Most every frontline sales manager will agree that keeping staff encouraged when they have very price sensitive customers can be challenging. It becomes quite easy to fall into the trap of believing that by in large, customers are cheap. But here is the reality; customers are not cheap. They are value driven and want to know that they are receiving the best price and service available for their hard earned money.  Understanding and focusing on their need for value will allow for the message to be heard and more sales to be made. 

Here are a few of the many successful techniques to help your team command the attention of value driven customers:

-  When presenting a product or service, always focus first on the benefits of what the customer is getting, prior to quoting the price.  All too often the price is presented first and then the customer shuts down their listening skills.

-  Focus on the value of what they are getting vs. the price they are paying.  People remember most, whatever they hear last so when presenting a sale price, highlight the “savings”. For example: “It can sell for as much as $99, today it’s only $69, that’s a savings of $30!”

-  DO NOT PREJUDGE!!!!  Only assume every customer deserves the very best product or service you have to offer.

-  People buy from those they like. Focus on connecting with the customer and delivering a presentation centered on enhancing their experience – with you, the company and the products/services you represent. 

Most importantly, bear in mind that a salesperson’s perception of their customers will affect the presentation and ultimately, influence buying decisions.  It is critical that frontline managers do not “buy into” the same perceptions that can distract and dissuade their sales team.  How a salesperson feels about their customers and the sales opportunities determines how well those customers will receive their message.  Encouraging your frontline to focus their energies on ways to vary their presentation for the value driven customers instead of dismissing the opportunity will increase sales opportunities and generate more revenue.

Ken Stellon – Senior Vice President, Frontline Performance Group

Next to the sports world, no one can beat a cliché or “buzzword” to death better than the world of business. At the end of the day, it’s not about me, it’s about the team and I’m just taking it one game at a time and believe we need to take a proactive approach and close the file on these over-used terms.  

One of the most meaningless words is “focus”. The word is frequently used as an excuse for when there is no formal plan or strategy in place to address an issue. “Focus” is too often used as part of the “marching orders” given to frontline management from above, as in “I need you to focus your team on customer service.” Sadly, that is the extent of many organizations customer service strategy; “we’re focused on it.”

“Focusing” on customer service is not enough. Your strategy needs to be meaningful, sustainable and simple. It should be treated as a company “mantra” where every member of the organization knows what it is – lives and breathes it.

I recently had the opportunity to utilize the services of Safelite Auto Glass and noticed this sticker on the window of their repair truck:    

 I thought this was quite powerful; a 12-point “pledge” for their technicians beginning with the words “I will perform the following for every customer …” Here are the highlights of what they “pledge” to do for their customers:

• Perform a safe installation as outlined in our installation policies, procedures, and SafeTech Installation manual. In other words, they promise to do the job according to the rules of the organization.
• Complete the technician call-aheads. They actually take the time each morning to call every customer on their daily schedule to confirm the appointment and let them know the approximate time they will arrive at their home or business for repair.
• Arrive within the time frame agreed upon with the customer. A service company that promises to be on time; wow! 
• Have a professional appearance, be in clean uniform and arrive in a clean vehicle. Another promise, to make a good impression on the customer.
• Communicate the minimum drive away time to every customer. In other words, tell every customer how long the job will take to complete.
• Protect the vehicle by using all recommended covers and mats. Be respectful of the customer’s property.
• Communicate with the customer and always thank them for giving us the opportunity to repair or replace their vehicle glass.
• Wash all exterior glass and vacuum the interior of the vehicle after each replacement or repair. Do a little something extra for the customer that they don’t expect.  
• Fix the problem if something goes wrong and take ownership for delighting the customer. In writing on every vehicle, “you are empowered to delight (not ‘satisfy’) the customer.”

Safelite Auto Glass is doing more than “focusing” on customer service. They have obviously woven it into the fabric of their company.

If you were to put up a similar sticker, sign or badge what would it say?

Lee Silverstein - Managing Partner, Frontline Performance Group

What is the definition of a frontline sales representative?

Any team member that interacts with your customers is considered to be on the frontline. This includes face-to-face interactions, phone interactions, and on-line communications.

Why is the frontline important to my business?

In this increasingly competitive market, it is more important than ever for companies to do more than the status quo of merely maintaining business relationships. Business leaders who seek to improve company profit must continually strive to differentiate themselves through the service and sales ability of their frontline.

