HOW IS THAT GOING TO HELP ME

Have you ever heard the term “FEATURE DUMPING” or “DATA DUMPING”? It is what happens when a sales rep starts telling the customer all the features and information about their product. It is as if the sales rep was reading a marketing brochure bullet point by bullet point.

If I were selling a bowling ball, my feature dump would sound something like this, “The Lorin’s Best bowling ball comes in 28 different colors, is made of the most durable hardened rubber on the market, compressed to over 100,000 pounds, is designed by the latest computers assuring a perfectly round ball and the least distortion in roll. The Lorin’s Best bowling ball can be drilled by conventional drill bits and re-polished to a factory finish in minutes. In weights from 8 to 22 pounds the Lorin’s Best Bowling ball is the best ball you can buy.

WOW what a bowling ball right? But the one question that is still unanswered is, SO WHAT? What do all these features mean to me as a customer? How will using this ball help my game?

Data dumping or Feature dumping doesn’t answer the question we have discussed so many times, WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). Without the WIIFM answered the value of the product isn’t established. It doesn’t matter if you are selling bowling balls or gold bars, the customer needs to know how owning the product will affect them positively.

This is a very hard habit to break for most reps. Feature Dumping is a time filler. It seems as if you are in control. It makes the rep look knowledgeable. It seems like you are giving the customer what they need to make a decision. And it is EASY to do!

Building a good value statement and presenting your product in a way that will make a good BUSINESS case takes work and creativity. It means you need to know more than just the features of your product, it means you need to know the applications for your product. It also means you need to know something about your customers industry. You need to have an understanding of how your product will “fit” into your customer’s processes.

A single piece of paper can give the customer all the features, it takes a rep to show the customer the benefits.

Lorin

%#&^@$ HAPPENS

I spent the day being trained today. It was great day learning about a system to help increase accountability.

During the session the trainer did a good job getting her message across and making sure the entire room was engaged. I especially appreciated her ability to control the room and keep the class moving.

A little after lunch we started talking about TRUST. The trainer said TRUST HAPPENS, and I knew that was going to be my topic tonight.

In sales we talk a lot about the trust the customer and the sales rep needs to build. If you are selling a product or service the customer has have a degree of trust that what you are saying is actually the truth. The customer has to believe in you, your product and your company.

The question is can a rep build trust or as the trainer said does TRUST HAPPEN?

As reps we can only tell the truth and hope the customer sees our sincerity and honesty during our presentation. But it is ultimately going to be up to the customer to buy.

Trust happens may be a takeoff of a cliché, but it is not in any way minimized by this fact.

We work hard to build our reputation. We work hard to become known as being an expert in our fields. We work hard every day pounding the streets and seeing prospect after prospect setting appointments, doing demos, solving problems and making sales. Maybe it is good to know that one thing we don’t need to work at is building trust because TRUST HAPPENS!

Lorin

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

I was at the Atlanta Airport this morning waiting for my flight and a sales rep was sitting in the row of seats behind me at the gate. I knew he was a sales rep because he was talking on the phone loud enough for the people 6 gates away hear him.

However it wasn’t the volume of his talking that tipped me off to his profession it was a phrase he used no less than 3 times that I counted. Each time I heard him say it I cringed, it was like fingernails on a blackboard. (For those of you too young to know what a blackboard is, Google it!)

So what words did he use that made me try and climb under my seat? “LET ME MAKE YOU A DEAL”. This guy thought he was either the Godfather or a game show host!

I am not going to assume I knew what the customer was saying, I have no idea. I don’t know if a price cut was needed or not. I don’t know any of the back story about the sale. I am only saying that “Let me make you a deal” isn’t the right thing to say anytime!

First let’s take the word DEAL and think about it for a minute. I am not sure there is any word that is as sleazy as the word DEAL. When I hear it I think about some guy wearing a trench coat with watches running up his arm asking me if I want a DEAL on a Rolex. (Usually spelled Rolix, on his watches).

