What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM)?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a phenomenon that is becoming a major discipline within business. CRM can be traced back to the airlines attempt to gather information about their customer flying habits in order to stop their high-fare airliners choosing low-fare carriers, however, the concept was invented even further back, when the shop owner knew all his customers by first name and they knew his name.

In 1998 The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in conjunction with Andersen Consulting published the result of a CRM survey of different companies around the world. The survey revealed a new heightened focus on CRM as a discipline, where companies increased their customer focus and using a process approach to customer relationship management. This was a market shift from the traditional transaction-based and functionally managed approach where the relationship with customer was divided up and dealt with by different departments. The EIU report also showed that between 1994 and 1997 the spending on customer relationship management software and services grew from $200 million to $1.1 billion in the USA. The EIU report is one of many investigations that indicate a growing interest in CRM and some literature concerning CRM even postulate that companies will have to adapt it to survive.


Several researchers define CRM differently. Couldwell defines CRM as:

Customer relationship management is a combination of business process and technology that seeks to understand a companys customer from the perspective of who they are, what they do, and what they like

and Hobby, defines CRM as:
A management approach that enables organisations to identify, attract and increase retention of profitable customers by managing relationships with them".

However, I have found the following definition of CRM, to be the most adequately:

"CRM is a business strategy - an attitude to employees and customers - that is supported by certain processes and systems. The goal is to build long-term relationships by understanding individual needs and preferences - and in this way add value to the enterprise and the customer".


This definition places the strategy of adding value to the customer in the focus, whereas the first mentioned definition gives technology and processor first priority. As the chosen definition explains, the systems and processes are vital support elements in creating value for the customer. The second-mentioned definition is found to be somewhat thin and practical useless but it notice an important aspect of CRM, that the organisation has to learn how to listening to customers. In the definition, CRM is defined as a business strategy. This is an important aspect, as CRM is not to be seen as a concept or a project but as a business strategy, which affects all parts of the company.

CRM is about identifying, retaining, and maximising the value of a companys customers. CRM is a sales- and service business strategy where the organisation wraps itself around the customer, so that whenever there is an interaction, the information exchanged is relevant for that customer. This means knowing all about that customer and what the profitability of that customer is going to be. CRM is an effort to create the whole picture of a given customer, bringing together consistent, comprehensive and credible information on all aspects of the existing relationship, such as profitability information, risk profiles and cross-sell potential.


To keep customers satisfied and make them return, CRM, as a strategy, is not a new phenomenon. Every company wants profitable and loyal customers. The new aspect is that companies start to measure this profitability and loyalty and use this information to segment customers and develop strategies for approaching these customers.


However, before implementing CRM, companies need to have some basic foundations settled. First of all, the basic quality of the products has to be in order, i.e. if the product does not live up to the expectations of the customer, he will not be satisfied, hence loyal for long. The typical strategies prior to CRM are quality control systems such as Total Quality Management (TQM). Secondly, companies also have to know more about their customers before implementing CRM. I.e. they have to evaluate, which customers are most valuable in terms of profitability, loyalty and future expectations. Thirdly, the companies have to have the necessary technology to enable the employees to access information about customers in order to offer customers the best service. Finally, CRM needs full support from the management of the company to stand a chance of success.


About the Author
Rasmus Nielsen has specialised in CRM for several years and been consulting to various companies in Denmark and Australia on the topic.
Rasmus also holds a M.Sc. International Business Economics
 

CRM Business Relationship

A business relationship is different from any other kind of relationship, being a personal or a social relationship. However, to understand what a business relationship means, it is necessary to identify what a relationship is.
A relationship is according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary a connection between things. A different definition is that it is a memory of past interactions. Both definitions say something about a relationship even though that they do not say exactly the same. However, the definitions do not differ between business relationships and personal relationships, which is important because there is a different objective between the two kinds of relationships. Therefore, a business relationship can be defined as: A bond based on a rational objective, which is to do business with each other.However, as the interaction between the two actors increases, a certain relationship evolves and the knowledge about the other part is increased. Together they create a combined understanding and view of reality. The more common output of the relationship is a decrease in transaction costs, as transactions becomes routinely and the bond between the two companies is strengthening.
When talking about a business relationship, trust comes to mind, because relationships build on trust. However, can a relationship survive without trust? It is possible for a professional relationship to exist without trust, though in most cases trust is a part of the professional relationship. Various authors, such as Paul Greenberg in CRM at the speed of light, 2000, has argued that relationships build on memories of past interactions, because on the first encounter you do not know each other, however, on the second encounter you build the relationship on the previous encounter. He believes that it is the previous encounter that counts in the eyes of the customer. It is true that a need can create a genuine relationship, however, a long-term relationship needs trusts to be able to survive. Furthermore, the better one get to know the other, the better conditions the relationship has to succeed, if there is a honest approach to build the relationship. To some degree the two approaches towards creating a business relationship agree, however, if the objective is to create loyalty both the successful encounter and trust must be accomplished in order to create a successful long-term business relationship.


