There are very few independent sales positions out there. More often than not, it is a team that is involved in the entire customer on-boarding process. At a restaurant the server may be the sales person that spends the most time with you, but the hostess, food runner, and chef, all play a major role in the overall experience. If even one of the members of your team fails in their expectations (and expectations are always in the customers point of view) then the entire team fails, which can have ramifications on your individual success (ie tips in this case).
For example, I recently went to purchase a new car. The salesman was great. He asked questions to understand what I was looking for, what options were important to me, how I drive, etc. He was very friendly, likable, and genuine. The deal was done. He walked me over to the “finance” guy to take care of the paper work. The “finance” guy’s name was Dean. The only reason I know that is because my salesman (Mike) told me as he was walking me over to his office. As I entered Dean’s office, he was engrossed in his calendar and was too busy to stand and offer me a proper greeting (hello/handshake/welcome) or even a smile. I offered myself a chair and introduced myself.
It only gets worse from there. After about 5 more minutes of feeling like a burden to Dean’s day, I got up and told Dean that the deal was off and that I was going to another dealership. Dean was shocked by this (as poor customer service people often are). “Why would you do that?” Dean asked. To which I replied “because you just asked me that question.” I walked out and expressed my joy in meeting Mike and appreciated all the time he took with me. I also informed the General Manager of the dealership that the sale was not lost to anything that Mike had done on the sales side, but due to the poor customer service that I received from Dean. Point is, no matter how stellar Mike was I was not about to go through with a sale and put any money in Dean’s pocket. After all, I learned with my first dog (Justice) not to reinforce negative behaviors. My only hope (and not that it’s any excuse) is that this was a particular bad day for Dean and not the norm. Hopefully, Mike takes ownership of his team and has a discussion with Dean around what happened.
Do you have a “Dean” on your team? How confident are you in your answer? You all put in a lot of hard work and effort on the front side bringing over “great operating companies.” Make sure a Dean doesn’t cost the deal for you.
~jason
