I had the good fortune of taking the afternoon recently to play some golf with a few friends at my club. The game that I was invited to play in was supposedly a friendly match that included a substantial amount of financial windfall to the winner, typically funded by the losers. I love a good “money-game” on the golf course so this was a very welcome invitation.
The morning started at 5:30am at the gym. As I spent an hour on the elliptical machine, I caught my thoughts wandering toward the afternoon’s match. As I lifted some weights and stretched over the next 45 minutes, I found my actions focusing on how my swing would be later that day. On the way back to the office from the gym, I was mentally preparing the balance of my morning to best “stack the deck” for the competition to come. I thought about what to wear, what to eat, when to arrive, how to warm-up, and how to practice before starting. I thought about how I wanted to play each hole and where I would be aggressive. I thought about my previous few rounds and focused on what I had been doing great and not so great.
Although I did not plan the night before to spend the morning preparing for a golf match that could result in a few hundred bucks changing hands, the thoughts appeared nonetheless. It was during my review of these thoughts that I understood that I had developed a habit of thought when faced with an activity that required substantial results based upon my performance. Where did this habit develop? Through years of preparing for sales!
Every day, as a sales professional, each of us enters a competitive marketplace to face a variety of challenges to our success. These challenges come in many forms and the thoughts that go through our mind before we enter the marketplace DEFINE our actions and behaviors. Too often, salespeople enter the day’s activities in much the same way that many people enter the workforce; they just show up! The actions in which they involve themselves each day are not a direct result of conscious thought, but rather repetitious activity. They mindlessly go through the motions of making calls, leaving messages, visiting accounts, taking orders, and filling out reports. When the dust all settles from the day, the results are very similar to yesterday, the day before, and the day before that. As Earl Nightingale stated in his award winning audio, The Strangest Secret, “The opposite of courage is conformity.” In other words, we conform to the natural tendency to simply show up and do our jobs. The first thing it takes to get out of this RUT is to think!!
In a recent CEO workshop I held, one of the attendees asked me a question: “What is it, Gerry that you believe that you sell?” After pondering the question for a moment, I answered that when I am speaking from the stage, I am really selling new ways of looking at things or new ways of thinking! Before anyone can or will take different ACTION towards something, they must first think about it in a different way. Otherwise, there would be no motivation for the change in behavior or action! Think about it for a moment... every bit of information that enters your head comes with it the seeds of new thought and possibly newly directed behavior or action. When you are given new information, you think about that topic differently. When you view a documentary that provides a considerable amount of new information about a topic that interests you, your mind goes into a thought process that could potentially make you take action that you previously had not. Two years ago this month, ex-Vice President of the US, Al Gore received the Nobel Peace Prize for his documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth” which has led millions of people to think about their actions and thus behave differently based upon new thought!
So, as a sales professional, what is it that you think about each day? Pre-call preparation is an area that an overwhelming amount of salespeople could improve in. Do you want to know the easiest place to get started preparing better for every sales call? It’s in your thoughts. Those of you that have spent any time in my training know that ONE QUESTION can begin this process. That question? “What is the PURPOSE of this call?” By simply starting with that question, it will force you to think about what it is that you wish to accomplish on the sales call. Stephen Covey says that we need to “begin with the end in mind.”
Now, you need to go beyond the typical answer of the sales force: “We want to sell this guy something.” That is the reward for achieving the result that you seek. THINK! THINK! What is it that you need to accomplish? What is it that you need to get the customer thinking about? What is it that needs to occur for the circumstances (no decision to buy) to change in your favor (a decision to buy.) Below, I have listed a few thoughts that you may want to take into consideration before making your next round of sales calls. Turn off the TV (TIVO your favorites) for one week and spend your time with your thoughts. Instead of simply showing up for next week’s sales calls and “spraying and praying,” try giving some thought to the ideas below in advance so that when you open your mouth, every sound brings you closer to your desired outcome. Remember: Talking too much usually follows thinking too little.
Some thoughts to drive new actions, new behaviors, and hopefully new results:
“What is the purpose of this call?”
“What might this prospect/customer be thinking about me/my product today?”
“What are my prospect/customer’s highest value needs or most wanted outcomes?”
