SHOW YOUR TEETH

I am not sure how it happened or why it happened but for some reason I noticed something over the past week or so that I haven’t noticed in a long time, PEOPLE ARE NOT SMILING!

Oh sure, I see people with smiles but most of them are fake forced smiles that are there because their boss told them to smile. What I don’t see as much are sincere smiles of people who are happy with their jobs.

It didn’t matter if I was walking in with a sales rep to make a sales call on a customer or walking into a store as a customer, more people than ever before just seem to not be enjoying themselves.

Over the Holiday weekend I attended a few get parties and tried to find out what it was that is going on. At one of the parties I ended up being with several people who were from all walks of life. As they talked I was listening to the overall tone and sure enough just listening to them was getting me upset. They talked about everything from layoffs to businesses closing. I heard about people that have not gotten a raise in 3 years and others that have had their salaries cut. Budget cuts, benefit cuts, furlough days, travel expenses cut, and the list of gripes was longer than the line of people making the gripes. It was like a bad news celebration instead of a Memorial Day celebration. Not one person I was listening to had anything positive to say about anything to do with work.

The other party I went to was mostly my business friends and the majority were sales reps. I would like to tell you that every rep there only had great things to say and that they were all positive. I would like to tell you that but I can’t. What I can tell you is that the group was split about 60/40, 60% positive and 40% complaining.

In this group I was more a participant in the conversation instead of a listener like the first party. I wanted to know what was happening right and what was happening wrong, not with individual companies, but with the market and the economy as a whole.

What it came down to is pretty simple;

The market was getting better in almost everyone’s mind but it was happening much slower than they would like it to.

Most businesses agree that things are getting better but are still reluctant to make any major changes or make any major purchases until they see more positive signs.

The businesses that have made the decision to move forward are doing as much business or even more than before the economy went bad.

Sales reps that have stayed sharp and kept up the same service levels as before the economic downturn are seeing their business grow.

Sales reps that cut back and lowered their level of service are not seeing their business come back as quickly.

So now I have information that will help us smile;

                SMILE! The market isn’t moving as quickly as we would like but IT IS MOVING and it is moving in the RIGHT DIRECTION!

                SMILE! It is only a matter of time before all businesses see the improvement and start buying!

                SMILE! As soon as one of your customers decide to move forward they will be bigger and better than ever!

                SMILE! If you stayed sharp your business is growing!

                SMILE! If you didn’t stay sharp you can start right now and your business will grow!

Reps it has never been more important for us all to wear a GENUINE smile and always be upbeat and enthusiastic. As my information from the parties tells us, there is plenty for people to be upset about. We need to decide that being part of the problem by fueling the negative flames of the economy isn’t going to help us, it will become our failure.

Enjoy what we have, enjoy what we have to look forward to, enjoy that we can make a difference.

Lorin

A BOOK WORTH READING

AMAZON strikes again! I needed a new book to read and just searched amazon for “SALES BOOKS” and saw this book that I had to get. The title is, “The 25 Sales Habits of Highly Successful Salespeople” written by Stephan Schiffman.

The link below will take you to the AMAZON page for the book, but as always, this book is available at your local bookstores.

http://www.amazon.com/Sales-Habits-Highly-Successful-Salespeople/dp/1598697579/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1338347429&sr=8-5#_

Never underestimate the power of reading good books!

Enjoy

Lorin

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

It seems like it was just yesterday that we were celebrating New Years and here it is Memorial Day and the summer is upon us.

Like many of you I will be enjoying hot dogs, hamburgers and all the fix ‘ins with family and friends. While I am enjoying the holiday I will also be remembering what Memorial Day is for. A day to remember and give thanks to all the brave men and women who give so selflessly of themselves to keep our country GREAT and FREE.

Every Friday morning I have the honor and pleasure to have coffee with a group of men that range in age from mid-70’s to late 80’s. They are all veterans and served in WWII and the Korean War. This morning was a special morning for them as we discussed their military days and they conveyed some of their memories. It was apparent that although many years have gone by since their active duty, the pride and sentiments of serving haven’t dulled a bit.

