LEADING WAYS NEWSLETTER #33

Well it is year-end and time for both reflections and figuring out your forward plan.  That plan may relate to a Life Plan, a Career Plan or a Business Plan for your company  -- [imagining you were starting a new business today, in order to explore new opportunities – my Greenfields Approach].

My main 2007 reflection?  It has taken me years to finally provide a definition of Authentic Customer Service.

Authentic Customer Service is  ::: about owning –

1. the relationship
2. the problems, and
3. the opportunities.

Do you and your staff put the correct energy into owning client/customer relationships, particularly for your key customers?

…… and now on to Leading Ways #33

…..Nothing Happens Until Someone Sells Something

……imagine a huge factory with hundreds of workers standing by ready to begin working on their product….they stand waiting….and waiting….

What is wrong?  Why are they still standing?  Why aren’t the wheels turning?  Because nothing happens until somebody sells something !

As we approach the close of 2007 it is probably good to remember this fact and to think about your marketing and sales plans for 2008.

While remembering “What is my objective on this call?” the act of a sale is a 7-step process

1. Approach
2. Qualification
3. Agreement on Need
4. Sell the Company
5. Fill the Need
6. Gain an act of commitment
7. Cement the Sale

If you determined the objective of your call then we can assume you have done the research on your prospect and planned the actual call.

I think that the sales process shown above is well accepted, but remember people do business with those they like and trust.

I use a ‘Rule of 7’  it may take up to six or seven contacts before someone maybe likes you, maybe trusts you and finally tests your products or services to see if they want to progress to a long term relationship with you and your company.

Many of us give up after just a few contacts ….. yet, that is the stage where the other person is starting to trust us.  It’s all about ‘face’ time!

You may be generating a lot of sales activity, but is it effective?  The purpose of this newsletter then is just to remind us all of some of the other traps.

Win a customer on price, lose a customer on price. 

That’s right they will come to you because you are cheap and then leave again when they find a cheaper supplier.  Continual price-cutting is a downward spiral to nowhere.

Value is in the eye of the beholder and customers will not pay a higher price for a product or service unless they perceive that the value outweighs the price. 

I believe that this is one of the biggest challenges facing us as salespeople as the worldwide consumer trend is to buy cheaper, and not because of quality.

Buyers today are better informed because of the internet and so our job is to ask probing questions rather than just passing out information. 

By probing we seek to find out what is important and therefore valuable to the prospect. 

Once we have drawn out all the things of value to the prospect we then have created value in their mind …… a sign that they see a real benefit in our product or service, with price being a secondary consideration.

Probe to understand the customer first, and try to persuade second.

Sales Training Doesn’t Work Unless it is Reinforced

In research by Xerox it was found that salespeople lost 87% of the sales skills they learned within thirty days. 

Sales Training does work however when it is reinforced through coaching, refresher sessions and sales presentation debriefing.   Here are three great questions ::

1. What am I doing wrong – so that I can stop doing it?
2. What am I doing right – so that I can continue doing it and improve on it?
3. How do I find out what is correct  -- based on research and not just my opinions?

Sales people are developed, not born.

Objection-handling techniques and training won’t stop the objections

The main reason for objections remains --- Ineffective probing and not finding out what is both important and urgent to the prospect.

Prospects buy when the pain of making the change is less than the pain of staying the same.  From this information we need to separate prospect problems into two categories :: those they are prepared to live with and then those they are motivated to solve.

Probing questions may include ::

“What do you see as the benefits of addressing this issue?”  -- this is quite a  soft approach compared to ::

“It sounds like quite a problem.  Would you like to explore some possible solutions, or perhaps it is not serious enough to solve just yet?’

            “How would it help you if you were able to fix this problem?’

            “What do you see as the benefits of addressing this issue?”

Don’t try to solve all the prospect’s problems otherwise you may come across as desperate for the sale.  Stick with only those which, through probing, you have determined are both urgent and important – only those the prospect wants to solve.

To summarise, value is your solution’s benefit offset by its total cost, as defined in the eye of the beholder, your prospect.

Remember, sales potential is interesting, but sales performance is everything.

Offer Solutions Early

Obviously you started the sales call by building rapport in order to establish the trust I spoke of earlier.  Your sales presentation material hasn’t even been taken out of your folder ….. you have moved on to asking probing questions…… you have established the urgent and important problems the prospect is facing.

Has the prospect seen the value in solving their problem?  ………. Then perhaps it is time to offer some initial solutions in order to keep their interest in you, your company and your solutions.

Asking For the Order is Unprofessional [ not! ]

Selling is simply the matching of YOUR benefits to needs and desires of prospects.  The days of the ‘pusher’ salesperson [i.e., a vacuum cleaner salesperson] are gone, and today there is no coercion.

What is missing in many sales presentations however, is the final close… asking for the order.

You have probed, answered the objections, used trial closes along the way and then simply said “have a nice day” or “I’ll see you next time” or “call me when you are ready.”   You never asked for the business!

If you don’t ask, then the answer is always “NO.”   If we fail to ask for the order, seldom will we actually receive the business and the related income we desire. 

So... "Ask, and you shall receive."

Rejection is not Failure !

I know it is hard to accept that you have not failed when you fail to make the sale.  If you project a professional image and are perceived as trustworthy when the prospect says ‘No’ they are not necessarily rejecting you personally, or you as a salesperson  ---- it is more likely they are just saying that they don’t want to buy right now.

If you have qualified them well and determined that they are a ‘prospect’ and not a ‘suspect’ (using you to upskill themselves with knowledge, or to keep a current supplier honest) then they remain on your list for low-key consistent follow-up.

Edison said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.  The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time.”

The only failure is in giving up.

Now is the right time to build your 2008 plan involving::

1. Customer Relationship Enhancement
2. Visibility and
3. Targeting On New Prospects and Referral Sources

Have a wonderful holiday season an embrace the New Year with passion and excitement.

Kind wishes

Denis Orme

p.s., After three years in this new format I would love some feedback as to whether you enjoy Leading Ways, and any suggestions for topics you would like to see discussed. 

Our first 2008 edition is due at the end of January.