Read Part One of this article [0]

In Part One of this series, we established a universal vision among our team members and clarified the specific sales goals both for the team and for the organization.

Now that this has been established, we need to create a common vocabulary and vision of service that can be used by the entire organization.

This will allow everyone to speak a common language and ensure that sales (termed “service” from here forward) is consistent from both a leadership perspective as well as a customer perspective.

When it comes to training and supervising your service team, it is important to develop a simple model that uses language everyone can relate to and build on.

As we get into the specifics of a sales and service model, let us consider HOW your team members view the act of selling or providing service. Our facilitators use the Olympic Rings model because it symbolizes excellence in itself, and each of the five Olympic rings equates to a specific aspect of selling. Imagine the five overlapping Olympic rings as we go through this approach to selling.

• The first Olympic ring encompasses our View of Selling – How does each team member view the act of selling? Is it a noble profession that has its basis in matching client needs with the business's products and services, or does it conjure up images of a used car salesman trying to make a commission any way he can? A noble image of selling must be in place before any employee can move on.
• The second Olympic ring contains the View of our Abilities – That is, how do we regard our natural abilities to communicate, listen, and actively provide service to our customers? It is important to note that your employees do not have to be Zig Ziglar in order to match the needs of your clients with your products and services. They simply need to excel in listening and have a good knowledge and understanding of what services can be offered.
• The third Olympic ring includes the concept of Commitment – Is the employee both willing (motivated) and able (i.e. possesses some basic communication skills) to sell to a client (in the context of matching needs with products/services)? Both of these are required before you move on.
• The fourth Olympic ring contains our Values – Does the team member have a natural set of morals and ethics that allows him or her to provide only what a client needs, without assuming the role of the used car salesperson? It is important to maintain this value system so that the organization does not take on an ill reputation. It is also important to note that these values are generally brought to the workplace by an employee, and are very difficult to learn if he or she does not already possess them as a personal attribute.
• The final Olympic ring encompasses our Belief in the Product – Very simply, the employee must believe that the products and services your company provides are good ones and can make a positive difference with each and every client. If the employee does not believe this, the customer will pick up on it almost immediately.

Once you have the opportunity to discuss these terms and beliefs with your service team, you can move on to the next stage of development, which covers the specific stages of a service interaction between your employees and their customers.

It is important to understand that all five of the rings overlap, and if you bring them together as one you will find even a modest amount of new success with your employees, simply because they now have the right foundation to provide excellent service.

In our next article, we will use a sales/service model that will take your team members through a progression that will guarantee service excellence and sales improvement, regardless of their inherent selling comfort levels -- provided you have taken them through the previous strategies first!

Read Part Three of this article. [0]

For tips to effectively train your people and streamline your organization, and for other solutions to your staffing challenges, visit www.traininginabox.com [1]. Sign up for your free newsletter at www.quicktrainingsolutions.com [1] to make your HR training and development life easier. Corey Nielsen designs and delivers innovative and effective training solutions for businesses through NTG, his business development and training company.

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