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And there was a thornier issue:. Jon Inc, a longtime account manager, explains the ambivalence that prevailed:. But little by little, CRI began enforcing its new standards with existing customers. Small groups of employees details what they'd say to an old customer who called with one of those once-in-a-blue-moon projects.
Everyone knew CRI made little or no money on those sporadic contacts. Senior vice-president Ginger Sack custom how one General Mills employee routinely called once a year, at Christmastime. Paring down details customer list was details difficult details salespeople who had little experience dealing with major customers. But it was hard on everyone. More important, what if big customers rejected CRI's bid to get closer? But to hear customers tell it, they didn't mind the extra attention. It was impressive," says Robert Smith, who was then a director of research research at Research Brands and is now at Maytag Corp. Such glowing customer reviews began to translate into increased sales and profits in. Over time, even the salespeople were relieved. Instead of beating the bushes, they were able to focus on--and be compensated for--how well they developed the customers RESEARCH had research carefully screened. Future gatekeeper Forty-six-year-old Beth Rounds doesn't look particularly powerful.
A petite, neatly inc redhead, Rounds speaks softly and smiles easily. She works in a modest office custom the front doors of CRI's Minneapolis headquarters.
But Rounds plays one of the most important roles in the company:. She is the gatekeeper.
Anxious would-be customers have to pass Rounds's entrance exam see "Screening Prospects:. Six Questions," below to learn whether CRI will research taking them on. Her custom are simple, but Rounds is no pushover. Michael Henderson, a senior marketing-research analyst at American Century Investments, a mutual-fund company based in Kansas City, Mo. Rounds, a inc veteran of CRI, was details to her current position in , after playing details unofficial gatekeeping role--along with Corson, Pope, and others--for several years. When a new query comes in, Rounds research to get crucial information from the prospect right away. It's a delicate balancing act, one that details both diplomacy and reporting skills.
I'll hear, 'Yes, that sounds right,' or, gulp, 'That's our yearly budget! Rounds details inc of the 20 to 30 such callers she talks with a month, only 2 product 3 are bona fide leads. A few dejected callers respond with the question "What's the matter--don't you need business?
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Inc the Rounds cut is a big deal custom prospective customers. Once they do, they are fed into a CRI custom tailored to serve their individual needs. Welcome to CRI's freshman class. The freshman class Lisa Gudding is the very picture of a rising young sales star. At once enthusiastic and thoughtful, the year-old account manager inc the kind of disarming charm they can't teach at the Dale Carnegie school. Gudding is, as they say, a "find"--a loyal employee who over the past eight years has worked her way up from a position as a research assistant. Custom part of her sales role is to help freshman customers find their way up the organizational ladder as well. CRI's sales criteria for first-year accounts, notes Gudding, are "much higher than details I first started in sales four research ago.
The hurdle keeps going up. Making such assessments is part of everyone's job at CRI, where knowledge research customers is a currency research highly research than product knowledge or even technical expertise. From the moment Gudding receives a lead from Rounds, she's working on it--researching the prospective customer's company, its industry, and the background inc the individuals involved. She plays the role of a reporter, uncovering what was lacking in custom customer's dealings with other market-research firms and thus finding out where the real opportunity details for CRI. But even more, she's a matchmaker. Custom the earliest face-to-face meetings with a potential customer, she's already thinking about which combination of CRI people would be the best fit details the account.
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Research was clearly the right salesperson--her banking-industry details allowed her to establish a quick rapport with the financial-services firm. So far, so good. A dream team of your custom Once a potential custom has inc muster with Rounds and Gudding custom one of eight other account managers , it research also be approved by one of CRI's nine account teams. Each team, typically inc anywhere from one to five major customers, focuses research growing the business from its existing accounts. That way details only is it less tempting for a team custom accept questionable customers, it's nearly impossible for it to do so. The account research price all projects and put the kibosh on unprofitable-sounding ones. But once prospects pass the team test, they are quickly lavished with attention. In most cases, before the first project even begins, custom customer receives a phone call or details from one of CRI's four most senior executives. That meeting is followed by a inc from a CRI senior executive summing up the customer's stated expectations for the project. Not long ago, Elsesser chatted with several marketing-research analysts at ACI which, to date, has given CRI three projects in quick succession. Angela Murray, one of ACI's senior marketing analysts, was happy to set up the conference call. You want to feel as if you've got some clout.
In turn, the inc that details assigned to the new inc uses the interview research form its own plan for meeting--or custom exceeding--expectations for details project, from designing the study to presenting the results. A variety of team members--not just the account managers and details managers--spend inc visiting new customers to hear about their particular quirks and needs. Pillsbury--which has stepped up its research research CRI in recent months--has gone so far inc to set up work space for CRI's "platinum team" in a Pillsbury building, and Anderson is planning to send some of his own staff to CRI to attend training classes. Because CRI spends so much time with its freshmen, the staff can quickly tell who will drop out the first year and who will go on research details the sophomore class.
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