Next saying LET ME MAKE YOU A DEAL gives the customer no idea of why you can cut your price. If you could have cut your price for no reason the customer is going to be thinking that you were talking advantage of them with the first price. Also if you can cut the price for no reason the customer will want to know how deep the well is (that means how cheap can you make it)

There is nothing wrong with cutting price if it is done correctly. Always have a reason for cutting the price and never cut your price several times in the same sales call.

Remember, PRICE CUTTING ISN’T NEGOTIATING!

Lorin

A GOOD JOKE ALWAYS HELPS

I am a believer in the use of humor to help make sales. I know that if the customer is smiling it will be a much easier sale.

So to help you each make a few smiles appear on your customer’s faces, I am going to give you some of my favorite sales jokes. Feel free to use them as often as you need to.

1)      Unbreakable Combs

A salesman was demonstrating unbreakable combs in a department store. He was impressing the people who stopped by to look by putting the comb through all sorts of torture and stress.

Finally to impress even the skeptics in the crowd, he bent the comb completely in half, and it snapped with a loud crack. Without missing a beat, he bravely held up both halves of the 'unbreakable' comb for everyone to see and said, "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is what an unbreakable comb looks like on the inside."

2)      Good Points and Bad Points

"This house," said the real estate salesman "has both its good points and its bad points. To show you I'm honest, I'm going to tell you about both.

The disadvantages are that there is a chemical plant one block south and a slaughterhouse a block north."

"What are the advantages?" inquired the prospective buyer.

"The advantage is that you can always tell which way the wind is blowing."

3)      The Demo

When a young salesman met his untimely end, he was informed that he had a choice about where he would spend his eternity: Heaven or Hell. He was allowed to visit both places, and then make his decision afterwards.

"I'll see Heaven first," said the salesman, and an angel led through the gates on a private tour. Inside it was very peaceful and serene, and all the people there were playing harps and eating grapes. It looked very nice, but the salesman was not about to make a decision that could very well condemn him to a life of musical produce.

"Can I see Hell now?" he asked. The angel pointed him to the elevator, and he went down to the Basement where he was greeted by one of Satan's loyal followers. For the next half hour, the salesman was led through a tour of what appeared to be the best night clubs he'd ever seen. People were partying loudly, and having a, if you'll pardon the expression, Hell of a time.

When the tour ended, he was sent back up where the angel asked him if he had reached a final decision.
"Yes, I have," he replied. "As great as Heaven looks and all, I have to admit that Hell was more of my kind of place. I've decided to spend my eternity down there."

The salesman was sent to hell, where he was immediately thrown into a cave and was chained to a wall, and he was subjected to various tortures. "When I came down here for the tour," he yelled with anger and pain, "I was shown a whole bunch of bars and parties and other great stuff! What happened?!"

The devil replied, "Oh, that! That was just the Sales Demo."

4)      You Might Be A Redneck Salesperson

The name of your dog is Commission.

Your hero was Billy May.

You have the company logo tattooed on your forearm.

You pester your Rabbi for referrals.

You send product coupons with your Christmas cards.

You don't feel right swimming without your cell phone.

Hanging out at the convenience store waiting for lottery winners is considered prospecting.

Jehovah witnesses close their drapes when they spot you.

Your spouse will only introduce friends to you by their first name.

You drop a business card in the church collection plate.

Your car lease has higher payments than your home.

You buy deodorant and indigestion tablets by the caseload.

The Neighborhood Watch Committee has you on its list.

Your local gas station gives you free breath mints with every gas tank fill-up.

Your car always has two extra spare tires.

You purchase pens in bulk, every week.

Your kid's allowance is based on commissions earned.

The church has banned you from receiving their membership address directory.

The Chamber of Commerce will blacklist you if you introduce yourself.

Pigeons have made your car their favorite neighborhood target.

25 years ago, you got two fingers for peace. Now you only get one.

ENJOY!

Lorin

T M I - TOO MUCH INFORMATION

I have said this before in past posts, to a sales rep our mouth is one of our biggest assets and biggest liabilities. Every semi-successful sales rep I have ever known has been able to talk. The really successful sales reps that I have known have been able to listen even better.

This brings up 2 great questions;

1) How much should we listen?

2) How much should we talk?

