Celebrate Customer Service Week Oct 2-6

The classic 1999 movie Office Space was playing recently and I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched the interview scenes from the Bob’s.  They were two consultants, both named Bob, brought in to conduct employee interviews and make recommendations on who to downsize.   In one of the interviews, they are struggling to figure out exactly what this person does.  I won’t ruin it for you in case you haven’t seen it.  However, it did remind me of a technique that is seldom used in the sales world:  Your team.  No, not other salespeople, which is also a good technique.  I am referring to all of the internal people in your company that serve the customer.  Who are they?  The CSR (Customer Service Rep) that answers the phone and enters orders?  Certainly, it’s the CSR, but it goes way beyond them.  I am suggesting that it really is everyone in your company.  See related article “Who’s in Your Corner?”

Next week is Customer Service Week.  At first, I thought that was kind of silly, every week is customer service week.  What do you do for this week? tell the customer “Ok this is your week. We love you” Digging a little deeper (I Googled it), I found a 25-year history on Customer Service week and its purpose.  It’s designed to honor those people in the company that provide customer service.  Once again, I thought this is silly, everyone in a company serves the customer.  That’s when I reflected back on the Office Space scene where they were asking the office employee, “What exactly would you say that you do here?”.  As he struggles to explain what he does, it becomes obvious that he really doesn’t have a meaningful role.  Funny for sure, but not really applicable in most agribusinesses today.  Why?  First, consolidation has skyrocketed in agribusiness and it often leads to multiple jobs being combined.  Secondly, with tighter margins across the industry, personnel costs are scrutinized to run lean.  Lastly, there is a huge labor force retiring (Baby Boomers) and it’s tough to back fill many of those positions.  So, again, jobs are combined to get by.

What does all this have to do with the Bob’s and Customer Service Week?  The people within your company are critical to the success of your business and your territory results.  Every one of them has a role.  All are important.  I couldn’t help but think about all the sales people I worked with over the years.  Some went out of their way to meet all of the employees on the team, but it was rare.  Those sales people that developed these relationships had fewer problems with internal processes, fewer internal conflicts and employee engagement with them was higher.  When a crisis would occur, the sales team and the internal team already had a level of trust and understanding of each other.  The issue was handled faster and with less need for management to step in.

Think of it this way.  Even if this person doesn’t talk directly with your customer, the actions or tasks they accomplish directly affect your customer.  Besides the obvious CSR group, who am I talking about?  Here are the main categories:

• The Production Team
• The Distribution Team
• The Accounting Team
• The Research Team

While it can include managers in those departments, I urge you to dig deeper than that and connect with shift leaders, equipment operators, office staff, drivers, loaders, scale operators, technicians.  As the salesperson, as the leader of the customer experience and as the person who can make it happen, take the initiative and Make It Happen!

• The Management Team – yes, I even want you to invite members of the management team to ride along in your territory. Be selective obviously, of the manager and which account you go to.  Prepare them a bit for the day.  By that, I mean let them know ahead of time which accounts you will be going to, how to dress for the weather and to fit in if they are not frequently in front of customers.  Lastly, make sure you go through your manager before reaching out.

   As a salesperson, how do I celebrate Customer Service Week?

• Go meet the internal team and find out what they do: Don’t let another day go by without seeking out members of your team that you either have not met or don’t know what they do.  And “Works in accounting” does not mean you know what they do.  Once you have met them and have established a direct connection, ask two questions.  First ask, “How can I help you accomplish your job?”  I know as a salesperson, this may sound backwards.  After all, isn’t the whole team there to help us?  Hold on for the next question.  Secondly ask, “What can you do to help me sell or help my customers buy?”  Most likely, they will reply they don’t know.  That’s when the fun begins as you both try to brainstorm ways to answer both questions.  Word of caution:  Make sure any activities initiated are coordinated with their supervisor.  I am certainly not suggesting that you connect with someone internally and initiate a pet project you want unless it is within the scope of your roles.
• Help them discover their “Why” Simon Sinek tells us to start with why. I can’t tell you how many times I have interacted with someone internal within a company that truly did not know why they did a task.  They knew what to do and how to do it, and had an idea of why, but didn’t understand why it was so important to the customer.  Let people know today how important their role is to the customer.
• Invite them out to ride along with you to see the customers in person. This is a great way for an internal team member to gain an understanding of how they fit into the company. To go out and personally see a customer’s operation can be a highlight of their month/year.  As salespeople, we think nothing of being on a farm and seeing animal production or row crop operations.  We see the importance of our service and product support in a very personal way- at a producer’s kitchen table or in the planter while they are waiting on our seed delivery or walking through a pen of sick animals.  However, this is not a common occurrence for those back in the elevator, mill, factory, lab, office or cubicle.  So, take the first step and invite them out to ride with you.  Trust me, the customers will love it, especially if they have talked to them on the phone but never met the face behind the voice.
• Invite customers to come in and meet the team or tour the facility.Another twist to riding with a salesperson is to have customers come in and meet the team.  Not as impactful for the employees as a ride along, but it’s a good way to build rapport with customers.

I hope you take the time next week to invest in celebrating customer service week.  The rewards for all involved are too important for you to let this opportunity slip away.

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