LWS: Selling Customer Loyalty (ENG)

The ultimate measure of your service to customers is the loyalty that they give you with the business. That can be measured by customer retention. During the 1980’s Harvard Business School did the definitive research on this subject. That work was published in a book called the “Service profit Chain.” This is one of the foundations that is used in this class to show students the “how to” measure customer loyalty.

There is a direct correlation between employee satisfaction and loyalty and customer satisfaction and loyalty. This correlation is explored and explained in this program. Various surveys are exposed to measure employee satisfaction. This information provides recommendations for action.

The Construction Equipment Industry has conducted customer surveys every five years that asks customers about their buying habits. These surveys provided guidance to the dealers on what the percentage of defections would be in the Industry. This class provides a direct linkage that can be used on profitability related to customer retention by the parts business and the service business.

This Customer Loyalty class starts to address the retention measures to use when a customer is assigned to a specific employee. A customer assigned to a Product Support Salesmen has a retention goal, a customer loyalty goal, of 100%. The tools to perform this calculation are provided in this class.

LWS: Selling Coaching and Mentoring (ENG)

One of the most important and significant activities in which we can be involved, in our professional lives, is helping in the development of the younger less experienced employees. Whether it is a direct coaching job or we mentor the younger less experienced workers we have a responsibility to transfer our knowledge to them. In older times each new employee was assigned to a “mentor” with whom they spent time. They would take breaks together, have lunch together, and this new employee worked as if they were helpers for the experienced employees.

The dilemma with this is that not everyone is good at transferring their knowledge and some employees will just not do it. Selecting the proper people to assign this responsibility is critical. Starting through all of the job functions, from the beginning to the end. Communicated in a different manner from the time the employee arrives at work until they leave at the end of the day. Everything and anything that pertains to the work.

This is part of developing a strong corporate culture. Culture is aimed at your heart. In this style of “onboarding” new employees, each person will feel part of the team. This is an extremely important function and this class will help you avoid the difficulties in performing this function.

LWS: Selling Campaigns and Promotions (ENG)

A new reality continues apace. Everyone by now has been affected by “telemarketing” and I trust your tele-selling life has had a successful start. But, even with the sales aspect of the job, it is hard to hold onto a performance edge: to stay motivated and excited. The job, over time, gets to be too much of a routine.

We need to generate excitement and energy in the department. We need to operate with regular campaigns and promotions. Something special needs to be going on all the time. To do this, we need to inject campaigns and promotion planning into our sales forecasts and annual budget plans. Campaigns and promotions have to become an integral part of the life in a parts business.

We provide a structure to the campaign and promotion activities with the use of a Promotion Planning Tree (PPT). The PPT provides a road map of activities, and a check list, to ensure that we get everything right. It allows everyone to be involved in the development of the campaigns and promotions so that there is understanding of what it is we are aiming to do. It allows vigorous debate in the development of the campaigns and promotions so that everyone is involved in the programs. It brings back the excitement to the job.

LWS: Selling Buyer’s Needs (ENG)

A new reality continues in its approach.  By now everyone has been affected by “telemarketing,” your tele-selling future has gotten off to a successful start, and you have also learned how to handle the objections from the customers. You know all of the mechanics of selling. Now we need to make it easier for you by exposing the “buyer’s needs.”

The needs that the customer has in this transaction can stem from “ego satisfaction,” in other words knowing that they are making the right choice, to feeling that they are treated with respect. The sales person has to be sensitive to all of these various attributes and reasons which can underlie the buyer’s needs. But your customers also need your expertise and knowledge and experience. You are in a difficult position. In order to be able to satisfy the needs of the customer, you have to continue to keep yourself current on the product and Industry trends and competition. There is a lot to do.

This class deals with survey information obtained from the customers. If they are given a chance, customers will tell us what they need and want, and we then have to be in a position to deliver it.

LWS: Selling Best Practices (ENG)

With standards of performance we dealt with what it looks like when it is right. With Best Practices we aim for performance excellence. What is it that the most successful dealers are doing to achieve excellence? This is discussed in detail in this program to allow dealers to see optional approaches to processes and systems. From using the standard times to shop floor scheduling turnover, from maintenance programs to labor efficiency, every aspect is discussed.

We will cover all aspects of the processes required in a labor business: from dealer business systems, to labor collections systems, to service pricing systems. People and system productivity and effectiveness are critical in any business today, but this is especially true within the equipment business where the gross margin on the prime products continues to erode. There are many aspects within a labor business that must be covered that can make a significant difference in either cost structures or market positioning and competitive situations.

Process manuals – electronic or paper – and procedures, as well as training methods to employ become critical to the consistent delivery of excellent customer service. How to measure your success in the area of customer satisfaction, as well as all operational processes becomes part of this program. Anyone interested in achieving the best possible level of performance within the labor business will gain insight from this program.

