Sales Blog with Sales Tips

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I don’t mean to ruin the fantasy world you’ve been living in. But do you honestly think your company really makes the best widget or provides the best service on the planet? They don’t.

If this is all you’ve got to offer customers, you’re running on empty.

“Oh, but my situation is different. I work for Mercedes!” Really? Have you seen the initial owner satisfaction ratings and reliability records for Mercedes lately? Even giants fall.

Everyone wants and needs to believe their company is the best. But it isn’t. Now that we’ve gotten that taken care of, let’s move on to why this isn’t a problem.

What Your Customers Really Want
There’s no doubt that customers want excellent quality and service. However, today they value something more highly that falls outside of the products and services your company sells.

Ease.

Customers want to do business with a company that is easy to do business with. They want a sales professional who is a highly communicative liaison between themselves and your company. They want you to even anticipate their needs.

This is part of your “personal value” and it outweighs anything your company can or cannot do for the customer.

Why This Is Relevant Right Now
There are two primary reasons why it’s important to make it painless for your customers to do business with your company in 2010.

The first has to do with the amount of cognitive overload your customers have to deal with today. Decision makers average a total of 200 emails and voice mails a day. Technology is a wonderful thing, but in this regard, it makes their job more difficult. Their brains are overwhelmed.

The second reason has to do with the economy. Decision makers are being asked to do more with less. It is very likely that within the last 18 months they have had their staff size reduced significantly. They have to do the same work with fewer resources.

Sales Tips Wrap Up
There is a payoff to you, as there should be, for making it easy for your customers to do business with your company.

It enables you to charge higher prices and makes your customers stickier. The time and effort you save your customers is something they are willing to pay for. And if you make it a snap to do business with your company, your customers are unlikely to look for another supplier.

You want your customers to think of doing business with you as eeeeeeeeeeeasy.

Further sales tips reading:
Four Levels of Want vs. Need in Sales
Value Propositions, Corporate and Personal

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
—

When it comes to personal relationships I agree with the belief that indifference is worse than hate. If someone hates you, at least he or she knows you’re alive.

Sales professionals get into trouble in this area because we so desperately want our customers and prospects to love us.  We can’t bear to think about their hate or indifference.

In sales, the absence of love in a customer/sales professional relationship is not always a losing proposition. Indifference, however, is another story.

Love Is Nice, But…
Below are some hard and cold facts about customer/sales professional relationships.

1. Customers don’t have to love us to buy from us. Your customers deal with many sales professionals in the course of their work. These are big girls and boys who understand they won’t have stellar chemistry with all of their suppliers’ representatives. They’re primarily interested in our quality and service.

2. Just because a prospect loves you doesn’t mean they’ll buy from you. There is nothing sadder than watching sales professionals focus (i.e. waste) 100% of their efforts on “the relationship.” They are invited to the prospects’ holiday parties and even attend the Bar Mitzvahs for the employees’ kids.

These sales professionals lose sight of the ultimate objectives – selling and making money. As one customer told me many years ago, “We know you like us, Scott, and we like you. But we understand you’re not here just to become better buddies with us.”

3. Standing out – even in a goofy way – is far better than being forgotten. Never leave a prospect in a state of emotional neutrality. Leave them excited or happy or frustrated or dissatisfied with the status quo, but never leave them disinterested. You’ll be forgotten.

4. Customers don’t gravitate to sales professionals whom they perceive as needing love and affection. People pick up the “I need to be loved” vibe and they respond in a negative way.

5. Hand shaking, sweet talking, lunch taking, promo giving, nice looking, suit wearing, nice smelling sales professionals are a dime a dozen. The “love me formula” is so universal in sales that we all look the same to the customer. They don’t even see us.

A huge field of beautiful sunflowers is nice eye candy, but not a single one of the flowers stands out. They are individually forgettable. You’ll also be forgettable if you fail to remember there’s more to a business transaction than trying to grease the wheels of the relationship.

Sales Tips Wrap Up
We all know that good relationships are critical to selling. However, we aren’t required to have a love affair with all of our prospects and customers in order to sell to them. Customer and prospect indifference is our biggest enemy when it comes to relationships. Indifference equals invisibility.

Further sales blog reading:
Your Style Of Customer Relationship Skills Might Be Sinking Your Ship
Always Being Nice Is Not A Good Sales Strategy
Quirky Sales Professionals

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
—

I hate the term “salesperson.” Sounds empty to me. If we think of ourselves as a person whose primary job function is selling, then we are nothing more than a “salesperson.”

