WHAT’S YOUR SCHTICK?

Today, one of the best ways to get a customer and keep a customer is to differentiate yourself from everyone else.

For years I have had the pleasure to work with reps at all stages of their professional career in sales. I am always impressed and amazed at how some reps separate themselves from the pack.

I have seen reps do everything from tell a joke, to show pictures of their kids as soon as they are in front of the buyer. I was once with a rep that as soon as the customer saw him, the customer pulled a deck of cards from his desk drawer. I stood there watching as the customer cut the cards and then the rep cut. They put their cards in their pockets and the rep started his sales presentation. I watched as perfect a sales call as I have ever seen take place over the next 30 minutes. I had forgotten all about the playing cards by this point. As we were walking out the door with a very nice order, the two guys pulled their cards out. The customer started screaming at the rep (all in a good friendly way) he said this was the third time in a row, and after a few more minutes of friendly exchange we left. The rep was laughing and I asked him what that was all about. He said he just sold everything for an additional 3%. He went on to tell me that the customer went to Vegas a few years ago. The next time the rep called on him he was bragging about how much money he won. The rep asked if he would gamble on the order. I think you can fill in the blanks from there. The point being, how do you think this customer views the rep?

This relationship is a lot more than a “just sell me something” and leave relationship.

What do you do to separate yourself from everyone else? You need to develop a SCHTICK. For those of you that don’t know what a SCHTICK is allow me to explain. A schtick is a routine or act that becomes your hallmark and you become known for doing.

Make sure that whatever you do you are comfortable with it. It should match your personality. If you are a very conservative type person and you start telling jokes, it will clash with your personality and will seem awkward.

You may already have a schtick, but you don’t realize it. Start to take notice of the things you do with customers. Do you have something that makes you different? It doesn’t need to be BIG, it may be very small but it makes you different.

If you have nothing, there are a few things I can suggest. Get a big bag of hard candy and give one piece to the customer when you see them. You can do the same thing with a business card. They may end up with a bunch of your cards, but they will remember you. Go to the internet every morning and find a great saying that you pass along to every customer. WHATEVER! It really doesn’t matter what it is you do, the prize will be won when you decide to do something.

Lorin