Some Process Wisdom from My Dad

My dad's a very smart guy - he's an accountant. Don't hold that against him. He's worked for a ton of top firms around the world and ocassionally throws me a nugget of wisdom like he did today:

 

"Just remembered something from the days when I managed Budget-rent-a-Car for Appleyard 35 years ago.  The UK MD of Budget used to talk about the telephone being the "money machine".  The call was an enquiry about the product - car rental.  The call had to be handled properly and turned into a rental.  There was no point in the phone ringing if some dumbo answered it and lost the potential client.  It might have been less costly for it not to ring in the first place.  Today's equivalent is wider than the phone - it still includes the phone, but is much wider.  Anyway the moral of the story is that enquiries have to be handled timeously and correctly to turn someone's interest into a sale".

 

What dad is saying, essentially, is that there is is no point in having a million ways that the customer can easily communicate with you if you don't get your entire sales process correct. Think about it. If you have a shop in the busiest street in the busiest town, you'll still sell nothing if your salespersons stand around chewing gum and talking.

 

So think long and hard about communication methods in your company, but don't think that's the be-all and end-all. Making a sale is still making a sale, whether that's an automated system or someone in the flesh - there is no margin for error.

 

- TPN