How Good Is Your Why When Goal Planning?
Ever wonder why 80% of new years resolutions fail? Ever wonder why your team just doesn’t seem to hit goals? Why do most people not even set goals?
The main reason is that growth whether it be personal, professional, or physical is painful. Growth is not easily achieved which is why there are so few people achieving the next level results.
I recently took my son to the orthodontist to start his journey for a better smile while getting braces installed on his teeth. He asked me what it was like since I had them twice. Yes, it typically takes me double to achieve results than most people 😊 I told him that the initial process is not very hard as they apply the torture devices to your teeth, but that he should expect to have a 6 out of 10 on the pain scale for his teeth for the following few days.
His response was that he was okay just not getting braces. He didn’t care that it would improve his smile, or fix some issues in his mouth that would help him. He just wanted to avoid pain and discomfort. It dawned on me in that moment that I am not alone. I don’t always want to do the hard things because it will cause me discomfort.
Most individuals will avoid pain at all costs to live an comfortable lifestyle. What I’ve learned is that nothing worthy is every easy. There is some level of pain and risk associated with any worthy venture.
If we want to grow financially for most cases, we need to gain education, work hard, and budget. None of this seems fun or comfortable either. My mother always said, “ nothing ventured, nothing gained.” I added to that that no pain, no gain. Okay I may have borrowed that from some weight lifter somewhere.
If we want to grow, we need to put in effort and accept levels of discomfort / pain. When we want to gain muscle, we are actually ripping apart muscle strands during weight lifting exercises that repair themselves when we are sleeping that increases their size. The same is true with anything we want to grow in.
We must accept that we will have some levels of pain to grow ourselves in whatever venture we take on. We need to review our why and figure out the cost of achieving that why. If the why is not greater than the costs, then we will have no chance at success.
We should be adding to the process of goal setting what our why is next to each of our goals to decide if this is a good goal or not. Otherwise, we are just hoping that we will make it and likely will fail to hit that goal.
Over the pandemic I had to review quite a few things I wanted to do with my business and had to go through quite a few pain points when I created all my videos, online trainings, marketing ideas, and personal decisions like losing weight.
Each and every one of these things required me to sit down and figure out my why. If I had a great why I have achieved my goal, but if my why was small or something superficial, I did not achieve that goal.
If you have a goal for yourself, it is a great step to review your why before setting out the goal. Yes, we need to make goals that are easy to understand and measurable, but we also need to make sure we factor in the pain level we will have to endure to make these goals possible before we set out. We risk a higher levels failure when things get tough if we have not done this planning.
As we are heading into the fourth quarter of 2021 lets start reviewing our goals that we created for the year and understand why we failed at some and why we succeeded at others. The why will be a great area of focus.
If you’re curious I did lose quite a bit of weight during 2021 by dieting which was very painful, but worth it!
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this topic more, feel free to reach out, I’d be glad to have that conversation.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Making Great First Impressions
Hello Everyone!
Ever wonder why some people just seem to be able to make great impressions on others while others don’t? Ever struggle to make a great first impression yourself?
I have been thinking about this topic for a while now and decided that it was time to step up on my soap box. I firmly believe that we all need to know how to sell in order to make great first impressions. Whether we are going for a job interview (selling ourselves), out on a date (selling ourselves), leading an organization (selling vision and ourselves), or selling a product or service which means we need to know how to sell (ourselves), etc.
No matter what we are doing, we are selling ourselves as the best option for those around us. We share stories, build friendships, engage with coworkers etc. all of the time. Some people do this really well and some unfortunately do not. This is not simply determined if you are an introvert, or an extrovert to determine if you will do this well. What I am saying is that some just don’t sell themselves well enough.
There are three questions everyone asks at every interaction and they are as follows:
Do I like you?
Do I trust you?
How can you help me?
In seven seconds, a perception is formed about the other person based off these three questions. Now there are so many aspects to how one can affect those three questions, that it is key that we know how to sell and why these three questions are affected. Learning the sales process if even just for only buying decision 1, we are definitely on solid footing to move forward with other people.
How we are dressed, what environment we are in, our posture, our speech patterns, and many more aspects affect how people form their decisions about us. Have you ever heard the phrase. “we only get one chance to make a first impression?” This is because once someone makes that impression about us, it is extremely hard to change.
The sales process is the key to mastering the art of first impressions, building rapport, and likeability. Once we master the first buying decision of the sales process, we can build rapport with those around us faster! This will enable us to make great first impressions, obtain engagement from those around us, and create stronger relationships.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know how to sell and build relationships to make our lives better?
If you’d like to learn the sales process and how to gain influence, I have launched my online courses. It will enable you to master sales, implement the simple to use process, and become a top performer as well as how to build great levels of trust quickly.
Below are the two links to my online trainings to help you build rapport and influence with others. Both can be completed at your own pace and in the comfort of wherever you have a an internet connection.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Why Customer Service Reps Dislike Their Sales Reps…
Good morning everyone,
Have you ever experienced tension between customer service and the sales team? Has there been passive aggressive exchanges between the two groups in your organization?
Ever have a customer service representative blindsided by a customer agreement?
Today I want to dive into an area of opportunity to help serve your customer as well as your organization. In many organizations there are sales people and then there are account managers/ customer service representatives.
Two separate people supporting groups for the customer and if communication is not great, two separate messages being communicated to the customer. This drives customer satisfaction down as well as cross functional teams to argue and point fingers when issues arise. Anyone that has been in sales for a while will be able to relate to this tension.
After a sale the sales person rides off into the sunset never to be heard from again which I have preached about in the past as being the ultimate sin in sales! That’s right about 99% of sales professionals fall into this trap. This hurts the relationship with the customer, effects return customers, and puts the customer service representative in a bad position when the customer asks for their deal that the sales professional made with them.
Ever have this situation happen to your customer service team? The sales person negotiates something different from the standard terms and conditions leaving the customer and customer service representative in a sparing contest to see who will give in. The customer continues to get irritated stating, “ This is not what I agreed to!” I’m sure some other adjectives are also used. The customer service representative is also irritated and the customer experience has just blown up. It does not even matter if the sales person resolves this issue, the customer already has an opinion of how this organization will support them in the future.
Remember the organization is the second buying decision, even before the product is sold so we need to make sure we are all working together to make the customer experience exceptional.
I worked for an organization where the sales people were all over the place with making side deals outside of the normal parameters. The customer service representatives were processing orders without this knowledge and issues started popping up. Customer relationships were paying the penalty. Business was starting to erode and the owner of the organization was getting calls from large customers venting their frustration. This was a bad situation.
