Sales Support 101: Anticipate, Adapt, Execute - IO Updates
by Cristina Perez, Sales Supervisor, ingredientsonline.com
When you think of a sales representative, you may first envision someone trying to sell you something. Although that may be true in some (OK, most…OK, all) cases, at ingredientsonline.com, we pride ourselves in being so much more than that. Of course, we want to sell our customers quality ingredients from premiere factory partners so they can enhance their finished products, but we also aim to serve our customers’ wide variety of needs.
So, what needs can we support and how? Recently I had a customer come to me looking to secure pricing on Ascorbic Acid, but they did not need the product shipped all at once. And, with Covid-19 affecting so many aspects of the supply chain, this customer was not able to plan out more than a month ahead for their delivery dates. Without hesitation, our sales team was able to supply a blanket order and lock in pricing while also setting up monthly meetings and after-sale support to update delivery schedules and quantities, provide quality control documents and answer any questions to assure the Ascorbic Acid was delivered to the customer when they needed it!
Supporting this customer was easy enough thanks to the many benefits we offer and the processes in place to give our customers the best experience, but every customer has varying needs, so the key is to anticipate, adapt, and execute.
We know there are many options when sourcing ingredients, and every year the bar is raised on expectations for sales and customer service teams around the world as consumers are offered more choices in competitive markets. Yes, Covid-19 brought challenges and changed the way these teams operated day-to-day, but great teams adapt and push forward.
One of our sales associates had a customer this summer who was working from home and trying to get an order in on a tight deadline. Simultaneously, a heat wave was affecting the city in which they lived and worked, and they lost power while shopping the ingredientsonline.com marketplace. Our associate was aware of the deadline from previous conversations and when they did not see an order come through, they reached out to offer offline support. Once finding out about the power outage, they were able to push the order through on time, helping this customer meet their deadline – anticipate, adapt, execute.
Whether you source ingredients daily, quarterly, or yearly, an ingredientsonline.com sales associate will be at your service when you need us. Schedule a Zoom meeting with one of our dedicated associates at your earliest convenience and let us show you how instant access to pricing, real-time inventory, and QA/QC documents will enhance your buying experience.
Cristina Perez’s career in the raw ingredient industry began in 2011 as a Customer Service Representative. Cristina’s dedication and passion for customer support helped make the transition from customer service to sales seamless. She is currently the ingredientsonline.com Sales Supervisor, a role she has held for two years.