The seller that has the most customer responsiveness has the inside track to close the sale.

I have previously written about the importance of time in selling. Time is a commodity that is in short supply for buyer and seller alike. If you make good use of the time your prospects invest in you as a seller; and if prospects realize value and a good return on the time they invest in you, then they will reward you with more time to sell.

I thought of this again while reading a recent article in the Wall Street Journal that described an internal IBM video sent to all employees by CEO Virgina Rometty. In the 5-minute missive, Rometty decried the absence of a sense of urgency among her legions in responding to prospects and customers. She stated that they'd been guilty of not being sufficiently proactive in engaging with customers to answer their questions.

The solution was to change their process. "The CEO then unleashed a new rule. If a client has a request or question, IBM must respond within 24 hours, she said." I had to re-read that line a couple times because it was a little hard to believe. In fact, the first thought that flashed into my mind when I read this was the scene from an Austin Powers movie, where Dr. Evil has returned to hold the world hostage after being cryogenically frozen for 30 years and missing out on the technological changes that occurred. He demands from world leaders a ransom of…$1 million! His right-hand man rushes to inform his that $1 million ain’t what it used to be. So too, 24 hours isn’t what it used to be. Today, 24 hours is forever.

By their CEO’s reckoning IBM is a company that has a responsiveness problem and their solution is to allow themselves the luxury of 24 hours to respond to customer questions. Why so slow? With their extensive sales track record and vast industry expertise it would seem an unusual occurrence for a customer to ask them a question that had never been asked and answered before. What prevents them from utilizing the global resources at their command and the very tools they sell to  manage and mine data and to improve collaboration among employees to be more rapidly responsive to customers?

There are no good reasons for not prioritizing responsiveness to customers

Responsiveness in selling has a specific definition. Responsiveness is equal to the combination of information content delivered with speed. (Responsiveness = information content + speed) Responsiveness means to provide the information that completely answers a customer question, and enables them to take a step forward in their buying process, in the shortest time possible.

Responsiveness is not only about being quick. You could be the first seller to pick up the phone and reply to a customer question but if you aren’t also providing them the information that fully answers their question or fulfills their request, then you are not being responsive. In fact, you are just wasting the customer’s time. They have a limited amount of time to invest in you and if they give you their time you have to provide value in return. 

Every organization can make the commitment to increase responsiveness. The task for managers is pretty simple. 

1. Set the Expectation for Responsiveness

You have to set an expectation for responsiveness in both sales and customer service. The expectation should be established that answers are provided immediately. The challenge to your team should then be to define the processes (or modify existing processes) that will enable the organization to achieve the goal you've established. Responsiveness won't happen immediately. But a process can be put in place that will achieve that objective. It is an easy metric that can be measured.

2. Align processes with internal knowledge

Secondly, your sales structure and processes have to closely align your internal knowledge resources with the information requirements of your customers. In my book, Zero-Time Selling, I describe how responsive sellers position their people and resources with the deepest product knowledge and industry expertise closest to the customer. This is called "Selling with the Sharp End."

The objective is to eliminate the "get-backs" in your selling and customer service organizations. What's a "get back?" For example: "Well, Mr. Prospect, that is a great question. Unfortunately, I don't have the answer. I'll have to 'get-back' to you with the answer." No matter how well intentioned you are, a get-back inserts wasted time into your selling efforts and opens the door for your competitors to walk through the opening you created. They are both momentum and deal killers.

Imagine what would happen if you conditioned your customers to expect an answer to their questions within an hour? Or 30 minutes? Imagine how your customers' perception of the value you are providing to them would skyrocket once they knew they could count on you to help them make informed purchase decisions in less time.

Andy Paul is author of the award-winning book, Zero-Time Selling: 10 Essential Steps to Accelerate Every Company's Sales. A leading sales process expert and noted speaker, Andy works with B2B sales teams of all sizes and shapes to teach them how to Sell with Maximum Impact in the Least Time. Sign up for our weekly digest of valuable selling tips, “The Speed of Selling.” For assistance with your sales processes, contact us at andy@zerotimeselling.com. 

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