Renowned sales trainer Christine Corelli argues there is a core of critical elements necessary to sway customers over to a rival company.

These centre on four key themes:

• Professionalism in sales— management and staff
• Long range planning and execution
• Creating an underlying reputation for quality customer service
• Having savvy management with passion for the business
• Getting the strongest internal team is a critical factor, she said.

“We need to make sure we have the management that has the skill sets to execute and implement the vision and plans of the company. Management must thoroughly evaluate their professional sales team to determine the inherent strengths and weaknesses in the mix.

“Many times, companies will become stagnant in their evaluation process of their management team and professional sales staff.

“Sales professionals are the front-end players for your team in capturing your competitors' customers. They are the ones that build the relationships with the potential customers, cultivate the relationship, and strengthen the bonds and affinity the customer has for your products and services.

“For the customer to believe in you and your superior product and service, you must demonstrate confidence. Customers go with the strong, not the weaker, player. They are betting on your ability to achieve what you believe.”

Passion is vital to capturing our competitors' customers, she argued, as it is the one intangible that drives individuals to successfully capture their competitors' customers.

Leasing companies are missing a vital opportunity to generate new business by turning current customers into their best salespeople through high service levels and satisfaction.

Interviews with more than 1,000 fleet operators have revealed that barely one-fifth of fleets would be prepared to recommend their leasing provider to other fleet operators, with double that proportion classed as potentially unhappy customers.

Research has shown that recommendations from current clients are an incredibly powerful tool in persuading potential new customers to deal with a different supplier.

However, generating the brand loyalty that turns a customer into an active promoter of a brand requires significant focus and commitment to high customer service levels and customer engagement programmes.

The findings of the detailed review of fleet operators, carried out by Sewells Research & Insight, suggest that for many customers leasing companies are falling short.

Fleets were asked how likely they would be to recommend their leasing company’s products and services to business colleagues and/or associates using a rating of 0 - 10, with 10 being the most likely.

The methodology is called the Net Promoter Score and is based on the fundamental perspective that customers can be divided into three categories - Promoters, Passives and Detractors.

Promoters (with a score of 9–10) are loyal enthusiasts who keep buying and refer others, fueling growth; Passives (with a score of 7–8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitors; and finally Detractors (with a score of 0–6) are classed as unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word of mouth.

Major global companies are advocates of the system when used as part of a focused customer service programme, ranging from American Express to GE.

The Sewells research into leasing companies reveals that 22% of fleets were classed as advocates of their leasing providers, scoring a 9-10, which is an improvement on 2011, when just 19% provided the highest rating.

By contrast, 41% were classed as detractors, which is a fall from 51% in 2011. This still represents a substantial proportion of the fleet customer base who can be considered to be ‘at risk’ of leaving the business for a rival.

Larger fleets tend to be slightly more positive than smaller fleets, but in either case the detractors outweigh the promoters.

Hannah Pickstone, head of research at Sewells said: “Analysis of comments about different leasing brands indicates that loyalty is only driven by very high service levels.

“Dissatisfaction can be caused by major service faults or even minor failures which have not been addressed.

“Faults include a lack of personalised support, an awareness that other suppliers are clearly providing better products or services or anger at continuing errors and poor standards.”

This can lead to terminal decline in a business relationship when a fleet begins to question the motives and trustworthiness of a supplier.

One detractor said: “We have issues regarding costings and the maintenance and servicing of vehicles. It could be deemed that the leasing company is looking after its own financial interests rather than those of its customers.”

Another commented: “They are inflexible and are very quick to impose charges on us for wear and tear costs without providing an adequate explanation.”

By contrast, promoters refer to a general level of excellence, rather than a single specific area where a supplier stands out.

For example, one promoter said: “They are knowledgeable and helpful and just do what they promise.”

Another added: “'They have excellent knowledge of products we require and have the ability to supply the product on time and to the required specification. We have an ongoing rapport over many years and they have always maintained good deals on prices.”

While some leasing brands tend to perform better than others, the challenge for every leasing company is to maximise the number of fleet operators who are acting as its best salespeople.

Pickstone added: “It can be incredibly hard to maintain high service levels or great customer satisfaction and customers may not really thank a supplier for all its hard work.

“However, the reward will come when another fleet operator is asking for advice on which supplier to choose and the leasing company’s name is offered by another trusted manager in the fleet industry. At that point, the potential dividends from a simple recommendation can be huge.”