My MUCH older brother (actually only 6 years older) served in the Viet Nam War as did many of my friends. I can personally remember the stories and pictures that were reported about the War. Many of the reps that I have trained over the years either have served or are serving our country today in the Middle East and around the world.

As I fly in and out of the Atlanta Airport the USO is a constant reminder that we have soldiers spread out around the world everyday helping to keep our country safe from the enemy.

I hope that everyone who reads this post, no matter where you live (I have a number readers from outside the US) will take some time this weekend to give a brief thought about our men in uniform. Take a minute to give thanks in your own way to the awesome job they do to allow us to enjoy such a wonderful holiday.

Fly your flag and take pride in the fact that we are a nation that honors our service men and women actively serving, veterans, and those that have given their lives for our freedoms.

Enjoy your hot dogs, hamburgers and libations, and give thanks for the fact that we are free to enjoy them.

Lorin

C.S.I. - (CUSTOMER SATISFACTION INDEX)

I took my car into the dealership for an oil change today and as I was paying the cashier my service writer walked up to me to remind me of the survey that I will be receiving about how well the service department did today. He asked me if I was 100% satisfied and asked if there was any reason at all that I couldn’t give them all 5’s on the survey.

I have noticed that I have been seeing more and more C.S.I. posters in businesses with their C.S.I. index numbers. Every time I call a customer service department the representative asks me if they have done everything to my satisfaction and I am asked to take a survey after the call.

What would your C.S.I. be if your customers answered a “few short questions” about you?

Some car dealers have lost their franchise because their C.S.I. was below what the manufacturer allows. I know of people that have lost their jobs because the C.S.I. for their department wasn’t high enough. Would your company let you continue to sell for them if your customers rated you?

Maybe as sales reps we should have a question are that we leave behind with our customers that they send to our managers. If we did I am sure that many sales reps would change the way they do business and others would be promoted.

This is something that you can do on your own. Make up 5 questions that will tell the story as to how well you do your job. Questions like “Does your sales rep communicate with you”, “How is your sales reps service”, “If there is a problem, does your rep get it resolved in a timely manner”, “Is your sales rep accessible”. All these question will give you an idea as to how your customers view the job you are doing and the VALUE you bring to the table.

If you get these surveys back and your C.S.I. is low you will know that you need to change, by looking at the scores for each question you will know what areas need the most work.

Lorin

THE RIGHT WORD AT THE RIGHT TIME

As we go about our day to day activities it is inevitable that at some point a string of events will happen that has us questioning ourselves. It could be that we hear 10 “NO’s” in a row or just one really good customer say no. It could be a bad check from a customer or a missing order, a flat tire or lost shipment. What happens isn’t important, how we react to what happens is.

I have always found that one of the best ways for me to stay motivated is to read a few inspirational sayings. There are thousands of web sites that have lists of sayings and thousands more that will be more than happy to e mail some to you every day.

Below are just a few that I have found to help me;

The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed - Richard Brinsley Sheridan

Failures do what is tension relieving, while winners do what is goal achieving – Dr. Dennis Waitley

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will - Vince Lombardi

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes - Earl of Beaconsfield

Try not to become a man of success but a man of value - Albert Einstein

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out - Robert Collier

The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business--or almost anywhere else for that matter - Lee Iacocca

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds - Francis Bacon

Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is - Vince Lombardi

If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else - Yogi Berra

There are tens of thousands more, all you really need is ONE!

Lorin

HOW MANY TIMES

Over the years that I have been in sales and have been a sales trainer, I have listened to or have been part of thousands of sales scenarios. From all of these experiences one thing has become very apparent to me, they all boil down to a small handful of different circumstances.

This is an important fact for every sales rep to know. It is what helps sales reps get past objections and barriers and allows us to make sales.

If reps had to come up with a new answer for every objection they encounter the closing averages would plummet. Being able to group objections together let’s reps have a much smaller list of answers to remember and lets us become better and better at delivering these answers.

Today I was riding with a rep that told me about a customer we were going to be stopping at next. He told me about how the customer was his customer at another company and how he had sold them so well on a product that even though he now carries a product that is virtually the same, the customer won’t change. He was a little frustrated about it but because the customer was becoming one of his top accounts he didn’t mind too much.