“What previous experience has this prospect/customer had with us in the past?”
“Where/who do they buy from now?”
“What is the benefit of ownership of my product that they desire most?”
“How much time does this person have to meet with me?”
“Who else is courting this prospect/customer today?”
“How long has it been since my last visit and what have I done since to add-value?”
“What did we talk about last visit and did I take appropriate action on it?”
“What can I bring to the table that the prospect/customer will value?”
“How can I position myself as a resource versus a vendor?”
“How can I communicate my expertise without bragging?”
“How can I get the customer to want to know more about my product/service?”
“How can I create a need where there may not be a perception of one?”
“What do I need to get this prospect/customer talking about?”
“What do I need to know that they haven’t shared with the competition?”
“How can I avoid talking about price until I establish value?”
“How can I position myself as an EXPERT?”
“What stories can I share to communicate value?”
“What names can I drop to add credibility?”
“What does the customer value more than price?”
“How does the competition approach the customer and how can I differ?”
“How can I OPEN the conversation in a more impactful way?”
“How am I prepared to address the most common of prospect/customer concerns?”
“What will I say if they DRAG me to price early?”
“What 10 questions do I seek answers to and how do I best ask those questions?”
“How can I ask for the business once I have earned the right to do so?”
“Have I practiced the time condensed visit just in case we run out of time?”
“What information do I need to get from the customer to build a better case of value?”
“What OPTIONS have I prepared so the customer will say yes?”
“Have I made it easy to do business with me?”
“Am I thinking from my point of view or the prospect/customer’s point of view?”
Can you imagine having the answers to at least half of these questions before you made each of your sales calls next week? Can you imagine the change in the level of confidence that you would bring to the market? Can you imagine the change in your level of credibility? Better yet, can you imagine how much stronger you will be and the better experience that your prospect/customer will have because of it? All this takes initially is thought! Turn off the TV and turn on your brain! Start developing a HABIT of running scenarios and thoughts through your head before showing up? Start THINKING like a customer and you will start increasing your effectiveness in your conversations with them. Dialogues will start becoming more meaningful and less about price. They will begin asking advice of you because they will start becoming more aware of the fact that they are in the presence of a professional.
Always remember that a man is not rewarded for having a brain, he is rewarded for USING it. Understand and remember that thoughts lead to action! Think better, act better, produce better, and earn better!
Or………you could make more cold calls!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Personal Branding--If You're not Known for Something, You're Good for Nothing!
Personal Branding is the absolute hallmark of the top 2% of sales professionals. Most of them don’t even know that they are doing it! Personal Branding gets your phone to ring. Personal Branding separates you from all of the competition. Personal Branding puts VALUE ahead of COST. Personal Branding elevates you and thus your company/product/service in the minds of your customer. Personal Branding, quite simply, creates more sales for you!
Companies spend millions of dollars every year to burn their brand into the hearts and minds of their potential customers. This is done with advertising, jingles, and repetition of their messages. Nike built a brand around that “swoosh” logo such that its worldwide proliferation is staggering. You cannot go anywhere in the world of sports without seeing the “swoosh.” In fact, the “swoosh” has become synonymous with excellence in sports. The result? An empire of shoes, clothing and sports gear that commands top dollar in the marketplace.
Starbucks did it with coffee in a different way. They chose to create a customer “experience” that is consistent throughout the world. They created a brand and invested their millions into teaching us a different way to order and drink coffee. They train and invest in the “experience” that we have in any Starbucks. The result? We will go out of our way AND pay a premium to “find a Starbucks shop.”
What is it that you can do as a sales professional to position yourself and your company as THE CHOICE rather than simply A CHOICE? Through the appropriate Personal Branding tactics, you can:
-Establish yourself as an expert (Don’t just be “in” your field…be perceived as the “best” in your field.)
-Be known as a resource (Don’t be a “taker” of orders….be a “maker” of profits and success for your customers)
-Create a demand for your product or service (Customer’s will call you…instead of the other way around)
-Build prospective customer’s trust in you and your company (People do business with whom they trust and know….get KNOWN to gain their trust!)
-Differentiate yourself from the competition (If you don’t stand out, you don’t stand out!)
