Identifying the touch points that tip a potential customer positively or negatively is an important issue in hotel sales training.   Most sales training deals with all or some of the aspects of the sales process – ho, hum!

Experienced sales people always express a certain ‘been there – done that' in response or at best, say ‘what a good refresher!'.  So if they know it all why aren't they producing more is always the question.

In Malcolm Gladwells' book, The Tipping Point, it is emphasized that small things lead to big changes or a tipping point in which an situation or, in this case, a person or organization, is ‘tipped' positively or negatively.    If we apply the same principles to sales, we can identify those points of contact or ‘touch points'.  If we can identify them, then we can engineer or ‘train' for them to ensure that they are positive.

Most of these should go without saying but it should never be taken for granted that even an experienced sales person is aware of and consistently executes these critical ‘touch points' in a positive manner.  ‘Touch points' are behaviors that can be monitored and measured, which is more than most training ensures. 

The measurement of these ‘touch points', however, requires that we establish a new metric for reporting and observation.   Instead of measuring only how much business was closed, from a training standpoint, we need to examine how the touch points were handled so we can reinforce the positive behavior.  Equally important is to look at business that was lost and examine how the important touch points were handled that may have contributed to its failure to book.

Training to the desired behavior has a very definite practical application and forces a focus on the ‘little things' that yield positive changes in ‘tipping' the client in our favor.  In a business environment of increased immediacy, it is critically important that each client contact or ‘touch point' is maximized.   

Do your sales people have a Blackberry or a web enabled cell phone so that they can check and respond to emails while they are on the road?  If the competition does, your sales people may be too late.   Remember, "It's not the Big that Eat the Small – it's the Fast that Eat the Slow!"  (Jennings & Haughton, 2003)

‘Touch points' can be trained and some are more important than others.   What are those touch points and what makes them important?  A few are ‘touched' upon below:

• Initial contact.  Designate a response window as guidance for the sales person to return the communication.  We always designate this but don't measure the execution. The window for responses is getting tighter and tighter and it is up to the sales person at the end of a conversation to commit to when the next action will take place.
• The quality of the initial contact.   Getting it right the first time should not be tough.  Whether the response is to be a phone call or an electronic communication, does the quality of that communication indicate that the sales person has listened and has crafted a response that reflects that? 
• Close on the next 'touch point'.  Let the client know when they can expect the response and how it will be delivered via email, phone call or snail mail (does anyone really put stuff in the mail anymore?).  
• "Do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it".   How hard is this and how many people actually do it?   It is a tough marketplace and it is indicative of how much this means when a client actually thanks a sales person for following up promptly.  
• Fast, fluent communication.   Relationships are built in five minutes – whether over the phone, email or in person. Quite frankly, a relationship doesn't mean much unless the sales person can get to the point and demonstrate the value of their product in terms that the client finds compelling.

All of the above rely on behaviors that can be trained for and measured.  It is matter of changing the paradigms with which we look at sales behavior and reporting – it is also a matter of whose sales people will win in an increasing competitive market environment and ‘tip' the client favorably toward your property.

Carol Verret And Associates Consulting and Training offers training services and consulting in the areas of sales, revenue management and customer service primarily but not exclusively to the hospitality industry. To find out more about the company click on www.carolverret.com. To contact carol send her an email at carol@carolverret.com or she can be reached by cell phone (303) 618-4065.