I talked to him about how bad it sounds to a customer when a rep changes companies and all of a sudden everything the customer was purchasing from the old company that the rep said was so great becomes average at best and the new product the rep carried is now the greatest product on earth.

The rep laughed and said he understood what I was saying but he still wished he could get the business. I absolutely agreed with him that I wanted him to have the business also, but he was just going to need to wait until the old company stumbled.

I gave him a great line that I was taught a long time ago. Tell the customer this, “Joe, I can’t tell you how impressed I am at your loyalty to XYZ company (old company name) I only hope that you will become as loyal to me and all the products I am selling you. But Joe, we both know that having depth is the key to winning. I would love to supply you with this product, and maybe by keeping it in the back of your mind that I carry it, you will look to me if XYZ Company ever stumbles. All I am asking is to be your backup. FAIR ENOUGH?”

This is only one example of having an answer to an objection. The same answer can be used when a customer tells you they have been buying from a company for a long time, or buying from the same rep for a long time. Three different scenarios and one answer covers them all perfectly.

If reps will group other objections together like this one example, getting past objections will be a breeze.

Lorin

I LOST THE BET

Have you ever known someone so well that you would place a bet on how they will act in a given situation? Well that is how well I THOUGHT I knew a sales rep friend of mine. As a matter of fact I was so sure of how well I knew him, I made a bet with his sales manager how he would react to his new quota.

I have known this sales rep for over 25 years and for about 12 of those years he worked for me as a sales manager. I hired him right out of school and he was green as grass as far as sales were concerned, but he was one of the most determined people I have ever met so I gave him a chance. Well 25 years later he reacted very different than I expected him to.

His sales year started on January 1^st and last year he had what some would call an awesome year with sales growth of over 17% year over year. He called me on January 3^rd and let’s just say he was not happy. It seems that his banner year was rewarded with a new quota that included an 11% increase.

He ranted and raved for about 20 minutes before I could get a word in and then he asked me what I would do. I told him I would do 12% so there was no mistaken how incredible I am. He wasn’t amused (I thought it was a great line). He told me that no other rep that he has talked to had anything over a 5% growth in their quota and many of them had decreases last year.

I know this rep, or I thought I did, and I knew that after all his belly aching he would turn around and far exceed the 11% he has been tasked with. I actually called his sales manager who also worked for me when I haired the rep. We talked about the rep and he agreed with the rep that the quota was high. He actually told me that he didn’t expect the rep to deliver the 11% and that a 5% increase would be acceptable to him.

I was ashamed at the manager, I told him that if he really thought that way then it was his job to go back to the company and have the quota reduced. If the manager didn’t believe it was possible he can’t lead the rep to do it. I, on the other hand, said I thought the rep would exceed the 11% and would not miss any of his quarterly bonuses.

I got a call today from the rep, he was very depressed, it seems that the first quarter bonus checks arrived today and he MISSED his bonus. That news depressed me. When I was talking to the sales manager I thought I could make some quick cash by betting him the rep would make all his bonuses, having missed the first quarter the bet was over and I had lost.

But enough of my problems, I had to get my friend back on track. I asked him what had happened, his only reply was that he didn’t know. It seems he got out to a good start and had an increase in January and February but March just never came together.

I asked about his manager and how involved he was during each month. The rep told me that as long as he was ahead of quota his manager was constantly pumping him up and staying in contact, but as soon as he fell behind in March his manager dropped out of sight.

Our conversation went on for about another 45 minutes and what I was trying to get the rep to understand was that he needed the manager more when he got behind than he did when he was ahead of quota. We all need the positive push when things are going against us. When everything is going great it is easy to stay motivated, it is when our self-motivation is at a low that we need outside motivation to keep us going.

NO, I don’t blame the manager for the rep not hitting quota, I blame the rep. I don’t hold the manager responsible for the rep, I hold the rep responsible for himself, however I know it is the manager’s job to help their reps. If the rep is ahead of quota the manager needs to be the support to keep him on track, if the rep is behind quota it is the manager’s job to motivate get the rep back on track.

