By Sid Chadwick, Chadwick Consulting, Inc.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sid-chadwick-163a1a12/.
“The notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past….We have over 70,000 people working remotely… and keeping a very complicated $1.73 trillion balance sheet bank functioning…from their kitchens”............Jes Staley, CEO, Barclays PLC, The Wall Street Journal
INTRODUCTION:
Now….is the critical Time….to stay in contact…through multiple channels…and personally…,.with your Customers…and Prospects….!
The “Inside Sales Team’s Time” --- in our great industry….. is here…not next year….not next quarter….not next month… it is Now!
That is true….….if you know what needs to be different…. in serving Customers….Now…!
And…the availability of “Top Talent” --- to place in lead Customer contact …and Business Development positions --- has never been better.
Let’s… look at our Customers Conditions….to gain a sense of what we should be doing……Now..!
Dr. Jerry Waite, at the U. of Houston’s Digital Media Program…calls the process….“Reverse Engineering”….understanding first….what your customer …is wanting to accomplish….Now…(from recent pandemic conditions)…and working yourself backwards…to what we should be doing… differently …Now!
If you don’t know what’s changed at your customers….what they are wanting to accomplish….what their priorities have changed to….then you’re …… “shooting blanks”….or worse…..teaching your customers that time invested with you and your organizations …is a waste of their precious Time…because ….you don’t know their priorities…don’t know how to follow-up…..don’t know how to ask…”What are your priorities…?”..“What are you trying to accomplish …Now?”
Dr. Anders Ericsson, author of PEAK, and personal advisor to the Philadelphia Eagles, and Manchester United Soccer Club, wrote, “People often practice what they already know how to do… rather than trying to manage something they can’t yet do.”(Source: The Wall Street Journal, Obituary)
Equally destructive… in my opinion…..neither your Customers…nor your Customer contact personnel….have a nearly complete understanding of what your organization:
- Is capable of producing…or…supplying….
- Is “best known ….for producing….or….supplying”….(Go look at your outdated….incomplete… self-promotion literature….!)
And….your key personnel…..do not know…
- What are our priorities….our focus…..beyond “sell more”…?
- Nor do we know...(and why)…when our organization has a good….or improving week of revenues…or… improving week of productivity….or….improved Quote Hit-Ratio….and….reduced spoilage…..!
Too little that’s important....is being measured…reported…and charted…!
SUMMARY:
I know too many organizations that have “hunkered-down” over the last 90 days (after experiencing the best January and February in their company’s history)……and then….
Privately confessed….. that with… “all they are doing of a social media nature”…. too many of their Customer Contact personnel… do not know --- how to effectively engage…. Customers and Prospects…..for:
- Developing and delivering…a “Personalized Quote Letter”…..(which is far more than “sending a Quote”)….
- Learning Customer’s…. ambitions and priorities….and
- Becoming proactive in supporting… Customers improved business performance.
--- What has your organization’s leadership… developed --- that constantly educates and trains…measures…reports…and charts…and… holds individuals’ accountable…recognized…and praised…on a daily and weekly basis…for what they accomplished…. for The Team…?
Those are the marching orders….that are part of the prescription…and… the next 6-to-12 critical months…..should determine…
Who…. is worth your Customers’ Time…..?
We don’t get to replay… get to redo……the critical Time...... that’s before us….!
“Napoleon understood time (“Space we can recover. Time, never.”), Charles Darwin understood time (“A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life.”), William Penn understood time (“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”)”
“Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed”…………..Peter Drucker, Consultant, Writer, Professor
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