To remedy this, the sales people were brought in for a sit down to understand how to get sales done following the standard program. There needed to be conformity because there is something else that happens because our customers talk. They will brag about the deal they received only to make the other customers resent the sales person for not giving them the same deal. Profits were eroding and things were just not flowing in the organization.
When selling a product / service the customer service teams as well as sales teams need to have an understanding of the program and where there are opportunities to make small changes if needed. Sales people and customer service representatives need to be on the same page so there is one message communicated to the customers at all times. This helps when some of those slick customers try to get “a better deal.”
Communication is key! If sales professionals are not communicating terms of the deals and with the customer service representatives then there will be opportunities for misses with the customer. The sales professionals also need to address as much of the terms of the agreement in writing so there are no issues for others to action against. It is up to sales professionals to support their teams and not just hoping others will just figure it out.
Both teams are extremely busy! One idea that I have shared is to use a sharepoint directory so that our customer service and sales teams can reference the signed agreements so that way they can check what was agreed to. Having this one location is crucial to the success of the organization! This way we can serve the customer effectively, maintain relationships, and keep profits up! Everyone needs to be on the same page when communicating with the customer. Otherwise, the customer experience and profits suffer.
Have a great day everyone and happy selling!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
How Entrepreneurs Can Find Opportunity During the Pandemic Recovery
I am grateful for Curtis Fisher and his support of young entrepreneurs. This week’s blog post has been written by Curtis and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Small business owners everywhere have dealt with the economic impact of the pandemic. If your small business was considered “non-essential,” you may have had to close your doors for a period of months, only to return to limited operations afterwards.
Now, as the world begins to open up again and restrictions are gradually rolled back, you can slowly prepare for a return to normal. Maybe you need to revise your budget, get in touch with business and leadership consultant Kevin Sidebottom, or change your approach to marketing. No matter what you plan to do next, these tips will help you navigate this period of the pandemic.
Administrative Items
Business might not be back in full swing yet, but you can take advantage of this lull by working on administrative tasks instead. For instance, this might be a good time to go over your business plan and determine how you can tweak it for the upcoming year. You could also spend some time getting your digital files and paper documents organized.
In addition, now’s the time to register your business with the state in which you operate. Choosing to structure as a limited liability company (LLC) is optimal for many small businesses, primarily due to benefits like reduced risk to personal assets, less paperwork and greater tax advantages. You can use an affordable online formation service to get this done quickly and easily. Zenbusiness not only walks you through this process and helps you file, the site provides information on items like getting a statutory or registered agent.
Budgeting and Finances
The past year may have been rather lean for your business. Some sectors have benefitted from the pandemic while others have struggled. And if your business was categorized as non-essential, there’s a good chance that you’re wondering how to make up for lost profits.
First, it’s a good idea to create new financial projections for the coming year to see what you can expect in terms of your finances. Next, you’ll need to update your business budget by cutting expenses. What can you reasonably cut? Clean Tech Loops recommends nixing any software programs that you do not use regularly, switching to paperless files whenever possible, and considering a long-term remote work plan or renting an office space in a cheaper location.
Develop a Safety Plan
Depending on COVID case counts in your area, it might be time to bring your employees back to work in-person. It’s a good idea to consult with your employees before you make this decision. If everyone is on board to come back, Work Design recommends spacing out workstations with six feet in between them, stocking up on hand sanitizer, and having the office cleaned regularly. And if you have a retail space or waiting room where you’ll be allowing customers, make sure to put signs indicating that they are required to wear masks.
You may find that some workers aren’t ready to ditch telecommuting, especially those who live with people who are particularly vulnerable to the virus or those who simply feel much more productive while working from home. If this is the case, you’ll need to develop a plan for permanent remote work. Virtual Vocations recommends working with your employees to establish codes of conduct and decide which communication tools should become standard.
Delivery and Pickup Systems
Even though restrictions on businesses are slowly coming to an end, some of your customers or clients still might not be able to conduct transactions in person yet. Some people may still want to take care of business online or purchase items through a delivery or curbside pickup system. Make sure that you continue making efforts to accommodate this for the foreseeable future so as not to lose any customers.
New Offerings
The world is turning over a new leaf, and this could be the perfect time to introduce new offerings from your business. For instance, you could invite your customers or clients to a series of workshops that are held virtually for the time being and will shift to in-person gatherings as soon as it is safe. If you run a retail business, you could launch products that customers can easily enjoy outdoors this summer, since people will be looking forward to getting back outside.
Sales consultant and speaker Kevin Sidebottom blogs about the importance of knowing what customers crave. “What is the customer really asking us each time they interact with us whether [it’s] face to face meetings, calling customer service, on social media, etc. What is it that the customer is trying to communicate to us? We need to be intentional to reach out to them to figure out what they need. It’s that simple.”
Marketing Strategy
As people continue shopping online while others venture out, you’ll need to focus on combining both digital and offline advertising in your marketing strategy. You can rely on social media marketing, email campaigns, and search engine optimization to bring in new customers through the internet. In addition, set up fun window displays to attract more foot traffic to your store!
As restrictions are rolled back during the recovery phase of the pandemic, small business owners will have some breathing room to expand. You may want to use this time for administrative tasks, reworking your budget, or finetuning your marketing strategy so that you can speak to what your customers need right now. By looking forward with an optimistic attitude, you can prepare for profitable months ahead!
The Customer Bought, Now What Do We Do?”
We’ve done it!
We have made it to the fifth and final buying decision for the customer which is “Buy”
The customer has now purchased our product / service and we celebrate! Unfortunately, this is where 99% of sales people fail in the sales process.
That’s right, they fail! I am not saying that it is not okay to celebrate the win and I encourage the celebration, but when the sales person stops the sales process after receiving the order, the customer is left to fend for themselves. This is wrong and we have not served the customer if we do this! If we leave the customer and don’t make them successful with their purchase then the customer soon will develop buyer’s remorse, not hitting the desired outcome from the purchase, and possibly thinking they were just sold something instead of purchasing a solution. The customer then associates us with the slimy salesperson that does not care about them.
Far too many sales people take the signed order and ride off into the sunset never to be heard from again. It’s a huge opportunity that unfortunately most sales people miss out on!
That’s right, when the customer agrees to buy, this is the time that sales professionals need to roll up their sleeves and move forward with the customer. The more this is done, the more the customer will brag to their friends, family members, social media, etc. about how awesome we served them and that everyone they know needs speak with us. Who wouldn’t want a salesforce of individuals selling of us without having to pay them?