Reps don’t let your managers get off track! If you need to brag call your manager, if you need help call your manager, if you need direction, instruction, motivation or a simple sounding board, call your manager.

I may have lost the bet but I know that the talk I had with the rep today will help him do what he needs to do to hit his quota. All I need to do is to see if his manager wants to bet double or nothing on the rest of the year.

Lorin

GETTING IT OUT OF THE WAY

As a Sales Rep, the biggest fear I had was going out into the field for a full day and not writing any orders. The good news is that once I wrote an order I could go the rest of the day with absolutely no sales fear at all. No fear also meant no self- imposed pressure which made for a fantastic sales day for me.

So what did I do every day to assure a sale? WHATEVER IT TOOK! I would arrange my sales calls so I would be going to the customers and prospects that I felt gave me the greatest possibility of a sale first thing in the morning. What I am saying is really simple, I stacked the deck.

I knew that once I made a sale the rest of my day would go great and that if I didn’t make a sale early I would be so tense, so uptight, and eventually so desperate that it became even harder to make a sale. My fear of not selling was the reason I would end up not selling, this is called a ”Catch 22”.

I decided that my best plan was to always get it out of the way early so I could have fun and make more sales.

Many of the reps I ride with have the same fear as I did, maybe not to the same degree, but definitely the same fear. As I work with them and discover this fact I always ask them what they think they could do to help themselves. I have no idea why, but they rarely have an answer.

As I talk to these reps I try and find out why they don’t see the same solution I saw. I try and lead them to my solution, but most never seem to get there.

When I finally tell them what I used to do they usually accuse me of cheating. They say that arranging my day to make a sale early isn’t playing by the rules, it is manipulating the territory. My answer is as long as I see the customers I am supposed to see and I am not doing anything that is against any policy the company has it is definitely OK to do. As a matter of fact, I am sure my manager and the company would want me to do it because it set the stage for a better day of selling.

There are some sales reps that don’t have the luxury of setting their own schedule, but for any rep that makes their own schedule and route, getting the first sale out of the way early is always a good idea.

Lorin

A VIEW FROM…OF THE REAR

When I first started out as an outside sales rep, my sales manager would impart some special pearls of wisdom to me whenever he worked with me.

One fateful day that I was in the field with my manager he and I stopped at a large office building to call on the management office. All of my supplies were in the trunk of my car, unfortunately, they were not arranged very well.

So there I was bent over, leaning into my trunk trying to find all the samples and demo equipment I was going to need. I am sure that I was only in this less than flattering position for under a minute but it was long enough for my manager to walk up behind me and see what I looked like.

As we were getting back into the car after the sales call he started what I knew was going to be one of his famous lessons. I don’t remember it word for word but it went something like this;

“Lorin, when you make a sales call when do you perceive the actual call starting”? I must have been giving him a blank stare because I can remember his next words as if they were said to me today, he sat up in the car seat and said, “If that question stumps you the rest of them will send you to the nut house”!

I replied, “The sales call starts when I meet the first person”. He was happy to see that I was able to speak, I could tell by the look of pity he was giving me.

“Absolutely the wrong answer”. The pleasure in his voice told me I had fell into his trap. “Lorin, you need to work under the premise that as soon as you stop your car in the parking lot the sale starts” I decided to go with it rather than fight it. I asked, “How so”? He once again gave me that look of sympathy and said, “Listen once again to what I say, you need to work under the premise that as soon as you stop your car in the parking lot the sale starts. THE PREMISE Lorin”!

He continued, “When you get out of your car and walk to your trunk and spend the next 15 minutes (he liked to exaggerate) digging around looking for stuff what does the customer looking at you from the window see”? He then told me to get out of the car and open my trunk. When the trunk was open he asked me to step back about 10 yards and yelled, “How do you like this view”? He bent into my trunk and all I could see was his rear end and legs, he then started to wave his hands and arms around in crazy motions to show what it looked like when I was searching for things in my car.

If you don’t understand what I am talking about, ask someone to do this for you and take a good look at how bad it looks.

