The great Yogi Berra once said, “I never said most of the
things I said”. At least I think that is what Yogi once said, but maybe he
never said it…
Anyway, have you ever noticed how some customers always
think you said stuff you never said?
I don’t leave samples behind, I do demo’s. Over my years of
sales I have found that leaving a sample doesn’t pay off. You can’t control how
the customer uses the sample, if in fact they use it at all. If the customer
does use the sample, and happens to use it wrong, my products from then on are
never as good in the customer’s eyes. Also, in most cases, the person I am
talking to is not the person who actually uses the product. So I hope the
person who actually uses my sample will report back to the person I left the
sample with how it worked.
All in all, there are way too many chances for things to go
wrong. That is why I do demo’s. I can control the demo and point out all the
features and benefits to the buyer so he or she can really see the value in
owning my product.
This is why I was so shocked today when a customer told me I
had promised to bring them a sample of one of my products.
The customer said that he was expecting me 2 weeks ago with
the sample so he could try it out on one of the jobs he was working on. I asked
him if he may have me mistaken with another good looking sales rep that calls
on him and he said no he was sure it was me.
We talked some more and I asked him if over the last 20+
years I have been selling him at any of the companies I have been selling for
if I have ever left him a sample of anything before? He thought for a minute
and said he didn’t think so. I asked him how many demo’s he thought I had done
for him and his employees over the past 20+ years and he laughed and said a
million. (Actually it was more like a million and a half, but I never argue
with a customer) Finally I asked him if he really thought I was the one who
promised him a sample. It didn’t take him long to agree that it probably wasn’t
me.
I could have handled this in several different ways. I could
have told the customer I was sorry and tell him I forgot the sample. I could
have went out to my car and gotten my sample and given it to him. I could have
made up a story about the warehouse not getting the sample to me or being out
of stock of the product. But I always try to be honest as I can be with a
customer. I know what I say and I usually say what I say!
After talking with the customer I did go to my car and get
my sample of the product he wanted and did a great demo for him. I showed him how
my product did what he needed better than he expected and that I could deliver
my product at a price which was a better value than anyone else he has asked.
After I was done I asked for the sale. My customer could have told me that he
wanted to wait to see who he had asked for the sample and see how their product
worked. He could have said no or not yet or one of a thousand things. He didn’t,
he said yes.
I believe that not leaving him a sample and doing a demo
which I controlled made the difference. My demo made the difference between put
off and a sale.
I understand that it goes against most of our sales rep
instincts to say “NO” to a customer. But if you know what you say, and say it
ALL the time, no customer can ever trip you up.
Yogi also said, “The future ain’t what it used to be.” You
are right Yogi, it can be better!
Lorin
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