Imagine what would happen if your frontline sales team was not only genuine, sincere and helpful, but built a good first impression and rapport with your customers, asked the questions they needed to ask to truly understand your customers’ needs, really knew your products and/or services, and built value into what they were selling. The results would be tremendous! New avenues of growth and profit would be created including additional and incremental sales revenue opportunities.

Understand and appreciate the role of your frontline as the vehicle that can transform your bottom-line and you will create the power to generate unprecedented profits!

Every time I travel to the UK for client assignments, it amazes me how comfortable British people are with standing in line and waiting for service. To the British, this pastime of “queuing” is as common as any other proper tradition.  When traveling there and reluctantly conforming to this tradition while waiting at car rental counters, hotel check-ins, train depots or any other retail experience, I always think to myself, “Thank goodness this is not a practice in the U.S.! How could we tolerate it?”  In reality though, we are becoming British in the way of developing a comfort zone for waiting and being delayed in most any sales, service or retail experience.

With the recent economic downturn, companies have been forced to slash services and labor from their operations. This has unquestionably led to longer line waits, product delays, and service cutbacks. Since the beginning of the U.S. recession, our economy has slashed over 8 million jobs.  Were they all shed from the service industry? Maybe not, but the impact is surely felt.

Whether you are a frontline manager leading a sales force on a busy day or a frontline service based sales professional looking to do a good job, the following “cues” (techniques) will help you enhance your customers’ experiences while they wait to do business with you:

Cue #1: Smile sincerely! – There are over 190 different countries on earth, nearly 3,000 languages and an estimated 5,000 different cultures and in all of these examples, a sincere smile can never be misinterpreted. A smile is one of the fastest ways to communicate warmth and professionalism. People waiting in line don’t mind as much as long as they are going to get a polite person to assist them.

Cue #2:  Acknowledge customers who are waiting in line. – During an existing customer interaction it is okay to politely excuse yourself from your customer and acknowledge those who are waiting.  Begin by saying “excuse me” to the current customer, then simply comment to your waiting customer(s); ”Thank you for being patient, we appreciate it …” As you return to your existing customer, thank them and continue with their interaction.  Please note that the acknowledgement should never happen during your primary sales presentation to your existing customer; it is most effective before or after the sales presentation has been completed.

Cue # 3: Start with the end in mind. - Customers do not wait until they are being served to form their first impression of you; they form it while they wait in line as they watch and listen to how the customers in front of them are being treated. Ending your customer experiences with a statement of C.A.R.E. (comment about relevant experiences) toward your departing customer will send the correct message to the next customer in line and form a positive impression.  For example, a client of ours, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory-Canada, coaches their associates to end every transaction with ”Thank you, see you soon”, and a statement of C.A.R.E. So, if the customer was headed out to the Canucks game, the associate might say “good luck” or ”enjoy the game”.

When customers are stressed and wait to be served, the little things do add up.  These cues are just a few of the little details that can add up to grand customer experiences.  

Ken Stellon - Senior Vice President, Frontline Performance Group

A successful coach and an all-star player have many things in common. Generally speaking, they both desire to win and know what it takes to win.  They operate from the same playbook and know what general obstacles will prevent them from winning.  They practice to get better, and both have experienced defeat as well as success.

So, what are the fundamental differences between a successful coach and an all-star player? There are only two:

First difference - the coach not only knows the playbook inside and out but can also demonstrate even the minutest concept of the play.

Second difference – the all-star player can execute the play at a high-level of performance.

In order to increase your leadership credibility and become a successful coach you must demonstrate the playbook in any given situation.  All too often, we see frontline sales coaches fail because of this very important concept; instead of taking the opportunity to demonstrate a play and illustrate their knowledge, they choose to be an appraiser and not coach. The second largest pitfall is when a coach goes out to demonstrate a play and does the opposite of what the play should have been. This not only lowers the team’s opinion of the coach, it can potentially bury the coach’s credibility.

Increase your credibility and bottom-line results by memorizing the playbook, demonstrate your knowledge by practicing with your players, never pretend to know the play, and don’t be an appraiser. If all else fails, follow the old saying: “Don’t ever ask someone to do something you wouldn’t do yourself.”

Mark Hart – Senior Director, Frontline Performance Group