We have done a lot of Voice of the Customer Surveys for our clients lately. Along the way we discovered something strangely interesting. And, it has nothing to do with the customer. Allow me to share. After collecting several of these surveys, we observed a bit of reluctance, perhaps hesitance, of the front-line sales teams when asked to promote the surveys. Maybe it was caused by fear of the unknown, things like how management might use the survey, or wondering if customers might see the survey as an intrusion or perhaps the results would reflect poorly on the team.  Some salespeople believed the process was redundant because after all, they represented “the eyes and ears of the company,” ever vigilant for changes in behavior and shifts in thought. After receiving the final report, most view the survey information as a positive tool for better understanding what’s going on in the minds of their customers. However, during the early stages, the actions of the group are, at bes...

source: Linkedin In our  last post , we discussed people; hiring the right people, building a solid distributor-centric onboarding process and the advantages of retaining experienced workers. Today, let’s turn the tables a bit and look at coaching and managing the very life blood of distributors – the people. Front-line managers make a difference According to work done by the Gallup organization first detailed in First, Break all the Rules , employees join companies but quit because of bad managers. Realizing the management structure of many distributors appears flat on paper with everyone reporting to just a few people, many of these front-line managers may not even have a m anagerial title. We might call them something like warehouse lead, inside sales supervisor, senior buyer, or perhaps they carry no real title but direct the work of others. To a lot of your workers, they are the “go to” person and reflect the day-to-day voice of the company. Oftentimes, they have n...