I went to a store looking for a specific product today and when I walked in a sales rep met me at the door with a big smile and firm handshake. I really thought this was going to be a great buying experience, IT WASN’T.

After the sales rep asked me all the right questions about what I was looking for and what I was going to use it for he walked me to the product and gave me a great demo. After a few minutes I told him that it was prefect and exactly what I was looking for and I would take it. Still thinking that this was going to be an excellent buying experience, the rep walked me over to the sales counter and started writing up the paperwork and taking my payment. So far everything still looked good. He then told me that my product would be ready in about 10 minutes to which I said no problem.

Now is when things started going downhill quickly. The sales rep, thinking he needed to keep my full attention started some “small talk” with me. He asked what I did for a living, about my family, what each one did for a living, typical chit chat. This took about 3 of the 10 minutes he told me it would take, so not wanting any idle time he started talking, and talking, and talking, and talking… are you starting to see the picture?

I found out a lot more about him and his entire family, extended family, friends he considered family, friends he didn’t consider family, people he knew, people he didn’t know, and people he wished he knew. He told me stories about some personal things going on in his family, and things that he was personally going through.

Needless to say the 10 minutes passed along with about 25 other minutes. The entire time I doubt I said more than 10 words (which is VERY unlike me) but I was amazed. 45 minutes before this I had never seen this guy before and was now wishing I had never seen him at all!

I was thinking that I was glad I didn’t do what I would normally have done and started adding to the conversation. If I had done that I would more than likely not be typing this right now, I would still be at the store talking with my new best friend.

As usual, this got me thinking about how many times I have been with reps that engage in this kind of meaningless conversation with customers and prospects. I thought about how many selling hours are wasted in mindless chatter.

Now don’t misunderstand me, I know that you need to talk and make conversation to learn about the customer and their needs, like I said this rep did just that and did it very well. I also understand that some small talk is an important step in building the rapport with the customer that is an integral part of making a sale. I also understand that there is a line between talk and gossip, between conversation and information overload.

As a sales rep, if the customer wants to talk, LET THEM, to a point. But please keep in mind that you have a job to do and that time is a valuable resource. If as a rep you are doing the mindless talking, STOP! Use conversation to get to know your customer, use it to get on common ground with your customer, use it to help the customer. Don’t just talk for the sake of talking.

What happened to me should never happen to your customers. I went into the store anticipating my purchase, got excited what I found the perfect product, and left wishing I had never gone into the store to start with.

Samson killed 1000 Philistine solders with the jawbone of an ass, everyday 10 times as many sales are lost using the same weapon! (Think about it for a second, it is a true and yet very funny statement!)

Lorin

THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON

I was reading an article today about employees of companies and the reasons they are hired and the reasons they are fired. The article was quick to point out that the 2 reasons are very seldom if ever the same.

Putting a sales spin on this idea, think about the reasons your customers buy from you and the reasons they stop buying from you… the reasons are very seldom the same.

Customers buy for a long list of reasons, but it usually comes down to a few key points. Either they needed what you were selling, your value was better than others selling the same type of product, or they liked you.

Now think of why customers stopped buying from you, it may have been because they didn’t need your product or service any longer but that is a long shot. Maybe the value of your product wasn’t as you presented it and the customer found better value somewhere else, this could happen but usually something drives the customer to start SHOPPING again. Finally, maybe the customer stopped liking you, I have seen this but I will say it is rare at best.

There must be other reasons, and there are. The number one reason that customers stop buying from a vendor is SERVICE! The service promised or the initial service becomes NO SERVICE. If the customer has trouble resolving issues they will always find another vendor that is willing to provide the service they expect. The second most popular reason is DIFFICULTY OF DOING BUSINESS. Sometimes companies make changes that make the employees job a little simpler while making the customers job much more difficult. If doing business with you becomes a “chore” (remember I am from the south) the customer will look for a vendor that makes things easy. As a matter of fact STAPLES Office Supplies has built their entire organization around the EASY BUTTON, and from personal experience they do a great job. The last reason I am going to talk about is QUALITY. In today’s economy many companies are looking for ways to cut costs so they can increase profits. Don’t get me wrong, I am a capitalist to the bone and I love to see companies make profits, however if making profits comes before quality, the profits will be very short lived.

