Monday Mornings with Madison

Category Archives:
Sales

May 13, 2013

Six-Star Service – Part 2

Issue #280

When it comes to service, customers can easily distinguish poor service from good service. Poor service is when a customer is forced to wait 20 minutes in a long line to pay for goods or services at store. Good service is when the store manager directs staff to open as many registers as needed to ensure no customer waits more than three to five minutes to pay for a purchase. Poor service is when an auto service center quotes that it will take two hours to change the brakes on a car but actually takes four hours to complete the job. Good service is when the service center’s manager admits up front that it is going take three to four hours to complete the job and offers other appointment times that would minimize the customer’s wait time. The difference between bad service and good is as obvious as night and day.

Distinguishing good service from great service is a different story. Most people consider five-star service the benchmark of great service…. “as good as it gets”. However, that is not the case. Some companies have raised the bar even further on the concept of excellent customer service. It is called six-star service. What exactly constitutes six-star service? Does it make sense for a company to want to raise the bar even higher on customer service if is already delivering very good service? Is it even possible to consistently deliver six-star service? Continue reading →

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May 6, 2013

Six-Star Service

Issue #279

Delivering consistently high-quality service to customers is the biggest challenge for many businesses. Some industries are rife with customer service complaints. In fact, in some industries, certain company names have become synonymous with bad service. For example, recently, USA Today published a list of nine retailers delivering the worst customer service. The ranking (March, 2013) was based on the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (which measures customer satisfaction with retailers). Companies that scored the worst in customer satisfaction included Safeway (which has been at the bottom of the ASCI data for 10 years in a row), Walgreens, Netflix, TJX (which owns TJ Maxx, Home Goods and Marshalls), The Gap, Sears, CVS, Supervalu and Walmart. Of course, retailers are not alone in the struggle to delivery consistently good service. The travel industry — including airlines, cruise ships and hotel chains – also regularly makes the news for its flagrant disregard for its customer’s needs.

That said, there is evidence that companies in every industry are striving to improve their service. In fact, according to the ASCI data, customer satisfaction with retailers is at an all-time high. Some companies even claim that what sets them apart from their competitors is their superior customer service. In the hospitality and travel industries, among others, they’ve adopted a star system to denote quality and service. Five stars has been considered ‘the best’, until recently an even higher level of service was denoted. So what separates bad customer service from good, and dare we say, even great service? And what is six-star service? More importantly, how does a company go about raising the bar and setting a new benchmark for its customer service? Continue reading →

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January 28, 2013

Super Salesmanship

Issue #266

The leadership at every company wishes every employee who interacts with customers was a ‘super salesperson’. Imagine what a company could achieve if all of its employees – that includes anyone dealing with potential customers – did everything possible to convert each potential customer into an actual customer. That is surely every Sales Manager’s dream… or perhaps, they might say, fantasy. Most Sales Directors would likely say “It is easier said than done to make all employees into super salespeople.” After all, there are millions of books, videos, articles, blog posts and consultants touting the best guidance on how to improve sales. If improving sales was easy or if there was a perfect proven formula, there would be no need for so much advice.

Yet, it may be that the best strategies to supersize sales for any company can be found within the company. That is often what managers and leaders find when they step back and observe their own company employees in action. Instead of looking outside to gurus and experts, the best sales ideas often bubble up from within. How might a company begin to identify super sales ideas within their own organization? And how can a company then leverage those ideas to improve sales across the board? Here’s how.
Continue reading →

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December 10, 2012

Ten Tips For Giving Gifts To Clients

Issue #260

To gift or not to gift, that is the question. For the last five or six years, companies cut back on the quantity and value of corporate gifts given to clients. It was understood that times were tough and businesses could scarcely justify giving gifts to clients when they were laying off staff, freezing hiring, cutting salaries and increasing workloads. The economy could legitimately be blamed for a reduction in gift-giving. After all, corporate profits in the first quarter of 2009 hit its lowest level in a decade.