I love having people that have taken my trainings tell others that they need to work with me because I know that what I am doing is working!
First and foremost, when the customer agrees to purchase, they will second guess themselves (buyer’s remorse) about the purchase. That’s right, they are not sure what they did was the right decision. This typically happens for purchases over $50. No, we are not talking about a pack of gum. The real-estate market has done a fantastic job overcoming this issue of “buyer’s remorse.” As soon as the customer agrees to purchase a property, they immediately begin moving the customer into the next steps.
When we confirm that the customer has made the right decision, they feel justified and will be set at ease. Getting the customer moving forward after this decision to buy and onto the next steps such as delivery date, onsite training, etc., the customer is reaffirmed and feels like they have made the best decision possible. They have a game plan for the next steps. The customer will be fired up and ready to begin moving forward with our help! They appreciate this, because most sales people do not do this! This simple step! Now we have a few other things we need to do as well.
The last step in the sales process is crucial. Again 99% of sales professionals do not do this. This is the most crucial step in gaining influence with customers. It’s the next 90 days after the sale that really makes the customer’s purchase a success, or a failure. That’s right, after the installation and quick run through, the customer is going to have issues. The faster we communicate how to resolve those issues the better the customer will feel. That is why organizations have had support lines waiting for customer to call, but the sales professional has an opportunity to take this one step further.
This is the sales process step in trainings that most organizations ask a great deal of questions on how they can get better. This is where I gain my consulting business and coaching for. Helping them gain the tools so they can make the customer successful 90 days after the sale. We figure out how to make the customer successful and the organizations see higher levels of business gains.
What do we have ready for your customers so that they can consistently win with our product / service? That is the question that we need to answer and if we do this well, we will be rewarded with greater levels of influence. With more influence comes greater growth in sales and increased revenue. At a certain point we become such an influencer that people stop focusing on price. Wouldn’t that be amazing to take the pricing discussion off the table?
We are in the service business no matter what we sell. Serve the customer well and reap the rewards. Underserve, and stay a commodity in the customer’s eyes.
It’s okay to have a little celebration, but then get to work rolling up your sleeves and help serve the customer!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
The Scariest Part Of The Sales Process
Welcome back everyone,
We have been walking through the buying decisions that customers must make before they will buy a product / service from us sales professionals. If you haven’t read the past few blog posts, I encourage you to go back and read them as they will help you understand how we got here. For today, let’s jump into this fun topic!
When I first got into sales, I actually hated this buying decision. I was so nervous that I kept selling the product as long as I could and would talk myself out of a sale in most cases. The reason was that I feared rejection. Just like asking that girl out in high school, I was nervous to ask for the order from the customer.
Back in high school I was literally under five-foot-tall, weight around 100 pounds and let’s be honest the wind may have been able to knock me down if it blew over 10 mph. Asking for a date seemed like a monumental task when I had to look up to just about everyone. Luckily, I grew taller and so did my confidence.
No one really enjoys rejection and I was no different when it came to sales. I did not want to find out if I had not done a good job at understanding the customer’s needs and addressing those needs. I did not want to hear “NO” just like a child hates the word no. I did not want the customer rejecting my request to move forward with the purchase.
Here is what I have learned through many years of selling. We as professional sales people need to hear the word no. That’s right, if we have not answered the customer’s needs, we should hear “NO”. We do not need the customer buying the product only to hate the purchase and then remember us as the ones that sold them that product / service. We need them to be glad they purchased the product / service and that it helped them. Otherwise, we are just another sales person that made a quick buck that did not help the customer. Serving the customer well leads to much more sales success in the long run.
Now, why is it okay to hear the word no? Once we hear the word no, we can go back to the uncovering needs and verification of needs steps to make sure we completely understand the customer. Which is what the customer truly wants. The customer wants to be known and understood. They want to know that this solution in front of them will actually help them move forward.
As professional salespeople, we need to make sure we have courage to ask for the order. We need to find out if we are on the right track or if we missed something. This is our opportunity to come back and help the customer better if we missed something. It’s our sign to make sure we are moving in the right direction.
You never know, the customer may actually say “Yes” and award us the business if we have followed the process correctly. That is when the real work starts!
Have the courage to ask for the order and wait for the reply from the customer.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
The One Decision Sales People Get Wrong
Ever have a customer answer your sales proposal with the following statement, “ That is great, but how does that help me?” I have had this experience and had to use those same words with some sale people when they tried to sell me something.
This part of the sales process is where most sales professionals believe they need zero help. Unfortunately, most sales professionals need a great deal of help with this part of the sales process. To show this I ask people to sell me their product / service. This is where the attendees have a reflection moment.
Most attendees start with firing features and benefits in rapid fire, their elevator pitch, or how their product is so revolutionary like they are in one of those late-night infomercials. Unfortunately, this is an incorrect process in selling your product / service. The reason I know this is because I started out selling my products this way which drove my lack of sales. The customer does not care about how many features and benefits we have to offer.
What the customer does care about is how this product / service will meet “their needs”. That’s right! How does what we offer help them? That is the question our customers are asking. Each customer is different and has different needs which means we need to be smart about how we approach this part of the sales process. We can not simply rain features and benefits all over them. We need to answer their needs.
To effectively answer the customer’s needs, the salesperson needs to do the work in the first buying decision by asking great questions to uncover the customer’s needs. By asking questions we are able to actually understand the customer, what they are looking to achieve, and why they are looking to achieve it with this purchase. If we assume that we know exactly what the customer needs we typically miss the mark in sales.
You’re probably asking yourself how do I avoid this mistake? The answer is simple. By making sure that the question I am asking aligns with my features and benefits. That’s right I use the features and benefits of my product / service to roadmap questions for the customer. If the customer is saying yes to those questions, then we know that we are on the right track to help the customer. Simple right!
One more point here and this is a big point!
If the answer is no to most of my questions about my product / service. I quickly understand that what the customer is looking for is not what I offer and I point them in the right direction to meet their needs. That is right, if my product / service will not help the customer I am going to do everything in my power to help them find what they need. Most sales people are shaking their heads in disbelief, but they are wrong. See I am playing the long game with selling that builds influence. Influence that will come back to me ten fold later on.
If my current product / service does not help the customer and I help them find something that does, I have just solidified my value and gained tremendous influence with the customer. Even if they do not buy this product / service today, they will tell their friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, etc. about the service that I have provided and how I helped them. They will tell those people that they need to come talk to me. It has helped me time and time again with references and grow my sales in the long run.
