Full Day's Work Is Part of Work/Life Balance
Any of you who know me or who have read this blog know that I am a big proponent of a life/work balance. I will always advocate that you don’t work too hard and that you give yourself plenty of time outside of work to enjoy your friends, families and things that make you happy. So please don’t be surprised by this week’s topic, which is the hours that you keep and your accessibility.
My fellow blogger Bill Farquharson and I conduct several Webinars each month on a variety of sales issues, all with a focus on helping print salespeople become more successful. Recently, I was tasked with reaching out to some of our attendees to ask them a series of questions about what they would like for us to offer in next year’s series of Webinars. I sat down here in Chicago at 3 p.m. one day to make calls. So I was calling all times zones—Eastern (one hour ahead), Central (my time zone) Mountain and Pacific (one and two hours behind me, respectively).
Let me just say that I was pretty astounded by my success rate at getting anyone on the phone. In 15 calls, I reached 2 people. For those I did not reach, I was almost always told, “She/he has left for the day.” or “She/he is not in.” Once I was asked if someone else could help me. Not ONCE was I offered to be transferred to a cell phone. Each time I was dumped into voice mail.
So what is the problem, you ask?
WHAT IF I HAD BEEN A CUSTOMER?
Please understand that I am not saying that you have to put in 16 hour days in order to take good care of your customers. I am not saying that.
What I am saying, however, is that you might want to consider taking a look at how your company handles phone calls, and reconsider things from the customer’s point of view. Because I know that if I am raring to place an order and I don’t get to speak to someone when I need to, I will move on to the next company on my list until I get my questions answered and feel comfortable with the transaction.
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
