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Q. I own a small pest control company and can’t afford to hire a salesperson at this time. How can I motivate my technicians to sell?
Money! Most technicians don’t like to sell, so I suggest a generous commission scale to motivate them. For referrals closed by the tech, I suggest a 10-percent commission. Add-on sales, cross sales or creative sales also should result in a 10-percent commission. The commission is in addition to any production.
Q. I own a midsize company, and we’re considering transitioning to an inside sales program for residential customers. Any thoughts?
Training! The key to a successful in-house residential sales program is methodical training. Telesales personnel must be taught to project company value and differentiation during a very short window of opportunity, at the onset of the phone call. A number of small to midsize companies have made this transition successfully during the past few years.
Q. I noticed my technicians have lost their “oomph.” While they do a good enough job servicing their accounts, they’ve lost their motivation. How do I light their fire?
Marketing! Your employees are your first market, so to speak. If your employees are unhappy or unmotivated, it’s only a matter of time before customer turnover becomes a problem. That said, unmotivated technicians reflect poorly on management. Begin by re-evaluating your compensation, reward and bonus programs. Then develop a plan of action to re-energize your staff.
You can reach Harvey Goldglantz, president of Pest Control Marketing Co. and author of Marketing Matters, at hgpcmcinc@aol.com. His book, Marketing Matters, is available from the PMP bookstore.
Art Manon
The Harder you work the lurker you get !, after a good tech has been on the job 2 or more years, the floodgates of referrals 0pen, & come in, any tech that is sales shy, should be reminded of how lucrative they can sales can be, as well as your in complete charge of that end user , no bad sale from a phone sale, then again this is another value of long term techs and another reason why the body in the truck, throw the baby out with the bath water , high tech ratio is a losing proposition.