Yes, this is an internal decision to focus on helping more than just selling our products / service. I chose this early in my career which helped me gain more sales than I could have ever thought possible. Customers have come to me years later telling me that someone referred them to me because I was the best and helped in such a way that they needed to see me first.
Isn’t that where we want to be? To be the person everyone wants to come to for a solution to meet their needs?
If you need support on making sure you are hitting the mark on this part of the sales process, or any others feel free to click here to see my online membership that gives you lifetime access.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Does Your Organization Answer The Second Customer Buying Decision?
Have you been disappointed by the lack of customer service lately? Has it affected your decision to buy from this place of business again?
Have you ever decided not to buy a product or service because of the reputation of the organization?
I recently ordered some workout gear from an organization that I often do business with. I ordered the products and received the shipping information and for a week with no shipment info. When I reached out to this organization, they informed me they would ship out a new order for me. A week later nothing. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but after weeks of trying to figure out why my products were not shipping, I reached out once more to find out that the replacement order was never placed. This was exhausting follow up that was very discouraging.
If an organization builds a reputation of poor customer service, unethical practices, bad quality, etc., they are not going to be the organization with the large value proposition to customers. Organizations often try to cut corners to save a few dollars, that end up sacrificing millions in the long run. Truth be told that if organizations are not providing exceptional value they are a commodity. There are other options to buy similar products and services.
With the onset of Millennials in the workforce we are seeing a trend of them working for organizations that align with their values more so than just to collect a paycheck. This same demographic is also the largest demographic of individuals in US history. This demographic of individuals stive to work for organizations that align with their personal mission statements. Millennials want to make sure they are going to help society by working with and for these organizations. It is imperative that organizations recognize this and make sure they are selling themselves as well as their products.
These same Millennials are also purchasing products and services from organizations. If the organization does not align with the Millennials goals, guess what, they won’t buy from these organizations. Again, the largest demographic in US history means the largest buying power.
How do organizations make sure they are selling what makes them unique to the customers? Organizations should use the same process they use to sell their products and services correctly. They answer the needs of the customer. What does the organization offer that will help the customer “WIN?”
When we look at our organizations whether they are for profit or non-profit, we need to see what we do well. Do we offer online SEO plans to help customers get quicker growth on the internet marketplace? Do we have solutions to handling ecommerce for the customer’s products and services online? What does our organizations do to enable personal growth of our customers? Do our organizations donate a large part of our profits to help society? Each of our organizations offer solutions that are vital, but it is up to us to define those game changer answers to the customer’s needs.
What does your organization do well to help the customer? It just may save your organization in the long run.
Put your answer in the comments below in this blog as I love to hear how organizations answer the customer’s needs.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Do I Trust You?
Good morning everyone,
Last week we talked about how we need to let the customer feel comfortable and relaxed when they meet with us. What colors to wear options and why were provided, how to approach them, tones of speech, etc. to help us make the customer feel comfortable and so that they could be relaxed which will allow them the opportunity to like us.
This week I want to work on the other two questions that the customer has which are Do I trust you?, and How can you help me? These two questions are very important with sales of $50 or more. People need to know like and trust us before they will do business with us.
If in the first buying decision that the customer has, “The Salesperson” the customer does not trust us and we can’t show them how we can help the customer, then they will simply go to another source and purchase. Our product / service has now become a commodity. It does not matter if we have the best product on the face of the earth. The question is how do we build trust and how the customer knows that we are there to help them.
In my training on The Sales Process Uncovered, I walk sales people through the house analogy that I use to learn about the customer. We want to learn about the customer, their family, their passions, issues they are needing help with, and the consequences of not fixing those issues. We need to know their S.I.R. before we can identify a solution.
Asking questions is the way to get to know if what we have to sell will actually help the customer. Not just simple questions like, would the customer like a certain color of the product, but why are they looking to achieve with this purchase. What did they like about the last product they used, what do they wish they had on the previous product that they are replacing today? What does a win look like for the customer with this purchase?
Is the customer looking to gain a certain sense of prestige, needing a vehicle that basically drives itself so they can get more work done on their commute, or do they have a child that has a condition that makes the need for them to have a certain easy entry vehicle? Ask deeper questions to understand the why behind the customer’s decision. Until we do this, we are unable to help the customer.
People crave to be understood and known. Customers also want to know that we are with them to make them a hero in their story. Customers need to be the hero in their story and know that they have the solution that will solve their issues. That is why they talk to sales professionals. They are looking for guidance to find a solution.
Think back to the last time you had an amazing buying experience. What were some of the key elements of that sale that you had to tell your friends about because it just made you feel like you were set up for success with that purchase? How did the sales person make you feel? What did that salesperson do that stood out to you? What extra step did they do that no one else has ever done when you were making a purchase?
Next, think of a bad buying experience? What were some of the reasons why the sales person lost the sale? What could they have done better? What made you run away as fast as you could to get away from that sales person?
Now look at some of the wins and losses we have had in sales. This will take some time, but it will help us in the long run. Playing through the situations in our head will help us reevaluate what we did well and what we can improve on. We want to focus on opportunities for improvement to allow the customer to have a fantastic customer experience. Experiences that customers can’t help but brag to everyone about how we helped them. Do this enough times and we will not have to work as hard in sales and will become a success.
If we do not get the first buying correctly and constantly improve, then we will be mediocre in sales. No one really wants to be mediocre. We want to keep growing and getting better because without success we start losing hope and looking for other careers. This is a slippery slope as with all new ventures, failures come quickly and often. This is why people that consistently start over when a challenge happens never really excel. Those that stay true to the process of growth and refining are the ones that truly hit high levels of success.
Today focus on making sure that the question asked to customers are ones that will hit the mark. If you need help with drafting questions reach out. I am here to help you!
Have a great week everyone.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
They Won't Buy From You If They Don't Like You
Good morning everyone,
Last week we talked about how sales people tend to get introductions out of the way quickly and then jump straight into selling. These same sales people have not proven themselves reliable, or trustworthy to the customer, but yet these sales people believe that the customer should trust and investment with them. Sales people assume the customer likes, trusts, and believes that the sales person can help the customer. How do we perform typically when we assume in situations? When we assume we get the situation wrong.
The first buying decision is the longest and hardest to complete. Mainly because there is so much decision making that happens in this buying decision before anything can move forward for the customer. The customer has to know, like, and trust us before they will ever buy from us. Do you think that right after someone gets your name and starts selling that they really care about you or your needs?
