Gold Medal standards in customer service

Will visitors to the Olympic Games in the U.K. delight or despair with the levels of customer service that they receive from the Games, hotels and transport services? In an article in The Daily Telegraph by Octavius Black, he argues that general levels of customer service have a long way to go before the country reaches ‘gold medal standard’. According to the World Economic Forum’s ranking of customer service, Britain comes in just behind Lithuania – in 34th place.
After its initial worrying analysis, the article does give many positive pointers for businesses and managers to improve customer service – from their own attitude to helping frontline staff with theirs. He offers this perspective on a customer service friendly company “When every conversation, from executive meeting to water cooler chat, is peppered with fresh stories about real customers, you know you’re heading in the right direction.” For more advice on going for gold read the full articlehere http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businessclub/management-advice/9104637/Think-Tank-UK-will-struggle-to-win-gold-in-customer-service-during-the-London-2012-Olympics.html

A leader in tough times

What are your sales team expecting from you as a sales manager and team leader in difficult economic times? An American blogger on www.entrepreneur.com suggests 12 ideas to try to inspire confidence to achieve the team’s goals. Many of the traits deal with being honest and accountable with staff and in turn listening and responding to their ideas. This also includes letting your team know the big picture. If they don’t know what’s going on, “that leaves you having to micromanage every problem instead of being able to delegate and offer guidance.” The article also urges leaders in whichever industry sector to not lose sight of others’ needs whether that be your peers, employees or customers: “ Be service-oriented. Leaders can be sort of self-involved, forgetting that they are in a position of leadership.” For help on how to be an effective manager and leader see the full article at http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/222841

Have you got what it takes to be an account manager?

A good account manager needs to have a foot in both sales and in customer service. That’s according to a detailed careers review on the Wet Feet careers advice website. They define an ‘AM’ in two ways. Firstly an account manager is “the liaison between a company and its clients… to see that those clients are maximizing the value of the products and services provided.” Secondly the account manager ‘has a duty to maintain, retain, and usually upsell to their portfolio of clients or accounts”. Looking at the opportunities for a career in account management, the website list a number of areas where a good account manager may use their skills. These include consulting firms, public relations agencies or manufacturing companies for major brands. First steps on the account management ladder may be a role as an account executive or account coordinator. Read more sales career advice at http://www.wetfeet.com/careers-industries/careers/account-management

What skills you really need in 2012

A clear and emphatic ‘to do’ list for sales professionals is laid out in the latest issue of Winning Edge magazine by Sean McPheat. Sean’s list includes areas such as the value of ‘entrepreneurial salesmanship’ and the importance of the relationship between marketing and sales. The article explains that ‘ 25-40% of the buying process is completed online before customers engage with your sales team.’ Sales teams needs to know about the prospects found by marketing teams who are ‘conducting their research online, on blogs and in forums’, to have a ‘a distinct advantage over the competition.’ Negotiation skills are described as often left at the end of a training course but are essential ‘ if margins are going to be protected in 2012’. To find out about the other winning points to know about selling in 2012, read the full article on the ISMN(Institute of Sales Management) website http://www.ismm.co.uk/news/2012/01/27/sean-mcpheats-selling-imperatives-for-2012/

Flexible study in leadership skills

Enhancing your leadership and management skills with a formal qualification doesn’t have to mean stepping off the career ladder. The Open University, well known for its high quality distance learning programs, offers a wide range of short courses applicable to a sales professional or manager.
In their Business and Management school, short courses such as ‘Investigating entrepreneurial opportunities’ and ‘Leadership,influence and change in retailing’ are available as well as full degrees in Business Management. Distance learning still means contact with a tutor either online, at a local tutor group sessions or at a day school. For graduates, an MBA course is also available for those with at least three years management or professional experience. However you think your sales management career could benefit from gaining knowledge and experience , take a look at the OU’s website for more information. http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/business-and-management/index.htm

Developing B2B sales skills

Sales techniques need to match the economic environment and in his blog ‘Developing your B2B sales skills’, Voss Graham, provides practical advice in many areas. His recent article “Barriers to overcome to get decision to buy’ looks at why your customers and clients get more reticent about the buying process in harder times.

His seven points to look out for as ‘barriers’ to a successful sale include increasing time pressure for many people. This then allows little time for you as a sales professional to put your case. Others are the need for very strong proof of performance before a deal is completed. He suggests a proactive approach: “Begin tracking your success in terms of a customer’s results with your product or service… ask your customers for their outcomes. Newer customers will provide more interesting data than old existing customers.” For all seven of the potential barriers to decision-making read the whole article on Graham’s blog. http://developingb2bsales.com/barriers-to-overcome-to-get-decisions-to-buy/#more-1074

Building a sales team – expert advice

How does a leading business figure go about putting together a new sales team? Whether you are putting together your own field sales team or are looking to join one, an article from the Forbes magazine website could help.

Bob Gaudreau, the global sales director of Regus, describes his six fundamental needs for an effective sales organisation starting right from the beginning when he stresses the need to ‘Hire right’. He says that companies should ‘Insist upon a structured interview process with two key components: a formalized interviewer questionnaire and dual interviews with at least two separate managers.’ Variety is also the spice of life as well as key to an effective sales team – ‘If you hire only people you like you are failing your organization many times over.’ For more points on building a sales team from training to pay rates, read the full article at http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2011/11/28/how-to-build-a-sales-team-from-the-ground-up/