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Sales and Sales Training Thoughts
December 2008 Posts
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How do your customers react to you? Perhaps a better question is: how do all people react to you?
For the most part, our world will mirror back to us what we send out. If we send out good thoughts, feelings, and vibes, if you will, for the most part, that is what you will get back. The opposite is also true.
Okay, we're not trying to get too deep or esoteric here, what we've trying to say is: if you've had a bad day cold calling, or you just lost that order you were counting on, it may be reflected in your dealings with other people throughout the day and you may all of a sudden find yourself having more challenges than usual.
The bottom line: Realize that about 98% of the people you deal with will respond to you the way they feel you are treating them. Try to do your best to focus on the other person and how you can help. Be sincere and caring, and show people a pleasant demeanor regardless of what is going on in your world. The better you treat other people, the better you'll be treated, the more sales you'll make, and the easier life will be.
John Chapin co-author Sales Encyclopedia www.completeselling.com
What do you do when your customer asks you to go over and above what's in the contract. For example, the other day a sales rep called with a dilemma. An ice storm in the Northeast had knocked out power to one of her customer's offices. Due to the power outage the supplies they bought from this sales rep, which needed to be refrigerated, went bad. They called and asked the sales rep if they could send back the spoiled product for a credit.
The service contract clearly states that "Acts of God", which the power outage was, are not covered. At the same time, this was her largest customer, and a good one at that. Here's what I told her to do: Call the customer back and talk to the owner, you want to make sure nothing gets lost in translation from a receptionist or office manager to the owner. Start with, "You're very important to me and I want to do whatever I can to help you out. Here's my idea."
I then had her determine, via the customer, how much the product was worth. By the way, she had a pretty good idea ahead of time what number he'd come back with. The number was about $1,000. She knew she could get him some free product, samples and the like, which would total about $800. So she then proceeded with: "I can get you about $800 worth of (other products) that you use. Unfortunately, because the power loss was what our service contract refers to as an Act of God, the (specific supplies that went bad) aren't covered, but because you're a great customer and I want to help, I can offset most off your loss with the free product. Also, if you file a claim with your insurance company, they should cover the loss product. So when all is said and done, you'll actually come out ahead. How does that sound?"
You also want to emphasize that this isn't something you can do every time. For example, you might say, "Now if this happens again, I'm not sure I'll be able to do this again and yet, at that point you'll still be backed up by your insurance company."
You need to weigh a few things here. First, how good of a customer is this? Second, what can you do as far as concessions without giving too much away?
The bottom line: When a customer asks you to help out, or asks if you can make an exception, rarely do you want to come back with a flat out "no". Consider who's asking and see what you can do to go above and beyond what would normally be expected. Also, make sure the key people, or person, in the organization knows that you went out on a limb.
Okay, I realize that question may look a bit strange however, once you delve into it, it will make a lot of sense.
Think of how many times in our selling career we find ourselves being uncomfortable. It could be cold calling, doing a group presentation, or closing. Whatever it is for you, there may be several times a week, if not more, that you are uncomfortable.
Now image if you were comfortable being uncomfortable. How would that change your selling career and your life? For one, you wouldn't let fear stop you. After all, isn't that what being uncomfortable is really all about? Fear of making a mistake, fear of embarrassment, fear of not looking good in a particular situation. If you were able to let all that go, you would simply do what needed to be done without the above fears.
So how do you get to the point where you are comfortable being uncomfortable? Simple, you do the things that make you feel uncomfortable, you face all your fears, and you push yourself to grow until you are no longer stopped by anything. You may occasionally still be uncomfortable or have some fear, but once you've developed the habit of moving past that, you will be able to put your best foot forward in these tough circumstances.
The bottom line: Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Face fears and uncomfortable situations by putting yourself in front of them as much as possible. Once you develop the habit of facing these situations again and again, they will become much easier to handle. By doing this you will no longer be stopped and you will do what needs to be done when it needs to be done and this will lead to your ultimate success.
John Chapin - co-author of Sales Encyclopedia www.completeselling.com
What are you giving your clients for the holidays?