After we got back into the car, he said, “The parking lot of a customer isn’t where you want to start looking for your “STUFF”. Stop in a parking lot someplace on the way and have everything you need ready to go so when the sale starts (as you park your car) you can look as professional as possible”.

Not everyone uses their trunk for samples, some use their back seat and some don’t carry samples or literature at all. It doesn’t matter, the concept is the same. BE PREPARED! When you make a sales call be ready as soon as you open your car door. Don’t show the customer your ba….  Let’s call it bad side, let them see a rep that is ready to present the best product or service available and do it as professionally as possible.

Lorin

PROCESS THIS

Over the past several months I have been observing an interesting aspect of sales that I am now ready to share with you.

It started when I was working in the field with several reps last fall. The reps I worked with were broken into 3 groups. As you would expect the groups were; 1) consistently above quota, 2) consistently at quota, and 3) consistently below quota.

I made some detailed notes while in the field with these reps and after reviewing the notes I made an interesting discovery. The reps that were consistently above quota were more likely to NOT think about what they do every day. The reps consistently at quota may or may not think about what they do every day, and the reps consistently below quota were the ones that were most likely to think about what they do every day.

What do I mean by “Think about what they do every day”? I am talking about thinking about the sales process. When making a sales call following the process that leads to the greatest percent of success.

This discovery made me very curious, which lead me to question the reps that I rode with to find out what they were thinking and why. What I found was very interesting, the reps that were consistently above quota told me that they were too busy to focus on the details of the sale. The reps consistently at quota told me that they needed to focus on the process only to new prospects and the reps consistently below quota said they needed the process to help them generate more sales and maximize every stop.

For some reason, the answers I received didn’t make for a good business plan and I needed to dig deeper to get to the root of the reps thinking. I went back and asked some more questions. To the above quota group I asked if when they have a difficult month do they then fall back on the process to help them get back on track. EVERY rep said yes. They all agreed that the process helped them build their pipeline when their sales were on the decline.  The at quota reps gave me the same answer, when they were in fear of missing quota they fell back on the basics of the sales process to regain the momentum they needed. I had to ask the below quota a different question and asked them if when they reach or exceed quota do they stray from the process? As I expected from the answers of the other groups, most said they did get away from the process once they reached quota.

Many of you that have followed this blog for a while or those of you that I have worked with may already know the last question I asked all the groups... the simple question, WHY?

Every rep acknowledged the importance of having a solid sales process. They all agreed that the process was the best tool for helping them gain new prospects and break the ice with the prospects. They all also agreed that the more successful they became the less time they had to think about the process and to go through the “STEPS” of the sale.

I know that making sales and generating revenue and personal income is the most important thing to sales reps and their companies. However, having been a sales manager and having owned my own sales business, I also know that consistency is high on the list as well. Just like a sales rep needs to have a steady flow of business to maintain their income, a business needs a steady flow of sales reps making a steady flow of sales to be able to maintain their profitability as well.

Many of you know I have had both of my knees replaced. My surgeon is one of the busiest orthopedic surgeons in Atlanta. He schedules his surgeries back to back two days a week. I am sure that he has periods where he is busier than others, but do you think he ignores his process to save time? More importantly, do you think that the hospital would allow him to ignore their process to save time?

The process is there to assure consistency in the sale. The process is as important to the sales rep as it is the prospect or customer. The process, if used correctly, is the shortest distance between the introduction and close.

Lorin

A BOOK WORTH READING

I was browsing one of my favorite websites last week, AMAZON, and found a book that interested me. The title is “A PEACOCK IN THE LAND OF PENGUINS”. I received the book 2 days ago and finished it this evening.

The book is written by B.J. Gallagher. The link below will take you to the Amazon page where you can get a preview of the book.

http://www.amazon.com/Peacock-Land-Penguins-Gallagher-Hateley/dp/1576751732/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336706057&sr=8-1#_

Keep in mind, as always, this book is available at most of your local bookstores so shop around.

Lorin

EMPTY HANDS, EMPTY POCKETS

Most everyone who reads this blog are sales reps, and EVERYONE who reads this blog are consumers.

As a consumer, I want to ask you to think back at the purchases you have made over the past 6 months. Everything you have bought from your groceries to any major purchase you have made. How many of them have you made sight unseen?