However, the economy seems to have turned a corner. According to a recent report from the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. corporate profits for the third quarter of 2012 reached a record high, even adjusted for inflation. Moreover, the increase was entirely a result of stronger business at home. Likewise, the real estate sector seems to be bouncing back. The current share of non-distressed sales is at its highest level since August 2008. With these positive signs, businesses are once again contending with the annual discussion around client gifting. Should we or shouldn’t we? If we should, to whom do we give? Who will compile the list? How much should we spend? What level of gift should go to which people? Must we match or up the ante over what we gave last year? These can be tricky questions. Here are some suggestions for creating and fulfilling the shopping list for clients. Continue reading →

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September 24, 2012

What is Brand Social Currency?

Issue #251

In recent weeks, we looked at reputation, brand and brand value as variables that impact a company’s worth in the global marketplace. We reviewed the various brand ranking reports that determine and monetize the value of the biggest brands in the world annually, including Interbrand’s 100 Best, Brandz’s Top 100 and Credit Suisse’s Great Brands. Those annual lists use a myriad of criteria to assess each brand’s value.

However, there is now a new report that examines ‘Brand Social Currency’, rather than brand value. Is there a difference between brand value and brand social currency? Apparently so. Brand value is about determining the worth of a brand based on internal factors such as clarity, commitment, protection and responsiveness, and external factors such as authenticity, relevance, differentiation, consistency, presence, and understanding. It looks at a company’s financials, sales, marketing, operations and reputation to monetize a brand’s worth.

Brand social currency, on the other hand, focuses on the point at which a brand intersects with, speaks to and integrates with customers within their daily life. Due to the increasing social nature of the Internet and mobile technologies, consumers and customers adopt these technologies and platforms and integrate them into daily life routines and contexts, such as using a phone to identify the closest store that carries a desired product at the best possible price. In order to survive and thrive, companies are finding new ways to allow their brands to interact with customers. Those efforts, in short, are what build brand social currency. Continue reading →

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August 27, 2012

What Drives A Brand’s Value?

Issue #247

Given the global marketplace and the pervasive impact of technology on reputation, a company’s brand is increasingly becoming a major factor in its success. While most business owners and managers understand the general importance of a company’s brand, they are a little less clear on what can increase or decrease a brand’s value. Most business owners don’t know how to go about increasing and leveraging the worth of its company’s brand.

To better understand brands, let’s consider what factors are used to evaluate the biggest mega-brands. There are now a number of brand consultants that conduct surveys to identify and rank how the top brands are doing and how those brands are impacting corporate bottom lines. For example, Interbrand conducts an annual survey entitled 100 Best Global Brands. Milward, Brown also puts out an annual ranking of brand value entitled BrandZ’s Top 100 most Valuable Global Brands. Credit Suisse also issues an annual report called Great Brands. There are many other such reports.

Each of the rankings looks to monetize the value of a company’s brand. The factors assessed vary from survey to survey. They are also weighted differently according to industry or category. That said, the major surveys are based on hundreds of thousands of interviews examining tens of thousands of brands globally. They parse billions of pieces of data that are then calculated to generate a brand value score for each company. They examine the point where a company’s sales, marketing, operations and financials collide with public perception. So what factors do these brand experts consider in calculating a brand’s value? Continue reading →

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August 20, 2012

Brand Reputation: Ruins, Revivals and Damage-Resistant Part 2: Brand Redemption vs. Teflon Brand

Issue #246

A company’s brand is the class of goods or services identified by name as belonging to that particular company. Like an invisible branding iron, a company’s brand is the personification of its reputation and public cache. A positive brand can be leveraged — much like cash reserves — to take a company to new heights. A negative brand is like a ball and chain around the company’s every move.

