Actionable Insight Module i3 – Educating relevant personnel – customer service and sales
Equipping all of your team to become effective specification sale-creators.
Who is this Module for? Marketers, product-managers and business-owners
Having an understanding of how interior designers and architects work, how do you translate this into the provision of a level of excellence in your customer service and sales processes?
The practice of interior design, unlike architecture, is still an unregulated industry so it is not surprising that there are a confusing number of ways that interior designers work and charge fees. You have recognised a need to understand these different methodologies so that you adapt your service and approach accordingly.
Your service is a vital part of differentiating your offer from that of your competitors.
Offering relevant services is the foundation for creating a strong relationship with your creative specifier customer. These services are also vital in protecting against de-specification, that is, where a product is specified but later substituted by a competitor’s product meaning a write-off of all the sales investment made up to that point.
Strong relationships, based on great customer service, are your arsenal against de-specification happening and in this Module we show exactly how to go about building these relationships.
When you have completed Module i3, Educating relevant personnel – customer service and sales, you will:-
- Have the knowledge to enable effective relationship-building and tracking of specifications through to procurement.
- Know how to communicate the crucial properties and real benefits of your product.
- Be able to match your communication and language to that of your customer, build empathy and trust and build foundations for long-term customer relationships.
- Be able to maintain communication and harvest the relevant project information.
- Know how to stay involved with the project in order to protect your product against de-specification.
Module i3, Educating relevant personnel – customer service and sales, provides guidance on:-
- Personal strengths and skills to utilise for sales and customer service.
- Supportive responses to leads, sales-handling and process, verbal and written.
- Most helpful communication for this technical, professional audience – audio, kinaesthetic and visual stimulatory preferences.
- Creating a sales strategy.
- Communicating your support services.
- Understanding the creative specifier’s requirements and priorities.
- Engaging the creative specifier on first enquiry, crucial questions to ask.
- Becoming a Trusted Advisor, how to create a win-win relationship with the creative specifier.
- Use of industry-correct and empathetic language, avoiding jargon.
- Format for most effective written and spoken communication.
- Establishing, understanding and communicating product properties, benefits and USPs.
- Dealing with the demanding or uncommunicative interior designer, facilitating a fair exchange of information in communications
- Interacting with creative specifier customers – tracking and following up leads and sales.
- Reaching and communicating with new potential creative specifier customers.
- Creating sales collateral in advance.
- Dynamic and inspiring formats for presentation of products and services.
- Working with your marketing team, negotiating material for case studies.
- CPD presentations.
- Developing Strategic Allies.
- Protecting against de-specification.
- Other opportunities within the specification network.
Module i3, Educating relevant personnel – customer service and sales, is delivered via:-
- A “Coach the Coaches” model, that is, to the Module Lead Members (up to 3 people).
- Written and diagrammatic material, discussed in online meetings.
Ongoing Support and Online access to Module material
All material covered, including recordings from online meetings, will be made available via an online portal on the TIDB website.
Online access to Module material is charged separately to delivery of Modules to allow other team members from your company to become involved and share material. We do require a minimum of five people (Users) to sign up for online access to Module material.
Ongoing support hours are included with each block of five users signing up.
Cost
All Module content is customised to your company and product.
Modules can be delivered as stand-alone units however the content does overlap with the other Modules. For the best comprehensive and integrated view of the creative specifier market we recommend commissioning all four Modules.
Get in touch
Tell us about your aims and challenges in growing sales via the creative specifier route to market – email us to schedule a call with Carol or Daniel at [email protected].
TIDB Actionable Insight Modules
Module i1
Aligning services
Enhancing and supplementing your existing customer service offer.
Module i2
Industry Insight
An in-depth look at how interior designers and architects source, select and specify products.
Module i3
Educating relevant personnel – customer service and sales
Equipping all of your team to become effective specification sale-creators.
Module i4
Digital media & marketing
An all-round foundation for effective marketing to interior designers and architects.