Lost
Opportunity, Are You Guilty?
By Ed Rigsbee, CSP
(1042
words)
In the mid-1990s, I received a postcard from my local
Infinity dealer. The card offered a set of cut crystal and a chance to
win a new Infinity if I stopped in during their Grand Opening Sale. It
appeared that somebody took some time to plan a classy sales event. Like
you though, I generally toss this type of solicitation instantly. But
for some reason I kept the card and visited the dealership.
The morning I visited the dealer, there was not a
sales person to be found. Was I surprised; my expectation was to be met
with open arms by a sales person expanding the virtues of the new Q45. I
was wrong. Not a sales person to be found so I walked toward the back to
a receptionist. Abruptly, she took my postcard and paged a parts clerk
to get for me the box containing my gift. In the box were two cut
crystal "bird bath" champagne glasses. That was it! What a
colossal disappointment. This was not even close to world-class service.
What a waist of money and energy for the dealer!
They invited me to visit their grand opening
"sales party." When
I arrived, they could have cared less that I came. Was it because I
drove up in a Saab? Was it because they were busy? Who knows the source
of their apathy? One thing for sure, they lost the opportunity to
influence me to consider Infinity. They lost a potential sale! Why in
the world invite potential buyers to a sales event and not even ask them
to look at your wares? Am I crazy to expect that they might offer to me
the chance to purchase a world-class luxury car? Have you ever been
guilty of the same sin? Have you ever invited customers to visit your
business and not been ready?
The best advertising campaign in the world will
quickly be assassinated by employee lack of interest. The next time you
have a special sales event, see to it that your employees' "desire
to serve" is quite high. No matter how much money you spend
inviting your customers to your "party," your employees can as
easily send them home with bad feelings about your place of business and
quite disgruntled. I doubt that I will ever visit my local Infinity
dealer again, why in the world should I?
Let's explore some ideas to counter the lost
opportunity scenario in your business:
- Explain
the big picture to ALL your employees. Tell them how they will
influence the results and how the results will influence their
employment and income status.
- Allow
your team to have an ownership rather than just a buy-in on the
event. This is achieved by letting them have some say about how the
event will be handled. Your staff has valuable ideas to offer, all
you have to do is listen.
- Incentive
is effective. The carrot is far better than the stick in any
customer service situation. Try giving a bonus or spiff to EACH team
member based on the total effectiveness and profitability of the
event. If your people receive a commission on sales, make the spiff
beyond their usual compensation. This will create more of a team
effort.
- Be
ready for the party. Invite your customers and have your act
together when they attend. This means higher staffing and
inventories for the event. Never allow a customer to walk in with
high expectations and out with a deflated bubble because you were
out of stock or your people were out of energy. Exceed your
customers' expectations.
- Partner
with another local business to make the event a "double
dip" for your customers. Having two activities in the same
general geographical location gives them more of a reason to attend.
Today people art short on time so help them out, make it worth their
time and effort to visit your place of business.
- Show
by actions that you are genuinely pleased that your customers have
arrived. Do more than just have an expressionless "parts
clerk" hand them a gift box and walk away. If you give a gift,
ring a bell or do something exciting when you hand out the goodies.
This will reinforce in the mind of your customer that their decision
to visit was a valuable one. While you are at it, make it fun too.
Lost opportunity, the chance you had to influence
your customer and you blew it. In today's competitive marketplace, you
no longer have the convenience of unlimited chances to influence
consumer-purchasing behavior. Today's consumers have so much more choice
than ever before. They are conditioned to make quick decisions. Every
moment they are in your place of business is a moment of judgment. Trust
me, they do judge quickly. Opportunity like time, once passed, it is
gone forever. Sure, you can try again, but they may never come back.
Be aware of other opportunities that slip like sand
between your fingers. I am referring to synergistic alliances. A
synergistic alliance is any type of partnership, permanent or temporary,
where two or more entities come together. They partner to make more
happen in their businesses mutually than would have been possible
singularly. In the challenge of today's global competition, working with
others simply makes good business sense. It's simple, two companies
advertising the same sales event can double the bang for their
individual advertising dollar. Two companies buying from a single vendor
can get a better discount or concession than one based on the increased
order. Don't be twice guilty of missing opportunity. Work with others to
create the kind of synergy that allows one plus one to equal three. Why
not get more?
As I travel the country lecturing to business
persons on partnering ideas, I am truly amazed at how many people see
the world from "the glass is half empty" point of view. There
is no better time than this minute to have a paradigm shift and look at
the possibilities. Sure the first half of the decade was difficult for
many. Let's get off the complaining "slow boat" to personal
destruction and jump on the "Bullet Train" to Success and
Prosperity. Why not, you deserve it!
###
Ed Rigsbee, CSP is the
author of PartnerShift, Developing
Strategic Alliances and The
Art of Partnering. Additionally, he has over 1,500 published articles to his
credit. Ed travels internationally to deliver strategic alliance keynotes
and workshops. He can be reached at +1 (805)
498-5720, ed@rigsbee.com or visit www.rigsbee.com.
To
access helpful additional information from Ed Rigsbee at no charge,
please visit www.rigsbee.com/downloadaccess.htm.
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