Products Finishing magazine is the No. 1 industrial finishing publication in the world. We keep our readers informed about the latest news and trends in plating, painting, powder coating, anodizing, electrocoating, parts cleaning, and pretreatment.
Issue link: https://pf.epubxp.com/i/213540
NEVER FINISHED Killing the Call Report Is there an alternative to the painful call report process that so ofen results in unproductive confict? Let's face it, most salespeople hate completing call reports (the weekly micro-management tool that requires them to account for each and every hour of their time. Fans of the cult classic Office Space should feel encouraged to substitute "TPS Report"). As a result, they do them halfway, or don't do them at all. This in turn leads to frustration on the part of the sales leader whose expectation of perfectly completed call reports is not met. So the sparring begins, not about how to win new business, elate customers or beat competitors, but about the quality or completeness of the call report. What a waste. What's more, perhaps you have noticed an inverse correlation between meticulously completed call reports and the amount of business a salesperson is able to win. Is it possible that the personality traits required for perfect paperwork are not the same as those needed for self-motivation, dealing with rejection, and building personal relationships with customers? The call report. Is there a better way? Let us begin with the premise that selling is a process. Much like parts get racked, cleaned, coated and dried or cured on a coating line, moving a new sales lead from the stage where we identify them and declare them a "prospect" to the point where they become a repeat customer requires us to progress through a fairly specific set of steps. To carry the coatings analogy further, if these steps are not Kill the call report in followed, or if one of them favor of a system that is skipped, we will likely creates discipline and not be very happy with the accountability without the result. The selling process can go confict and frustration; by many names, commonly one that encourages our the sales "pipeline" or the "funnel," the term we will sales teams to win and use for the purpose of this supports them in that column. As the theory goes, endeavor. sales leads begin their life at the top of the funnel and as they progress through the selling process, they near the narrow part of the funnel, until they swirl their way out the bottom in the form of a closed deal. I once had a salesperson object to the word "funnel" claiming instead that it should be called a "cylinder," wherein any lead that goes into the top runs neatly and quickly out the bottom as a sale. In my world it doesn't work that way and it turned out it didn't work that way in his world either. But I digress. Long before a sale is closed, it must begin its life as a lead. Rather than waiting for a lead to drop into our lap we 44 DECEMBER 2013 — pfonline.com must go out and find it. Print ads in trade magazines, banners on their websites, search engine optimization, properly targeted ad words, exhibiting at an industry tradeshow or hiring a telemarketer to contact potential customers, are all good ways to find a lead. MATTHEW KIRCHNER, CEO Once the sales lead American Finishing Resources, LLC is identified, it must be mkirchner@afrnow.com qualified. Just because a lead has a need for our product doesn't necessarily make that lead an ideal sales prospect. Ask the right questions to ensure the lead has the potential sales volume and type of work that will make him an ideal customer. Once the lead is qualified it becomes a prospect. Focus on learning as much as possible about the prospect's business and how we can add value to his business model. The next phase in the sales process is often a trial of some sort. Coaters or OEMs considering an equipment purchase may wish to "try it before they buy it." Manufacturers looking for a custom coater will likely request samples. Samples will be examined, dissected and tested by the customer. I include plant tours, quality audits and other efforts on the part of the customer to confirm the coater's ability to meet expectations as part of the trial phase, though they may take place before or after the proposal phase. Next comes the proposal phase, during which a formal written proposal or quote is provided to the prospect. Take care to ensure the quote is accurate and well written. The proposal phase is generally followed by a closing phase where the business is either won or lost. Any coatings industry company that has added a customer has likely progressed through some version of the preceding steps. Call it a "pipeline," "funnel," or "cylinder," if that terms suits your fancy—the point is that a sales organization must have a system that enables it to track leads throughout the sales process and hold itself accountable to doing so. Such a system can take a number of forms, from a complex and sophisticated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software program to a rudimentary spreadsheet or even a paper file.