I received a call a few weeks ago from a friend of mine who asked me for some help with a problem customer he has been working with. He told me all about the customer and that no matter what he has done the customer just will not commit to him.
I went through all my usual questions to try and find something that he may have missed, no such luck, it sounded to me like he had done everything correctly. Now I was only hearing one side of the conversation, but according to my friend the customer’s replies all pointed to them buying, the product seemed to be a great fit, the price as near as I could tell was more than fair. With all this, the customer just wouldn’t commit and buy.
We talked for about 45 minutes and I told him to let me think about it and I would get back to him the next day. I didn’t just think about it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. WHY didn’t the customer say yes? WHAT was I missing?
The next day I called the rep back as promised and we talked for about an additional 30 minutes. Once again I couldn’t find anything that kept the customer from saying yes.
Then I asked him, how long have you known this customer? He told me that the GM at this customer was a friend of his that he has known since High School and he brought him in and introduced the owner to my friend.
That’s when it hit me! I asked my friend if there were any other reps in the area that he could bring into the next sales call on this customer. He told me there was but was confused why I wanted him to bring in another rep. He said he knew more than the other rep and that he consistently sold more at a much better profit. He told me the other rep was a nice guy but that he doesn’t really ever talk to him nor have any contact with him on a regular basis.
I told my friend to ask the rep to make the call with him and to introduce him as a Product Placement Specialist. This is a term I once heard a sales rep call himself and I loved it. I instructed him to tell the other rep the full story and that all he needed was the other rep to reinforce what the customer has already been told.
We hung up and I got a call the next day from my friend letting me know that he and the other rep had an appointment to see the customer the following week. We talked for awhile and after we hung up I forgot all about it, until today.
My friend called me and first said he was sorry for not getting back to me sooner but he has been busy. I asked him how the meeting went and he said that is what he has been busy with. It seems that when my friend and the other rep made the sales call the customer was so pleased that he brought in a specialist that he signed the order that day.
Both my friend and the other rep were so pleased that they started working with each other several times a week calling on customers that they have made presentations to but have not given them orders. My friend told me that they are closing 7 out of 10 of these customers the first time they walk in together and another one or two on the next visit.
Their success for the past several weeks is so good that their manager met with them to see what they are doing and is now going to be asking all his reps to team sell a few days a month. Before we hung up he made sure to tell me that he told his manager that it was my idea and wanted to let me know that the idea is awesome. I was happy it had worked out and we hung up.
I knew this method would work, it usually does. Not for the reasons the old saying wants us to believe, “when 2 sell to one, 2 always wins”, but for a better reason, when you bring in another rep and position them not as a sales rep but as a specialist, the customers fears are set aside. They have more confidence in this being the right thing to do and will usually be comfortable making the decision the specialist suggests.
A few tips to team selling before I close.
1) NO PRESSURE – the second rep isn’t there to high pressure, as a matter of fact they should be even more relaxed and laid back.
2) Don’t let the new rep talk too much. Even if you read them into what you have done they still won’t know everything. Keep control and use the second rep as reinforcement.
3) YOU close the sale when the time comes. It doesn’t matter if the customer is in the middle of talking to the second rep when they decide to buy, you do all the paperwork, and you make the price and make sure the customer knows that you are the lead rep.
4) Get to know the second rep if you can. The more you work with them the better you will know what they do and how they do it. This will make the team look even more professional.
Team selling, it just doesn’t get better than this!
Lorin
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