There are a few things to consider when decided what to give for the holidays. First, how are you and your business financially? Second, how much does each client contribute to your business? Third, how much could each client or prospect contribute to your business? Forth, how generous do you feel like being?
If you are doing well financially, you are in a good spot to give some gifts and make clients, or even good prospects, know they are important to you. If a client does A LOT of business with you, it is a good idea to give them a reward at holiday time. If a client is a potential BIG client or a prospect a potential BIG prospect, it is a good idea to give them a good holiday gift. In this case, if they are a competitive account, or the competition has at least some of the business, and their gift is not as good as yours, you will make a definite impression. Finally, how generous do you feel? If you want to give, then give, if you don't want to give, you should still try to take care of VIPs and potential VIPs.
The bottom line: Gift giving at the holidays should be part of your selling strategy. The level and breadth of your giving will depend upon the financial factors given above, but all else being equal, you should be taking care of great clients and great potential clients. Use your best judgment here; you don't have to go overboard but you don't want to be cheap either.
John Chapin - co-author or Sales Encyclopedia www.completeselling.com
Yesterday I was in an office superstore buying some envelopes. The woman in front of me was buying 4 flat panel computer monitors. The sales clerk asked her if she wanted the extended warrantee for $10. When she said no, he jumped all over her, "What? What do you mean? It's only $10. It's good for... blah, blah, blah." She finally said, "Okay, I'll take it." When she left, he looked at the person running the cash register and said, "Pretty good how I got that extended warrantee, huh?" And I was standing right there looking at him.
Now I have to confess, I almost jumped in the defend the woman when he was beating her up, so at this point I could no longer keep quiet. "Let me tell you something. First you hammered her into the extended warrantee which she didn't want and now you're bragging about it in front of a customer. I will never buy an extended warrantee from this company solely based upon what I just saw and heard." He gulped, said "sorry" and walked away.
The bottom line: People are smart, pretty much everyone knows when you are trying to sell them something and looking out for yourself versus looking out for their best interest. Also, remember the microphone is always open and the cameras are always rolling; don't talk about clients, competition, or anything in public that you don't want someone to overhear.
Hopefully if you're in sales you're not one of those people who is chronically late. Obviously showing up late for an appointment can hurt your professionalism and your credibility.
As a rule, it's good to show up a few minutes early. By a few, I actually mean 5. Any sooner than that and you can irritate people as they may feel pressured of rushed.
If you are going to be late, call ahead and give your prospect or customer a heads up.
If you are constantly late, you may be over scheduling or being a little too optimistic about how much you can do in the time you have.
The bottom line: Be on time for all appointments and meetings. On time means a few minutes early as everyone's watch or clock varies slightly. Being on time sets a positive tone early on, being late sets a negative one. When you are on time you look professional, when you're late you look unprofessional.
When someone asks what you do, what do you say? The question really isn't what you do for a living, it's what value do you bring to the table? In other words, if you say, "I sell (whatever it is you sell)." You group yourself in with everyone else who sells what you sell. So what it really comes down to is: why you, what's the value you have that the competition does not?
How is your product better, your company better, and how are you better? What differentiates you from everyone else? What is your VALUE?
Until you can define value, you are competing solely on price, you are a commodity and as long as you have a higher price, you will get beat by someone with a lower price. Even if you have a lower price, you must still focus on value because if your competition presents a strong value case, they will still beat you even though they have a higher price.
The bottom line: Work hard on your VALUE statement, What do you bring to the table that the competition can not? Once you define your differentiators, put them into a clear, concise message that can be conveyed easily to the prospect.
Selling, in fact living a successful life, really comes down to one thing: doing what you must do, when you must do it.
Now there are some people out there who will argue that they don't know what to do, and that may be right. If that's the case, find out what to do. Read books, listen to audios, ask the experts, do whatever you have to do to find out what to do, and then once you're there, do it!
In the majority of cases however, not knowing what to do is usually not the problem, the problem is usually motivating yourself to do what must be done.
The bottom line: The one sure way to success is to do what must be done, when it must be done. Do what you can to build yourself up mentally and emotionally until you get to the point where nothing stops you.
