Lyudmila Shusterova, director, strategic development, BDO Unicon Outsourcing.
Recently, a colleague of mine suddenly became the owner of a credit card. And I mean suddenly. She stopped at a gasoline filling station where a charismatic young man suggested that she apply for a discount card. She agreed, signed where she was told and only then realized that she had just applied for no discounts. She applied for a credit card.
It did not matter that that colleague of mine normally stayed away from credits for ideological, religious and other reasons. It was also unimportant that now she would have to go to the bank to cancel the new card (which she promised herself to cut into small pieces and burn ritually in the name of all clients who had fallen or would fall victim to troublesome fraudulent marketing).
It also did not matter that she already was a client of that bank that so "graciously" pushed something she did not need on her. It is not even important that she would now severe all relations with the bank in question and would hardly recommend it to anyone. What matters is that the promoter did his job well. His efficiency record does not reflect the financial results of the whole organization, or the number of clients the bank lost, or its business reputation, which is the measure of all measures. His KPI clearly reflects only the number of clients who sign for the credit card. Even if they never use it later.
That one should pay attention when signing anything is the matter of a separate discussion. Well, a commercial agreement where all the small print should be read to the last comma may be one thing and such a trifle as the acquisition of a free discount card may be quite another. Yet in the second case one should also be very careful lest one is forced to buy some unnecessary merchandise or, worse, should sign up and become a slave. As I found out, many people I know had gotten themselves into exact same situations at filling stations or malls and now all hated that same bank. Which means that this is not a slip-up of one employee but a common practice of selling the services of that organization. So the worse is the situation as I see it.
Of course, when it comes to more serious b2b markets where reputations are by far more valuable, losses much greater and the very culture of customer relations is much further developed, this kind of fraudulent salesmanship is hard to imagine or expect. What a client orders, they get and not something they do not need or expect. Sure, where the quality of services and communications is concerned many our domestic organizations have a lot to learn. Yet on the whole, no pig in a poke is expected.
Yet even b2b markets of services may sometimes come up with surprises. Like when an importunate contractor tries to sell a whole package of services, some of which the client does not need or cannot use the way they are, while the client's "advanced" managers are delighted with all the "innovational" offers.
Speaking of outsourcing, it is a truly convenient and practically universal tool adaptable to just about any kind of business. Yet it is very important that this be done right. One should know all the particulars of a certain client, their needs and expectations, further growth and expansion plans or, on the contrary, the plans to decrease the scale of their business. Launching an outsourcing project is impossible if the inner processes of the client company are obscure and its employees are not ready. The smart contractor will stop and stop the client in time, if the client wants to buy a service they are not ready for. Otherwise, one may have a failed project, a disgruntled client and negative references.
Well, this may work both ways. Sometimes, the client does not understand that they do not need the service they are about to buy or may see no advantages in the services they truly need. A client scared by promoters outside their business or sick and tired of b2b sales managers flocking to them during work hours may shy away from any, even the most adequate offer. The only way for one to gain the trust of a client is to stop trying to sell unnecessary services to them and to start pay more attention to one's current and potential customers.
A good salesman knows that sometimes it is better to advise a buyer against a product, a better one being sold around the corner. Surprisingly, after that, the grateful client is very likely to buy something from that salesman and, later, keep coming back. This is because what is important to a client is not just merchandize. They want to know that they are safe with you and that you respect them and not consider them just gullible. As long as b2c clients expect nothing but deceit from salesmen, while the salesmen compete trying to deceive as many clients they can, one may forget about the growth and development of such markets.
Source: finam.info
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