Saturday, February 19, 2011

Everyone Is In Sales

from the Vertical Response site:

3 Ways Any Employee Can Be Your Best Salesperson

If youScreen shot 2011-01-09 at 11.37.03 AM're in business, chances are you've got salespeople, whether they're on the phones or greeting people as they walk through your doors. But not all of your employees have the title "salesperson" do they? You might have an accounts payable employee, a person working in your tasting room at your winery or you might have someone who stocks shelves in your store. So how do you get those people "selling" for you?

They Need to Like Their Jobs

Even the most mundane jobs can be fun! It's time to inject some fun into the jobs of your employees. Why not try having contests around specific tasks your employees need to do. Then reward them in a fun way with a gift certificate or an award.

Recognizing a job well done might even be more important than cold hard cash. So make sure you do this in a public forum to ensure your entire company knows a great job done.

They Need to Like Your Company

One way to make employees proud of your company is to give them a reason to be. People like to work for award-winning companies, so why not display your Yelp sticker or any award you've received prominently in your workspace so that every time they pass by it's a reminder that they work for a successful business? Also include these awards all over your site and in your marketing materials.

Employees who are advocates for companies also know what's happening in the company so being very vocal, especially if you're doing well, could go a long way.

Employees also like companies that give back to their communities. I know that here at VerticalResponse, one of the things that employees are very proud of is that fact that we give our product away free to non-profits. I bet that each employee has had at least one conversation about us to someone they know in the non-profit world advocating our program.

You might even encourage your employees to get their friends to work at your company. If you've got top-notch employees, chances are they're hanging with other folks who would do as good of a job as they do. In my opinion if they get their friends to work for you, this is the utmost sign that they're advocating your business.

They Need to Like Your Customers

People want to work with customers they like. If your customers are saying nice things about you, why not let your employees know about it. Post your customer testimonials on your walls or your website, or email your staff when someone has something nice to say about your business on Twitter or Facebook.

At VerticalResponse we host special events and seminars for our customers. We try to get as many employees as we can talking to our customers to find out what really makes them tick. We learn things that customers like and don't like, which in the end helps us be a better company. Our employees often leave energized and wanting to do more for our amazing customers who took time out of their busy day to be with us.

If you've got employees who like what they do and who they do it for, chances are they're already your best salesperson. After all, it's what they spend most of their day doing!

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

A great example is Tracy Adams at Ruoff Mortgage. Now Tracy is THE top-producing loan originator at Ruoff. For years she was a loan processor, but during that time she generated more customers for Ruoff through her tremendous attitude than any 3 loan officers combined!

ScLoHo (Scott Howard) said...

Thanks Chris. It is rarely the "Salesperson" alone that really has the power to influence.