Larry Kruger from Customized Moving in Canada ask whether the moving industry has lost its ‘chip’.

Have you noticed that our standards have dropped substantially in every aspect of our lives? We have come to expect substandard products and services and if they are barely OK, we think that we got our moneys worth.  Did it come from the pandemic? Did it come from participation trophies and rewarding showing up?  Did it come from the hopelessness of bettering ourselves, or did it come from losing our chip? 

What do I mean by the chip? The household goods moving industry is going to hell in a hand cart, along with most every other institution. Simply doing the basics of what we have been hired to do is a challenge. Forget about our rockstars, wowing the customer, whatever the hell that means. I spoke to a rep who jokingly said that he sets the customer expectations so low, that if a truck shows up on move day, he had already exceeded their expectations.

All joking aside, we have a problem, and that problem (like the entire universe) revolves around sales. Now hear me out. If you do not have a sale, you do not have a customer and with that, you do not have a company, we can all agree on that, yes? In our industry we are selling a promise, painting a picture in the air for a confused stressed-out consumer.  A promise that materialises on the day they are packing up everything they own and entrusting it to three guys in a truck.

In my opinion there are three factors that go into a high quality service and exceptional customer experience, and they all revolve around sales. They are Mindset, Process and ‘The Chip’.

Mindset: Firstly, the entire organisation must be sales focused and with that comes customer focussed. We are in the hospitality business, not the moving business. For years we have been drifting away from sales and blissfully floating into bidding on or buying business and that is a race to the bottom for both the customer and the organisation. A professional salesperson is the nucleus for your entire operation. Identifying and making customised, ‘realistic’ promises is crucial. With that the entire organisation must be focussed on keeping those promises. This is imperative to the overall customer experience. We need to change our mindset from operations to sales.

Processes: We need a professional sales process that flows into every crack of our organisation. A method of identifying and addressing the client’s concerns, right from the first contact to the referral. Positioning ourselves as consultants and advisors and showing, from the fist contact, that we have their best interest in mind. Sales is not tricking customers or cutting prices. Sales is a process and a skill that when done properly is a win-win for both the customer and the organisation. Our mediocrity can only be surpassed by a consultative sales process and a customised delivery process.  

The Chip: Lastly and most importantly many of us have lost what I call ‘The Chip’. The chip is that chip on your shoulder. For some it has a negative connotation. As in being angry all the time because you have been treated unfairly or that you hold a grudge about something or someone. Or like Michael Jordan, who was cut from his high school basketball team, the chip can be used as motivation. In fact, if you dig into most athletes many, if not all of them, have a chip: a deep motivation to be the best.

The chip is that you want to be the best in the business, the best in your field, the best in your discipline. The chip that the professional athlete carries, the chip that the amateur athlete carries, the chip that the ballerina carries, the chip that the scientist carries, the chip that the politician carries, the chip that the owner, moving consultant, move manager, driver, or crew ‘should’ be carrying.

For some reason, in my opinion, we have stopped competing, stopped looking for the edge, stopped pushing the basics in customer service, stopped for lack of a better term, giving a shit. The old lions are losing their teeth, and the cubs have been coddled.  We complain about the competition, we bitch about their pricing, but no one does anything about it. Very few have the chip, the fire in the gut, to compete. To show them all, how you can take good profitable business and deliver a great service in your market.

Sales is the nucleus of every organization and a very competitive game. Bidding on business dilutes the skill and the competition (easy come, easy go.) You need to play clean, but you must play to win. There seems to be a lot of complacency in sales, for whatever reason.  We need the chip back. From the top down, up and sideways. Clean professional competition is the lifeblood of any organisation. If you are not looking at getting better at what you do, of finding an edge, at training (like an athlete) you are the definition of mediocrity. The high-water mark will always be the lowest possible denominator.  Find that chip, I double dog dare you.

Photo: Larry Kruger.