How can you create a brand for yourself as a sales professional? Let’s look at some of the first steps that you must take:
Clearly define the “brand” that you desire to create and communicate to your marketplace. How do you want to be known? What words or phrases will your customer’s use to describe you? How will you choose to differ yourself form the competition?
Establish a “special sauce statement” that states what it is that you bring to the table in a way that nobody else does. This should be from the customer’s viewpoint (benefit driven) not from yours (feature driven.)
Create a list of no less than 10 ways to communicate this BRAND every day in every way to your prospects, customers, and clients. You must walk the walk that you wish to be “known for.” Consistency is absolutely the key. Every move that you make needs to be preceded with the following questions: “Is what I am about to do consistent with the brand that I have created?”
Personal Branding is the key to greater sales for the best professionals. It is often the difference between you getting the contract or the other guy getting it. More importantly, it is most often the main difference between you having to sell your product or service and people wanting to buy your product or service.
It has been said that in the profession of selling, it’s not who you know, but rather who knows you that counts. Call our office today at 866-979-LAYO (5296)---yes, the phone number is one way that I am Personally Branding my name---and get enrolled for any of our upcoming events. You can also go to http://www.gerrylayo.com/ and enroll for any of these events online.
Remember, if you can’t name 2-3 reasons that YOU would choose to be known, how can you expect your customers to list ONE?
Companies spend millions of dollars every year to burn their brand into the hearts and minds of their potential customers. This is done with advertising, jingles, and repetition of their messages. Nike built a brand around that “swoosh” logo such that its worldwide proliferation is staggering. You cannot go anywhere in the world of sports without seeing the “swoosh.” In fact, the “swoosh” has become synonymous with excellence in sports. The result? An empire of shoes, clothing and sports gear that commands top dollar in the marketplace.
Starbucks did it with coffee in a different way. They chose to create a customer “experience” that is consistent throughout the world. They created a brand and invested their millions into teaching us a different way to order and drink coffee. They train and invest in the “experience” that we have in any Starbucks. The result? We will go out of our way AND pay a premium to “find a Starbucks shop.”
What is it that you can do as a sales professional to position yourself and your company as THE CHOICE rather than simply A CHOICE? Through the appropriate Personal Branding tactics, you can:
-Establish yourself as an expert (Don’t just be “in” your field…be perceived as the “best” in your field.)
-Be known as a resource (Don’t be a “taker” of orders….be a “maker” of profits and success for your customers)
-Create a demand for your product or service (Customer’s will call you…instead of the other way around)
-Build prospective customer’s trust in you and your company (People do business with whom they trust and know….get KNOWN to gain their trust!)
-Differentiate yourself from the competition (If you don’t stand out, you don’t stand out!)
How can you create a brand for yourself as a sales professional? Let’s look at some of the first steps that you must take:
Clearly define the “brand” that you desire to create and communicate to your marketplace. How do you want to be known? What words or phrases will your customer’s use to describe you? How will you choose to differ yourself form the competition?
Establish a “special sauce statement” that states what it is that you bring to the table in a way that nobody else does. This should be from the customer’s viewpoint (benefit driven) not from yours (feature driven.)
Create a list of no less than 10 ways to communicate this BRAND every day in every way to your prospects, customers, and clients. You must walk the walk that you wish to be “known for.” Consistency is absolutely the key. Every move that you make needs to be preceded with the following questions: “Is what I am about to do consistent with the brand that I have created?”
Personal Branding is the key to greater sales for the best professionals. It is often the difference between you getting the contract or the other guy getting it. More importantly, it is most often the main difference between you having to sell your product or service and people wanting to buy your product or service.
It has been said that in the profession of selling, it’s not who you know, but rather who knows you that counts. Call our office today at 866-979-LAYO (5296)---yes, the phone number is one way that I am Personally Branding my name---and get enrolled for any of our upcoming events. You can also go to http://www.gerrylayo.com/ and enroll for any of these events online.
Remember, if you can’t name 2-3 reasons that YOU would choose to be known, how can you expect your customers to list ONE?
