The customers today have numerous options , normally a customer would compare you with your competitors . Therefore it is absolutely critical to fully equip your team for offering a delightful customer experience. In today’s sales warfare the customers are very demanding , the bad news is that any of your competitors offering delightful customer experience will take away the market share and the good news is that, now you know that just by offering delightful customer experience your organization can substantially improve the efficiency of its sales operations
Process Flow
The first step is to define the process flow , detailing the steps right from the first point of interaction with the customer ie. from the time lead is generated till the time the sale is closed
Sales Organization
This is a very crucial aspect, as optimum resource allocation shall be the key difference only in terms of the efficiency with which the customers are served but also the profitability of operations which in turn is affected by the cost of acquiring each new customer. Thus a sales organization must be structured to produce delightful customer experience while optimizing the new customer acquisition cost at a reasonable level.
Recruitment of Team Members
The detailed job descriptions must be developed based on the carefully mapped competency requirements against specific roles highlighting the applicable key responsibility areas. The recruiter must then handpick the most suitable candidates ,who are the best fit in terms of the predefined recruitment standards.
Training For Success
Each individual team member must be trained for their specific roles and the skills necessary in effective discharge of their key responsibilities. To be most effective the training must be done periodically and must be based on the systematic identification of training needs.
Building Proactive Controls
SOP Manual
Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) Manual is the sacred organizational document that lists the detailed steps involved in carrying out the specified processes effectively. There are numerous advantages of a well documented SOP Manual , a few of them that immediately come to mind including consistency of doing specific tasks, transparency in operations as all team members know how a specific situation needs to be addressed, faster response, professional work environment, standardization of best practices,etc. With the passage of time the newer versions of SOP Manuals are published by the progressively professional organizations. With repeated editions this document becomes an important knowledge repository pertaining to the specific organizational processes in question.
Reporting Formats
It is customary to have different reporting formats for each specific role, these are designed keeping in mind the critical aspect of the information sought and the periodicity of such requirement as suitable to the business needs of the key decision makers.
Performance Reviews
A vast majority of sales organizations conduct periodic performance reviews as a ritual, but ironically a large number of them end up building counterproductive practices and mindset as a consequence of such exercises because of the lack of professional management outlook on the part of the managers responsible for carrying out this activity. Professionally conducted performance reviews can go a long way in improving the customer delight ,long term profitability and sustenance of the organization.
Mystery Shopping
This is an extremely important tool in the kitty of professional organizations to get a real time account of the efficiency with which their employees are interacting with their customers. The outcome of such exercises can help in bringing about revolutionary changes in the manner the sales operations are conducted
Surprise Audits
As a result of this activity , the employees are always on their toes thereby shedding the in-effective attitude mired complacency and inaction , thereby promoting a proactive and action oriented work culture.
The author of this article is a consultant & trainer and may be reached atadmin@successnsynergy.com for any consulting or training requirements that you may have in any of the subject areas covered in this write-up