We as sales professionals need to make sure we are answering these three questions for the customer within the first 60 seconds of the interaction:
Do I like you?
Do I trust you?
How can you help me?
If we jump straight into selling mode after we get their name the customer will be quickly be turned off. Ever wonder why when asked what brings you in to this store today the customer says something like this, “Just looking.” It’s because the customer has been trained to think that sales people are all the same and all the sales person cares about is selling their product or service.
Let’s change that perception.
Let’s start by using a plan on how we will approach the customer in a way that builds likeability and trust right out of the get go. Let’s start with making sure when we approach the customer we are not circling like hungry vultures. Let’s let the customer come into our facilities and let them get comfortable by smiling and saying “Hi, welcome. We are here to help you when you are ready.”
Smiling, wearing the right colors that psychologically reflect trust, honesty and lowers anxiety. Not power ties, not blacks, not dark greys, but light blues whites, and some greens to ease the customer into lowering their defenses. We also need to listen to how we talk. That’s right speech patterns that don’t align will also increase anxieties. I found this out when I started selling in the southern United States. I needed to change my speech patterns a bit instead of a fast-paced midwestern speech pattern. I also needed to say soda instead of pop J
Science has shown that depending on the environment (noise levels, smells, colors, lighting, etc) the customer can actually become engaged, or withdrawn. Next time you walk into a department store check out the different areas of the store and notice the lighting, colors, music playing, and scents pumped into each area. This helps to ease the customer’s anxiety lower. Ever wonder why Costco offers free samples? Because the longer a customer is in the store the higher the probability they will buy more.
The next time we show up to work we need to be putting our best foot forward to make the customer relaxed. Will we be paying attention to the customer and welcoming them, or will we be going in for the kill to make a sale? Make sure to be attentive to the customer and allow them to like us.
Answering Do I trust you and How can you help me? for the customer is essential in the first buying decision. We need to build that trust as well as show the customer that we will work to help them meet their needs. There is a great deal in these two questions so we will have to save that for next week as to how we will do this, but for today think about asking questions to the customer.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Stop Jumping Into Your Sales Pitch
Ever attempted to buy a car, furniture, or some large electronic device and the sales person asked how you are doing and immediately dives into trying to sell you something? At this point you have likely decided it is time to plan your escape. Hopefully not with the sales person holding on to your leg saying, “Please Stay!!!”
Far too often sales people jump right into the deep end of the pool and start trying to sell to customers before they understand the customer. How do they even know the situation before they make that leap? Most often times sales people are spitting out all sorts of features and benefits of the product / service they offer in hopes something will make customers say yes and close a sale. What most sales people forget is that customers buy to satisfy needs, not features and benefits. It’s a simple concept, but hard to put into practice unfortunately.
When I train sales professionals, I have to make sure that I highlight this fact each time I start the training. We as sales professionals need to stop launching right into a sales pitch early on in the sales process. The customer is actually put off by this practice of selling. I know some sales people at this point think that sales is just a numbers game so keep it up and a sale will happen.
Most customers will wait for the presentation to end patiently and then thank the sales person for their time before making a way to the exit as fast as possible. People want to feel heard and understood. Too many times sales people leap into action and sell something because they are looking for that next kill. Most sales people think of sales just like hunting for something.
I started selling like this, but quickly learned that sales is actually like farming. When we hunt we can eat for a day if we end up achieving our goals. When we farm and plant the seeds, take care of the soil, we will harvest a feast for a long period of time. We start small and grow our influence with the customer over time.
By changing out mindset and focusing on how to serve the customer well we will gain more influence and generate more sales. We need the customer to buy off on us before they will ever think about buying our product or service. That’s right people will not buy from us if they don’t know, like, and trust us. Here’s another fact, the larger the sale, the longer it takes to understand the customer’s needs. That means the sales process will take longer.
I have structured multi-million, multi-year contracts and every one of these deals took years to come together. Not one of these customers has ever stopped on my doorstep and said please help me, I need you to sell me your product without growing the influence with them first. I had to grow influence before they would look at me as an option to help them with their larger investments. They gave me opportunities for smaller deals and then as they grew to trust me and trust that I understood them well enough they gave me larger opportunities.
Apple has done a great job of getting people to line up for their new products, but back when they started, hardly anyone wanted their products. It took years of the correct leadership, marketing, and growing influence to get to where they are today.
Each day there are new strategies on how to sell to a new sophisticated type of customer, but most of these new sales strategies are trying to do the same exercise of growing influence with the customer. Shortcuts may work for the short term, but long term they fizzle out and influence erodes. I have used the same process for almost two decades to sell to different industries, and in different parts of the world. It’s a simple process and it helps the sales professionals walk through the customer’s five buying decisions that they must answer before they will purchase our products or services.
We have to meet the customer’s needs and then we will be rewarded with their business and grow influence with them for future sales.
If you’d like to take the opportunity to learn this easy to utilize process to increase your sales click here.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Guest Post by Salesforce.com
I always encourage others to guest post for my blog and today I am happy to let you know that salesforce.com is today’s guest blog post.
I hope you enjoy their content!
I always encourage others to guest post for my blog and today I am happy to let you know that salesforce.com is today’s guest blog post.
I hope you enjoy their content!
When people are getting started in their sales careers, they’re faced with learning a large number of specific terms, phrases, and sales acronyms. One concept all salespeople need to understand is sales operations, or sales ops, which is more than just a company’s process for making a sale. Sales ops encompasses the entirety of sales: It includes the systems, technologies, and processes that companies use to find and train salespeople, who can then identify prospects, capture leads, nurture potential customers, and win opportunities. Companies that need to define their sales ops have seven best practices to follow, from defining sales territories to avoid overlap to routinely analyzing and optimizing performance. For any company, sales ops need to be heavily documented. Processes should be as simple as possible, but clearly detailed and implemented with care. This commitment to high-quality sales ops ensures sales is handled in a measured way that helps sales teams succeed.
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Via Salesforce
What Customers Crave
For the past couple of weeks, I have been hoping that you have been able to understand how to generate more sales and influence with your customers.
Today, let’s talk about what customers actually crave from us as we sell to them. What is the customer really asking us each time they interact with us whether face to face meetings, calling customer service, on social media, etc. What is it that the customer is trying to communicate to us?
Customers want to be known and heard. That is right, our customers want to be known by us, called by name, and to know that without a shadow of a doubt that our teams will support their needs! They also want us to know what they mean when they can’t articulate into words. So how do we do this for them?
