Articles

One of the amazing features of the American economy is the number of unpaid employees that are at work in so many companies. Think about it a moment. You and I work for the oil and gas companies, the banks, the hotel industry, the airlines, the leisure industry, the grocery industry and several more. Have you figured it out yet? We are the sales clerks at all of the above companies and industries. We “swipe” our credit card and go about entering the part numbers or making selections of what it is we want and in fact closing the jobs and getting a packing slip or receipt. Imagine that; we are the largest unpaid workforce in the world.

It seems that someone has figured out what good service entails. Of course this all involves technology to make it happen but we can cover that one later on. It seems we want responsiveness in our dealings with some of our “suppliers” above most other things. Isn’t that one of the items that ranks high on the list from our customers? In the Product Support Opportunities Handbook from 2002 that was the number two item on everyone’s list. In Service it lagged behind price and in parts it was behind availability. It seems that many other companies; from grocery stores to airlines to banks heard what their customer’s were saying and satisfied the need. Where are we? Why don’t we respond to what are customers are saying they want and need from us.

In Chicago this month the Executive forum has one of the founders of the Balanced Scorecard movement. David Norton. The Balanced Scorecard points to four key elements as headlines in managing and leading your business.

• Customer
• Internal
• Innovation
• Finance

It starts from what the customer needs and wants and moves on from there. It seems pretty straight forward to me. If the customer tells you what they want and they tell you what they need well if you want to stay in business you should pay attention and give it to them. This is also the principal behind the Balanced Scorecard as the second headline dealers with Internal. The Internal headline asks the question “what do we need to excel at in order to satisfy the needs and wants of the customer?” It still seems pretty straight forward. Doesn’t it?

Well then the question is why don’t we do something about it? This is an important question to me and one that nags at me in my work often. We know what we need to do but something always seems to get in the way.

• Should we have a self service terminal in the Parts Department and the Service Department?
• Should our customers be able to get price and availability information online by themselves?
• Should our customers be able to place an order online?
• Should our customer be able to check on backorders online?
• Should our customer be able to schedule a mechanic for a repair?
• Should our customer be able to look at their open account information?
• Should our customer be able to maintain their machine population information?
• Should our customer be able to find part numbers that they need by going online?
• Should our customer be able to see maintenance specifications online?

I think the answer to all of these questions and many more is a loud and clear YES.

Well why don’t we give it to them? I know, believe me I know, that many of you are already doing this and to you I send my sincere congratulations and gratitude. You are making a difference to your customers and setting a wonderful example to the other dealers in this Industry. That reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Jack Welsh, “When the world around you is changing at a rate faster than you are...the end is near.”

So where do we need to go from here? How about reinforcing with your customer that responsiveness is one of their most important attributes for a good distri-butor supplier? If it is then go about determining what you need to do within your business to satisfy that need. Check with your software supplier if need be and get them to give you the tools that you need. This is the third headline in the balanced Scorecard; Innovation. Get the tools in place and train your employees in how to show customers how to use the new tools. Offer training sessions in the evening or on the week end so that your customer will know how to take advantage of the new tools you are offering to them as a customer service, the things that will make you the best distributor supplier in your market. Isn’t that what you want to do? Well the time is now. Let’s get it done.