So let’s make 2 lists and compare them

Reasons customers buy                                                                          Reasons customers stop buying

NEED                                                                                                     SERVICE

VALUE                                                                                                   DIFFICULTY DOING BUSINESS

RELATIONSHIP WITH REP                                                                     QUALITY

It is pretty easy to see that these lists don’t match up at all.

As a sales rep if you know why customers buy it should make the sale a little easier to make, if you know why they stop buying you can be on the lookout and make sure these things don’t happen.

Lorin

SUSTAINABLE EXCITEMENT

Have you looked at a newspaper in the past 2 weeks? Well not the news, or the editorials, not the comics or the financial pages, not the fashion or even the sports pages, have you looked at the advertisements?

Every store that sells anything that uses electricity has page after page of ads for, you guessed it, TELEVISONS!

Why? Simple, FOOTBALL!

Thanks right, with football season here and fans planning the menus for all the parties’ weekend after weekend the stores know that BIG screen, flat screens are the products that will stir up the most excitement any given Sunday morning.

Let’s fast forward 2 weeks, you will still see an ad now and again for the TV’s but the excitement will have fallen off dramatically. The football season will be in full swing and the race for the Bowl Games and Super Bowl will be on their way.

It is almost amazing how quickly excitement and enthusiasm subsides isn’t it?

Well then ask yourself this question, what have you done to keep your customers excited and enthused about owning your product or using your service? Just like the football season, after the first few weeks the games are still fun to watch but the thrill of the NEW season has worn off. Is the thrill of using your product or service turned from excitement to HO HUMM?

An even more important question is has the excitement of SELLING your product or service gone from exciting to HO HUMM.

As sales reps we all love new offerings that we can bring to our customers and prospects, but what can we do to keep the excitement of the product alive? Some companies have departments that do nothing but design presentations around different aspects of the products or services that keep the reps AND the customers interest. If you work for one of these companies consider yourself very fortunate, your company knows the value of excitement.

If you don’t work for one of these companies it is up to YOU to find the nuggets and keep yourself motivated and excited about what you sell.

DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF EXCITEMENT! Think about the newspaper ads that I talked about at the beginning of this post. Every ad usually has a multi-media component of TV, radio, or online reinforcement, sometimes they have all of these incorporated into an advertising campaign.

As a sales rep you have… well… YOU to depend on. YOU need to work with the product or service to know all the elements that are exciting to a prospect or customer, YOU need to develop presentations that will WOW the prospect or customer, and most important, YOU need to find ways to keep yourself as excited about the product today as you were the first day you started selling it.

Some of the largest sales that I have ever made were made not because of what I was selling, but because of how excited I made the customer about what I was selling.

Lorin

A TRIBUTE TO SQUIRRELS

Over the Labor Day weekend I had the opportunity to get a sales lesson from of all things, a squirrel. (Actually, several squirrels)

I have several bird feeders in my backyard and it is a lot of fun to watch the birds enjoying the feed from out kitchen window. It is nothing new to also have a couple of pesky squirrels raid the feeders on a regular basis. Over the past several years I have “invested” in an assortment of feeders that all claim to be “SQUIRREL PROOF”.

As I was watching one particularly persistent squirrel raise havoc with one of the “squirrel proof” feeders, it occurred to me that this squirrel would make a great sales rep.

As I watched this one squirrel it perched on the bird bath and sat there looking at the feeder it was planning to invade. It was as if he was looking for the best way to attack the feeder and get the most bird seed with the least amount of effort. Isn’t this want a rep should do? Shouldn’t a good rep do some research on the prospect before “attacking” them with a sales presentation. Wouldn’t it make sense to have some “intel” about the business you are about to sell? Just like the squirrel, knowing the layout, the people, the weaknesses and the strengths of a prospect would make for a better presentation wouldn’t it?