We need to be intentional to reach out to them to figure out what they need. It’s that simple. Get out of our comfort zones, stop trying to guess, and actually ask the customers what are their struggles. What issues do they currently have so we can go to work to resolve those issues. All of the great customer focused organizations like Amazon, Apple, Google, Zappos, etc are customer focused organizations.
In the book Invent and Wander, all of the Amazon shareholder letters are shared from inception up to now as to what Amazon is focused on. The root of all decisions is how can me make doing business with Amazon better for the customer. Decisions revolve around that one main core value.
Customers were even asked what other products / services they would buy besides books when Amazon started in 1997. That question led to expanding offerings from books to windshield wipers, to today where you literally are now able to purchase groceries in certain areas. Asking the customers for their input is powerful and a large task at the same time.
I would also ask customers that we are currently doing business with to understand what issues they have with dealing with us. When we see common themes we can know where to spend our time to focus on improvements that will actually move the needle. When customers notice improvements, their confidence does increase.
We also need to make sure that when the customer is buying from us that we make it as easy as possible to deal with us. That is key because they are already having resistance to parting from their hard-earned money. They are investing in making their lives better. We need to help them with that decision and make sure when the customer invests with us customers are taken care of.
Not do we need to make sure our products / services meets the customer’s needs, we also need to make sure the customer experience is exceptional. Too many organizations make it so hard to do business with in an effort to make sure the organization is showing profits to its shareholders. Now I’m not saying we need to make sure we are giving everything away. What I am in fact saying is that we need to make sure our focus is on how to enrich our customer’s transactions, experience, and life with our product / service so that they don’t hesitate to purchase from us again.
Only then will we be able to look back with exceptional growth in our markets.
Check out my online training The Sales Process Uncovered for help with growing your sales.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Short Term Profits, or Raving Fans, Which Do You Prefer
Good morning everyone.
Last week we spoke about customer loyalty. Today let’s talk about how to generate “Raving Fans” which is what we all want. Have you ever been to a concert standing next to thousands of other people singing the same lyrics as you as the band performs on stage? Have you ever been to a sporting event where you and the people around you are cheering for your team and sharing memories of how WE beat the rivals? How about a restaurant experience that you couldn’t help but tell others that they need to go to? Wouldn’t it be awesome if we had that kind of following for our businesses?
In today’s world it is easier to get a company launched and with social media it is even faster to come to market with new products. Business owners are trying to find the quick ways to generate profits and return customers.
Here’s the secret sauce for doing this. It takes time! Sad, but true it takes time to generate loyal customers and raving fans. As a business owner we need to define what we want. Do we want short-term profits or long-term success?
When customers buy a product / service from most organizations that is the end of the transaction. Unfortunately, the 90 days after a purchase are the most crucial for the customer. They need our help to be successful with this new investment. If we simply take the payment and say, “Good Luck!” we’ll be looking at lower sales in the future. Without repeat customers and customers reaching out to others on our behalfs, we will have to keep pushing hard with effort to grow sales. We need to serve our customers well, or suffer the consequences of burn out and becoming a commodity.
The 90 days after a purchase are crucial to make sure the customer is using the product or service to its full potential. Think about some of the products / services we have bought only for them to be collecting dust because we did not know how to use them properly. We fell that infomercial we watched late at night lied to us.
Today with social media being easily accessed a small business owner can reach all customers with emails, videos, and webinars at the click of a button and with low cost. Why not make sure the customer has all the tools to help them be successful with our products? What about group events when we travel to a city to invite those customers out to network and offer support?
No magic, just simply focusing on the customer to make sure they are successful. They are investing their hard, earned money with us so we need to treat them like they are making an investment in us. Customers are taking a risk on our products / service so let’s help them be successful. Constantly reaching out with successful tips and trick and not just selling the customer something else is how we serve them well!
I have read a great book called “Fanology” by the David and Reiko Scott. They have great insight on how organizations have generated awesome fan bases that sustain long-term success. One part of the book that really stopped me and made me think was this quote:
“The relationships we build with our customers are more important than the products and services we sell to them.”
If we want to generate more “FANS” for our products / services we need to focus on how we can make them successful with our products / services that we offer. If we are not focused on serving the customer and building relationships with them, then our products / services become a commodity. The only differentiating factor in a commodity is price. It’s also not sustainable for long term growth for your organization because each day there are similar products coming to market for a cheaper price.
Focus on making the customer successful and building a relationship with them. Wouldn’t it be awesome serving and connecting with customers so well that they become fans and sell our products / services for us? Who wouldn’t want that a sales force that we don’t have to pay because they are so passionate about our product / service?
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Customer Loyalty, We Want It Right?
Good morning everyone,
Everywhere you look you see articles on how to build customer loyalty. Just about every major retailer has a loyalty program. Offers are given with point systems in hopes of retaining customers. These are all great things, but there is one area that businesses are falling short.
What about the new customer that does not know our brand and has no idea how awesome we are? What are we doing today to keep them for a lifetime? These individuals want to believe that if they join our “club” we are going to take care of them, but they have been taken advantage of so many times they may be a little skeptical.
All of us can be Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A in the future with lines for the drive through wrapping around parking lots and disrupting street traffic flow. What we need to do is think about ways to serve customers so well that they want to keep coming back.
Both Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A do one thing really, really well. It’s customer service. That’s right they are always going above and beyond the call to serve the customer. This is resulting in customer loyalty, a Fanocrocy, and great business success even during pandemics. People will literally wait in 20 min lines for a cup of coffee, and chicken sandwiches.
Chick-Fil-A also has one thing they do every time they serve us when we say thank you. They respond immediately with “it’s my pleasure.” They literally ingrain each employee to be customer service focused. It does not matter which location we to go, we still get great consistent service.
When an organization focuses only on profits and not on serving the customers it never ends well. Doing the right thing consistently over time creates loyalty. Making sure we have set up a solid customer service focus no matter how long the customers have been doing with us is key to achieving customer loyalty.
Focusing only on maintaining the customers we currently have loyalty with will erode as they expire. Yes, I have checked the data everyone expires! If we only focus on those that have bought several products from us to generate loyalty at the risk of making things right for a new customer, we will LOSE!!!
Too many organizations focus on short term profits. One main driver for this is publicly traded companies focusing on making their stock holders more money as their main goals. All organizational goals serve this one main goal. How do we make shareholders more money?
Organizations should also not focus on helping only those that have pledged loyalty to their brand, but consistently doing the right thing to generate future loyal “Fans.” When “Fans” pledge their loyalty to us, they tell others how awesome our organization are. They share stories of how we have helped them and rave about our service. We have sales people selling for us that are not on our payroll. Wouldn’t you like that?
