How Your Employees Are Screwing Up , Sabotaging , And Sinking Your Marketing Efforts — And What To Do About It
By Robin Robins , Founder of Technology Marketing Toolkit
Earlier this year , I bought a beach house on the Florida panhandle in an area that the locals call “ 30A ,” which is the name of the road running through all the little beach towns between Panama City and Destin . The house was newly constructed and came semi-furnished . Wanting to change some of the furniture and buy a considerable amount more , I contacted the designer who was hired by the builder to furnish the home . Of course , I didn ’ t get a live answer but voicemail , so I left a message . Not hearing back , I made a point of driving to their retail store to see if I could get help in ordering additional furniture . Upon entering , I was not greeted by anyone and walked around for a good 15 minutes before finally tracking down someone who worked there ( I almost wrote “ who could help me ,” but you ’ ll see why I changed the wording in a minute ).
She said I would have to talk to the actual designer for my specific house , and she couldn ’ t know who that was (!). She gave me a number to call where I could find out , leaving me to walk out empty-handed when I had come in ready and eager to buy . Stunningly stupid . No name captured and no attempt to try and sell me something — a ready-to-buy customer who drove to the location seeking to buy furniture . Easy pickings . Perhaps she ’ s not been told or taught that that ’ s her job to actually sell to customers who come in . My guess is that there ’ s been zero thought put into what should happen , and certainly no training for how salespeople put on the showroom floor to sell should handle prospects walking in .
Since the store visit , I ’ ve called twice , leaving messages , with no response so far . I ’ ve since given up and gone elsewhere , spending roughly $ 100,000 with a competitor . Now , maybe they ’ re so successful they don ’ t need the business . Maybe . Or perhaps you think this is just my luck , since I seem to run into all kinds of businesses out there that seem to go out of their way to make it difficult for me to give them money .
However , I can assure you this scenario is one that ’ s played out again and again in various types of businesses I ’ ve attempted to buy from : salons , restaurants , doctor ’ s offices , banks , you name it . It ’ s rampant . Selling — and following up with prospects — is , at best , treated like an afterthought in most companies and a major inconvenience in others . The owner forgets that the purpose of the business is to bring in clients and sales , not just “ do the work .”
Left unchecked , this total lack of structure for selling robs you of untold profits . It suppresses the return of every marketing dollar you invest and lowers your net worth . If , like me , you want to reach financial independence and true wealth as fast as you can , you ’ re a fool to not pay attention to how new prospective customers are greeted , handled , and followed up on ( minimum ). Are you lacking a strategy for maximizing every lead , every customer , and every everything in your business ?
The first step in fixing this is an acceptance that it ’ s your job as the owner to ensure all employees are told , trained , and managed to ensure that new opportunities , leads , prospects , and even clients are handled properly so that
24 | WWW . TECH-ADV . COM