Rasmus Nielsen has specialised in CRM for several years and been consulting to various companies in Denmark and Australia on the topic. Rasmus also holds a M.Sc. International Business Economics
Other Articles from Rasmus Nielsen
www.frejaweb.net

CRM Business Relationship

A business relationship is different from any other kind of relationship, being a personal or a social relationship. However, to understand what a business relationship means, it is necessary to identify what a relationship is.
A relationship is according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary a connection between things. A different definition is that it is a memory of past interactions. Both definitions say something about a relationship even though that they do not say exactly the same. However, the definitions do not differ between business relationships and personal relationships, which is important because there is a different objective between the two kinds of relationships. Therefore, a business relationship can be defined as: A bond based on a rational objective, which is to do business with each other.However, as the interaction between the two actors increases, a certain relationship evolves and the knowledge about the other part is increased. Together they create a combined understanding and view of reality. The more common output of the relationship is a decrease in transaction costs, as transactions becomes routinely and the bond between the two companies is strengthening.
When talking about a business relationship, trust comes to mind, because relationships build on trust. However, can a relationship survive without trust? It is possible for a professional relationship to exist without trust, though in most cases trust is a part of the professional relationship. Various authors, such as Paul Greenberg in CRM at the speed of light, 2000, has argued that relationships build on memories of past interactions, because on the first encounter you do not know each other, however, on the second encounter you build the relationship on the previous encounter. He believes that it is the previous encounter that counts in the eyes of the customer. It is true that a need can create a genuine relationship, however, a long-term relationship needs trusts to be able to survive. Furthermore, the better one get to know the other, the better conditions the relationship has to succeed, if there is a honest approach to build the relationship. To some degree the two approaches towards creating a business relationship agree, however, if the objective is to create loyalty both the successful encounter and trust must be accomplished in order to create a successful long-term business relationship.


Rasmus Nielsen has specialised in CRM for several years and been consulting to various companies in Denmark and Australia on the topic. Rasmus also holds a M.Sc. International Business Economics
Other Articles from Rasmus Nielsen
www.frejaweb.net

Customer Service: Stop Sabotaging Your Customer Relationships

 by: Lora J Adrianse

If you've called for customer service recently you're familiar with this recorded message "This call may be recorded or monitored for quality purposes." I immediately think to myself, "Oh great, here comes the game of 20 questions."

Now don't get me wrong. I spent many, many years training Customer Service Reps. (CSR's). I'm all for making sure customers receive the best possible service. What I'm not for is the pre-scripted list of questions CSR's are required to ask, regardless of whether they are applicable to the situation at hand. I've seen some checklists with as many as 25 pre-scripted "call quality" standards that CSR's are required to use. If they don't, and someone happens to monitor the call, they get marked down. Ludicrous I say!

Let me give you a few highlights from a recent call I made to my well-known auto club:

CSR: What is the year, make and model of your vehicle?

Me: 2000, GMC, Yukon, Denali

CSR: There is no 2000, GMC, Yukon, Denali (obviously it couldn't be found in her list of computer options so she needed to tell me I was wrong)

Me: Yes there is, I drive it every day

CSR: What's wrong with your vehicle?

Me: I don't know. It won't start.

CSR: Does it need to be towed or jumped?

Me: I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with it.

CSR: Well do you think it needs to be towed or jumped?

Me: I have no clue.

CSR: Where is your vehicle?

Me: In my garage.

CSR: Can you push it out of the garage into the driveway or the street?

Me: No. It's a full size SUV. I can't push it anywhere.

CSR: Is there another way you can get it out of the garage?

Me: No. It won't start.