Do not take the customer’s payment and walk away from the transaction waiting to see if the customer will buy from us again before we give extra effort. Give the extra effort up front and every time we engage people and we will be rewarded!
Check back in next week and I’ll help you with a few ideas on how to grow more loyal customers and some ideas of how to gain more fans that will sell your brand.
Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Why You Need To Focus On Relationships With Customers
Good morning everyone,
I remember a story of a successful business owner that had sold his company and stayed on to support the transition. The new organization had a Chief Financial Officer making the decisions. This CFO also did not like sales people and had a belief that every sale could be done automatically. No need for outside sales people. Salespeople were just an expense to the organization.
If we are not meeting with customers regularly to learn about their needs, then how are we going to build influence? Sales is influence and the more influence we have the more sales opportunities we have as a result. A lack of influence will quickly turn us and our product into a commodity! The only differentiating factor for a commodity is price. Then starts the race to the bottom where there is no margin and likely no quality.
Some of the most successful business owners that I have had the chance to sit with state that it is imperative to build the relationship with the customer. The larger the relationship, the more influence we are granted and as a result the move opportunities we have with the customer. We need to have relationships before we are ever going to be able to sell something to someone. That is of course unless we are the cheapest price which typically means less value proposition.
I have been able to visit some of my old customers that I have not called on in years. They will smile, ask me out to dinner, and sit with me for hours to discuss where they are at with their current business situations. They even have asked for insight on what I might recommend still to this day! It is a great feeling that I was able to influence individuals enough that they will take time to catch up as well as look for my advice.
These conversations would not have happened had I not worked on the personal side of the business as much as the transactional side. Knowing our customers on a personal level and understanding their aspirations is a huge benefit. People want to know that they matter. Building that relationship is extremely important in helping them achieve their goals.
It is almost an art form watching an old sales professional work the personal relationship and send birthday cards for the customer’s family, as well as celebrating wins that the customer has had.
Meetings on the golf course have transacted in large business deals that cannot be instantaneously measured. Looking back on the sales process and building relationships will allow our business to grow with our customers. The transactions do happen, but not until we have a level of influence that the customer allows us to show them a better way. People will not buy from us if they do not know, like, and trust us.
I encourage you to leverage the personal side of business along with the professional side. If learning about people was not important than why do Amazon, Facebook, and your smart phones listen in on your conversations as well as track your searches?
Send a card for your customer’s birthdays, kids’ birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. It is a great feeling to celebrate with customers and form lasting relationships.
Remember the first buying decision a potential customer makes is the Salesperson!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
What is Rapport and Why Is It Necessary?
I actually had both the better product and the cheaper price, but still lost the sale when I was starting out.
I’ve heard sales people over the years say a sale is only dependent only on the price. The cheapest price will win the sale every time. I have heard others say that people will just want to buy the product and nothing else matters. If you have the better product then you will win the sale.
I actually had both the better product and the cheaper price, but still lost the sale when I was starting out. There was this sales representative from my competitor that had such a great relationship with the customers and the customer’s customers. He got all the deals. He had some much influence that people would almost flock to him like he was a celebrity.
This sales person had an inferior product from benefits and features stand point and had a higher price, but with his impact on people he just won. It blew my mind and I could not wrap my mind around it. I am engineer by nature so I tend to go black and white with details. It did not compute. I researched the competition and knew what I was up against. I had it nailed all of the aspects that people had told me. What I did not have down was the grey area where relationships reside.
I speak to this quite often when teaching sales professionals that there are three things that everyone asks themselves subconsciously as they walk up to you:
Do I like you?
Do I trust you?
How can you help me?
When I finally realized what this variable was that I was getting my butt kicked on. It was the relationships. When I started out in sales I was told to build rapport.
Rapport is defined as “A positive or close relationship between people that often involves mutual trust, understanding and attention. Those that develop rapport often have realized that they have similar interests, knowledge, or behaviors” – businessdictionary.com
Most sales trainings teach you to look around the room with your customer and find a way to connect on similar hobbies, activities, family, etc. This is a good beginning to building a relationship with your customer, but there is a great need to go deeper with the customer. Just merely having similar interests and viewpoints is a good start, but it is a superficial level. If you want to have relationships that a deep and fruitful, you need to go deeper.
Dale Carnegie training taught me how to build get deeper relationships. This is done mainly with a mindset of being truly focused on the customer to know them and help them. Having such a relationship will help you form relationships and build unmatched influence. You end up with a relationship that brings you more opportunities and also have the customer being an advocate with others to bring you more business. The best realtors are a great example of this. They gain new customers by word of mouth from previous customers. Word of mouth is still the best form of advertising. When someone is looking to buy or sell a home, everyone is speaking about the select few realtors that the person needs to work with.
To build deep relationships with customers you need rapport, focus on learning about them, and having trust. Use these three things and you will have strong relationships with your customers and have a solid future in sales.
I have created a quick and easy online training for you called trustworthy to help you build great levels of trust quickly.
By building deep relationships with customers, I was able to land a $20 million per year five-year contract. That is $100 million contract. I was able to obtain information needed to kick off my team and produce a proposal that put my organization in play for a program that we were not thought of as a possibility prior.
If you would like to carry the conversation deeper comment on this blog, reach out via email, or do the old-fashioned thing and give me a call so we can discuss deep relationships in sales.
Have a great weekend.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
So You Want To Lead...Better Know Sales!
I was not sure why I needed to know sales at the time to be a good manager, but I knew I would figure out why someday.
When I first started in sales it was on the premise that if I wanted to be a great manager, business owner, lawyer, president, I needed to know sales. That is what a successful business owner told me after I had told him that I wanted to be a manager in the next five years. He was a great leader and still has people working for him that were with him since he opened his company in the mid 1980’s. I was not sure why I needed to know sales at the time to be a good manager, but I knew I would figure out why someday.
At first, I was hesitant to change careers. Six months of hesitation and discussions to be exact. I did not want to be a salesperson because all life had taught me was that they were only out for their own gain. I did not want to actively be associated with that stigma?
When I did decide to try this sales thing out, I figured that sales would be easy. The first year of sales was a rude awakening. It literally looked like a heartbeat of someone that just took their last breath. I was fortunate to have a chance to keep going and learning from the successful business owner in what he called “hands on training.”
Hands on training meant that I was to help him with projects after hours, gain training from peers, and hours of trainings to perfect my craft. I did weekend deliveries, helped him with personal projects, etc. Basically, anything he needed extra help with I was there. This was valuable time with him mentoring me all he knew about sales and business.
