Every employee in your organization supports the sales process, but many probably don’t realize how their role impacts the bottom line. From marketing and accounting to inventory managers and receptionists, each role in the project delivery process goes a long way toward retaining or losing a client – even if the employee doesn’t have direct customer contact.
Here are some good examples:
- HR impacts the bottom line by finding, hiring, and engaging the right talent. When the right people are in the right positions, your company is better positioned to provide quality customer service.
- IT impacts the bottom line by keeping communications systems fully functional at all times. Without your phone and computer, and access to CRM and other systems, it would be a lot harder to communicate with customers. When your integration firm is running without any technical issues, customer responses times are faster.
- Accounting impacts the bottom line by maintaining accurate and prompt invoicing. When bills are sent late, or are inaccurate upon arrival, this negatively impacts perception.
In a blog post from last year, NSCA member Solutions360 makes some suggestions to integrators on ways to help employees understand how everyone plays a role in sales – even if they’re not salespeople:
- Ensure that every employee understands the goals of your company, its products and services, and target audience
- Make sure everyone has comprehensive and accurate information about customers so they can perform tasks with the customer’s perspective in mind
- Have a representative from each department shadow salespeople to understand how they work
- Reward all employees for any leads they generate
Take the time to explain how each role fits into the sales process and ultimately contributes to long-term profitability. When everyone understands the project delivery process from start to finish, and their role in impacting the bottom line, you’re that much closer to delivering a satisfactory customer experience.
Image by Stuart Miles