Time Kills All Deals
By John Kennedy
As the Fall Event approaches and we drive the theme of “Time”, I thought this month would be great to highlight a few hints, tips and strategies to make the best of your time…as well as the time of your customers (even more valuable!). Invest your time wisely but make sure not to waste your customer’s time in doing so.
One disruptive company that has been changing the expectations of every customer in every industry is Amazon. We can order something in the morning and have it delivered to us the very same day—amazing Amazon. Now that’s responsive.
With that amazement comes a new heightened level of expectations from our customers (as well as new heights of impatience). If you have visited the John Kennedy On Demand site and watched the “Driving the Customer Experience” video training program, it teaches us that there are four top expectations of your customer— A perfect product. Delivered in a timely way. By caring friendly people. With world class problem solving.
In this instance, we are focusing on the second expectation—Delivered in a timely way!
Years ago, I was taught a valuable lesson in sales: Time kills all deals! In essence, the longer someone has to wait to hear from you, the lesser the chances are that they will buy from you. It is somewhat like the show "48 Hours”—The longer time passes, the less likely detectives are able to solve the crime.
So the key to managing and exceeding your customers expectations is found in time... be RESPONSIVE!
Set appropriate response expectations for your clients on your phone calls, in your proposals or estimates, on follow up emails, and certainly on answering questions/comments that they may post to your website or social media platform. Studies show that you are rated higher with social media by the response time taken to a complaint or negative feedback. I watch in amazement how top companies are wonderfully responsive to feedback in that space (Southwest Airlines being one in particular). It builds your social proof as well as your reputation and brand.
Examples:
- My voicemail is set to a 24 hour response time. You may want to consider a phone response that is within 2 hours since your day is far more hectic than mine.
- Proposals are always turned around within 48 hours (24 is the average).
- And emails are usually responded to within 4 hours.
Setting these expectations/goals is key to the agile and nimble response your customer expects (and gets) from many other businesses they engage on a daily/weekly/monthly basis. You now compete on the global market of expectations. Commit to being world class in your response times.
If your people or your processes are getting in your way of your ability to adapt and respond to your clients’ needs, then it’s time for a tune up on either or both. Revisit your expectations, commit to an appropriate amount of response time to each category, and then “Under Promise and Over Deliver” to your customer.
The video this month will give you some great pointers and techniques to do just that. And with the “Top Three” indicators for our group below, there is no better “TIME” than now to focus on this key aspect of Driving the Customer Experience—Be Responsive.
Keep these great Group numbers from Week 17 and momentum going and have a great month of May!
YTD Sales +16.2%
Average Sale YTD to Last Year +13.0%%
Transaction Count YTD to Last Year +5.9%
John
Want to discuss the "Responsive" challenge for your business with John Kennedy? Call or email him!
John Kennedy
[email protected]
Cell: 443-605-7095
REMEMBER: Your interaction (by phone and email) with Group Service Providers such as John Kennedy, Robert Hendrickson, Steve Bailey, Sid Raisch and Jean Seawright, are included in your retainer!