I excelled from then on to become a great sales leader in my industry and even relocated to another part of the United States to help grow a new territory. We did very well there with great purpose. Customers started opening up fast to me and sales were increasing as the years went by. I was awarded the prize of top salesman for the United States and had taken the territory to where it had never been. I won’t give all those secrets away today on how we did this, but I can tell you it was not because we were the cheapest price or by doing anything unethical.
What I can tell you is that this success was because of Influence. As influence increases people trust us more and are willing to go deeper in relationships with us. These relationships open up the doors to long lasting and deep relationships. The more influence someone has the more they excel in whatever they are doing.
I had customers asking me about other aspects about their business as time went on. They were confiding in me as a trusted asset that could help them break through their ceiling to the next level. It was eye opening that I was able to help them with simple things up to the complex integrations of business solutions.
What I found is that the sales process that I keynote and perform trainings on helps people build amazing amounts of influence fast! That is right, selling correctly helps us build influence! Keep in mind that selling is not just a product or service. It can be selling a vision, mission, or idea that we need others to help us achieve. By building influence using the sales process, leaders gain more engagement their teams.
As you look around your organization look at those relationships of those that go out of their way to help you and those that don’t. See how much influence you have with each of these groupings of people. The more influence you have, the farther you and your organization will go.
Happy selling!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Do You Trust Me…?
We have to have trust in relationships, the products we use in our daily lives, our organizations we work for, basically we have to put some trust in everything we come in contact with.
Have you ever noticed in just about every action movie there is this one moment where the two last survivors are about to make some kind of daring jump to freedom with the phrase just prior, “Do you trust me?” Just once I would like to see one of them say, “nope I’ll take my chances…” and see how the director makes it work.
Movies play out this request all the time, but in actuality we are asking this question to just about everyone we come in contact with.
Trust is a huge mechanism for us to function with others. We need to trust that they will not hurt us, steal from us, or do anything to affect us negatively in our daily lives. Trust is a big deal! It is part of our survival mechanism, so we need to think about that when we are working with others especially in business.
I have studied the art of building rapport with people for over a decade and trying to understand how to build deep relationships with customers. One of the key ingredients to building rapport with people is trust. If we don’t have trust, we will not be able to function effectively in the sales process. Trust is crucial!
We have to have trust in relationships, the products we use in our daily lives, our organizations we work for, basically we have to put some trust in everything we come in contact with. We trust that the vehicle we drive will not just explode when we turn the key or push the start button. We trust that the engineers and the manufacturing individuals have assembled the product / service so that it will function properly.
I have had to work at being trustworthy and to show my trustworthiness to those I have come in contact with in all situations. Early in my sales career, I took over sales territory in Florida which our organization had never had distribution in. We had to work extremely hard to build trust with this new customer base.
I took a Dale Carnegie course on human relations, learned all I could about the new products as well as the competitive landscape, and did a great deal of leg work to build the trust that we were going to do what we said we were going to do for our new customers. This meant a great deal of studying the competitive landscape while on the road, going out to sell products for my customers to their customers, train my customer’s sales force, help them with marketing, etc. There was a great deal of effort on my part to build trust.
Amazing things happened as a result. Some of my customers asking my opinion on other aspects of their business, products they were looking to purchase, inviting me on fishing / hunting trips to their properties, etc. Our Sales were taking off as well! I have even received phone calls from past customers to catch up even though I have not called on them in over eight years. I am excited when I see my customers winning!
Trust is a huge factor in organizational success, teams, and relationships. Without trust we won’t get very far in life. We need to put forth great amounts of focus on building trust with those we come in contact each and every day. I do this when I am speaking with organizations on how to help them, writing blogs, and recording videos to help each and every one of you get some insight in hopes that you have more success. Trust is a huge moral obligation to me.
I have had the opportunity to speak on trust to organizations that builds axles, drive shafts, robotic solutions, sell real estate, and financial services. The one common theme that all took away is that if they wanted to move forward faster, they needed to have high levels of trust in their organizations. The world moves fast and with trust we will be able to keep up!
If you would like access to an online training at a fraction of the cost of having me come in to speak to you and your team check out my Trustworthy training that you can take where ever you have an internet connection and at your own pace.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Having a Plan to Succeed in Sales
Is doing business with your organization that beneficial for the customer? If not, your product / service will be considered just another commodity with the only differentiator being price.
A few years back a friend and myself decided it would be a great idea to do a sprint triathlon. I figured I was in decent shape and could swim well. After all, once you finished the swim all you had to do was hop on a bike for a bit and then run a 5k. I have done 5k runs many times so I was not worried about the run and I bought a road bike so I could ride faster than a mountain bike. I did two swims in the water, road the bike a few times, and I didn’t need to run because, hey I could do it. I figured I had it all planned out to succeed and do well… figured I had it planned out enough…
The day came for the race and my friend and I were in the water ready to go. The starter sounded of the start of the race and we both jumped in with our awesome swim caps. About ten strokes into the swim I was out of energy. I looked up and saw that there were only two rescue boats and a long way to go. At that moment I knew I was in for a long day. I did every stroke I could and did the dead man’s float sometimes. Eventually I made it through the swim, did the bike, and then got into the run. I was so not prepared for that event.
The next year I trained and planned, and then trained some more. The results were very different because of a better training plan and executing that plan.
In sales, if we want to do well, we need to have a plan and work the plan. We can’t just show up and expect to for sales to just happen. We need to map out where we want the conversations to go and what areas will hit the customer’s needs. We need to review our notes about the customer and figure out what solutions we can address for them to help them. One image that still is in the back of my mind when I am visiting with customers and training is that of handing a bill to the customer when I am leaving.
Was the time spent with me worth the customer paying me?
Would your customer say the time spent with you worth $200, $250, or even $500 for that hour meeting?
What kind of solutions did the customer come away with that will equip them to function more profitably?
Is doing business with your organization that beneficial for the customer? If not, your product / service will be considered just another commodity with the only differentiator being price.
A plan is needed to make the sales call worth both parties investment of time and resources. This is a new age and because of technology customers are more informed and need sales professionals to help them create their unique solution.
What does your sales call plan look like?
What are your premeeting preparations?
Are you answering the three questions your customer is asking at each interaction?
Do I like you?
Do I trust you?
How can you help me?
Create the plan, execute the plan, and have a back-up plan if something happens that you didn’t expect. Be prepared. And if you do a triathlon, practice swimming, it could be the difference between life and death out there!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”