Perfume on the Pig!
I've
changed banks four times in the last ten years, without ever
leaving the first one. Four acquisitions later, I'm now
a customer of the second largest bank in the country.
After
the last acquisition, the bank was retrofitted with bright new
colors, high tech furniture, glass office walls and a big screen
TV that plays CNN non-stop while customers wait in line. All
of this seems strangely out of place in the welcoming yellow
Victorian located in a quaint residential neighborhood.
For
years, when I walked into the bank, the tellers and the manager
greeted me by name. Linda, the new accounts manager, always
asked about my business and my family. Employees seemed genuinely
pleased with their jobs and represented the bank well. Over
time, my wife and I opened two business accounts and our personal
account with the bank, as well as refinanced our mortgage.
But,
like the new car smell that fades with each fast food wrapper
lost under the seat, each acquisition removed a little more
of the bank staff's enthusiasm for their employer. One of
the tellers retired early; the manager was traded for a new,
younger Ken; and Linda looked tired. Over time, comments about
"Corporate" started to hang in the air, and one day,
Linda's desk was empty. The last time I pulled up to make a
deposit at the drive-through window, I waited long enough to
realize that going into the bank would be faster. I ran in to
find the ATM closed and the tellers "heads-down" counting
money. I approached a teller who muttered "next window
please" without looking up. I deposited my millions with
the next teller and left without a "thank you." Let's
just say, the pig doesn't smell so good anymore.
So,
it may not be much of a stretch to understand why I'm in the
market for a new bank. I'm simply no longer convinced that the
employees believe in the company or products they represent.
And, while I don't need to be best friends with my banker,
I do want to deal with people who understand and appreciate
my business, and will roll up their sleeves to go to bat for
me should I need it.
Similarly,
when selling to your partners, no amount of perfume is going
to compensate for a business proposition - and the resulting
program - that lacks the support of your sales team, who
is arguably your first and most important "customer."
Resist rushing to market with "the flash" in favor
of spending time with your salespeople to ensure they buy in
first. How so, you ask?
1)
Make Sales a part of the design process. Ideally, select
the most vocal,
cynical reps you can find. If they get
the chance to participate in the
solution, they will be your strongest advocates
to the rest of the sales team.
2)
Enlist Sales to test your business proposition and program
with select
partners. This could mean working with
a third party to orchestrate focus
groups with partners or conducting objective
interviews. Either way, your
strongest reps will view this as an opportunity
to elevate their and the
company's value to their partners.
3)
Let the training begin once your business proposition
and program have
passed muster with your primary sales
constituents. And, the process of
training Sales is a multi-faceted
process, not a drive-by PowerPoint sent over
email. Effective training uses various
media (webinars, Podcasts, FAQ
documents, etc.) and ensures that reps
have had multiple opportunities to
participate. Further, all materials should
be readily catalogued and accessible
on an ongoing basis.
4)
Ensure that all operational processes and resources are in
place to
deliver against program elements. Better
to execute a limited program
flawlessly than a comprehensive program that
falls flat because the back-end
resources are not in place. Your sales folks
can stand up for the company for
only so long before their credibility is on the
line.
At the
end of the day, all the perfume in the world isn't going to
make that pig smell better. And, while getting it right with
Sales isn't always easy, it's critical in getting ahead of the
curve with your partners. Oink!
email:
jwilkinson@thoughtwav.com