How To: Everyone's A Salesman
In most cases, integrators encourage only executives and dedicated salespeople to focus on sales. By doing so they end up leaving money on the table in cases where a technician could recommend an additional item during an installation, says John Goldenne, president of Palatine, Ill.-based integrator Digital Home Technologies. Goldenne offers a 10 percent commission to his installers on any product they sell or any customer they bring in. Goldenne says the commission is particularly useful for encouraging sales of add-on items such as cables, antennas, power supplies and interconnects. The additional revenue, profit and incremental services mean that both the installer and the company benefit. Encouraging his installers to sell also helps the company create more complete installations, Goldenne says.
"Customers somehow don't believe the salespeople all the way, but they believe the installers completely," Goldenne says. "When they're there in the home and the customer is there, they see what the customer needs. Even if you do the cleanest [sales] quote possible, there are small things you miss."
Integrators say that encoraging all employees to sell is key to success
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Offer a commission (10 percent, for example) on every item an employee sells or any customer he or she brings in.
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Word-of-mouth sales are key, so encourage all employees to do it. Not only when on they're on the job, but even in their personal lives, employees can spread the word on your company's capabilities.
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Train all your employees in any new products you're offering, and encourage them to take devices home or buy them from you at a discount so they become most familiar with them.
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When encouraging staff members to sell, remember that not every employee wants to or is able to sell.
Goldenne also notes that customers will often decline to purchase a recommended item such as a UPS because they say they already have one at home. But when the technician arrives and finds only a basic power strip, he can easily sell a replacement item.
It's not only full-time workers who can drive sales. Todd Bunch, president and CEO of Lexington, Ky.-based If Walls Could Talk, works with a carpenter, electrician and architect on a contract basis and offers each a 10 percent commission for any sales. The contractors not only sell products to If Walls Could Talk's customers, but also frequently recommend customers from the jobs they do for other companies or from personal contacts. In fact, their recommendations are one of Bunch's largest sources of new sales.
Goldenne and Bunch agree that their technical staff are most effective at selling lower-end items, though occasionally they successfully recommend larger items such as plasma displays. Frequent training on new or high-end products and reminders of the commission policy during staff meetings help employees identify opportunities. But to maintain the quality of installations and their companies' reputations, executives usually allow only themselves or their dedicated sales staffs to sell full integrations and high-ticket items.
Integrators should remember that everyone on staff, including receptionists, installers and service representatives, must constantly focus on the mission to increase sales. But integrators must also realize that not every employee is interested or able to sell.
Rob Kowalski, president of Automated Lifestyles, Chicago, understands the benefit of pushing all employees to sell, but does it infrequently. He says one of his best programmers was required to do technical sales calls for a previous employer and couldn't handle the interactions. Other integrators say only some of their technical employees can be trained in sales, and once trained in both areas, retaining them is hard. Corbin Hambrick, president of Kingwood, Texas-based integrator Home Synthesis, trained three of his top technical employees in sales and saw all of them leave to start their own integration companies.
Despite the challenges, executives who encourage all employees to sell but keep a tight watch on the activities say it's the key to success. Goldenne says, "[Employees] love the idea. Who wouldn't want extra cash for the weekend?"