Why Being A “Salesperson” Makes Us Less Effective
The human mind is full of uncharted waters (you need to visit some of my family members if you don’t believe this). However, there are a few things about how we think – and more importantly, how our customers think – that are predictable. The following are “salesperson” behaviors that cause us to stumble.

• People resist being pushed because they are hardwired that way. Crowding and bulldozing customers causes them to instinctively resist.

• Being overly forceful and “salesy” causes us to exude a vibe of desperation. This is not a good thing. Social psychologists have shown over decades of testing that people prefer to buy from successful people, not ones who seem needy.

• When all we focus on is selling, selling, selling – we put ourselves under stress which makes us less capable sales professionals. Stress is circular. It creates feelings that are completely counterproductive. Stress causes fear, tunnel vision, disorganization. I’m amazed at the number of sales managers who think beating on sales professionals will create sustainable increases in sales.

A Metaphor
Everyone is familiar with Chinese finger traps. The harder you pull, the more they grip down on your fingers.

The harder we try, the more determined these traps seem to become.

Customers feel the same way about us. The more we “sell” them, the more they resist.

Sales Blog Antidote
The following three simple ideas will make your job as a sales professional more enjoyable, your customers more responsive and you more successful. These may seem ill fitting at first, but a great pair of jeans takes a few outings before things look and feel right.

1. Stop being “salesy.” Customers hate this. They see it coming 10 miles away. I know many salespersons who think “salesy” must work because people buy from them. No. People buy from them in spite of the “salesy” approach. Your authenticity is what customers want.

2. Instead of always asking questions, start providing answers to your customers. Giving them something they need (e.g. useful and timely information) is the best antidote to looking like a generic salesperson.

3. Provide your customers with service. I’m not talking about the services your company normally provides. I’m talking about helping your customers in ways that aren’t normally associated with salespersons. Give them referrals. Help them find suppliers for products you don’t sell. Find a new way your company can save them money (don’t worry; this will inspire them to find other things to buy from you that will eclipse any losses).

Sales Blog Wrap-Up
See yourself as more than a salesperson who is trying to maximize how much he or she can get from a customer. Turn down the sales volume and increase the “How can I help you?” volume.

Further sales blog reading:
Sales Advice: Is there a “vibe” in sales? You betcha.
Get customer cooperation by “lowering your shields”

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
—

The most trustworthy phrase in the English language is, “Everything is negotiable.” When our customers push us for better pricing, or some other concession, we can’t condemn them. Horse-trading has been around since Adam and Eve asked God if they could get a “do over.” We all know the answer to that one.

The Customer’s Perspective
When customers are negotiating with us, it’s how we respond to their haggling that can make all the difference. We forget the following when negotiating:

• Most customers have only primitive negotiating skills, at best.
• They’re just throwing stuff “out there” to see if we’ll bite on some of it.
• Their company requires them to ask for certain concessions.
• They intend to buy from us, even if we don’t give them a green light on their last minute requests.

In short, they think, “Why not ask? We have nothing to lose.” And they’re right.

Wrong Way Example
Customer: “Debbie, we’ve been customers of yours for three years now. We’d like to get a 20% price reduction on future purchases.”

Wrong Way Salesperson: “You know I’m already giving you the best price I can.”

This customer is now quite unhappy with this salesperson. Why? Because the customer doesn’t feel heard. They feel “blown off.”

Right Way Example
Customer: “Debbie, we’ve been customers of yours for three years now. We’d like to get a 20% price reduction on future purchases.”

Right Way Salesperson: “You know that I am constantly working to find ways to secure more favorable pricing for you when possible. I think you would agree that our relationship is good and I’ve been a reliable and high quality supplier for you. I don’t know if I can reduce your price by 20%, but I can reduce your costs on all of your purchases if you source more of your fluid power products from me. Can we talk about that possibility?”

Why We Like The Right Way Sales Professional’s Response
“Right Way” has many things going for her. She provides numerous sales tips for us in her response.

• She acknowledges the customer’s attempt at negotiation. The customer feels heard.
• She reminds the customer of the value she brings to the table.
• She agrees to some kind of price reduction, but the customer will have to earn it.
• Finally, she puts the ball back in the customer’s court.

Handling negotiation in this manner does not offend customers. It recognizes the customer’s right to negotiate while simultaneously treating them with respect. If we do it right, we avoid irritating the customer and set ourselves up for additional business.

Sales Blog Epilogue
Our strongest and most powerful tool as a sales professional is our tongue. It is a rudder that steers our relationships right into icebergs or safely around them. How we craft our responses to customer negotiation can either erode a long-term customer relationship or create new opportunities and strengthen partnerships.

Further sales blog reading:
A Classic Buyers’ Discounting Tactic
What To Do When You’re In A Weak Negotiating Position

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

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