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Put Some MAGIC in Your Customer Service
Customer Service is a dying art! Phones in 6 out of 10 companies are getting answered by a machine. In fact, I just saw a commercial on TV that was advertising a credit card. What was so special about this credit card? Whenever you call the credit card company you will actually speak to a live human being! Say it isn’t so!
The average attendee in my seminars, when asked, state that they have had mostly average experiences of customer service in the past month compared to a few horrible experiences and just one fantastic experience. Tony Alessandra calls these Moments of Mediocrity, Moments of Misery, and Moments of Magic. It has been my contention that every company has the ability to stand out by simply striving for the WOW experience that Alessandra calls a Moment of Magic.
Most of us feel that the customer service departments in our companies are responsible for this experience. While I agree that the customer service professionals on your team do absolutely drive the customer experience, I would like to challenge those of us in the sales side of the business to take a closer look at our role in this process.
Let’s see if we can break down that MAGIC into an easy-to-digest (and apply) acronym:
Managing Expectations
The sales process really “tees up” the customer service process by setting up the customer expectations. Let’s face it; anyone can get anyone to buy anything by telling the buyer whatever they want to hear. In fact, it is exactly this fact that has given salespeople bad reputations for years. The true sales professional understands that they seek a customer for life (a client relationship) out of every transaction. Just as with any relationship, there are expectations that both will have. It is the salesperson’s job to discover the true expectations of the customer from the onset and to temper those according to true deliverables. In addition, the sales professional must explain in detail to the customer the role that they must play in the relationship. With properly discovered and mutually agreed upon expectations set in advance, the customer service experience has been properly arranged in advance so that the customer “knows what they are in for.” At that point, it is up to the entire organization (every touch point) to EXCEED those expectations!
Assessing Needs
The first and most vital conversations that are held with a customer are done so with the sales professional. It is during these conversations that we are to gather information in addition to giving it. We have defined the shortest course on selling for years as “Asking Questions and Listening.” This process is not important only for the discovery of a potential customer’s hot buttons and motivators which will guide them towards a purchase from us. It also helps us assess their HVNs (Highest Value Needs) so that we may communicate them to our internal customer service teams.
Here is an idea: Create a form that will allow your salespeople to capture some of the basic HVNs of your new customers. On the form, simply list categories that are important for the smooth transition from the sales process to the service process. In addition, capture the communication style of the customer and any pertinent information that will create a strong communication foundation for the service team. What has been promised? What does the customer expect? Where are the potential “landmines that we need to avoid?” How can we WOW them early in the relationship? What do we need to know about them personally as well as professionally to best serve them?
Growth (vs. Maintenance)
There are two ways to look at every interaction that we have with prospects, customers, and clients. We can simply strive to MAINTAIN our current status, relationship, or loyalty with these folks or we can strive to create GROWTH in these areas with every interaction. From a sales perspective, it is my belief that there should never be such a thing as a MAINTENANCE call! The purpose of front line sales reps is to GROW the customer relationship, GROW the trust that a customer has in you and thus, the company, GROW the value that the customer perceives in you and thus, the company, and GROW their account within the organization. When your goal is simply to MAINTAIN, there is very little preparation necessary. There is very little need for pre-call planning, practice, or customer focused thought. Here’s a good drill: Write down the two words above (Growth and Maintenance). Under each word, write down 10 things that you need to DO to either Maintain or Grow an account. I bet the list is longer and requires more action under GROWTH!
Interest-(Show one-before, during, and after the sale)
As a sales professional, if you were to be judged and compensated on the overall length and value of your relationships with your customers and clients, I would bet that your actions would be more focused. We are all guilty of “moving on” from a relationship in the mind of the customer. The courting stage is full of surprise, passion, excitement, and over-the-top communication when we have the prospective customer in the pipeline. Early into the customer phase, we will stay in touch, make the occasional call to see how everything is going with our product or service, and do some of the things necessary to grow the customer (one-time, price focused buyer) into a client (lifetime, value focused buyer). However, it has been said that familiarity breeds contempt. Too often, salespeople tend to lose interest in an account after a while and in doing so create the perception that they are taking the relationship for granted. Although you may think this way, it is really not important what you think—the customer/client is the king. Good drill here: Identify your top 10 accounts right now. Next, schedule a face to face meeting with each one of them within the next 60 days. The purpose of that meeting is to reconnect; “to renew your vows,” and to get into their hearts by attempting to re-visit their business needs (they most likely have changed since you were dating.)