Eventually, after I'd jumped through enough hoops, the call finally ended.

Chances are it wasn't the CSR's idea to get her laughs for the day by asking me stupid questions. Instead, her own company sabotaged her ability to quickly and efficiently take care of her customer, by requiring she use a scripted questioning process.

What Could Have Gone Better? For starters, rather than telling me that the make and model of my vehicle didn't exist, she could have said that she was having trouble finding it in her database, and then asked for verification. Next, instead of asking me twice about whether the truck needed to be "jumped or towed", she might have asked if I had any ideas about what could be wrong with it.

And finally, considering that she already knew the vehicle wouldn't start, asking a woman to push a truck out of a garage seems a little unreasonable.

What Needs To Change? First, re-think your call quality standards. You may have too many standards; they may be too focused on internally created "shoulds", with very little focus on what matters most to your customers. Involve your CSR's and customers in the process.

Secondly, empower and train your CSR's to think, act and personalize service to best accommodate the given situation. One size does not fit all, or even most! Teach your CSR's how to recognize different communication styles, and then how to adapt their personal style so they can best relate to the customer as an individual. In other words, teach CSR's how to treat customers how THEY want to be treated.

And thirdly, continually ask for feedback from CSR's as well as customers. Make time to find out what's working and what's not working. Pay attention to what they have to say. Make ongoing improvements that benefit everyone. Repeat the cycle.

Companies spend thousands, if not millions of dollars each year to acquire new customers, yet sometimes they forget about how to best take care of the customers they already have.

Everyday your customers and your CSR's make decisions about whether to stay with your company or go to your competitor. Loyalty is built on good, solid relationships. Your company relies on the loyalty of your CSR's to service your customers. And great customer service can set you apart from your competition. Take action now! Stop sabotaging those relationships with unnecessary standards that don't really matter to your customers. Your customers and your CSR's will love you for it.

As the owner of Essential Connections, Lora Adrianse is a catalyst for clients who aspire to create dynamic business relationships with their colleagues and customers. She authors a free monthly newsletter, "Relating@Work". Go to her website to subscribe now! www.connectionscoach.com

coach@connectionscoach.com

How to Build Great Customer Relationships Via Phone

Business is about creating and maintaining customer relationships.
But what is a relationship? It means communication. If you ask
people in a work setting, "What would improve work, profits and
customer service the most where you work?" the answer is almost
always "Better communication!" Communication plays a vital part
in success or failure of any business.

But what communication tool is used most frequently in the world?
Internet, e-mail, TV, radio? Definitely not! The most essential
communication tool is a phone and hardly any business works
without a phone. And whenever you are in contact with people by
a phone regarding your business, it is also a representation of
your business.

Sounds good, huh? But the important question occurs,
"What is the effective way to improve communication via a phone?"
The computer-based answer (I am a programmer, not a psychologist)
is personalization of your customer with call center.

Learn Something New about Your Customer Constantly.
A successful marketing campaign starts with a keen understanding
of your customers. When you are curious (not snoopy!) about the
people who call you, you are giving them respect. People love to
be respected! Find out how their family is doing, or more about
their favor hobby. If you know your customers more personally
than employees of your competitor know their customers, it's
easier to delight them.

Build a Customer Database.
A centralized database is essential to delivering a unified view
of customers and contacts. That is goal number one. Create a
personal data warehouse about your customers on your PC. Keep
track of your contacts made with customers via a phone. If you
know when your customers called and what information they
searched for or how many times they've called about a particular
product, that lets you track customer behavior. If you know this,
you can respond to your customers effectively and efficiently.

Transmute Your Computer and Phone into Call Center.
Have you ever heard about call center?
I suppose you automatically think that it is something extra
expensive and complicated. And it is just for the "big boys"
like Sony, SAP, Dell and other Fortune 100 companies. But what
is a call center (I prefer the term "contact center")? As a rule
this service includes contact management tools, telephony
integration and tools personalizing every customer interaction.
Great! You have the same: a phone, a customer database and
contact manager software (see below). What hinders you to make
your own small contact center right now, which is increasingly
at the heart of your company's day-to-day interface with its
customers. By recording and analyzing the calls and other
interactions between your contact center and its' customers you
can listen to and act on customer feedback to improve you skills
and business processes, leading to improved customer service -
and hence customer loyalty.

