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Do You Have a Sales Prevention Department in Your Company? Part 2

Since I first covered the issue of “sales prevention” in the February 1994 issue of Telemarketing magazine (the parent publication of this magazine), I have received several inquiries on this important topic. The following is continued from the October issue of Customer Interaction Solutions, where we addressed the first five areas that are most likely to contribute to sales prevention. Here are the remaining areas:

6. Have a Nasty CEO – Many entrepreneurial companies are started by ego-driven individuals. Wisdom and professionalism are substantially ignored when that CEO is dealing with customers. These types of individuals must never be faced with customers; it takes only one nasty remark to destroy a million-dollar deal. Believe it or not, we have observed this situation several times in the past.
7. Avoid a Loose Cannon on the Sales Staff – This is, perhaps, the most damaging situation for any company. A loose cannon can create not only a tremendous amount of unnecessary problems, but he or she can destroy a relationship and prevent any and all anticipated sales.
8. Avoid a Loose Cannon Anywhere in the Company – Obviously, such a person must not be tolerated by any responsible company. That individual can not only destroy the morale of the employees and create problems, but also, when contacted by customers, can create yet another major problem by destroying your relationship with the customer.
9. Do You Have a Chronic Complainer on Your Staff with a Bad Attitude? Believe it or not, some people are “never happy unless they are unhappy.” Such people will complain chronically. Not only do these people destroy morale within the company, they have the potential to significantly damage the morale and attitude of the sales department. This problem should also not be allowed under any circumstances, at any company.
10. Unwise Sales Compensation Program – One of the most powerful management tools is to develop a mutually beneficial compensation program that fosters accountability on the part of the sales people.
11. Lack of Teamwork – As a sports enthusiast and former coach for Little League soccer, I have learned that nothing is more important in any organization or any sports team than teamwork. One of the greatest things that I have heard along these lines is, “teams win, individuals lose.” To promote teamwork, companies must provide a team goal and make sure that every individual meets his or her needed sales results; otherwise this team goal may not be met.
12. Sales Support and Customer Care Should be Second to None – In today’s highly demanding consumer environment, sales support and customer care are just as important as selling a great product or service. We all know people who have canceled a contract with a well-known manufacturer, not because of product performance, but because of lousy customer care and customer service. A situation like this qualifies as a sales prevention department because the unhappy customer is not likely to buy anything from your company if you have that kind of problem.
13. Rudeness and Unprofessional Behavior Bust Be Eliminated at Any Cost – It is management’s paramount responsibility to train and communicate clearly with the entire company that rudeness and unprofessional behavior, either within the company or with customers, is totally and categorically frowned upon and not tolerated by management.

Focusing On the Strategic Needs of Your Customers

In addition to avoiding the above problems, a progressive company with savvy management must focus completely on customer needs and customer care. Today’s customers, in my opinion, are looking for the following:

1. Better, Cheaper, Faster – This is clearly the formula for success for any progressive company. Customers demand better, cheaper, faster products. To survive, suppliers must comply at all costs.
2. Customers Need a Competitive Advantage – Obviously, with the highly competitive environment today, if you don’t have the competitive advantage, you cannot sell your products. Customers expect their vendors to give them a competitive advantage and, most importantly, they expect their vendors to differentiate their products from their competition.
3. The Customer Demands All of the Above, Yesterday – That is, they want it and they want it now. To prosper, you need to reinvent your company to comply with all of the requirements indicated above in order to run a successful company and avoid lost sales.
4. These rules were created as the result of years of experience in business. For us, these are the cardinal rules of successful business, and they should be the cardinal rules of any company. Indeed, over the years, I have personally lost a lot of money because of ignorance of the above golden rules of business, and my objective is to share them with you so you don’t make the same mistakes that I have.
5. The bottom line is that if you want to eliminate the sales prevention department, which exists in perhaps 95 percent of companies, you need to address all these problems and eliminate anything that is contributing to sales prevention in your company.

As always, I welcome your comments. Please e-mail them to me at [email protected].

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