subject: Some Advice For Sales Supervisors On The Best Way To Plan And Prepare For Any Client Visit To Your B [print this page] One strategy by which an organization can gain new clients is by inviting them to pay a visit to your company. As the sales supervisor you need not be present for the whole duration of such customer visits but you'll need to make certain they're prepared and executed properly. When considering whether to invite the client to pay a visit to your organization, you will find the subsequent pros and cons, taken from a sales training course check-list, helpful:
Some Pros: Personal support possible, no travel expenses, home advantage, you can prepare right up to the very last minute, easy access to files, tour of your company is doable, use of own personal media for presentations, client will get contact with other people in the business.
Some downsides of client visits: source of disruption/interruptions, time-consuming, customer sees factors you did not want them too, unfulfilled expectations, customer discovers bad points, exploitation of home advantage is seen as arrogance by customer.
After you do decide to invite a client to visit your organization, then you definitely need to remember the next critical issues:
You must inform all of the relevant departments of any customer visits to ensure that they are fully ready. You might even want to present them with some basic sales training on presenting the best image in front of buyers.
It is really important that you are present when the client is being initially welcomed to the company. It is best to greet them personally in the reception area and do not leave them waiting. Ensure you inform the reception desk about who's coming and when they are expected. You may, for example, use a notice board at reception with details of who is expected on each and every working day. Make sure that you are mindful of any corporate rules governing your behaviour with visitors, such as, making certain that they sign the visitors book or are made aware of any safety requirements.
It is advisable to draw up an exact program of what and where the visitor is to be shown. The client will probably be interested in stuff that they potentially have very little experience of and have not seen before. Tell your salespeople of the program, as the time plan for every meeting is incredibly important. You should steer clear of trying to cram much too much in to a single visit and will need to think about the customers capacity to take information in.
You should in addition clarify with your sales men and women:
1. What should the client be shown?
2. How long will the visit last?
3. At what time will the client eat and where?
4. Which issues will be discussed and in which order?
5. Who will the customer be presented to?
6. What documentation will the customer be offered?
7. At what time will a visit finish?
You could, however, leave any product or sales training presentations for the sales team to do.
Be extremely careful to not interfere in matters that are the remit of your sales staff. You must not steal the show from them. Even if something is left out of a presentation, do not intervene in front of a customer. Instead, take the sales man or women responsible aside as soon as you get a chance and remind them of the missing details to ensure their subsequent presentation will be much better.
Don't forget that clients and site visitors also see the human aspect of your organization. Make certain that your personnel treat one another politely and fairly in front of the client. It is also possible to acquire new customers as a result of impressive employee behaviour. Your goal should be to try and create a friendly and warm environment.
You must not let your site visitors go away empty-handed. Give them a small, original gift to take away with them. For example, a mouse mat with your company logo and address embossed on it. Some businesses take a picture of their guests during the tour of the organization and send this to them afterwards.
When the customer is leaving, it is best to bid them farewell personally. Under no circumstances should you inquire whether or not the customer is considering placing an order at this juncture.
Finally, do write a letter to every client who visits your business in order to thank them for the time they spent with you. In this letter you can include particulars of forthcoming company events, as an example the upcoming trade fair, new product launches, factory openings, sales training events etcetera. And do remember that it is essential that you sign such letters of thanks personally. They must never be signed on your behalf by your PA or secretary.
