We have all been in this situation. The customer calls for a question on their plan and the customer service speaks out the normal parameters to the result of the customer screaming” That is not what I agreed to!!!” Ever had that happen to you?
The last few weeks I have talked about the five buying decisions that the customer must make before they will buy. It is great insight if you are new to sales, or want to gain a new perspective.
Today I want to focus on the biggest debate in sales. It revolves around the following question:
If the customer decides to use a competitor, do we as sales people confirm their decision is the right one for them?
How many times have you had this happen? You’ve spent hours, weeks, months working on a project for a customer and they decide to use your competitor’s solution. Everything is going well in the progress of the sales process and just before you expect to get the awarded business, you receive a phone call from the customer staying they are going a different path, or worse they ghost you. It’s a kick to the…gut. Negative thoughts about how good of a sales professional we are run through our heads and we wonder if we will ever sell again.
Then thoughts of the customer not being smart enough to see our value soon take over. The customer just didn’t want to do business with us anyways. We tend to do this to keep our pride up so that we can walk into the next customer and hopefully change out luck for the better.
I believe the customer is always right when buying a new product / service. I do not want to undermine their decision because if I do then I have told them they are not smart enough to make a decision. Who wants to do business with someone that has the audacity to do that? If they do not buy my product / service then I do acknowledge and confirm they made the correct decision for themselves while wishing them well.
What is key is that if the customer does not see the product meeting their specific needs, then they just can’t make the proper decision to buy our product. This is not the customer’s fault. I know customer service representatives that have answered calls with fuming customers screaming that the product was not what the sales person told them it was. Customers have told me that they had bought products and regretted making those purchases just because they did not want to hurt the sales person’s feelings.
It is our duty as sales professionals to make sure we are answering the customer’s needs with our product / service. If we are not answering those needs, then the customer has every right not to purchase from us. The customer is the one holding the money and has every right to make the decision on where they invest resources. We must make sure that not only we sell to them, but we walk with them for the next 90 days so they are successful. Our future rides on their success.
So where do you sit on this topic? Post your comments on this blog so others can see your view points!
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!”
Last week we finished the fifth and final buying decision for the customer and the work it takes after this buying decision for the sales person to really knock it out of the park. If you haven’t had a chance to read that article check it out here (add link)
This week I want to share some ideas with you as to the extra steps you might try so that your customers are successful for the next 90 days after the sale! Their success is crucial for your future success.
Videos – with the advent of YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc there is a vast array of opportunities to help your customers with video interactions. Videos for top 10 uses for your product / service, self-diagnosis of typical issues that can arise, starter guide on your product / service as a reminder if the customer does not use what you have already taught. Customer testimonials is also another great idea.
Support Groups – Facebook has a fantastic platform for loyal customers to access with questions and success stories. I am on FB groups for a number of programs I have purchased such as the SpeakerLab, John Maxwell Team, Financial Peace University, etc. These groups are great for asking questions and cheering others on. These groups create a Fanocracy that is so impactful, that customers become loyal sales people for your vision. Releasing control of your product / service and allowing the customers to show you how to improve it is also a benefit to doing these groups.
Email – I know we all get too many emails throughout the day with advertisements. Why not flip the script and send out shortcuts and life hacks while using your product / service instead of just trying to sell them? What about using the Facebook group’s ideas to share with your email list of what others are saying about your product. Why not highlight those customers that are achieving the best results and share with your prospective customers? What about meets ups coming up in the customer’s nearby location? Why not use email for more than just trying to sell the customer with another flash sale.
I hope these ideas have helped you with your quest to sales success and what you can do to increase your influence with customers.
I also wanted to give you an inside look at what I have been working on this past summer and what I hope will be ready very soon. I have been filming my sales process uncovered training so that you may be able to use it whenever you want to. No more traveling to events, staying in uncomfortable hotel beds, in different time zones. This training will you faster than just the blogs I write weekly for you. The training will help you become that 1% of successful sales professionals.
As always, I will keep posting blogs for you to add ideas on how to sell more efficient and how you can achieve higher levels of success.
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!”
The customer has now purchased our product / service and we celebrate! Unfortunately, this is where 99% of sales people stop 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!”
Buying Decision 3 is the part in my trainings where the sales professionals believe they need zero help. It’s at this time that I have to ask participants for examples to show me how they work on this buying decision.
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.
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 them. We can not simply rain features and benefits all over them. We need to sell by answering 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 finally able to 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!
Below is a simple graphic I use to create the questions:
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 and they are wrong. See I am playing the long game with selling that builds influence.
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?
To find out how to apply the total Sales Process Uncovered training with your team, follow click here and get moving forward to reaching your sales goals!
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!”
Have you been disturbed with the lack of customer service from an organization that you’ve told yourself that you will never buy anything from them ever 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. Now I may in the future decide to purchase from them, but it will be a while.
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 largest value to customers. They have a business plan to be low value and low cost. What I have found that cheapest price is not necessarily the best value. Organizations that cut corners to save a few dollars end up sacrificing millions in the long run. Truth be told that if organizations are not providing exceptional value they are a commodity.