I will bet not too many and the ones you did more than likely had a return policy that allowed you to return whatever it was if you weren’t completely satisfied.

Seeing, feeling, trying, and testing items we buy is a basic need for most people. We feel more comfortable if we are able to inspect an item before we buy.

And with that being said, I still see sales reps walk into prospects and customers empty handed. It is so simple to bring either a product sample or literature about your product or service in with you when you make a sales call. This way the customer can satisfy their need to inspect what you have before committing to the sale.

If we know this as sales reps, why would we ever try and TALK through the sale? Why would we ever try and describe our product instead of demonstrating our product? Why would we ever attempt to walk a customer through what we do and how we do it rather than SHOWING the customer what we do and how we do it?

I have heard numbers like 40% to 50% better chance of closing a sale when you have a live demo of your product as opposed to an explanation. That’s huge! Can you imagine how many more sales you could close by doing this one basic step, carry something in with you.

Lorin

WHEN NOBODY KNOWS

I once heard a saying that went something like this, “Great Leaders Do What Is Right Even When No One Is Looking”. I really like this saying because it focuses on integrity.

I have my own sales version of this saying, “Great Sales Reps Do What Is Right Even When The Customer Doesn’t Know It”.

I know sales reps that have spent money, time and effort to do the right thing for a customer that never even realized they had done it. It could be as simple as spending time on the phone to help expedite an order for a customer or going into a customer’s store room to clean it up and straighten the inventory up. A great sales rep will do these things and anything else that needs to be done, not for the recognition but because it was the right thing to do.

I once worked with a rep that spent 3 hours every evening for over a month training a customer’s employees on a piece of equipment that the rep didn’t sell. For those of you saying that the rep sold product the equipment used, you are wrong. The rep had no link to the equipment at all except for the fact that he sold the same equipment at a previous job and was an expert with it. The customer didn’t find out about the reps help until almost 6 months after he had completed the training. The only way he found out then is because he had hired someone new and asked one of his people how they got trained and was told about the reps help.

This is doing what’s right, going above and beyond what is expected and doing it only for self-satisfaction. The sign of a GREAT sales rep.

There are stories similar to this at every company, with every customer, and associated with every region. Very seldom do these stories surface because the rep isn’t doing these things for recognition, they are doing them because they are the right things to do.

Ask yourself this question, when was the3 last time you did something without any anticipation of reward?

If you need to think back any further than a week you need to re-evaluate the purpose of your career.

Make it a point to do something tomorrow that is the right thing to do. It may take some of your time, energy, or even money, but it is what needs to be done. Look for opportunities to step up and when no one is looking and do the right thing. Pick a customer that you know could use some help and do whatever you can without them knowing to help them as much as possible.

If you do this just once, I know that the feeling you will get will be so rewarding that you will start to look for more and more chances to do it again and again.

Lorin

THE HARDEST SALES DAY OF MY CAREER

I was unable to post last Thursday and Friday because I was preparing for the hardest sale I will ever have to make.

No it wasn’t a multi-million dollar sale to a fortune 100 company. No it wasn’t a sale that generated more profit than any other sale I have ever made. No it wasn’t a sale to a big star or a famous person. The facts are that I would be selling things at pennies on the dollar, and even at that I will need to negotiate the price.

The reason I couldn’t write posts for the last few days was because I was having a GARAGE SALE. I was going to be partaking in one of the basic American traditions of commerce, changing thousands of dollars of my treasures into $87.41 cash money!

It started early last month when my neighborhood sent out an announcement about our annual community garage sale. Each home that participates pays only $5.00 to our Home Owners Association and the association does all the advertising, puts out signs, and has a company come by after the sale to pick up anything that you want to get rid of that didn’t sell. WHAT A BARGIN!