Discovering Value Hidden in Your Data.
Effective customer experience management solutions must capture,
store and replay all live interactions between the customer and
your contact center. Capturing this live information and
embedding it within your customer database gives you the
opportunity to share the information collected in the contact
center with other parts of your business. If you fail to do this
you are missing out on a big opportunity to make every profitable
customer feel that you care about them personally and help
establish a new business relationship with them.

Finding the Right Software.
What difficulties are in selection of the right software for your
small business call center?
The biggest one is chaos. Obtaining a complete understanding of a
company's customer requires the ability to store and manage a
myriad of different information from a variety of sources. In
addition your demands to kept data level can be varied from day
to day. Yesterday you were satisfied if your customer database
stored their names, phone numbers, addresses, birthdays. Today's
demand is to keep customers' emails, webs, credit cards. Tomorrow
you maybe wish to store in the database data about customers' cars,
their favorite colors or birthday of their grandmothers.
But as a rule similar contact management software have only
strictly fixed (structured) numbers of fields in their databases.
If your selected computer application is too small and simple it
will not be enough for you. Or these data fields will not be used
completely if an application is too big and complicated
(and expensive!).

iReferent - Aim to End Result.
iReferent is an contact solution for small and home business that
decide the foregoing problems. It provides a strong feature set
that stands up well against other similar programs on the market.
However, iReferent's real achievement is its unique database
structure: at any time you can input into the database any (!)
number of the description fields, from name of your customers to
their car marks. But for all that you might fill only those
specific fields in every record, which are really necessary. Also
this contact manager gives you the opportunity to keep the detail
phone call history.

Want to know more? Visit our web site at
http://www.sitex.com.ua/en/products/iReferent or contact me via
e-mail to sergkruts@yahoo.com.
You can also download your personal Call Center from here
http://sitex.com.ua/download/CallCenter_e.zip
(file size is 981 Kb, 30 days free trial) and estimate it
yourself.
But what is a relationship? It means communication. If you ask
people in a work setting, "What would improve work, profits and
customer service the most where you work?" the answer is almost
always "Better communication!" Communication plays a vital part
in success or failure of any business.

But what communication tool is used most frequently in the world?
Internet, e-mail, TV, radio? Definitely not! The most essential
communication tool is a phone and hardly any business works
without a phone. And whenever you are in contact with people by
a phone regarding your business, it is also a representation of
your business.

Sounds good, huh? But the important question occurs,
"What is the effective way to improve communication via a phone?"
The computer-based answer (I am a programmer, not a psychologist)
is personalization of your customer with call center.

Learn Something New about Your Customer Constantly.
A successful marketing campaign starts with a keen understanding
of your customers. When you are curious (not snoopy!) about the
people who call you, you are giving them respect. People love to
be respected! Find out how their family is doing, or more about
their favor hobby. If you know your customers more personally
than employees of your competitor know their customers, it's
easier to delight them.

Build a Customer Database.
A centralized database is essential to delivering a unified view
of customers and contacts. That is goal number one. Create a
personal data warehouse about your customers on your PC. Keep
track of your contacts made with customers via a phone. If you
know when your customers called and what information they
searched for or how many times they've called about a particular
product, that lets you track customer behavior. If you know this,
you can respond to your customers effectively and efficiently.

Transmute Your Computer and Phone into Call Center.
Have you ever heard about call center?
I suppose you automatically think that it is something extra
expensive and complicated. And it is just for the "big boys"
like Sony, SAP, Dell and other Fortune 100 companies. But what
is a call center (I prefer the term "contact center")? As a rule
this service includes contact management tools, telephony
integration and tools personalizing every customer interaction.
Great! You have the same: a phone, a customer database and
contact manager software (see below). What hinders you to make
your own small contact center right now, which is increasingly
at the heart of your company's day-to-day interface with its
customers. By recording and analyzing the calls and other
interactions between your contact center and its' customers you
can listen to and act on customer feedback to improve you skills
and business processes, leading to improved customer service -
and hence customer loyalty.

Discovering Value Hidden in Your Data.
Effective customer experience management solutions must capture,
store and replay all live interactions between the customer and
your contact center. Capturing this live information and
embedding it within your customer database gives you the
opportunity to share the information collected in the contact
center with other parts of your business. If you fail to do this
you are missing out on a big opportunity to make every profitable
customer feel that you care about them personally and help
establish a new business relationship with them.