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 a paycheck. This same demographic is also the largest demographic of individuals in US history. This demographic of individuals strive 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.
So how do organizations do this? 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 e-commerce for the customer’s products and services online? What does our organizations do to enable 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 it’s customers and society? Put your answer in the comments below in this blog.
P.S. If you would like to take the online training to learn all five buying decisions click the image below:
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!”
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 “The Salesperson”, the customer does not trust us and we can’t show them how we can help them, the customer will simply go to another source and buy. 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 Udemy called the five buying decisions, I walk 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.
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 vehicle. Ask deeper questions to understand the why behind the customer’s decision.
People crave to be understood and know that we are with them to help guide them on finding a solution. 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?
Now 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 you personally have had in sales. This will take some time, but it will help you in the long run. Play through the situations in your head and what you could have done better, and where you nailed it. We want to focus on opportunities for improvement as well as use the tools we already have to excel.
If we do not get the first buying decision down 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 opportunities. 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. Next week is Buying Decision 2 for 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!”
Good morning everyone,
Last week we talked about how sales people tend to get introductions out of the way and then jump straight into selling their product or service. These same sales prople have not proven themselves reliable, or trustworthy to the customer, but yet these sales people believe they can sell the customer what they need.
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 you something that they have these qualities? Do you think they really care about your needs?
We as sales professionals need to make sure we are answering these three questions for the customer as soon as possible:
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 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.
Science has shown that depending on the environment (noise levels, smells, colors, lighting, etc) the customer can actually become more 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 about being attacked by sales people and allows them to answer “Do I like you” in a relaxed state.
What will you be wearing the next time you show up to work? Will you be paying attention to the customer and welcoming them, or will you be going in for the kill to make a sale? Make sure to be attentive to the customer and allow them to like you.
Answering Do I trust you and How can you help me is also needed 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. Next week we will help you structure those questions.
Click on the picture below for my Udemy training on the five buying decisions so you can get a jump on the rest of the people reading my blog posts!
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!
Customers buy to satisfy needs, not features and benefits. It’s a simple concept, but hard to practice sometimes.
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 too early.
Too many sales people get through the introductions and then jump into pitching their products or service. They use the shotgun blast approach and hope somethings sticks to where the customer will leap towards them with a hug saying thank you for answering all my worries. Unfortunately, the customer is actually put off by this practice of selling. Then the customers immediately decide they are not going to buy from this salesperson.
Meanwhile the salesperson is still shooting off more and more benefits and features while the customer is thinking…“How do I get out of here?”
Most customers will wait for the presentation to end 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 we 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. We start small and grow our influence with the customer over time. We as sales professionals are not all knowing and understanding of the customer’s needs. We need to stop ourselves and ask questions, a great deal of questions. This starts building influence with the customer because we are showing that we care. We need the customer to buy off on us before they will ever think about buying our product or service. Here’s another point that I need to make, the larger the sale, the longer it takes to understand the customer’s needs.
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 sales strategies 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 drill 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 well over a decade 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.
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!”
I was reflecting the other day on building rapport with others which is essential in building influence with others. Building rapport is especially important during this time with the pandemic keeping all of us separated.
Whether we are a coach, meeting with a client, or are taking part in an interview we need to be able to build rapport quickly. We form our first impressions of others in less than 60 seconds. These two questions “Do I like you? and Do I trust you?,” are answered in that 60 seconds. If you want influence, then you need to be able to build rapport.
People also associate with others that they know, like, and trust. I have even heard of people being hired because they were more relatable even though they were not the most qualified. Isn’t that interesting. Rapport building is an essential skill to have if we are going to interact with other people.
So how do we build rapport?
Here are four ways that I build rapport with others:
Be Helpful
Be willing to help them with whatever they need help with. Go the extra mile to help others even when we think we have done enough. One step further... It could be helping a child with an assignment on the football field going through the play with them one on one and then helping them step through the steps in that process. It could be jumping in to help unload something that the person we are meeting with is trying to unload from a truck without trying to get something from them in return. It could also be helping sweep up a mess that has happened for the customer while they are trying to fill an order, or sending follow up note to the person that the task was completed for them by your organization. Being genuine and helpful will go a long way at building rapport with people.
Be Intentional
By being intentional I mean really look to find common ground with those people we are interacting with. This can be researching them on social media such as Linkedin, Facebook, local associations they are affiliated with, google etc. Being intentional to learn about those people and their interests are very impactful. Not just to gain a sale, but to be intentionally curious about them and hear them.
Be Respectful
People want to feel valued and that they are important. Why not make them feel that way? Let them know that we have their back and are willing to do the work with them. Call them sir or ma’am when they are older than us is a good way to show respect. Using their name (sweetest sound to any person is their own name), using our manners, asking them questions. By being respectful we are showing respect and who doesn’t like some R.E.S.P.E.C.T.?