Last week I started going through my basement, storage shed, closets, and cabinets gathering all my treasures. I actually found boxes in my basement that I moved into the house with and haven’t opened them since. (I have been in this house for 23 years now)

My wife and I put together a grand assortment of “STUFF” that we could part with and starting at 6:00AM Saturday morning I started putting it on tables to sell. Now the name “Garage Sale” is a misrepresentation of what really happens. For instance, nothing was in my garage, it was all out on my driveway and in my yard. Saturday was a beautiful day if you were a scorpion or a rattle snake. It was cloudless with a temperature of 89 degrees. Just the right conditions to put me in a great mood.

The official start of the sale was 8:00 AM but there are always those people who want the best selection so they get out early. As I was putting stuff out the first browser showed up at 6:45, cash in hand looking for deals.

I can’t start to tell you the thrill I had when she asked about a scanner I had placed on a table. I paid over $150.00 for this scanner about 18 months ago. I had all the packaging, paperwork, extended warranty, and software for it. It was like new. She asked me how much I was asking. I pushed out my chest and in a loud clear voice gave her my best garage sale price, I told her $15.00.

She walked back over to the scanner and asked me, “Does it work?” I replied, it works like new, you can see I didn’t use it much” To that she said, “I’ll give you $7.00 for it”. I could just shake my head in wonder. It was early, I hadn’t even had my first cup of coffee and already I was in heated negotiations.

I decided to use a line I have used in the past when offered a ridiculous price for a product, I said, “Nope, you won’t give me $7.00, you may offer me $7.00 but I won’t take it”. Expecting at least a chuckle for a great sales line, all I got was a stare and she said, “I don’t have a lot of time for games, do you want $7.00 or not?”

I knew it was going to be a long day. I told her no and countered with $12.50, she came back with $9.00 and I sold it for $10.00. Wow a lot of work to give something away at less than 10% of its value. I had this same type conversation at least 50 times during the day Saturday. I started adding 50% to every price so when people wanted to bargain with me I had plenty of room to negotiate from.

As 2:00 approached, the official end of the sale, another group of people showed up. These are the bottom feeders of garage sales. These people wait until the last minute and make absurdly low offers on what’s left. In the last 30 minutes I don’t think anyone offered more than 25 cents for anything. (I actually had a 19 inch flat screen monitor that someone offered me 25 cents for).

As I loaded the last of my treasures that didn’t sell into the back of my SUV to haul to Goodwill my wife came out of the house to tell me about how much money we made. I was impressed, we had sold almost everything we placed out for the sale and had made almost $100.00.

This was a sad day in my sales career. However, I always look for the positives in what happens. Last Saturday I managed to de-clutter my basement, garage, shed, and closets. I made a donation to Goodwill. I made almost $100.00.

Next weekend is Mother’s Day, I am going to use the windfall to take my wife out to dinner at the best mediocre restaurant I can find with a dinner for two for $100.00.

Lorin

UNDER PROMISE AND OVER DELIVER IS A BAD THING?

I think it was my first day as a Sales Rep that my manager told me to Under Promise and Over Deliver. At the time it was a new concept and I was amazed at how smart my Manager was. Since that time I have said those same words to thousands of Sales Reps and I hope a few of them thought I was amazingly smart. (I kind of doubt it, but it sure feels good to think it).

Until recently I still believed in this and was 100% sure it was a great concept to teach, until I ordered my eyeglasses from an online website.

I had ordered a few pairs of glasses online before and I had a very good experience. The glasses I bought were high quality and at a ridiculously low price compared to optical shops. I surfed around a few sites until I found the frames I wanted and placed my order.

As with most online ordering I instantly received a confirmation e mail letting me know the order was placed correctly and that they will contact me when the order is complete and again with the tracking number when the order is shipped. About 4 days after I placed the order I received the first e mail. As promised it told me my order was complete and was sent to the shipping department. It said I would receive another e mail within 3 days with my tracking number.

So I waited for the e mail to come. (I like getting tracking numbers, I enjoy following the route my package travels, I know I need a life!) Anyway, on the third day I still hadn’t gotten the e mail with the tracking number. I made a note to call the company the next day to check on the order and see what the delay is. As my family and I sat down to dinner the doorbell rang. I went to the door and the UPS driver was standing there with a package for … you guessed it … ME!

I signed for the package and saw it was from the website I ordered my glasses from. I opened the package and sure enough there were my new eyeglasses. I tried them on and the fit and prescription was perfect. I was very happy with my purchase.

