What About Your Staff?
Chapter 13 in my book suggests that ‘95% of all cancellations are predictable, and thus preventable’.
It further explains that one of the key tools in cancellation prevention is using our Four Questions for every key account, every month.
Q1.) What is the last good thing we did for the account?
Q2.) When?
Q.3.) What is the next good thing we’re planning to do for the account?
Q.4.) When?
A “good thing” is described as a Valid Business Contact, or a contact that your customer benefits from.
The book explains that if the answers to questions 2 and 4 are longer than 30 days, your budget might be coming under the knife when your advertisers begin to look for ways to cut expenses.
But I’ve come to recognize you have to ask those same four questions with your most important and highest leverage customers…your internal customers.
Substitute the phrase ‘for my customer’ with the phrase ‘for my staff’ in questions 1 and 3. What is the last good thing you did for your staff and what is the next good thing you are going to do for them, and when?
In the case of your internal customers, giving them a job, or an earned bonus or incentive, is NOT enough. What do you do over and above what is expected or earned to keep your staff from canceling or tuning you out?
I recall one instance with Scott, one of my sales people, when his car broke down heading into a weekend when garages were closed and he had promised to take his kids to an important outing.
I flipped him the keys to my new car for the weekend. That simple gesture earned more loyalty, respect and sales from him than I did with any of the financial incentives he earned.
To this day I think Scott would walk over broken glass for me.