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Today's Call Center and Telemarketing Management Articles
Train a Winning Sales Team: Rounding Third and Heading
for Home
by Sally Bacchetta
Although I never met the man, I imagine Lou Boudreau
would have made one heck of a field sales trainer. In 1942 the 24-year
old Cleveland Indians shortstop was promoted to player/manager of his
team, and for the next eight years Boudreau did what we, as trainers,
are called upon to do every day: demonstrate success, inspire success
and cultivate success. Think of it as the triple play of sales training.
DEMONSTRATE
A seven-time All-Star shortstop, Boudreau was only the second manager
to take the Indians to a World Series Championship, and no one has done
so since. Clearly, he was a man who demonstrated success. As field sales
trainers we must similarly make success a habit. A field contact with
a trainer may be the first “in situ” opportunity a new rep
has to test their impressions of the company, and possibly selling in
general.
Is what we say consistent with the corporate sales direction? Is what
we do consistent with what we say? Most importantly, are we successful
at gaining customer commitment and moving the sales process forward?
Inexperienced reps may need guidance on effective territory management
and specific techniques for gaining access to prospects. Experienced
reps are more familiar with the demands of the position, so their concerns
are usually more territory-specific. Their willingness to accept us
as role models may depend on how well we demonstrate successful resolution
of field challenges: “The key thought leader in my area is on the
speaker’s bureau for Competitor X. How can I compete with that?”
“Most of my key decision makers won’t see reps. What can I
do to impact their decision making process?” Established reps need
to know that we have successfully overcome similar challenges and can
give them strategies to do the same.
Demonstrating success is also vital because as field sales trainers
we hold a uniquely dual role in the sales organization. In addition
to the time we spend training and coaching sales reps, most of us are
responsible for increasing sales and growing market share in our assigned
territories. Our ability to manage our time and territory productively
is vital in order to reach our own performance goals.
INSPIRE
Selling is fun when sales are good, but experienced reps know that’s
not always the case. Without any warning you run smack into a competitor’s
newly expanded sales force. Your blockbuster technology launches with
software challenges. You spent your weekend studying a new clinical
reprint, but every doctor you see wants to talk about last night’s
exposé on the cost of prescription drugs.
Inspiration is our second wind. It keeps us focused on the big picture
when our progress temporarily stalls. It’s a safe bet that all
sales reps want to succeed… a good trainer will inspire them to
succeed. The wanting gives us aim, but it is the inspiration that makes
us reach.
Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller understood the power
of inspiration to drive performance: “I remember in 1948... I was
having a rough season, and instead of replacing me Lou (Boudreau) said
‘We’re going to sink or swim with Feller’. After he said
that I won 10 of my last 12 games. He instilled a confidence in his
players they never forgot.”
In the final analysis inspiration is unique to the individual, so figuring
out how to inspire our sales reps may be the most challenging aspect
of being a trainer. It can also be the most rewarding.
One way to inspire success is to celebrate its many forms. Baseball
fans illustrate this perfectly. Do they wait soundlessly for the final
out in the bottom of the ninth? Of course not! They cheer every solid
crack of the bat… every difficult catch… every stolen base,
because they recognize that each of these small successes brings them
closer to their ultimate goal. The more skillful the play the more fervent
the cheer, which motivates the athletes to stretch their abilities to
achieve even more.
I think the single most inspiring thing you can do is
to pay attention to your reps. Don’t wait until the bottom of the
ninth to commend their progress. Make a point to notice their incremental
gains and celebrate their success!
CULTIVATE
When I first started in sales I thought I should be just like Gregg,
the most successful member of my team. I stifled my own personality
and conducted my sales presentations as if I were Gregg, copying his
voice inflections, the rhythm of his speech, and even some of his jokes.
It wasn’t long before I began to suspect that his achievement was
more a matter of luck than skill, because clearly, this selling approach
was a failure!
In truth, the failure was mine. By rejecting my personal style I had
violated one of the fundamental principles in cultivating success: respect
individuality. Gregg’s approach worked for him because it was his.
When I rediscovered my style and trusted my own instinct, that’s
when I developed success. When Boudreau was promoted to player/manager
his team was made up of more than just shortstops. He led his team to
victory by relying on each player’s unique strengths to overcome
the challenges of their position. Whether we are working with new or
veteran reps, we must respect that their individual traits and talents
have gotten them this far. Our job is to expect more.
How can we help our reps progress from expecting more to achieving more?
By encouraging risk taking and new behaviors. Too conservative a team
culture makes it difficult to raise the bar; few are willing to reach
higher, for fear of falling short. As trainers we should be first at
bat, risking innovative approaches and new ideas. Boudreau wasn’t
afraid to think differently. He recognized that teammate Bob Lemon was
misplaced as an infielder, so he reassigned him to pitcher, liberating
Lemon from mediocrity and helping him achieve MVP/All Star status.
BATTER UP!
Just as a coach can’t swing the bat for the player at the plate,
we can’t be with our teams every play of the game. We must share
our best techniques for sales success, so that when split-second adjustments
need to be made, they have the skills to make the right ones.
