EDITORIAL | PEOPLE
ACTIONS SPEAK
LOUDER THAN WORDS
DAVID ESLER
Principal, Kaizen Executive
D
on’t you just love a good news story -
particularly when someone listens to
what you say, acts on the advice you
have given and reaps the rewards from their
efforts?
For regular readers of this magazine, you
will be aware of the mystery shopping
exercise that we have undertaken over the
last 18 months or so. We have now shopped
over 220 locations and have frequently
highlighted some of the key areas we
encourage you to make changes to.
Interestingly, while I have been sharing these
findings, many people have asked, ‘What
difference will any of this really make to my
business?’ And to be honest, it is a good
question. Intuitively, I know that if you ask
the right questions, listen to your customers
and follow up on what they require - or just
follow up at all (the ratio still stands at only 9
per cent of businesses who follow up), then
you must be in front of the competition. But,
I was never able to give a definitive answer.
For those of you who have been in the
window and door industry long enough know
that, on average, our quote to conversion
ratio sits somewhere between 26 to 30 per
cent; with some better and some worse. That
means for every million dollars in sales we
win per month, we quote between three to
four million.
To this day, I am still astounded at the
number of businesses in our industry that do
not know their quote to conversion ratio and
why they either win or lose business. They
just go along merrily hiring more staff with
the mindset that, ‘Sales is a numbers game,
the more I quote, the more I will win, so get
me another salesman and another estimator
and she’ll be right!’
Wrong!
Recently, I rang a Sales Manager to get some
feedback on a Trade Sales and Customer
Service Masterclass that I delivered. As we
chatted, he asked if I had a few minutes to
talk about the AWA Industry Forum he had
attended. At this forum, he had listened to
my findings from the mystery shopping and
had taken on board what I had said. Well, I
almost fell off my chair as he described the
changes in his team and the results they
were achieving!
This business has reduced the number of
quotes that they produce, changed the
metrics around how they measure success
and moved conversion from 32 to 46 per
cent over a twelve month period – a growth
of 44 per cent in conversion, which has
impacted on their profitability a staggering
amount.
So, you ask, how did they do it? By doing
some of the simple things well. They:
1. Identified the type of work that they
wanted. They took the time to review
the quotes they had previously been
producing and challenged whether that
customer and the type of product was
right for them. They also looked at the
competitive nature of who they were
supplying and took the bold move to
‘sack’ some customers.
2. Questioned and established what
they were good at. What products and
services were they good at building and
delivering? Where was the opportunity to
make them more profitable? How do we
capture these opportunities?
3. Changed the metrics that the sales team
were being measured by - removing the
focus off revenue and moving it towards
profitability and conversion. They chose
to say ‘no’ to opportunities that did not
play to their strengths and because they
were not generating as many quotes, they
used that time to follow up…yes, follow-
up!
4. Added in communication as part of the
process. They made sure everyone,
internally and externally, knew what they
were trying to achieve. They got better at
asking the right questions and engaging
with clients and making sure everyone
For more information, contact David on 0420 905 580 or visit www.kaizenexec.com.au
12 Winter 2017
knew the process and the steps from
plan, quote, order, delivery and after sales
service.
5. Provided a greater focus on
measurement, support and achievement.
The business now does not just quote
for the sake of quoting, it quotes what it
will win. By the way, they are at maximum
capacity and are turning work away.
This company has taken our message,
embraced that there is room for
improvement and addressed the issues
head on. They have engaged w