What Makes a Good Vendor?

Having worked in Channel Sales for 20+ years, I have had many varied experiences with my Channel Partners.  I have seen people produce many, many thousands of dollars in sales, consistently year after year and make tons of money with my programs.  I have also seen the opposite end of the scale, Channel Partners who sign a marketing agreement and either never produce a single sale, or close but a few sales over the years.

So what is it in a Channel Sales group that drives an “Independent Sales Agent” to use one supplier over another?  I have my ideas which I try to run with faithfully with my team of Agents, but I’m really curious what you think?

The most important item I have found over the years, required to even get an Agent on board, is a good, meaningful Product.  Without a marketable product, there’s no reason to sign an agency agreement in the first place.  So let’s assume for this discussion we have a great product…….

A good Channel Team will drive more sales

After product, IMO, Responsiveness is the next most important reason to choose one supplier over another.  If an Agent sends in a quote request, and has it returned within the same day, they have a  GREAT Supplier to work with.  As the time to return a quote extends itself, it exponentially reduces the opportunity to close a sale.  I’ve heard of sales agents waiting days to get sales quotes, only to be told when they do present it to the customer, the prospect has already selected another vendor and has an install date scheduled……..ouch!

(As this is my #1 important trait, for the record, my team at Granite Telecom turns simple, non-complex quotes around in 24 hours or less)

Relationship is a vital cog in any partnership.  I try to be as involved in my agents sales efforts as possible and do my best to contact them at a minimum, once every 3 weeks by phone or email, with in person visits every 6 months.  Covering the entire United States and Canada, visiting even this often is a challenge.  For more regional reps, a monthly stop by would be great to cultivate the relationship with your Channel Partner.

Customer Experience or Service runs a close 4^th.  If your company can provide a top notch customer experience to the sales agent’s customers, you’ll have a better retention rate, meaning long term residuals, which is the name of the game in agency sales.

I have loads of other components I think fit in somewhere, just not sure where to list them?  There’s “financial stability of your company”, “price”, “sales ability”, “promotions”, “SPIF’s”, “commissions”, “flexibility” and many more……

I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts on how these components line up when you’re choosing a supplier…..maybe all of my fellow Channel Managers can learn a thing or two from our sales agents?

How Long Should You Wait on Hold?

How Long Should You Wait on Hold?

I hear the comments every day…..”You won’t believe what happened to me yesterday!”   …. “I waited almost 40 minutes to get through” ….”You’d think they’d hire more people to answer the phones”….” I can’t believe I waited that long only to get transferred”…”That’s the last time. I’m moving my business”.....… and so on.

Hold times can last up to 13 minutes

 

Granted, working in the communications industry, I might be exposed to more of the complaints than the average worker but it is certainly a sore spot when someone has a poor experience with a company’s customer service organization.

We’ve all made that dreaded call during our lunch hour to try and ask a question about something, maybe your cell phone, your cable bill, insurance bill, or even in the worst cases, the calls to file for unemployment benefits or Cobra insurance coverage.  I personally have had loads of these experiences, with some hold times exceeding an hour.  And that is FRUSTRATING.

Take a look at a couple of these examples of hold times from CBC News…..

      1.   Continental Airlines, 13 minutes
2. Air Canada, 10 minutes
3. IRS (Personal), 9 minutes
4. Amtrak, 9 minutes
5. AT&T Customer Service (General), 8 minutes
6. Delta Air Lines, 7 minutes
7. Southwest Airlines, 7 minutes
8. JetBlue Airways, 6 minutes
9. ACE Hardware, 6 minutes
10. AARP Healthcare, 5 minutes

Shocking, huh?  Not really.  I actually would argue that the time to get a resolution is actually longer.  How many times do you get transferred and put back into the queue?  Something to think about?

We each have tolerances in our business in order to balance operating costs with customer satisfaction.  The discussion here is what level of hold time are you willing to accept before you start losing customers?  And as hold time goes up, you WILL LOSE customers.  That’s a fact.

I have seen many statistics pop up over the years to measure hold time. “ATA” or “Average Time of Answer”, “AHT” or “Average Hold Time”, “TIQ” or “Time in Queue” are just a few that come to mind.  I actually use this statistic as a major selling point.  My feeling is providing a service with little or no hold time presents a professional solution and portrays a service orientated company.  If the operations of a firm are designed around short hold times, it means the company cares about its customers and will go to any means necessary to deliver a first class customer experience.  This is the type of company where I want my business to go.

