Did you know that you only have 7 seconds to make a first impression and that it takes 5 – 7 impressions to even start creating brand awareness? A solid brand is a symbol of trust, dependability, and integrity. In fact, a survey of more than 2,000 consumers revealed that 94% of the respondents are more likely to be loyal to a brand that offers complete transparency.

Creating a positive brand image takes time and money and the last thing you want is for your brand to be associated with negative impressions. Although companies across all industries strive to protect the integrity of their brands, the energy and telco sectors have unique considerations as historically poor practices have harmed their reputation, as well as resulted in regulatory fines.

The relationship between sales processes and brand integrity

In an industry where winning customers requires you to outperform their current provider, brand integrity is of the utmost importance. While most of your sales reps are honest, play by the rules, and hardworking, it only takes a handful of door-to-door sales missteps to tarnish the reputation you built and nurtured.

When it comes to field sales operations, energy and telco companies face a distinctive and difficult dilemma. On one hand, door-to-door selling is incredibly effective and profitable; and on the other hand, without the right controls in place, even just a few bad processes could chip away at your brand’s reputation – until there is nothing left. The truth of the matter is that when you try to manage sales routes with manual processes, mistakes can and do happen.

Whether honest mistakes or rogue reps disregarding processes and using misleading sales tactics, you need to do everything possible to keep your brand’s image intact. We’ve compiled a list of the most common mistakes and mis-selling techniques to help you determine if your brand is at risk.

• Multiple visits to the same address by different sales reps.
• Reps that don’t have a solid understanding of your internal rules and processes.
• Inadequate training as to the procedures reps needs to follow when in the field.
• Sales reps using fake phone numbers, bank account details, and phoney or duplicate addresses to create a sale.
• Sales reps misleading customers to close a sale (which can also lead to regulatory fines).
• Sales reps disregarding their lead list and cold knocking.
• Finalising a sale without proper customer consent.

As you read through the list, did you find yourself thinking – yes, we’ve been trying to overcome these issues? If so, there’s a solution that will mitigate these and countless other brand-damaging challenges, and it starts with being able to effectively manage your sales processes.

Control your sales processes, control your brand image

Without the right technology, you simply have no idea what’s going on in the field. To control your sales processes, you need a solution that enables you to:

• Track rep performance: Go beyond tracking sales quotas and manage agent training records and clearance checks, monitor sales rep’s performance KPIs, track rep’s whereabouts using GPS, and issue licenses.
• Manage territories: Divide areas into hubs, assign routes within the hubs to individual reps, and monitor their movement with GPS.
• Put routes in hibernation mode: When you over-sell in a particular area, you need to block selling within that route (or set of addresses) for a specific period of time.
• Know reps are selling in their assigned territories: Geo-stamp every sale made using GPS.
• Mark do not contact locations: When a customer asks a sales rep to stop contacting them, it’s important that this request is followed.
• Eliminate mis-selling: Provide reps with a sales script that can be integrated into the overall sales process.
• Ensure compliance and best practices: Clearly define all sales processes and ensure rep verification.

At PSI we have the technology that allows you to do this and more. With us, you gain complete control of the sales process and can be assured of being highly compliant with regulatory mandates.

Don’t leave your brand’s reputation to chance

Mis-selling not only puts your brand at risk but can result in regulatory fines – something you want to avoid at all costs. With the ability to effectively manage sales processes, you’re able to mitigate the risk of bad sales and help your field reps deliver the kind of customer experience that will elevate your brand.

A tightly controlled sales process is key to maintaining brand integrity and it’s never been easier to achieve. When you partner with PSI you get a solution, based on 15 years of industry expertise, that enables you to control the sales process, achieve successful field sales operations, protect your brand, and stay compliant with government regulations.

Talk to a member of our team today to learn how you can control your sales processes and boost brand appeal.