Sales and Marketing from the Trenches - Everyone Affects Sales

Everyone affects sales

Sales is the life blood of every business and as such should be on the minds of everyone in the company. I’m not saying that all involved in your company need to be proficient sales people, just that every employee needs to be cognizant of how they affect the company’s sales directly. From CEO to custodian…each person’s contributions have an impact on sales and the net value of the company.

I am amazed at how many people I have observed who are oblivious or just don’t care about their effect on their company’s bottom line. Let me illustrate:

We ordered some typical supplies from one of our vendors the other day. We’ll call them vendor A. These are supplies that we rely on for the core of our business and without them we cannot print, and our vendor knows this. The next morning we called the vendor to get the tracking number and they confirmed that the order had shipped. Hours later, like clockwork, UPS arrived with our order — minus two items on backorder.

A couple of things went wrong here. First when we placed the order, the sales person never let us know our product was not in stock. Then the person who told us the order had shipped failed to mention two items were on backorder.

In contrast, we have another vendor, vendor B, that confirms the order while we are on the phone, then follows that with a faxed confirmation. Should there be any issues, they call us immediately.

The end result? Through consistently unreliable business communications with the first vendor we have moved the majority of our purchasing to the second vendor. Poor performance of individuals within their company caused vendor A to loose us as a customer. Each one of these people contributed negatively to vendor A’s bottom line.

…every employee needs to be cognizant of how they affect the company’s sales….

Some might say “So what?... it’s not my job.” To those I say don’t apply here, and to their executives and managers, I say get rid of them. If you don’t, you aren’t doing your job. No good can come from someone who has no concern for the customer. Think I’m kidding? The people at company ‘A’ didn't lose a sale, they lost a customer. Because of this and other incidents, company ‘A’ will lose $80,000.00 this next year and company ‘B’ will gain $80,000.00 in sales. Why? Customer service. No other reason. Company ‘A’ had a great product and great price. They didn’t have people who cared about the customer.

So here’s the lesson — Always ask yourself:

• How will a customer perceive my actions?
• Are my actions enhancing the customer’s experience?
• Can I do better? (Hint, the answer to this one is always yes.)

Notice these questions are about you. Not your boss, not your co-worker, not your employee, they are asking you about you. By taking leadership of your own actions you are taking the first step towards exhibiting relentless customer service.

Consider this quote from Sam Walton, the founder of Wall Mart:

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else. —Sam Walton

Next month I'll discuss the sales team.

Written by Ken Pettit.

Step 1 to effective large-format graphics: Text length

Introduction: Are your big images awesome enough?

…text should be short, straightforward, and the biggest bang for your verbage buck you can come up with.

Designing for large format digital printing is a much different ball game than small format. Yes, I know; “duh!” is what you’re thinking, but hear me out. People won’t be picking your large-format graphic up, holding it in their hands, turning it over, or scrutinizing its verbage. Instead, it’s going to be glanced at quickly from a distance, and in many cases ignored. From the first moment your work is glimpsed, you have only three seconds of a person’s attention to convey your message. We call it the Three Second Rule, because if they’re not hooked within three seconds, you lost the sale, and wasted time and money producing the graphic.

The truth is most designers over-design for large format printing, especially when they’re used to designing for another smaller-format medium. I'm Ben Lawless, designer extraordinaire, and I've compiled a small list of tips and tricks that will get you started in the right direction. Enjoy!

Tip 1. Keep your text short. Only convey your core message.

Ellen Lupton once wrote,

“Just as designers should avoid filling space with arbitrary visual effects, writers should remember that no one loves their words as much as they do.”

This concept is essential. Your graphic isn’t a term paper. It’s not an autobiography. It’s not even a product sheet. It is an advertisement, and as such, it needs to carry across your message in no time flat. So, text should be short, straightforward, and the biggest bang for your verbage buck you can come up with. This goes back to the Three Second Rule mentioned previously. If you can’t sell them in three seconds, then that’s it. It’s over.

Figure 1: An example of poor use of text (left side) and effective use of text (right side) for large format digital print design. The image on the right is much easier to read and conveys its message very fast.

As you can see in figure 1, the left graphic is completely inaccessible. From a distance, there is no way that anyone could possibly even know what it's about, much less shell out money based on it. In stunning contrast, the graphic on the right is simple and straightforward. And without the aid of a single photo or illustration, it sells itself. In three seconds, the audience finds a moment of sanity and clarity in a maelstrom of other poorly-made large-format graphics.

Once they’re hooked, use supplemental materials to further flesh out your message, but leave the large format graphic to do it’s job. That’s what you’re paying for.

Read Ben’s Step 2 to effective large-format graphics: Size your fonts correctly

Although Benjamin Lawless included that Ellen Lupton quote above, he's really hoping that someone else loves his words as much as him. That'd make him very happy.