Finding the Right Software.
What difficulties are in selection of the right software for your
small business call center?
The biggest one is chaos. Obtaining a complete understanding of a
company's customer requires the ability to store and manage a
myriad of different information from a variety of sources. In
addition your demands to kept data level can be varied from day
to day. Yesterday you were satisfied if your customer database
stored their names, phone numbers, addresses, birthdays. Today's
demand is to keep customers' emails, webs, credit cards. Tomorrow
you maybe wish to store in the database data about customers' cars,
their favorite colors or birthday of their grandmothers.
But as a rule similar contact management software have only
strictly fixed (structured) numbers of fields in their databases.
If your selected computer application is too small and simple it
will not be enough for you. Or these data fields will not be used
completely if an application is too big and complicated
(and expensive!).

iReferent - Aim to End Result.
iReferent is an contact solution for small and home business that
decide the foregoing problems. It provides a strong feature set
that stands up well against other similar programs on the market.
However, iReferent's real achievement is its unique database
structure: at any time you can input into the database any (!)
number of the description fields, from name of your customers to
their car marks. But for all that you might fill only those
specific fields in every record, which are really necessary. Also
this contact manager gives you the opportunity to keep the detail
phone call history.

Want to know more? Visit our web site at
http://www.sitex.com.ua/en/products/iReferent or contact me via
e-mail to sergkruts@yahoo.com.
You can also download your personal Call Center from here
http://sitex.com.ua/download/CallCenter_e.zip
(file size is 981 Kb, 30 days free trial) and estimate it
yourself.

 

Customer Service: Stop Sabotaging Your Customer Relationships

If you've called for customer service recently you're familiar
with this recorded message "This call may be recorded or
monitored for quality purposes." I immediately think to
myself, "Oh great, here comes the game of 20 questions."

Now don't get me wrong. I spent many, many years training
Customer Service Reps. (CSR's). I'm all for making sure
customers receive the best possible service. What I'm not
for is the pre-scripted list of questions CSR's are required
to ask, regardless of whether they are applicable to the
situation at hand. I've seen some checklists with as many
as 25 pre-scripted "call quality" standards that CSR's are
required to use. If they don't, and someone happens to
monitor the call, they get marked down. Ludicrous I say!

Let me give you a few highlights from a recent call I made
to my well-known auto club:

CSR: What is the year, make and model of your vehicle?
Me: 2000, GMC, Yukon, Denali
CSR: There is no 2000, GMC, Yukon, Denali (obviously
it couldn't be found in her list of computer options so
she needed to tell me I was wrong)
Me: Yes there is, I drive it every day
CSR: What's wrong with your vehicle?
Me: I don't know. It won't start.
CSR: Does it need to be towed or jumped?
Me: I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with it.
CSR: Well do you think it needs to be towed or jumped?
Me: I have no clue.
CSR: Where is your vehicle?
Me: In my garage.
CSR: Can you push it out of the garage into the
driveway or the street?
Me: No. It's a full size SUV. I can't push it
anywhere.
CSR: Is there another way you can get it out of the
garage?
Me: No. It won't start.

Eventually, after I'd jumped through enough hoops,
the call finally ended.

Chances are it wasn't the CSR's idea to get her
laughs for the day by asking me stupid questions.
Instead, her own company sabotaged her ability to
quickly and efficiently take care of her customer,
by requiring she use a scripted questioning process.

What Could Have Gone Better?
For starters, rather than telling me that the make
and model of my vehicle didn't exist, she could have
said that she was having trouble finding it in her
database, and then asked for verification.

Next, instead of asking me twice about whether the
truck needed to be "jumped or towed", she might
have asked if I had any ideas about what could be
wrong with it.

And finally, considering that she already knew the
vehicle wouldn't start, asking a woman to push a
truck out of a garage seems a little unreasonable.

What Needs To Change?
First, re-think your call quality standards. You may
have too many standards; they may be too focused on
internally created "shoulds", with very little focus
on what matters most to your customers. Involve your
CSR's and customers in the process.

Secondly, empower and train your CSR's to think, act
and personalize service to best accommodate the given
situation. One size does not fit all, or even most!
Teach your CSR's how to recognize different communication
styles, and then how to adapt their personal style so they
can best relate to the customer as an individual. In
other words, teach CSR's how to treat customers how THEY
want to be treated.

