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Courage... Do You Have It?

12/26/2012

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Do you have the courage to correct a wrong?  What if the wrong involved your largest client? 

This was the dilemma one of our regional managers faced. 

Seems his boss, our VP of Sales and my direct report, inflated database processing fees to our largest client and the regional manager knew the client was beginning an audit.  He felt there was going to be repercussions and decided to resign rather than address the situation.

When I heard of his resignation I asked to meet.  He told me about the inflated fee's and stated he didn’t want to take the blame for loosing the account.  My response was…

“I don’t care if you resign, but don’t do it until we both visit the client and address this problem head on.  We must do the right thing and if we loose the account so be it… at least we had the moral strength to correct a wrong”.  He said OK and arranged the meeting.

The meeting was tough and deservedly so.  When it was my turn to speak I apologized on behalf of the company.  I told them that, as COO, I had taken corrective action and this would never happen again… then I authorized:
  • $150,000 credit to be used on any of our products or services (this was double the amount they were overcharged)
  • Our new communication product at NO Charge for 6-months, all 7,000 of their sites.  In addition I agreed to personally make the announcement at an upcoming state conference they were chairing
The client was very pleased... and I made the convention announcement.

Lessons Learned…
  1. You need to have courage to do the right thing especially when things are difficult
  2. If you take corrective action and address problems head-on positive things can happen 



This was one of those occasions… we didn’t loose the client and we closed an order that day.  A
fter 6-months of free service we received a license fee order totaling $245K/year for those 7,000 sites.


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3 Things Learned From a Matterhorn Helicopter Ride...

12/22/2012

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A Little Background…

I was trying to strengthen my personal bond with some top Asia-Pacific distributors.  Through many conversations I learned that while they felt my company produced leading products, they each felt undervalued by the company and prior regional sales manager. 

I knew I had to do something fast to turn this around as they were actively evaluating replacement products.

Our European office was making plans for an upcoming Distributor Conference so I gave them a call.  I asked if I could invite three key Asia-Pacific distributors to the conference and if they could participate in some meaningful way.  Our European team loved the idea and my clients were stunned when I called with the invitation.


Now On To The Helicopter Ride....
Picture
During the conference there was four-hour period slated for European-only discussions, so we were going to have some free time.  I had previously scouted the village of Zermatt hoping to find something fun to do and came upon a Swiss Helicopter Rescue station.  I thought this would make for a fantastic bonding experience, but didn’t know if they took charter flights to the Matterhorn.  It never hurts to ask and guess what, they said yes. 

I told my group that we had to keep this quiet, as I would no doubt get in trouble for taking our biggest Asia-Pacific distributors on a helicopter joyride to the Matterhorn.  While it seemed fantastic to me, I knew there could be repercussions from my company.  I told each of them why I couldn’t expense the flight and they had to pay their own way, and most importantly they couldn’t tell any of our European colleagues about our excursion.

The flight couldn’t have gone better.  We were in a bubble helicopter with a pilot who actually flew in one of the James Bond movies… and you guessed it, he laid the helicopter on its side while descending the Matterhorn, just like in the move… Talk about a bonding experience.

Oh, my clients had so much fun they couldn’t wait to tell everyone what I had arranged for them to do that afternoon… and yes I did get a reprimand from the CEO.    

3 Things Learned From The Flight…

1.     Relationship Building:  In order to build a brand promise that your customers can count on you must first have a good client relationship.

While my Asia-Pacific distributors felt our brand was strong, our company and previous sales manager treated them so poorly they were looking to drop our products entirely.

2.   
  Personal Bond is Crucial, especially when selling internationally:  Many societies stress personal relationships in business.  When firms operate globally, close ties are useful for overcoming time, distance, language, and cultural barriers.

By inviting our Asia-Pacific distributors to participate in the European Conference they understood the company and I valued them.  This coupled with that helicopter ride was the foundation for my establishing a strong and lasting bond.

3.     Sometimes You Need to Take Risks:  While I knew there could be repercussions from taking our biggest Asian-Pacific distributors on a helicopter joyride of the Matterhorn, I also knew I had to take a risk if I were to breakthrough and start building a personal relationship.

Risk Payoff… I didn’t loose one distributor and the Asia-Pacific region grew to an 85% market share.  Oh, and the CEO sent me another letter... this time congratulating me on turning this region around.


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    Author

    Bill Kliss has been teaching his perfected technique  of opening doors to reach decision makers for 30-years.  His cutting edge approach has increased sales wins for virtually all types of products and services.  

    In addition, Bill also hosts the Opening Doors Radio & Video Show Series. This is  where Bill provides insight into opening doors to the C-suite by discussing proven selling techniques, and what some businesses are doing to accelerate business growth in today's economy.

    Bill's also a dad who loves the blues and anything at or in the ocean.

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