I then watched the squirrel approach the feeder he chose to attack. He calmly and with exacting accuracy made his move on the feeder. I am not sure what he was thinking but I am sure he didn’t expect the feeder to close when he landed on it. At first this seemed to puzzle the squirrel and he jumped down, but a few minutes later he was back and this time he tries a few moves to open the feeder. After that didn’t work he jumped down again. This happened 3 more times before he learned to hang from the tree and not put his weight on the feeder. This kept it open and made an easy meal for the squirrel. Shouldn’t a good sales rep learn from every presentation? If one approach doesn’t work, he or she should change it and keep trying something new until they find an approach that works.

Over the next few minutes the squirrel learned enough that it looked as if he knew how it was going to swing, what it was going to do when he landed on it, and what he had to do to hang on and get his reward. A sales rep should be relaxed and walk into a prospect with confidence. The rep should know what the typical objections are and be prepared with their responses. A sales rep should know how their product will benefit the prospect and be ready for the onslaught of objections and problems they will need to overcome to make the sale.

Once the squirrel was on the feeder eating he was always looking around and alert for ME to come out and chase him away. A sales rep should always be looking around and should be alert for opportunities that may arise to solve a problem or help a prospect. The rep should be on the lookout for distractions that can grab the prospects attention away from your sales presentation and give the prospect a reason to chase them off.

Finally the squirrel jumped down and walked away. He didn’t empty the feeder, he left enough seed so he could return for another meal later. Isn’t that what a great sales rep does? A great rep writes an order but always leaves a good impression so he or she can come back and sell more at another time.

I amazed myself at how I became a cheerleader for this squirrel. I wanted it to rob my seed, I wanted to see what it would do next to overcome the problems the feeder presented, and I wanted to see how quickly it would learn what it needed to do to succeed.

Just before I sat down to write this post I drove to the Home Depot and bought a SQUIRREL FEEDER. Like customers, at some point I need to realize that if I can’t beat them, I might as well enjoy them!

Lorin

A BOOK WORTH READING

Brian Tracy has done it again! I had read his book EAT THAT FROG about 6 months ago and just finished re-reading it. It was better the second time.

The full title is, “Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time”

To read a sample of this book follow the link below;

http://www.amazon.com/That-Frog-Great-Ways-Procrastinating/dp/1583762027/ref=cm_lmf_img_22#_

This book is available on Amazon and in your local book stores as well.

Lorin

THE HIGH COST OF LOWERING YOUR PRICE

The customer says that your price is too high, you think for a second and tell the customer you will let them have it for a 20% discount. The customer does the math in their head and says that it is still a little steep, you go back into your thinking mode and tell the customer you will make it a 30% discount. The customer looks at you and says OK.

Congratulations, you made a sale. You input all the information and discover that you still made a little profit and you will get you commission check for the sale. You pat yourself on the back, telling yourself, GOOD JOB!

Any rep who has been in the field for even a shot time has found them self in this exact position. And we all feel that we made the right decision. But now we need to ask ourselves, “How much is this sale costing me?” Most of you are thinking that I don’t read what I write, I just told you that you made a profit and will get a commission check, the sale didn’t cost anything, as a matter of fact we made money. I would almost agree with you if I didn’t already know the answer.

Before I tell you let me ask you another question, do you have a sales quota? I am sure you do because any sales rep I have ever met had a quota of some sort. So now think about how much the sale cost you.

If you usually had to write 12 orders to hit your quota you now need to write 13. Doesn’t sound like much does it? Or does it? What does it take to write an order? First you need a customer, you may need to call on 10 or more leads to find a customer so now you have 10 extra stops to make. I have been involved in outside sales for a long time now and I know that 10 stops makes a day in many cases, so we need to find an EXTRA day in our sales period (whatever the length of time is for you and your company). How many of us have extra time?

So now I hope you are starting to see the COST of making the sale.

Let’s look even deeper, if you dropped your price on this product or service, what is this customer going to do when you go back to sell them additional products or services? YEP you guessed right, the customer will once again ask for price cuts and you will once again be in the position of needing extra sales to hit quota.

A profitable sale is more than a sale that you made money on, it is a sale that helps you and your companies grow and sustain.

Lorin