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Category: Sales
Start on time…end on time
Early in my career, I worked for a leadership training company. One of my responsibilities was sellling training. I would set up 1/1 meetings with the decision-makers to determine their needs and look to uncover areas where we could make them more profitable from improved team performance.
I remember one of my sales calls that taught me a valuable lesson; When I am on a call, it is my responsibility to manage my time AND the decision-maker’s I am talking to. Here is how the call went: The boss and I had agreed on a 1-hour meeting. That was fine. I began my asking questions designed to discover what he needed and why it was important to him. The conversation was going well. He was engaged and on a roll. When we came close to the end of the hour mark, I continued to let him talk (not wanting to interrupt). He ran 15 minutes over our agreed upon time. No problem, right? Since he was talking it didn’t make any difference, right? WRONG! We manage the clock. We scheduled a follow-up meeting and he criticized me for running longer than we agreed to. But,but,but…Sorry, it was my fault.
As you can imagine, that hurt a little bit. I asked my mentor for advice. The advice he gave me I never forgot and alsways used. Here is what he said:
“Steve, if you agree to a specific meeting length and you get to the end and they are still rolling, stop and say, “Jake it sounds like we have found an area where I believe I can help you. We are currently at the end of the time we agreed upon for this meeting I have allowed some extra time if you would like to continue. Otherwise, we can set a follow-up meeting and continue this discussion.”
I remembered Joe’s advice and from that time on, I did not have the problem again, and the quality of my calls improved.
If you hate prospecting…you’ll love this
Most sales professionals are probably familiar with prospecting, asking for referrals, and cold calling. What if there were a way you could eliminate those activities and focus your time on receiving and taking care of customers rathering pursuing them? In my 40 years of coaching, I have actually worked with clients who are so good at attracting clients they didn’t need to seek them. The good news is all these folks achieved this by doing the same four things:
#1 Respond promptly. We like doing business with vendors who are eager to do business with us. Have you ever walked into a store and had to wait a while before you were even acknowledged? Establishing a reputation of quickly responding to people shows that they are important.
2. Product delivery. Whatever product or service we provide, deliver on time with excellence and “WOW”!
3. Show a genuine interest in your clients and what is important to them. Do we know? Are they a sports fan, and super Dad or Mom, do they have a hobby or like to travel/
4. Read voraciously. This piece is most commonly overlooked. Those in the top 3% read a lot. There is no shortcut here. Avid readers “know their stuff” and the “latest”. If we don’t, we can lose respect.
The folks I know who consistently do this are almost always in the top tier. They don’t ask for referrals…they EARN them.
What is missing on your website
I would like to talk about something that I am not an expert on. It is also very important. (Don’t hang up yet!).
All of my clients have websites, and they want to create and keep new customers. When my customers talk about their websites, many are becoming concerned about their analytics. Hits are down, and time spent on the sites is less. What is going on?
Even though I am not an expert, I know a good one. Here is what I have learned: In additional to Google search, we need to consider other ways people are searching – especially AI. As I understand it, a Google search focuses on key words. AI is more tuned to questions we ask. For example:
Search word – HVAC repair
AI: My furnace is making a squeaking noise. What might it be?
Companies that are relying only on search words are often missing valuable leads. My reason in writing this: I am observing a significant change in how people search. I suspect that many busineses are confused about what to do. Talk to an expert and determine how he or she will manage your website to capture additional leads. Such action could go right to your bottom line
What our favorite teachers and coaches know
Early in my coaching career, I remember my mentor, Bob, saying, “People won’t remember what you say…they will remember what they do.” This past week I observed a powerful example of this motto being played out.
About 3 weeks ago, I read a book to my 3-year-old grandson, Josh. It was entitled, “The Hungry Caterpillar”. As you might suspect, it was the story of a caterpillar gradually turning in to a butterfly. It is quite an incredible process. We wanted Josh not just to know the process, but also experience it.
We purchased a “butterfly garden” kit. Contained in the kit were 10 larvae in specially prepared cups. The larvae ate the food in the cup and started growing. They kept growing. Josh was euphoric as he observed the metamorphosis take place. The cocoons were formed and they started to wiggle, and last Saturday we all experienced the main event: The release of the butterflies. Freedom!
Having been so actively involved in the growth of the butterfly garden, Josh now reads his caterpillar book with a new perspective. He has experienced the process, and therefore understands it at a much more instinctive level.
What Josh learned is what we all need to remember: If we want someone to grow from our teaching or coaching, get them actively involved in the “doing”. We can then create true learning.
Use the power of the written word
It was in the early 1990’s, and I was reading an article about James Michener, the most popular historic fiction writer of that time. The article showed a picture of Mr. Michener seated at his desk in front of an ancient Underwood typewriter doing his work. Word processors were widely available by that time, and most of his books were over a 1000 pages. In spite of that, he chose to use his old manual typewriter to write. Hmmm…
A few months later I stopped by a typewriter repair shop to pick up a couple new ribbons. As I was making the purchase, I asked the store owner why James Michener used a manual typewriter. His answer came quick and was very simple. “Feeling”. Novelists like to put a lot of feeling into their writing, and working on a word processor can blunt that effort. This answer intrigued me, and heightened my respect for the power of the written word.
So what does the “power of the pen” mean to us? One benefit is stronger business relationships, which means we improve our ability to create and keep customers. For 20 years I was a leadership training facilitator. I would often write a note on a 3×5 card in the spur of the moment to class members. It was quite common that years later I would encounter an alum from my class who carried one of those 3×5 cards I had written to them.
The Declaration of Independence shows us that when you put a pen to a blank sheet of paper, great things can occur. Go ahead. Try it. Go to a quiet place, put on your “thinking cap”, grab a pen and sheet of paper, and let your mind flow. It could be an idea or simple note of encouragement or appreciation. Make a bigger impact!