October 2002 Track Selling Times Integrity Pays
Integrity Pays:
"Rebuilding Your Reputation"
by Tony Rigato
|
(From September 1999 Track Selling Times)
Tony Rigato is the owner of People, Products and Ideas International, of Denver, CO. A few years ago, Tony bought a company that produced pneumatic slides used in welding automotive assemblies. Along with it, he inherited a serious reputation problem.
"When we began to sell the product, we discovered that one of the Big Three had recommended that it was not to be used in any of its plants."
- What did you do?
"The previous owner had outsourced product assembly, leading to poor quality. We brought everything inside and re-engineered it to make the tolerances tighter. It took six months to repair the pneumatic slides technically and eighteen to restore our good name."
- How exactly did you accomplish that?
"With product quality assured, we established a program of attractive pricing, backed by excellent customer service. At the same time, I became acquainted with the Track Selling System which helped enormously due to its foundation of high integrity."
- Can you give an example of how you used it to rebuild your reputation?
"I scheduled a presentation with the automotive manufacturer who had previously turned us down because of poor quality. Beforehand, they made it clear that our products were unacceptable, but I went anyway. I took them through the steps of the Track Selling System, carefully discovering their exact needs, as well as the problems they'd had with our pneumatic slides in the past. I was totally upfront about the situation, admitted to the flaws and detailed the steps we'd taken to correct them. Additionally, I explained the company's restructuring and how we were now more able to fulfill their requirements. When I'd finished, they again said no."
- What happened?
"Next day, they called up and said it had been the best presentation they'd ever had as no one had ever seriously asked what THEY wanted. As a result, they now use our pneumatic slides in several car programs. By taking care of technical quality and effectively repairing our reputation, sales moved from under a million to over two million annually."
Back to October 2002 Track Selling Times Menu