Communication
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why customers get fed up and leave is a lack of true communication on the part of the company with whom they are doing business. Of course, people don’t do business with companies—they do business with people. Think about the world that we live in today. Phones are answered by machines that guide us through a seemingly unending series of “press this” or “enter that” before we can get a chance to communicate. Our email boxes are so loaded with spam that we have a tendency to DELETE courteous correspondence out of lives before it is read. We are forcing our customers to websites to interact with us. We are using “self-checkout” lines at grocery stores. What in the world happened to good old-fashioned one-on-one communication? When we survey customers as to what it is that they are looking for in the “service experience,” the answers rarely, if ever, mention cost effectiveness, efficiency, and electronically based communication. Instead, they say they are looking for knowledgeable help, follow-through, basic courtesies, dedicated attention, feedback, empathy, and respect. This begins with the sales professional.
As a salesperson, how can you create all of this and still be focused on getting new “fish in the boat?” It’s not easy—especially on your own. Don’t fall into the trap of keeping others in the company away from your accounts. Furthermore, don’t micro-manage every detail of the customer’s interaction with your company. Instead, create a team to deliver consistent Moments of Magic.
Using the acronym above, turn “inward” toward your support staff, your delivery staff, your installers, your customer service team, your help desk staff, and the accounts receivable staff for help. First of all, set and manage their expectations of you and what it is that you can and will do with the customer on the front end and throughout the relationship. Next, assess their needs. What is it that they need from you in order to best deliver on your promises? Next, look for ways to grow their knowledge of the customer, the sales process, and the service expectations of the customer. In addition, try growing your knowledge of their position and what it is that they go through every day to meet your customers ever changing needs. Next, show an interest in them. As a salesperson, you try to spend time with top accounts in the interest of building a relationship. Why? So they continue to buy from you and never leave. Create a plan to do the same with your inside team. Spend time with them. Show an interest in who they are and where it is that they come from. Meet their families. “DO” for them and they will line up to “DO” for you and your customers. Finally, learn how to best communicate with them on a regular basis. If you communicate with them via email only, you will eventually create a disconnect. Try to develop the habit of the regular “team huddle.” Regular, value-add communication breaks down the walls and allows for the creative juices of your inside team to come up with the best ways to take care of your customers!
The profession of sales is for sales professionals but you need to know that, as a sales professional, the customer experience is something that demands your attention and commands your focus! Sell Smart all the way through and you will find yourself with a never-ending stream of referrals and leads generated by over-the-top loyal fans on the outside (customers) as well as the inside of your business!
The average attendee in my seminars, when asked, state that they have had mostly average experiences of customer service in the past month compared to a few horrible experiences and just one fantastic experience. Tony Alessandra calls these Moments of Mediocrity, Moments of Misery, and Moments of Magic. It has been my contention that every company has the ability to stand out by simply striving for the WOW experience that Alessandra calls a Moment of Magic.
Most of us feel that the customer service departments in our companies are responsible for this experience. While I agree that the customer service professionals on your team do absolutely drive the customer experience, I would like to challenge those of us in the sales side of the business to take a closer look at our role in this process.
Let’s see if we can break down that MAGIC into an easy-to-digest (and apply) acronym:
Managing Expectations
The sales process really “tees up” the customer service process by setting up the customer expectations. Let’s face it; anyone can get anyone to buy anything by telling the buyer whatever they want to hear. In fact, it is exactly this fact that has given salespeople bad reputations for years. The true sales professional understands that they seek a customer for life (a client relationship) out of every transaction. Just as with any relationship, there are expectations that both will have. It is the salesperson’s job to discover the true expectations of the customer from the onset and to temper those according to true deliverables. In addition, the sales professional must explain in detail to the customer the role that they must play in the relationship. With properly discovered and mutually agreed upon expectations set in advance, the customer service experience has been properly arranged in advance so that the customer “knows what they are in for.” At that point, it is up to the entire organization (every touch point) to EXCEED those expectations!
