Related YouTube video: https://youtu.be/NjyURJGwnEs
Here are some recent examples of where I tried to purchase something, but it was too difficult or I almost gave up. Do any of them resonate with you?
Example Barriers
Barrier 1: A company ignores its own service request channels (e.g., emails, phone messages and contact page)
I recently went to a vendor's website and used their contact form to ask for an estimate for a service. After 24 hours, no one replied, so I called them on the phone. After making an appointment for a visit to my house, I mentioned that I had already sent them a request via their website a day earlier. The business owner said, "I haven't used that website for years. I reply to direct emails, not ones sent through the site; I don't know where they end up."
The purchase was going to be about $35K, so if he ignored five web-generated emails over a six-month period, he would miss out on a lot of income. Luckily for him, I am persistent and I called his phone. But I could have easily not called and gone with someone else.
Questions:
- Do all of the service request channels you have set up actually work, such as telephone numbers, contact web pages, email addresses, text numbers, instant message IDs, webpage chat buttons, fax numbers, and Instagram something-or-other?
- Have you tested them recently?
- Do you need to simplify the collection to two or three?
Barrier 2: Company's customer engagement process is a nightmare
I tried to arrange physical therapy with a local medically reputable health facility. I called the number on their website and was directed to the central office. The central office told me I needed a doctor's referral to be able to make an appointment.
I obtained a doctor's referral and had it sent it over by fax (their only method of communication). I called the health facility, and they told me it takes between three and ten days to process the fax! After a week I called and they could not find the fax in the system. I called my doctor and had a second one sent. After confirming that it has been received, I was told to call another number to book an appointment.
I called the number, and that office said that they can book an appointment for every location except for the one I wanted because, "They are special and do their own bookings."
I called the "special" office, and after many re-routings to the first person in the chain, they said could see me in two months. I declined since that was too far out, given that the need was now, not in two months. By this time, I did not trust them to remember me in two months.
The whole process of becoming a customer was infuriating. I felt like I was really a tester debugging their poorly thought out and defective purchase process. I gave up.
Instead, I found a less-well-known PT office within walking distance from my house. I called, made an appointment, exchanged a few emails, and started PT. A breeze.
Question
- Can new customers call or email you, state their need, and start buying your stuff, or do they have to navigate an obstacle course of people, forms, and systems first? If in doubt, pretend to be a new customer and see what it is like.
Barrier 3: Salespeople don't follow-up
We needed to have our backyard patio redone since the concrete was cracked and was beyond repair.
I called ten companies to come and provide a quote. Six never got back with me, four did. Of the four, three provided proposals; one could never get the proposal to me.
I think there are three common reasons salespeople do not return calls or send proposals:
- They are busy now, and they see no need to take on the extra burden of dealing with emails and phone calls. They live in the present rather than cultivate a pipeline of business.
- They are focused on the next new/shiny customer, one who is bigger than you. Why respond to a $35K contract request when there is a $40K one to address? Who needs $75K over two months, when one can get $40K in one month?
- The company's technical person (e.g., owner) is the salesperson. This person does not like dealing with people, sales calls, questions, or texts. They get excited about building stuff, not sales. So, when there is a choice between building stuff and sales, they will chose the technical work, even if that inadvertently kills the business. There are many factors behind a company's failure, but I think it is obvious that killing sales is a sure way to get there.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of U.S. small businesses fail within the first year. By the end of their fifth year, roughly 50% have faltered. After 10 years, only around a third of businesses have survived.
I have operated a consulting business with my business partner for 33 years. I know that not every lead will turn into business, but I do reply to every request within 24 hours and add the email address to a mailing list to remind them of me every few months. Sometimes the sale is immediate, sometimes within six months, and sometimes after five years.
Examples of no barriers
Some companies are exceptional at being easy to work with. Copy them!
The salesperson is knowledgeable and very responsive
In our backyard repair research, we narrowed it down to one guy, who was selected based on these criteria:
- Cost – in line with other proposals
- Technical knowledge and sound recommendations
- Positive customer reviews
- Responsiveness to calls, emails, and texts – he actually responds every time.
Conclusion
Consider:
- Buying something from your own company – is it easy?
- Asking customers how easy was it to buy something? What would they change?
- Looking at all the ways you have told people how they can contact you (telephone numbers, email addresses, Twitter tags, websites). Do these actually work? If not, fix or delete them, inform people how they should contact you, or make old email addresses point to new email addresses so you don't miss anything.
- Assessing if the people in your company who handle sales have expert knowledge in what they are selling. If not, realize that you might be losing sales because they cannot help educate the customer and the customer sees it.
- Checking that your company at least acknowledges all requests within 24 hours, all of the time. Acknowledgements take seconds and can state when a full response will come. If the request is for something you don't do, tell them and advise who they can buy from, if you know.
A vendor who does not reply to requests is sending a message to the prospective customer that they don't care. The next time a potential customer has a need, they are probably not going to waste their time (and money) with this vendor.
This aspect of running a business is obvious but uncommonly performed. Make sure your company is easy to buy from and responds to all requests.
If you are the business owner and you don't like selling or interacting with people, find someone who can do it for you – either a current employee, a temporary employee, or a contractor.
Feel free to email me with questions at neilpotter@icloud.com
