Admin. Bookkeeping. Meetings. Team building. Training. Salespeople typically dislike anything that gets between them and closing revenue. They even have a phrase for it – “Sales Prevention.”
With that in mind, we have something different – a two part series of posts that are designed to help your sales team keep their customers with little or no work from their side. The tips are based on a webinar and presentation we gave which advises how to plan and implement a b2b Net Promoter program from the ground up.
Part one: Planning your Net Promoter program
1. Get the support of the board
Even before you think of launching a Net Promoter program, you should make sure that it will be embraced by the entire organization, and the most effective way of doing this is to have support of the initiative from the top down. Otherwise, you run the risk of launching a program that may uncover a great deal of valuable insights but be unable to communicate them effectively across the organization.
2. Internal communication
Before launch you need to educate colleagues on program’s benefits. A powerful way to do this is a message from the CEO explaining that not only is customer satisfaction everyone’s business, but that the information unlocked by the program will be an effective tool to increase sales.
3. Identify survey targets
Ideally, you will survey product users, decision makers, and relevant senior-level executives. However, since someone on an operational level may have different feedback to offer compared to someone on a strategic level, it’s advisable to segment your survey for different groups of respondents, such as operational, tactical, and strategic levels.
4. Client communication
A request for feedback is the same as asking for a favour, so it’s important to demonstrate that you respect your client’s time and outline clearly what you are asking of them. Communicate the amount of times you will reach out to them (twice a year is recommended), how long the survey will take (less than five minutes), and use a personal, friendly tone.
RESOURCES: Download a copy of the A Model Contract Template for Customer Service (word docx)
Next post: Rev your sales engine with Net Promoter (part two)