Assessing Needs
The first and most vital conversations that are held with a customer are done so with the sales professional. It is during these conversations that we are to gather information in addition to giving it. We have defined the shortest course on selling for years as “Asking Questions and Listening.” This process is not important only for the discovery of a potential customer’s hot buttons and motivators which will guide them towards a purchase from us. It also helps us assess their HVNs (Highest Value Needs) so that we may communicate them to our internal customer service teams.
Here is an idea: Create a form that will allow your salespeople to capture some of the basic HVNs of your new customers. On the form, simply list categories that are important for the smooth transition from the sales process to the service process. In addition, capture the communication style of the customer and any pertinent information that will create a strong communication foundation for the service team. What has been promised? What does the customer expect? Where are the potential “landmines that we need to avoid?” How can we WOW them early in the relationship? What do we need to know about them personally as well as professionally to best serve them?
Growth (vs. Maintenance)
There are two ways to look at every interaction that we have with prospects, customers, and clients. We can simply strive to MAINTAIN our current status, relationship, or loyalty with these folks or we can strive to create GROWTH in these areas with every interaction. From a sales perspective, it is my belief that there should never be such a thing as a MAINTENANCE call! The purpose of front line sales reps is to GROW the customer relationship, GROW the trust that a customer has in you and thus, the company, GROW the value that the customer perceives in you and thus, the company, and GROW their account within the organization. When your goal is simply to MAINTAIN, there is very little preparation necessary. There is very little need for pre-call planning, practice, or customer focused thought. Here’s a good drill: Write down the two words above (Growth and Maintenance). Under each word, write down 10 things that you need to DO to either Maintain or Grow an account. I bet the list is longer and requires more action under GROWTH!
Interest-(Show one-before, during, and after the sale)
As a sales professional, if you were to be judged and compensated on the overall length and value of your relationships with your customers and clients, I would bet that your actions would be more focused. We are all guilty of “moving on” from a relationship in the mind of the customer. The courting stage is full of surprise, passion, excitement, and over-the-top communication when we have the prospective customer in the pipeline. Early into the customer phase, we will stay in touch, make the occasional call to see how everything is going with our product or service, and do some of the things necessary to grow the customer (one-time, price focused buyer) into a client (lifetime, value focused buyer). However, it has been said that familiarity breeds contempt. Too often, salespeople tend to lose interest in an account after a while and in doing so create the perception that they are taking the relationship for granted. Although you may think this way, it is really not important what you think—the customer/client is the king. Good drill here: Identify your top 10 accounts right now. Next, schedule a face to face meeting with each one of them within the next 60 days. The purpose of that meeting is to reconnect; “to renew your vows,” and to get into their hearts by attempting to re-visit their business needs (they most likely have changed since you were dating.)
Communication
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why customers get fed up and leave is a lack of true communication on the part of the company with whom they are doing business. Of course, people don’t do business with companies—they do business with people. Think about the world that we live in today. Phones are answered by machines that guide us through a seemingly unending series of “press this” or “enter that” before we can get a chance to communicate. Our email boxes are so loaded with spam that we have a tendency to DELETE courteous correspondence out of lives before it is read. We are forcing our customers to websites to interact with us. We are using “self-checkout” lines at grocery stores. What in the world happened to good old-fashioned one-on-one communication? When we survey customers as to what it is that they are looking for in the “service experience,” the answers rarely, if ever, mention cost effectiveness, efficiency, and electronically based communication. Instead, they say they are looking for knowledgeable help, follow-through, basic courtesies, dedicated attention, feedback, empathy, and respect. This begins with the sales professional.
As a salesperson, how can you create all of this and still be focused on getting new “fish in the boat?” It’s not easy—especially on your own. Don’t fall into the trap of keeping others in the company away from your accounts. Furthermore, don’t micro-manage every detail of the customer’s interaction with your company. Instead, create a team to deliver consistent Moments of Magic.
