The Continuous Customer Contract:
Perpetuating the Sales Process through Service

Without customers there is no business. This statement may seem a bit trite, but in reality, there is no truer phrase in business. Where does your organization stand? Is it really focused on the customer? Or, is this statement merely lip service - the centerpiece of a splashy ad campaign? Take a moment to answer the following questions:

• Does your company formally solicit feedback about what existing customers value (their wants and needs) and act on those issues?
• Are sales and marketing budget dollars targeted toward "reselling" current customers?
• Does the company measure and/or reward sales generated from existing customers?
• Are the company's systems, procedures and policies designed to perpetuate or advance the sales process (i.e. generate additional sales opportunities from existing customers)?
• Does the company's sales and service areas work together for a common goal?
• Do all employees act as though their paychecks are on the line with every customer interaction?

If you answered "no" to three or more of these questions, it may indicate that your organization is not perpetuating its relationships with customers. As a result, the company not only may be losing customers, but losing sales opportunities.

In our experience, companies think they develop long term relationships or partnerships with customers, but their actions don't back up their words. It is more typical to see:

• Customers taken for granted. After the customer has "signed-on," organizations react to the loudest voices; or pick and choose what's valuable and important, or even worse, assume they know what customers need. - Employees that view customer requests as a nuisance. They openly complain that the servicing of customers takes them away from their "real work."
• The quest for new sales, which by default, spawn policies, processes, reward systems, etc. to the detriment of customers already sold. In effect, there is a "caste" system between prospective or new customers and existing customers.
• Systems and procedures that serve the internal convenience of those who work with them, rather than the convenience of customers affected by them.
• A sales process with a distinct beginning and end. Once the ink is dry on the contract, it's on to the next new sale.
• Sales and Service departments which have different objectives and business agendas. Open contempt and internal competition are commonplace.
• Companies overlook existing customers. It's a far cry from how the customer was treated when they were merely a prospect. Today, customers are bombarded with infinite choices. The competition can provide customers with the same product or service that delivers the same performance and satisfaction. Customers no longer just shop product, but look at the entire experience with a company and assess how it adds value to them. For this reason, sales and service can no longer be viewed as two separate and distinct deliverables.

We at CBSG believe the key to sustained growth is achieved through a continual customer focus. A focus in which sales and service are natural components of the same perpetual sales process; consequently, everyone is a salesperson and everyone is a service provider.

In working with clients over the years, we have created such a process. We call it the Continuous Customer Contract. The Continuous Customer Contract is a unified sales and service business model where all employees realize that the ultimate goal of their work is to strengthen and perpetuate the customer relationship. When one accepts this integrated view of sales and service, all business units become partners in this common goal. The Continuous Customer Contract is as simple as ABC: Acquire new customers, Build loyalty and Cultivate sales opportunities from those customers.

Once the customer is acquired, the organization focuses its service deliverables on building loyalty. The "end game" is to actively cultivate additional sales opportunities with that same customer. The cycle is then repeated over and over again.

CBSG's Continuous Customer Contract provides a company with a straightforward, practical program that puts the customer first. The Continuous Customer Contract:

• Builds a true partnership between sales and service delivery to support real customer needs.
• Goes beyond typical "service after-the-sale" tactics.
• Underscores the ideal of reselling; In fact, the objective is to balance the importance of generating new sales through new customers versus generating repeat, reoccurring and referral sales through existing customers.

Consider the alternative. Without customers there is no business. For more information, use our Request More Information Form; you may also find a complete copy of the Continuous Customer Contract here. Or call us at 1-888-411-5800.

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