Setting the Expectations Upfront

As a sales representative, there is one question that I get asked on a daily basis. That question: ‘what makes CITY different?’ In my opinion, what separates us is the people behind CITY.

Before I even sell an account, I make sure everyone knows what the client’s expectations are. We understand the importance of having an open line of communication and everyone on the team knows what is expected of them and together we make it happen.

It is also the support that I receive throughout the company that allows us to be a successful team. I really enjoy teaming up with Sales Manager, Chriss Carsello and selling big food processing accounts together. Together, we have food processing down! Then after the appointment, I can call Justin Olson, CITY‘s Minnesota District Manager and he will either answer or call me back within minutes. Before I sell anything, we talk about their client’s biggest obstacles and it is great when Justin says, ‘oh I got that. That is not a problem. We can handle that.’

Recently we had a client whose biggest concern was the transition from their current provider to a new provider. They had a lot of people in uniform and they were worried about how long the process would take and how difficult it would be on their end.

As a team, we now know what the obstacle is and we know what is expected out of us to overcome this obstacle. From there, Chriss contacted some of our larger accounts who recently made the smooth transition to CITY and asked if they would be willing to share their onboarding experiences with our potential new client. Our service team takes care of everything when it comes to onboarding because that is what is expected. They have onboarded many clients so they know what to expect. They know how to take care of everything so the client does not have to worry about the transition.

As we have grown, we have taken on a lot quickly. I think it is only possible because we know how to pick up the ball and go. Our response time and communication has been huge. Then once they are onboarded, our route service reps are trained to be proactive. They are there and they are always looking to see how they can improve or make changes to the client’s current program.

At the end of the day, what separates us from the competition is taking the initiative to care and to communicate. Asking questions and understanding the expectations of the client and our own roles upfront is key. It is mind-boggling to me to see how many other companies have lost this personal touch when it comes to sales and service. We don’t just say we are a team, but we act like one. We are always there to support each other. I think that is the CITY difference.  We all work hard to become trusted advisors, to be knowledgeable and to take it to the next level.