“I can’t be with you every day” has become something
of a team slogan; a reminder that ultimately we each bear responsibility
for creating our own success. As trainers our mission is to teach the
art of unflinching self-assessment. Perhaps the most important thing
we can give our reps is the ability to evaluate themselves honestly
and specifically. Once they master that skill set they will be rounding
third and heading for home!
Copyright ©2004 - 2005 by Sally Bacchetta. All rights reserved.
Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer/Sales Trainer
Sally Bacchetta is an award-winning sales trainer and
freelance writer.
Contact her at sb14580@yahoo.com and read her latest sales articles
on her website.
CRM 101: Customer Relationship Management for Beginners
by Scott Hawksworth
Customer Relationship Management, abbreviated “CRM,” is the
term for a business strategy that is designed to improve customer service.
CRM is also designed to increase customer satisfaction and gain new
customers, thus increasing a business’ revenue. CRM is a term that
can be applied to software and an entire business strategy.
How Does CRM Work?
Essentially, CRM works by gathering information about
customers and analyzing the information collected. An example of this
would be supermarket discount cards (I.E. Kroger Plus Cards, ACME cards,
Giant Eagle cards, etc...). When a consumer scans his or her card, and
then his or her items, the items that customer bought are entered into
a database. This gives businesses an accurate idea of which customers
buy what. Businesses then analyze this information. After analyzing
the data collected, businesses can adjust their marketing campaigns
and increase sales. Customer Relationship Management brings the company
closer to the customer. CRM closes a “relationship gap” that
can be formed between the business and its customers.
CRM is also useful for customer service. Businesses can
use automated CRM applications to analyze customer complaints, or compliments,
and change the business processes accordingly. Interestingly enough,
CRM products also run many automated call-centers for businesses (I.E.
customer service systems). CRM applications and practices are used to
make businesses more efficient and improve customer satisfaction.
What Can a Business Gain From Using CRM?
There are many goals that businesses have when implementing
CRM techniques and applications. The business wants to improve customer
service, which will subsequently improve customer satisfaction. The
business also wants to maximize revenue by advertising the right products
to the right people. In other words, businesses want to know what customers
want. Once a business finds what a customer wants through a CRM method,
the business can then provide the customer exactly what he or she desires.
This will lead to returning customers, and the gaining of new customers.
CRM processes also are designed to monitor all of the contact between
customers and companies. Maintaining a positive relationship with one’s
customers is an essential element in business. Well-rounded CRM works
to ensure that this element exists.
CRM Applications
CRM applications are applications that run on the same
principals as Microsoft Word and Excel. There are many values that can
be filled in. Once these values are filled in, the data needs to be
analyzed and interpreted. A major advance in CRM application technology
is the invention of applications, which can collect data, and analyze
it at the same time. This new technology will make CRM even more effective
and efficient.
Conclusion
For any business, successful Customer Relationship Management
navigation is becoming increasingly important in today’s competitive
business world. Customer expectations are always increasing, and business
services must increase along with these expectations. CRM is the method
through which businesses can connect with their customers and therefore
serve them better. Businesses with successful CRM strategy and applications
will notice a large increase in sales, customer satisfaction, and simply
the overall success of the business.
For the latest news and information concerning CRM, visit
http://www.crmblog.org.
This site is updated daily by Mr. Scott Hawksworth.
The new Customer Relationship Management CRM functions
By J.C.Melo
The Customer Relationship Management CRM system was born
because of the need for a software to analyze customer's data - as for
example its preferences - changing rough data that usually exists in
any customer's database, into important information about the same customer.
That is to say, a new modern sales & marketing tool.
In this first period the data of an online and real-time
accounting & management system was analyzed by this stand-alone
CRM software, and in the following period those accounting & management
systems integrated this initial marketing & sales functions of a
CRM.
Soon after, this new accounting & management system
- now integrated with the CRM functions - included a Call Center system
of the last generation with or without a voice processing system - input
and output - through the telephone system usually so loved by us.
Soon after appeared an obvious question: If the CRM support
my customers, why don't change it to support all the external functions
of my company, as for example my suppliers, distributors, representatives,
branches, affiliated companies, employees's families, etc., each one
with different needs and processings?
This is the current Customer Relationship Management CRM
system, for everything concerning the external world of a company, and
consequently its original name no longer represents its current functions
in spite to be widely used.
Today we should split the IT system of a company in two
great sides but in the near future will be only one system:
1. Enterprise Resources Planning ERP, for the internal
world of a company, on which we will write another article in the near
future,
2. Customer Relationship Management CRM, for the external
world of a company.
However it's absolutely necessary to understand that a
CRM is not a software package that can be installed and immediately
will be ready to work, but yes a system that obligatorily should be
implemented by IT specialists together with the whole company in a continuous
job, besides to be adapted to the specific needs of the company. And
because the CRM was not interpreted correctly by a large amount of companies,
recent research showed that 42% of purchased CRM systems are inoperative
for been interpreted as a push-button software.
However if very well designed and installed, a CRM is
a powerful tool for a company to grow on this digital business Century,
certainly surpassing your competition and generating reasonable ROI
Return on Investment.
J.C.Melo is a 73-years old IT professional with 54 years
of experience in computer science & technology entrepreneurship.
He was the owner of the first minicomputer factory in South America
and Consultant for the U.S. Government in several contracts. Now is
the CEO of the organization MBA
Open University.
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