And thirdly, continually ask for feedback from CSR's as
well as customers. Make time to find out what's working
and what's not working. Pay attention to what they have
to say. Make ongoing improvements that benefit everyone.
Repeat the cycle.

Companies spend thousands, if not millions of dollars each
year to acquire new customers, yet sometimes they forget
about how to best take care of the customers they already have.

Everyday your customers and your CSR's make decisions about
whether to stay with your company or go to your competitor.
Loyalty is built on good, solid relationships. Your company
relies on the loyalty of your CSR's to service your customers.
And great customer service can set you apart from your
competition. Take action now! Stop sabotaging those
relationships with unnecessary standards that don't really
matter to your customers. Your customers and your CSR's
will love you for it.
with this recorded message "This call may be recorded or
monitored for quality purposes." I immediately think to
myself, "Oh great, here comes the game of 20 questions."

Now don't get me wrong. I spent many, many years training
Customer Service Reps. (CSR's). I'm all for making sure
customers receive the best possible service. What I'm not
for is the pre-scripted list of questions CSR's are required
to ask, regardless of whether they are applicable to the
situation at hand. I've seen some checklists with as many
as 25 pre-scripted "call quality" standards that CSR's are
required to use. If they don't, and someone happens to
monitor the call, they get marked down. Ludicrous I say!

Let me give you a few highlights from a recent call I made
to my well-known auto club:

CSR: What is the year, make and model of your vehicle?
Me: 2000, GMC, Yukon, Denali
CSR: There is no 2000, GMC, Yukon, Denali (obviously
it couldn't be found in her list of computer options so
she needed to tell me I was wrong)
Me: Yes there is, I drive it every day
CSR: What's wrong with your vehicle?
Me: I don't know. It won't start.
CSR: Does it need to be towed or jumped?
Me: I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with it.
CSR: Well do you think it needs to be towed or jumped?
Me: I have no clue.
CSR: Where is your vehicle?
Me: In my garage.
CSR: Can you push it out of the garage into the
driveway or the street?
Me: No. It's a full size SUV. I can't push it
anywhere.
CSR: Is there another way you can get it out of the
garage?
Me: No. It won't start.

Eventually, after I'd jumped through enough hoops,
the call finally ended.

Chances are it wasn't the CSR's idea to get her
laughs for the day by asking me stupid questions.
Instead, her own company sabotaged her ability to
quickly and efficiently take care of her customer,
by requiring she use a scripted questioning process.

What Could Have Gone Better?
For starters, rather than telling me that the make
and model of my vehicle didn't exist, she could have
said that she was having trouble finding it in her
database, and then asked for verification.

Next, instead of asking me twice about whether the
truck needed to be "jumped or towed", she might
have asked if I had any ideas about what could be
wrong with it.

And finally, considering that she already knew the
vehicle wouldn't start, asking a woman to push a
truck out of a garage seems a little unreasonable.

What Needs To Change?
First, re-think your call quality standards. You may
have too many standards; they may be too focused on
internally created "shoulds", with very little focus
on what matters most to your customers. Involve your
CSR's and customers in the process.

Secondly, empower and train your CSR's to think, act
and personalize service to best accommodate the given
situation. One size does not fit all, or even most!
Teach your CSR's how to recognize different communication
styles, and then how to adapt their personal style so they
can best relate to the customer as an individual. In
other words, teach CSR's how to treat customers how THEY
want to be treated.

And thirdly, continually ask for feedback from CSR's as
well as customers. Make time to find out what's working
and what's not working. Pay attention to what they have
to say. Make ongoing improvements that benefit everyone.
Repeat the cycle.

Companies spend thousands, if not millions of dollars each
year to acquire new customers, yet sometimes they forget
about how to best take care of the customers they already have.

Everyday your customers and your CSR's make decisions about
whether to stay with your company or go to your competitor.
Loyalty is built on good, solid relationships. Your company
relies on the loyalty of your CSR's to service your customers.
And great customer service can set you apart from your
competition. Take action now! Stop sabotaging those
relationships with unnecessary standards that don't really
matter to your customers. Your customers and your CSR's
will love you for it.

Lora Adrianse is passionate about helping people build
dynamic business relationships in the workplace and with
their customers. She can be reached through her website
www.connectionscoach.com .

