Are your sales-and-service employees on the same team? Does confusion arise when new sales are made? Sometimes a new service begins and the sales department neglects to communicate key points to the service department. It’s important both departments work as a single team. The following are two classic examples of predicaments that might arise if a company’s sales and service departments don’t work in unison.
Scenario 1: A rental home with a German cockroach infestation is so severe the renters move out, leaving a mess. When the salesperson arrives, the electricity and water are still on. But when the service technician arrives a few days later, all utilities have been turned off. The landlord didn’t have a standing order with the utility company to keep everything on.
Who was at fault in this scenario, the landlord or sales inspector? A sales inspector has many factors to consider when lining up service visits, and utilities’ status should be one of them. Likewise, the landlord should have caught the utilities dilemma but didn’t; but the landlord is the customer, and the customer is always right.
Scenario 2: A company lands a new termite management client, and the sales and service staffers are on different pages. The customer claims the sales person communicated the specific way the job would be done. After many calls and conversations, the service technician finally convinces the customer of his expertise and the pros of a different termite control technique that will be more effective for this job. The job is done to the customer’s satisfaction. However, it took more than an hour to convince the customer of the pros of the new treatment, and time is money.
Pest management companies should create detailed sales-and-service protocols that clearly define what methods will be used to sell and service accounts. A checklist can address who will meet the service tech at the job, whether proper payment arrangements have been made, and whether water and electricity will be available at the job site. A graph can highlight any damage to the structure, underground well and power utility locations, and whether pets will be found on the premises. A checklist for pest management services also can be helpful. Any inspection/treatment report must contain detailed information. Sales and service personnel must learn how to follow this document to prevent problems. Ongoing training will help ensure the protocols are understood and followed by all sales and service department members.
You can reach Johnson, a past president of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), president of Sevierville, TN.-based Johnson Pest Control, and founder of ACES for Business, at ray@johnsonpestcontrol.com.
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