Where do you put your business and why?  Do you think hold time affects customer retention rates?  Let’s find out what we all think…….

…….And just for the record, my company, Granite Telecommunications, answers all  customer service calls with a live person on average in less than 8 seconds 24x7x365……..

Who Owns the Customer?

The Salesperson turns in the big contract, the account gets implemented by the Order group and then is handed over to the Customer Service team to monitor and cultivate; the Operation staff maintains the product line, IT monitors the functionality of the platforms, and Finance processes the revenues.

So who owns the Customer?

The Company will tell you the “Company” does.  This position certainly has merits as all the above sections of a corporation work together to form the core of the “Company”.  Since everyone draws a paycheck from the “Company”, at first glance I would tend to agree. 

However, here’s the million dollar question … since it is the customer’s existence which drives revenues for the company, the real answer to this question lies within “who does the Customer believe their business belongs to”? 

I guess it really depends on the type of product we’re talking about.  If it is a television, I would tend to lean towards the “company” definitely owning the Customer.  If your 6 month old 50” Sony TV 

 (sorry folks at Sony, I had to use somebody’s brand as an example –this in no way implies I’ve had problems with any Sony products, I’ve actually had great stuff from Sony over the years)

suddenly went blank, I’m sure we’d all be on the phone to Sony ASAP.  You wouldn’t try and contact the sales clerk who rang in the sale at Target.  You’d Google or Bing “Sony TV repairs” and you’d be on your way. 

Now let’s look at another product:  your car.  I know when I buy a car, I hold the salesperson from the dealership responsible for that vehicle until I sell or trade it.  If my car breaks down, I call the salesperson who 99% of the time will gladly take your call and arrange for service and in most cases, a replacement car while your’s is in the shop.  This is an example of taking ownership and “farming” your account base.  Take care of your customer and when your customer wants to buy additional services (in this case, a new car) they’ll more than likely call you.  In this example, it is the salesperson who owns the Customer.  Many car salesmen will change dealerships and even brands throughout the years, but maintain their repeat customer base as they move because of the service they provide to their customers.  Underappreciate your existing base, and they will surely go to your competition when the time to buy additional service or product rolls around.

Another example in my life experience is dentists.  I have a dental hygienist who I’ve been using for more than 20 years.  She’s worked with at least 4 different dentists throughout the years and each time she’s moved, I’ve gone with her to the new dentist.  It really had nothing to do with the quality of the dentist or support staffs they had, I simply like the hygienist and wanted to stay with her.  As she had a sizable following like myself who would move with her, she brought value to her new positions and was able to negotiate improved employment packages with each change.  In this case, the hygienist (I liken her to an operations staff employee), not the dentist, owns the customer.

Over the years, how many times have we seen employees move from one company to another, and had to sit idly by as our customer base followed the former employee?  Companies know this too; that’s why “non-compete” clauses are often built into employment contracts.

The point of this discussion is to always remember, each and everyone of us like to think we made a good decision when buying a product or a service.  The difference is when we buy a tangible product like a toaster, we equate the product to the company.  When we buy a service or a service prone product (like a car or dental services), we equate the service to a person.  And people buy from people they like.  That person is not necessarily in a particular role within a company. Sometimes it may be the salesperson, sometimes it could be the Customer Service rep, or the IT staff member.  It really depends on the customer’s needs and the amount of interaction they have with the person in a particular role.

If you take nothing else from this post, remember the next time you are speaking to an existing client or a potential prospect, you only get one chance to earn their confidence.  Lose it, and you will most likely lose either a sale, or even worse, an existing client.

Take the time to think of how the customer will react to what you are about to tell them, consider all possible reactions, and proceed accordingly.  Treating the customers so they feel their business always comes first is a crucial step to building your reputation as a professional.   Whether you’re in sales, or finance, IT, customer service, or any other aspect of a company, the needs and potential reactions of the customer should always be considered first.

Ultimately, it's my opinion, regardless of your position within the company, if you do your best to make the customer feel their business is welcomed and applauded by the company, they will be a loyal and long term client.  If they feel like they are only a number, they will most likely either not buy from you or your company at all or they will remain a client for only a short period of time, until a more likeable personality comes across their professional path.

As this is only my opinion, I enjoy sharing any experiences any of my readers have had along these lines.  I welcome any comments or suggestions on the topic.

So, who do YOU think owns the Customer?

On Twitter @DaveHanron