Sales Force Management & Leadership: Increase Profitability By Understanding Your Sales Team

Some people are wildly successful at selling, meeting and exceeding every goal placed in front of them, while others lack either the self motivation or certain key skill sets to get them to their next level of growth and performance. To improve sales in highly competitive sales environments, leaders must create a growth-oriented atmosphere that thrives on constant improvement, regardless of market conditions.

 

Have you ever closely examined why some people are wildly successful at selling, meeting and exceeding every goal placed in front of them, while others lack either the self motivation or certain key skill sets to get them to their next level of growth and performance? After all, they all have the same product, the same tools, and the same compensation structure.  They?ve all been through the same sales management-training program.   In my experience of 25 years selling, building sales organizations and leading and managing thousands of salespeople, the answer has to do with the fact that virtually all sales? organizations are comprised of four different kinds of salespeople:

 

1.   The Performers ? The Top Producers

 

These high achieving sales executives are the best at bringing in the numbers, but chances are that you spend a fair share of your time cleaning up her messes.  Seems like they?re either sky-high or down in the dumps.  When the performer is down, they are out of their selling zone, and productivity comes to a standstill.  But when the performer is up, look out world!

 

2. The Professional ? Another Top Producer

 

This top producer is very consistent, a total team player, even tempered, patient, and consistently bringing in the numbers.  Professionals are also part of the elite members on the sales team, but they seem to be missing some opportunities that would catapult them to super stardom if they made some slight changes to their selling game.  Instead, they stick to self-proven conservative approaches.

 

3. The Caretaker ? Stuck In A Major Comfort

 

These are the sales executives that are simply stuck in their lackluster comfort zones -- giving you a solid month about every third month, or giving you about seventy percent of what they have all the time.   They have the potential, but they?re consistently mediocre.  You just can?t get them to perform the difficult tasks that it takes to produce at top levels with any regularity.  Worse yet, they?re passive aggressive.  You say to yourself, ?If I could only wake them up, they?d be right up there with the best.?

 

I was giving a speech on ?Four People, Four Paths? to a leading company in the California real estate industry where I was emphasizing the importance of knowing exactly who you are.  While I was quoting my book The Four Kinds of Sales People and explaining in detail the struggles and breakthrough opportunities for each of the four kinds of sales people, a woman in the audience yelled out, ?Oh my God, I?m a Caretaker!?  The crowd laughed and I congratulated her on her honesty and pointed out to her (and others who were not so forthright) the tremendous opportunity that existed if she made the conscious decision to change and begin doing the difficult things that it takes to produce top results on a consistent basis.

 

4. The Searcher ? The One That Belongs In Any Career But Sales

 

All sales leaders have made some bad hiring decisions that result in sales reps that just don?t belong in sales.  They perceived a sales career to be easy and they were wrong.  Producing top sales is hard work.  These misfits are consumed with fear, and if truth be told, they honestly hate sales.  They have no real intention of making the necessary changes to be successful.  You?re better off helping them find more fulfilling careers.
   
My point is that while the individual make-up of sales forces may vary, there are always only four kinds.  Management?s goal is to get the best to keep getting better while building a team with as many top producers as possible. That means management must influence those that are ?stuck? in their comfort zone to break through to the next level.  That means management must perform the unenviable task of helping those that don?t belong to find other career paths.  In my experience, management gets too preoccupied with these two challenges and neglects the opportunity to get their top producers to reach for their next level of achievement.  They have more potential.  That?s why they?re the best. And can be even better.

 

If you want sales to improve, particularly in highly competitive sales environments, then leaders must create a growth-oriented atmosphere that thrives on constant improvement, regardless of market conditions.  By the way, that means leaders and managers must also be striving to break through to their next level as well. Sales is about creating and sustaining momentum, and then creating even more of it.  Consistently.

Breakthrough mentor and sales guru, Chuck Mache, President of Chuck Mache Communications (http://www.ChuckMache.com) has more than 25 years experience in selling, managing, building and leading sales organizations regionally as well as internationally.  In his Brian Tracy endorsed book ?The Four Kinds of Sales People? Mache uses his transforming knowledge and expertise in building heavy-hitter sales organizations to deliver an inspired parable that identifies exactly how and why sales people excel - or don't. Get his book today at http://www.thefourkindsofsalespeople.com/PR/ and increase your organization?s productivity, and profitability.