Research conducted by The CEO Project suggests that the individual at the very top of the organization should spend their most valuable resource – time – much differently than how it is currently spent.
How the top person chooses to spend their time determines to a large extent the ultimate value of the organization. There are three actions that successful top executives focus on. Elsewhere you can read about the need for selecting the right business and profit model as well as selecting “A” players and having them in key positions.
The third critical action that the leaders of successful organizations focus on is the creation and implementation of “A” processes in customer service and sales.
The ability to systematically delight customers means they will stay, buy more and refer others. Having the ability to do this every time is critical. Note that the operative words in the definition are “delight” and “every.”
How can this be accomplished without significant cost? Consider that the end of each transaction, the customer is asked “Are you delighted, satisfied or not satisfied?” The next question is “why?” These eight words will reveal how the customer rates the entire experience, which includes the people, the processes, the product and the service. Given how simple this exercise is, it makes things “real” to those using the information.
The Ritz Carlton hotel chain understands the need to delight every customer. At the chain, every employee is empowered to take care of customer needs. Ritz Carlton understands that there is great economic value turning a satisfied customer into a delighted one. The intent of the company is “to create guests for life.”
Putting “A” processes into the sales function will greatly loosen if not free the point of constraint that keeps most organizations from growing as fast as they could. It starts with a decision to have an “A” player in charge of that department.
One way to conduct this assessment is to assume that the person being evaluated (and currently holding the position) has been out of that job for a year and the CEO has a chance to hire them back. The ratings would be:
“A” is defined as the CEO would move ‘heaven and earth’ to rehire that person
“B” is defined as the CEO would definitely rehire that person instead of taking a chance in hiring a new person from the outside
“C” is defined as the CEO would not rehire that person and would hire someone from the outside
This process can then be repeated until a candid assessment of all the positions reporting directly to the individual in charge of the sales area has been evaluated.
Other key issues related to improving the sales process includes an assessment of prospecting and lead generation; follow through on leads provided to the sales force; presentations made to prospects, overcoming objections and closing.
If a company can systematically increase its customer base and delight its existing customers, this combination leads to a series of compounding events. Existing customers continually buy more of the firm’s products at a cost of sales far below that of capturing new customers. Delighted customers become clients, refer others, which validates the essential need to develop “A” processes in customer service and sales.
There are many organizations that claim that they have great customer service (and great people working in the organization) but the truth is quite different.