Every evening my normal routine is to come up to my office, check my e mails, and then write my post for this blog. As I sat at my desk that evening and checked e mails I saw I had received one from the company that my glasses came from. I opened the e mail and saw it was the tracking information for the package I had already received earlier that evening.

This started me thinking about the Under Promise and Over Deliver saying. By the actions of the company they had absolutely Under Promised. I wasn’t expecting the package until several days after I received the tracking number. They absolutely Over Delivered, I got my glasses before the tracking number which was several days sooner than I ever expected them. So if they did what I have been teaching for decades, why did I feel like the company didn’t know what they were doing?

This was a case where the expectations were so overwhelmingly exceeded that it makes the company look as if they don’t know what they are doing.

Now I had to rethink the saying, because Over Delivering too much had a bad effect on my thinking about the company could Over Delivering in EXCESS to your customers have the same effect? The answer is YES it can.

We all want to always do more than we promise, but we need to make sure that what we do and what we say are at least within believable distance of each other so our customers don’t think we are the ones who are screwed up.

We need our customers to have faith in us. We need our customers to know that we are in control and taking care of all the details. We need our customers to trust us and not think things are happening in spite of us rather than because of us.

Lorin

SECOND REP IN

Have you ever felt like you need a Kevlar vest when walking through a customer’s door? You know the customer I am talking about, no sooner do they see you then they start their assault on you. You haven’t even had time to say hello and they are in your face.

Sometimes they attack because of something you have done to them. If this is the case well to tell the truth, you are on your own! Either you over promised and under delivered, outright lied about something, didn’t make sure they understood everything you had said, or any one of a thousand other mistakes that reps make. As I said if this is the case stand up and take your lumps, make sure you learn from your mistakes, and don’t do it again!

Sometimes when a customer attacks you it has nothing to do with you. It is something the last rep did (or didn’t do), it may be something your company did (or again didn’t do), it could be a seed a competitor planted sprouting in the customers mind, or any one of a thousand other things that we had no control over.

So what should we do when we are catching a ton of grief for something we didn’t have anything to do with? First of all LISTEN! Listen to what the customer is saying. In many cases just having someone to vent to will defuse the entire issue. Let them talk, let them yell, let them scream, just look them right in the eyes and LISTEN!

When they are done ranting you need to start a conversation of healing. We all know that the customer understands that you are not the person they are mad at, you just happen to be the person in front of them at the moment. Start off the conversation letting the customer know that you fully understand the problem and that you also understand why they are upset and that you don’t blame them for being upset.

At this point you need to be the therapist; you need to make sure you don’t over react to what was said. If you immediately start with the phrase, “You are right” you could end up needing to give away the ranch because of what the last rep promised. If you say, “I don’t fully agree with you” well you are now on the OTHER SIDE and become the enemy.

The best statement to make is one stating your understanding of the situation and assuring the customer that you will find out what happened or why it happened the way it did. This lets the customer know that you are willing to at least consider their side and that you will work to get to a mutually acceptable solution.

As you get into the conversation you also need to make the customer understand that you can’t undo the past. You will try your best to get everything straight, however either way you can’t undo what has happened, but you CAN make sure that it doesn’t happen again!

Tell the customer what you will do to make sure that a situation like the one they just yelled at you for will not happen on your watch. Ask the customer what they think would have made the difference between them being mad and being a satisfied customer. Get their input; once you have it you can make sure your solution matches theirs. If you are giving them a map for success that they themselves made, they will be thrilled with it every time!

Before I close, let me add something more; you are not a whipping post for customers! Like I said above, listen, but if the customer get abusive verbally or physically you are not expected to take that. GET OUT! Be professional, don’t let the customer drag you into the gutter and you start yelling and screaming back. Don’t ever lose your professional manner. If it gets to the point where you think the customer has crossed the line, turn around and walk out. FIRE THAT CUSTOMER! If they were that upset, the chance of selling them was minimal anyway.

It is hard enough selling when we need to sell and rebuild bridges other reps have burned our jobs become exponentially more difficult.

Lorin