Information on how credit and sales joint calls can impove your companies' ROI. Information on traveling with sales.

1. ER$ Consulting ServicesIn Collaboration with CMAPresents Traveling with Sales September 22, 2009 Webinar Copyright © Eddy A. Sumar 2009

2. ER$ Consulting ServicesIn Collaboration with CMAPresents Credit and Sales Joint Calls: How Can This Improve Your Companies’ ROI

3. Credit and Sales Joint Calls:How Can this Improve Your Companies’ ROI Questions: Are you currently traveling with sales? Does your company allow credit professionals to travel with sales? Do you have a company policy of conducting joint visits to the field with sales?

4. Credit and Sales Joint Calls:How Can this Improve Your Companies’ ROI Agenda: Why should credit personnel go on sales calls? What are the benefits of traveling with sales? How does your attendance ensure success of the call? Who should you meet with and why? Reasons when an in-person meeting is imperative. Why your company needs a policy for conducting joint visits.

5. “Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.” Chinese Proverb

6. AIM Credit becoming Sales Sensitive Helping Sales to become Credit sensitive Why? This can improve your company ROI

7. Why Should Credit Personnel Go on Sales Calls? It creates a team spirit Engenders cooperation and collaboration Presents a unified front to the customer (Sales & Credit become one) Enhances the chances of closing the deal and making the sale (two or more minds better than one) Helps sales, credit, and customer consider more options Helps credit build a relationship with sales customers

8. Why Should Credit Personnel Go on Sales Calls? Helps credit strengthen and maintain a relationship with sales and customers Allows for fact-finding, information gathering, instructing & training Enhances and facilitates problem-solving An opportunity for customer service & building goodwill and loyalty Facilitates collection Expedites credit decisions

9. Why Should Credit Personnel Go on Sales Calls? Will allow you to employ six honest serving men…

10. Why Should Credit Personnel Go on Sales Calls? Is a NEED not a WANT

11. Why Should Credit Personnel Go on Sales Calls? Nothing replaces the power of direct observation and face-to-face encounters. You can gain so much information from watching people in their actual work environment and capturing the unuttered, non-verbal and unarticulated needs. You see their facial expressions, their gestures and real-time reactions.

12. Why Should Credit Personnel Go on Sales Calls? It is a key vehicle to change the misperceptions about credit

13. Why Should Credit Personnel Go on Sales Calls? It allows credit to learn the language of sales and become involved in the sales process; it also allows sales to learn the language of credit and become involved in the credit process.

14. What are the Benefits of traveling with Sales? Build mutual understanding and engenders empathy Allows credit to walk in the salesman’s shoes Helps increase sales and market share through credit and creative options Expedites cash flow Results in lower bad debt and write-offs Strengthens company image and improves ROI Helps to build partnership and alliances Can facilitate contract and terms negotiations

15. How does your attendance ensure success of the call? It introduces the credit perspective…bringing the expert…presenting as a team It brings new options and alternatives It eliminates distortions and misunderstandings when it comes to credit offerings and process Allows the credit professional to explain the process and ask for the needed requirements [Apps/ FS/ Docs] Allows for first hand observation and assessment without intermediaries Allows credit to meet the decision makers and financial personnel

16. How does your attendance ensure success of the call? By understating the three stages of the call and being prepared

17. Effective Customer VisitsStages Pre-visit The Visit Post-visit

19. Study the information to determine the needs. Get to Knowthe needs, the people (personality type), and the issues

20. Determine the alternatives

22. Connect with the person (reconnect on subsequent visitsby taking time to catch up)

23. Listen, listen and listen

24. Define the issues from the customer’s perspective

25. Migrate to their views

26. Understand their needs, position, and attitude

27. Re-define the issues from your perspective: inform, educate, instruct, and incentivize

28. Present alternative solutions

30. Assure the customer of your support & understanding

31. Reconfirm the actions to be taken

32. Follow-up periodically until issue has been closed

34. Listen, listen and listen

35. Attack the issues not the person

36. Show a sense of urgency

37. Understand their needs, position, and attitude

38. Put the customer at ease

39. Work as a partner: cooperate and collaborate

40. Be on the side of the customer

41. Be professional

43. Never attack the person

44. Never promise what you cannot deliver

45. Never belittle their position

46. Never assume (always Ask)

47. Never say ‘we cannot do that’ or ‘No’ (rather let us see what we can do; search for alternatives)

49. Inquire, Inspect and Invite cooperation

50. Stimulate action

51. Inspire confidence and Implement

53. How does your attendance ensure success of the call? Purpose Plan Prepared Presence & Professionalism Promote, Preserve & Perpetuate Promise Perform Patient & Perseverant Passion Prompt

54. Effective Customer VisitsPurpose—Goals Achieve results Strengthen relationships Create loyalty and customer goodwill Create willingness to secure financial statements Facilitate collection and expedite cash flow Keep lines of communication open

56. Show commitment to your customer or prospect

57. Be able to mobilize people

58. Create an overarching goal or purpose

59. Look for needs

60. Inspire solutions

61. Demonstrate confidence (in customer, product, service, Co.)

62. Demonstrate care

63. Appeal to the heart as well as to the mind

64. Communicate clearly what is expected

65. Show integrity and humility; listen

67. Who Should You Meet With And Why? They all have a role in: helping or hindering your getting paid expediting or delaying your cash flow lowering or increasing your bad debt and write-offs affecting your deduction (CM or DM) level influencing your sales revenue and market share improving or deteriorating your ROI

68. Reasons When an In-Person Meeting Is imperative When you are dealing with a key distributor When you are dealing with large credit lines When you are dealing with key negotiations When you are dealing with large collection issues When you are dealing with large deductions When you need to build relationships and goodwill When you need to terminate a key customer When your customer needs you to be present When sales and customers need a creative credit solution and alternative

69. Why Your Company Needs A Policy For Conducting Joint Visits It is best practice It is the right thing to do to improve the company image and improve your ROI It helps to build empathy and strong alliances It is a NEED It helps to change the negative perception of credit It creates a formal venue and takes away guess work and capriciousness It puts upper management seal of approval It legitimizes credit in the field It helps create a budget for credit to visit the field

71. You learn by observing. Observing means going to your customer’s place of business and noting how your product is being used

72. Visiting means seeing how the business is run

73. You can follow your product around

74. You will notice where users have problems

75. You will understand the customer’s goals and strategies

77. You will learn how they make decisions

78. You will get to feel the pulse of your customer & sales force

79. You will get to see their problems and frustrations up close

80. You will get to identify your customer's and sales force ‘hidden dissatisfiers’

81. You will get the chance to strengthen your relationship with your customers & your sales force

83. ERS Consulting ServicesEddy Sumar, MBA, CCE, CICE, CEW909-481-9869ealberto@aol.com Thank You!