Because MicroCorp is a Master Agency, we support a large Agents base. Every now and again we will see an order come across our desk for a company that we already know has been sold by another one of our Agents. The first Agent will have the local and LD business; the second Agent brings us the data network. And of course, being a Master Agent discretion is imperative, so we never say anything to either Agent. We do have one large customer that has three different parts of their business being sold by three different Agents. Our commission team loves that.
So recently curiosity got the best of me and I started asking the first agent (Agent A) about the customer.
- How did he get start working with the customer?
- How often does he speak with the customer?
- How solid is the relationship?
I asked the second agent (Agent B) the same questions. It was interesting while Agent B knew of Agent A, Agent A was totally unaware of the Agent B. The second agent (Agent B) was using an auxiliary product, fax2mail, to get his foot in the door and was talking to the customer about web conferencing. He got in because Agent A never asked the customer about those needs. Agent A only worried about Legacy Voice products - his comfort zone.
Unfortunately Agent A only spoke to the customer once a year, never did an audit of services and never talked about the customer’s needs. He got into the company because of a friendship, but was not really bringing value. He doesn’t know it, but he is about to lose a customer. So my question to you – why do so many agents leave so much on the table??? And how can I help them break that habit?
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