Using the acronym above, turn “inward” toward your support staff, your delivery staff, your installers, your customer service team, your help desk staff, and the accounts receivable staff for help. First of all, set and manage their expectations of you and what it is that you can and will do with the customer on the front end and throughout the relationship. Next, assess their needs. What is it that they need from you in order to best deliver on your promises? Next, look for ways to grow their knowledge of the customer, the sales process, and the service expectations of the customer. In addition, try growing your knowledge of their position and what it is that they go through every day to meet your customers ever changing needs. Next, show an interest in them. As a salesperson, you try to spend time with top accounts in the interest of building a relationship. Why? So they continue to buy from you and never leave. Create a plan to do the same with your inside team. Spend time with them. Show an interest in who they are and where it is that they come from. Meet their families. “DO” for them and they will line up to “DO” for you and your customers. Finally, learn how to best communicate with them on a regular basis. If you communicate with them via email only, you will eventually create a disconnect. Try to develop the habit of the regular “team huddle.” Regular, value-add communication breaks down the walls and allows for the creative juices of your inside team to come up with the best ways to take care of your customers!
The profession of sales is for sales professionals but you need to know that, as a sales professional, the customer experience is something that demands your attention and commands your focus! Sell Smart all the way through and you will find yourself with a never-ending stream of referrals and leads generated by over-the-top loyal fans on the outside (customers) as well as the inside of your business!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
This Week, Listen UP!
Here is a quick checklist to evaluate your own listening habits. I got this list from a recent article that I read by Rick Phillips. Try to be brutally honest with yourself and see how you do.
Do you ever catch yourself looking at your watch while you are listening?
Do you ever finish other people’s sentences?
Do your ever find yourself patiently waiting for your turn to talk?
Is it hard for you to maintain eye contact with people who are talking to you?
Do you really give the other person a chance to talk?
Do you ever interrupt while someone is trying to make a point?
Do you ever think to yourself, “I’ve heard this all before?”
Do you sometimes anticipate what the other person is going to say?
Do you find yourself occasionally distracted while the other person is speaking?
Do you ever find yourself wondering what the other person has just said?
Do you ever mentally begin structuring your remarks while they are still talking?
Could you encourage the other person to continue their remarks more often?
If you have answered yes to more than half of the above questions, don’t fret, you are normal. In both sales and leadership, listening is one of the greatest tools that one can possess. Below are a few quotes pertaining to listening:
"It is the province of knowledge to speak. And it is the privilege of wisdom to listen." Oliver Wendell Holmes
"There's a big difference between showing interest and really taking interest." Michael Nichols--The Lost Art of Listening
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." Winston Churchill
"The reward for always listening when you'd rather be talking is wisdom." Anonymous
"A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something." Wilson Mizner
"You learn when you listen. You earn when you listen—not just money, but respect." Harvey Mackay
"The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say. It's terribly important for everyone to get involved. Our best ideas come from clerks and stockboys." Sam Walton
"I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions." Lee Iacocca
"Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Steven Covey
"Of all the skills of leadership, listening is the most valuable—and one of the least understood. Most captains of industry listen only sometimes, and they remain ordinary leaders. But a few, the great ones, never stop listening. That's how they get word before anyone else of unseen problems and opportunities." Peter Nulty
How do you rank in your listening skills? How would you customers rank you? How about your employees? The Good Lord gave us two eyes and two ears with only one mouth. There HAS TO BE a good reason for that.
The art of solid, empathetic communication is founded in the ability to effectively respond to the other person. Some of the people who you have met in your life that you found to be the most interesting have also been the ones that have been the most interested. They asked questions and listened to your response. They cared and they showed it.
I’ll close with a challenge to you. This week, no matter what it is that you currently do as a leader, a sales manager, or a salesperson, I want you to ask a minimum of 10 questions to everyone with whom you engage in a conversation. Make note of what it is that they tell you and make it a point to bring that up the next time you speak. You will be amazed at the response that you will get in return for your attentive listening.
Do you ever catch yourself looking at your watch while you are listening?
Do you ever finish other people’s sentences?
Do your ever find yourself patiently waiting for your turn to talk?
Is it hard for you to maintain eye contact with people who are talking to you?
Do you really give the other person a chance to talk?
Do you ever interrupt while someone is trying to make a point?
Do you ever think to yourself, “I’ve heard this all before?”
Do you sometimes anticipate what the other person is going to say?
Do you find yourself occasionally distracted while the other person is speaking?