LWS: Selling Basic Marketing (ENG)

In this Basic Marketing class, we explore a broadly misunderstood sector of business. It is much more than mailings, promotions, and tradeshows. It is all of the aspects involved in influencing the customer to purchase your products or services.

Marketing is the science of choosing target markets through the use of market analysis and segmentation. This class exposes all aspects of marketing: Relationship Marketing, Business Marketing, Social Marketing and Internal Marketing. In Relationship Marketing, we focus on suppliers and customers, and the goal is to build loyalty. The Business Marketing is all aspects of the traditional marketing functions: advertising, promotion and communications. Social Marketing looks at everything that impacts society. For instance, the impact on the environment from the use of clean engine technology. Internal Marketing, is the broad communications to all employees of everything that we are doing in the business.

This program covers all the basics of marketing: from the four P’s to the more current addition of SIVA. We expose you to everything involved in basic marketing theory today. Without creating the environment where your product or service is understood, you make the job of selling much more difficult. This program aims to provide you with the tools to use to make selling more successful.

LWS: Selling Basic Finance (ENG)

Before we can be of any value to anyone else we have to be of value to ourselves. That is an old adage, but it still rings true. Ignorance is not knowing what to do. How can we know what to do if we don’t understand basic finance? This is especially true within the labor business, where the technicians look at their hourly wage and compare it to the labor rate charged to the customer.

We will expose and explain all aspects of the operating statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow forecast. These are the three major documents in the world of finance. We will define and describe all of the terms the accountants use. There will be no mystery to basic finance when we are finished. We will explain cost of sales and what it consists of, as well as all of the various expense elements. Personnel Expenses, Operating Expenses, and Fixed Expenses are discussed so that everyone will be able to understand and accept how and why money is spent and how we make it.

The fundamentals of basic finance have been a mystery for too many people for far too long, especially in the labor business. This program gets past that so that the employees in a parts business will understand the effect of each of their decisions.

LWS: Selling Balanced Scorecard (ENG)

In the service business we communicate with the marketplace in a variety of methods. We deal with various systems, manually and technologically. We have a responsibility to serve and retain customers while at the same time we have to make money for the business. This is a complicated business.

To assist us in managing the business and help us implement our company strategy we use a business tool that is called the “Balanced Scorecard.” The Balanced Scorecard was developed in the 1990s, designed for use in the planning and implementation of a company’s strategy. The scorecard looks at your business from four directions; finance, internal, innovation and customer. From this vantage point the company can develop a strategy as part of their operating plan.  These plans are meant to help a company achieve its goals.  If a plan cannot be agreed upon and effectively executed, a business cannot effectively reach its goals.

In this class, you will learn the ins and outs of this valuable tool, and the costs we pay in our business when we fail to execute our plans for success in our market.

LWS: Selling Art of the Possible (ENG)

The work in a Service Business within the Construction Equipment Industry is complex and filled with details. It is within this environment that our employees work day in and day out. These people who I call your “heroes” are the warriors that make your business a success.

The technicians have a forward workload that leaves little room for inefficiency or ineffectiveness. In the shop or the field whether for repair or maintenance or rebuilds the work never ends. Your “heroes” do incredible work keeping up with this activity. They work in difficult working conditions, they deal with specialized equipment and tooling, they do inspections, prepare equipment for sale and make ready equipment for rent and lease. They get to the end of the day and take a deep breathe to indicate that they made it through another day. They deal with the Art of the Possible every single day.

In this class we will explore the major pillars that comprise your business; Buildings, Inventory, People, Technology, Purchasing and Employee Development. We will then apply and show you how to apply the Art of the Possible.

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CWI: Service Coaching and Mentoring (ENG)

One of the most important and significant activities in which we can be involved, in our professional lives, is helping in the development of the younger less experienced employees. Whether it is a direct coaching job or we mentor the younger less experienced workers we have a responsibility to transfer our knowledge to them. In older times each new employee was assigned to a “mentor” with whom they spent time. They would take breaks together, have lunch together, and this new employee worked as if they were helpers for the experienced employees.

The dilemma with this is that not everyone is good at transferring their knowledge and some employees will just not do it. Selecting the proper people to assign this responsibility is critical. Starting through all of the job functions, from the beginning to the end. Communicated in a different manner from the time the employee arrives at work until they leave at the end of the day. Everything and anything that pertains to the work.

This is part of developing a strong corporate culture. Culture is aimed at your heart. In this style of “onboarding” new employees, each person will feel part of the team. This is an extremely important function and this class will help you avoid the difficulties in performing this function.