically in the real estate services industry).
The four problems are (which I'll elaborate on in future posts, so stay tuned)
- Differentiation (separating your sales team from the competition)
- Knowledge (knowing your customer or knowledgeable sales people)
- Accountability (focused on activity)
- Service (consistency)
Monday, September 8, 2008
Peter Drucker - Management Thoughts
Couple thoughts from a recent article on the book – Management: Revised Edition, by Peter F. Drucker
Drucker considered management to be a blend of action and contemplation. The words "think" and "thinking through" appear throughout. Managers must take the time to consider what they are doing and just as important, why they are doing it. He produced a vast body of work, nearly 40 books and countless articles, before he died in 2005 at 95.
Many of his classic themes are on display, including:
•Management by objectives. Your organization's strategy for the present and future, converted into targets and assignments in such areas as marketing, innovation, human resources, productivity and social responsibility.
•The theory of the business. Collectively, it's the assumptions an organization makes about markets, customers, competitors, technology and other factors that make up its reason for being, or as he bluntly puts it, "what a company gets paid for." If your theory is outdated or no longer valid, you're headed for trouble.
•Management revolving around people. A manager's job is defined by relationships with colleagues, "upwards, downwards and sideways."
•Information responsibility. You must ask yourself what information you need to do your job and where you will find it. Related questions are what information you owe to others and what they owe to you.
•Getting out of the office. The key areas affecting your organization will inevitably take place in the outside world. Go out and talk to customers and find out who your non-customers are. Become a volunteer in a non-profit agency, not only for personal growth and helping others, but to work with and learn from people who don't necessarily see things as you do.
a few good pearls from Peter Drucker... Hope you enjoyed.
Drucker considered management to be a blend of action and contemplation. The words "think" and "thinking through" appear throughout. Managers must take the time to consider what they are doing and just as important, why they are doing it. He produced a vast body of work, nearly 40 books and countless articles, before he died in 2005 at 95.
Many of his classic themes are on display, including:
•Management by objectives. Your organization's strategy for the present and future, converted into targets and assignments in such areas as marketing, innovation, human resources, productivity and social responsibility.
•The theory of the business. Collectively, it's the assumptions an organization makes about markets, customers, competitors, technology and other factors that make up its reason for being, or as he bluntly puts it, "what a company gets paid for." If your theory is outdated or no longer valid, you're headed for trouble.
•Management revolving around people. A manager's job is defined by relationships with colleagues, "upwards, downwards and sideways."
•Information responsibility. You must ask yourself what information you need to do your job and where you will find it. Related questions are what information you owe to others and what they owe to you.
•Getting out of the office. The key areas affecting your organization will inevitably take place in the outside world. Go out and talk to customers and find out who your non-customers are. Become a volunteer in a non-profit agency, not only for personal growth and helping others, but to work with and learn from people who don't necessarily see things as you do.
a few good pearls from Peter Drucker... Hope you enjoyed.
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