Sometimes, when a company’s reputation takes a beating – usually due to their own mistakes or wrongdoing – they opt to dump their brand and start fresh. As we saw last week, sometimes it works. But if the problems that caused the brand to tarnish continue, then rebranding is futile. That is why some companies choose to stick with their brand – troubles and all – and work to restore the brand’s reputation and image. It is usually not an easy task.

Interestingly, not all corporate wrongdoing causes brand damage. There are companies that do wrong or cause harm and yet their reputations and brands continue practically untouched. For marketers, it can be puzzling to grasp why some brands are more easily damaged than others. To get a better picture of how brands can rise from the ashes or manage to go through a firestorm unscathed requires analysis. Let’s take a look at two companies that were caught doing wrong. For one company, its reputation plummeted and it took a lot of time and effort for the reputation to be restored. For the other company, its reputation was hardly affected. Continue reading →

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August 13, 2012

Brand Reputation: Ruins, Revivals and Damage-Resistant Part 1: Rebranding Strategy

Issue #245

It used to be that a company’s reputation was based on the overall quality of the products or services it delivered, the value it provided, and the customer service it conveyed. Gaffs were generally forgotten over time. Sometimes, customers never even heard about minor issues in quality or service.

That is no longer the case. Television and radio made it easier for customers to become aware of any major company defects in quality, value or performance. Computers, the Internet and social media added to the public scrutiny of most any company’s brand and reputation. Today, companies must be exceedingly careful in protecting their reputation and brand.

Brand reputation is an integral part of a company’s strength or weakness. In some cases, a badly dinged reputation can add the final ‘f’ that turns an ailing brand into a failing brand. But a bad reputation does not always lead to brand death. Some companies have succeeded in redeeming badly damaged brands while other companies are able to sail through major corporate blunders with barely a scratch to its Teflon reputation. What makes a company’s brand either vulnerable or impermeable to reputation problems? Why do some corporate reputations end in ruin while others can be revived and still others are simply impervious? Continue reading →

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August 6, 2012

Sometimes All That Is Needed Is A Fresh Start

Issue #244

Recently, the IRS rolled out a new “Fresh Start’ program offering to wave failure-to-pay tax penalties for those who have been unemployed. The idea was to give people who have fallen behind on their taxes the chance to get their financial house in order and start fresh. To qualify, the person must have:
• been an employee who was unemployed for at least 30 consecutive days between January 1, 2011 and April 17, 2012,
• been self-employed with a 25% or higher reduction in business income in 2011
• had income that did not exceed $200,000 if filing jointly, or $100,000 for single or head of household, or
• had 2011 taxes due not exceeding $50,000.

With this program, the IRS understood that a ‘fresh start’ can be an empowering, uplifting and engaging force in life. The opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start again can give those who are tired and forlorn a renewed sense of hope and energy. Moving to a new town. Going to a new school. Beginning a new job. These events all inspire a feeling of ‘starting anew’ that can be invigorating. Underlying it all is the chance to do more… the possibility to be better… the prospect of improving in areas where one fell short in the past. But the concept of a ‘fresh start’ is not limited to people, programs and time. Companies also understand the power of a ‘fresh start.’ Embracing the concept, businesses have used the notion of a ‘fresh start’ to jumpstart areas of business that have lost focus, pep, or luster. Continue reading →

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July 30, 2012

Passive, Aggressive or Assertive?

Issue #243

In the business world, one of the most desirable personality traits is assertiveness. Sales managers revere assertive salespeople… those who show a bold forcefulness in the pursuit of a sale. Employees are applauded for being assertive in problem solving and thinking out-of-the-box. Leaders are acclaimed for their hands-on, assertive management style.

Within the spectrum of forceful behavior, assertiveness is considered the middle ground between aggressiveness (too much force) and passivity (not enough force). But how does an executive, manager or entrepreneur achieve just the right balance of assertiveness? Is there a perfect degree of assertiveness that is right for all people, all positions and all situations or is it more subjective? And can one’s natural level of assertiveness be improved or adjusted as needed? Continue reading →

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