Do you ever find yourself wondering what the other person has just said?
Do you ever mentally begin structuring your remarks while they are still talking?
Could you encourage the other person to continue their remarks more often?
If you have answered yes to more than half of the above questions, don’t fret, you are normal. In both sales and leadership, listening is one of the greatest tools that one can possess. Below are a few quotes pertaining to listening:
"It is the province of knowledge to speak. And it is the privilege of wisdom to listen." Oliver Wendell Holmes
"There's a big difference between showing interest and really taking interest." Michael Nichols--The Lost Art of Listening
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." Winston Churchill
"The reward for always listening when you'd rather be talking is wisdom." Anonymous
"A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something." Wilson Mizner
"You learn when you listen. You earn when you listen—not just money, but respect." Harvey Mackay
"The key to success is to get out into the store and listen to what the associates have to say. It's terribly important for everyone to get involved. Our best ideas come from clerks and stockboys." Sam Walton
"I only wish I could find an institute that teaches people how to listen. Business people need to listen at least as much as they need to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions." Lee Iacocca
"Seek first to understand, then to be understood." Steven Covey
"Of all the skills of leadership, listening is the most valuable—and one of the least understood. Most captains of industry listen only sometimes, and they remain ordinary leaders. But a few, the great ones, never stop listening. That's how they get word before anyone else of unseen problems and opportunities." Peter Nulty
How do you rank in your listening skills? How would you customers rank you? How about your employees? The Good Lord gave us two eyes and two ears with only one mouth. There HAS TO BE a good reason for that.
The art of solid, empathetic communication is founded in the ability to effectively respond to the other person. Some of the people who you have met in your life that you found to be the most interesting have also been the ones that have been the most interested. They asked questions and listened to your response. They cared and they showed it.
I’ll close with a challenge to you. This week, no matter what it is that you currently do as a leader, a sales manager, or a salesperson, I want you to ask a minimum of 10 questions to everyone with whom you engage in a conversation. Make note of what it is that they tell you and make it a point to bring that up the next time you speak. You will be amazed at the response that you will get in return for your attentive listening.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Never Quote Price Until You Establish Value
You know, I have been quoting that little gem (Never quote price until you establish value!) for years and, until recently I was always under the assumption that most salespeople had to first establish value for their product or service before actually stating a price. For most sellers, this comes down to giving a solid presentation of the FAB points (features, advantages, and benefits) of their product or service. This, of course, is typically on top of all of the history and background on the company. The assumption here is that the prospect or customer will find something in that presentation that turns them on and that they will find valuable to meet their needs.
The true meaning of this quote is somewhat different: You should never quote price until you establish what they value! You see, the value that you put on your products or services is not as important as what the prospect or customer values at that time. If your products (and the presentation of those products) do not connect with their MWO (most wanted outcome) then your products do not matter and they certainly hold little value to the customer. We need to first establish a connection with the customer by understanding and relating to their needs. Do your homework, prepare your questions, choreograph the dance, and design the dialogue.
The key word in relationship is RELATE. Do your best to relate their needs to your product by understanding what those needs are before you do your presentation or quote your price. A VALUE PROPOSITION is a statement (or series of statements) that follows a diagnosis of the customer’s issues. You can only propose VALUE if you know what it is that they VALUE! So the age old quote goes “If you ask enough of the right questions, and really listen to the answers, your customer will explain your business to you!”
The true meaning of this quote is somewhat different: You should never quote price until you establish what they value! You see, the value that you put on your products or services is not as important as what the prospect or customer values at that time. If your products (and the presentation of those products) do not connect with their MWO (most wanted outcome) then your products do not matter and they certainly hold little value to the customer. We need to first establish a connection with the customer by understanding and relating to their needs. Do your homework, prepare your questions, choreograph the dance, and design the dialogue.
The key word in relationship is RELATE. Do your best to relate their needs to your product by understanding what those needs are before you do your presentation or quote your price. A VALUE PROPOSITION is a statement (or series of statements) that follows a diagnosis of the customer’s issues. You can only propose VALUE if you know what it is that they VALUE! So the age old quote goes “If you ask enough of the right questions, and really listen to the answers, your customer will explain your business to you!”
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