Be Enthusiastic
Show some enthusiasm with the person we are talking to. Use humor, make them feel comfortable, and lower the tension. People that smile and make people laugh are far more enjoyable. These people build rapport more so than someone who walks around like the Winnie the Pooh character Eeyore that moped around and never showed excitement. People like to be around light hearted and fun people. Show some enthusiasm and energy. People gravitate towards others that are full of energy.
There you have it, think of H.I.R.E. when you are looking to build rapport. Focus on others and help them get to where they way to go, be respectful and be enthusiastic in order to build rapport. We want the person to like us so much that they can’t think of anyone else they would rather talk to for our subject matter.
If you are interested in building more influence click the image below and you will be taken to my course. I will guide you in the principals on how to answer the three questions that everyone asks at each interaction.
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!”
Happy Quarantine everyone,
I know that most of us are getting restless and want to know when this pandemic will be over enough for us to get back to our normal routines. I was on the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC.gov) and noticed the number of cases by day reducing greatly as we move through April (as shown in the picture above). This could mean that we are getting over the hill finally in the US as well as other areas.
I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe I am just an optimist, but I encourage you to check out the CDC website for yourself and get true facts instead of some of the news media who thrive on keeping us glued to our screens reading their negative headlines. Keep in mind that this is how news organizations generate advertising dollars, by keeping people glued to their screens reading their articles. People tend to stay longer and read more when it relates to negative headlines.
Please don’t get sucked into the hype and instead focus on the positives of this situation. While we are in quarantine, what are some of those things that we had been putting off because we didn’t have time? The fastest way to getting past fear is to get into motion. Motion can be anything that propels us forward whether it be learning a new skill, reading personal help books, getting into shape, trying new recipes, or maybe it’s launching a new business?
I have taken this time to create online learning options for customers. I am in the process of editing some of the video, so that I can offer all of you other options for leadership and sales training. This will allow more areas for helping others. I thrive on helping others. Stay tuned for more updates and when they will be available.
The other thing that propels people forward is giving. That’s right giving! When things seem dark does not seem like a viable option, but when we take the focus off our fears and reach out to help others this amazing thing happens. We feel joy! There are tons of elderly people that are scared to catch this disease. They would be so grateful for someone picking up groceries for them and maybe cleaning the groceries for them? Giving does not always have to be monetary, it can be time and other resources. What could you do today to help someone in need?
What if we used this time for growth, starting a new opportunity, and to reconnect with those that have become distant with? Making moments for others during this time will not necessarily extinguish fear, but it will help us to reframe our focus and who knows, give a little hope to someone else.
What is it that you have not had time in the past to do that might be a great opportunity?
Please comment below and let me know how you have capitalized during this time.
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!”
Isn’t this a question we all ask? How can you help me?
Today we are in the third question that people ask during each interaction. If we get past the first two we are on our way if we can also answer this question.
All of us by nature are born with the innate desire to find out how we can be helped by associating with others. Call it selfishness, survival, whatever you want to call it. We are born with this desire to find out how we will benefit by the interaction with another.
Our customers want to know how they will get to a better place by doing business with us as well. Just like us, they want to know how their lives will improve. It’s up to us to answer that question each and every time we interact with them. If we chose not to, then we will find ourselves receiving price down requests instead of how can we help them innovate. No one wants to continually fight cost down requests. We want to have people coming to us for help and providing solid solutions for them.
The question we should be asking ourselves is what do we have in our capabilities to make the customer’s life better? How by doing business with us will we help them. This is a crucial change in our focus. Instead of focusing on how we can benefit, we need to shift that focus onto how we can help the customer. What is it that we, and our organization can do to help the customer get to a better place.
Do we have a software package that will allow for the customer to spend less time counting inventory with real time updates? Do we have interactive videos that will help the customer walk through and diagnose malfunctions with their equipment? How about an app that tells the customer when their robot they are using is not functioning as efficient and needs a service call before it breaks?
One thing that I have strived to do is add value in each interaction. It doesn’t have to be monetary all the time. It can be helping the customer with software that we are fluent in that they may be having issues with, ideas and local hot spots for a vacation location that the customer wants to travel to that we have also visited, life hacks, deals, helping them find toilet paper when the country is freaking out during a pandemic, connecting them with someone we know that can help them, etc.
The key is to take the focus off of wondering how we can capitalize from the exchange and how we can add value to the customer. I love the quote from Zig Zigler that says, “You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough people get what they want.” Read that one more time and marinate on that for a few minutes…
It doesn’t mean we just give away all of our profit if we are selling something, but it does say constantly add value with those we come in contact with and focus on how we can help them. Not for how we will benefit, but how that person will get to a better place. It is harder to accept something with a closed fist, but with an open hand more can be added.
I know we are all in stressful times right now with what is going on in the world, but we will get through this and we will become stronger because of it. Innovation is happening each day and we will be ready for the next challenge. If we open up our hands today and help those around us especially in this time of need, we will get to a better place ourselves.
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!”
Today we get into the second question that customers are asking themselves when speaking to sales people. Do I trust you?
That is a huge question that if answered No, can stop you from selling anything to that customer. If they do not trust you then you are stuck and you can’t get past the first of five buying decisions.
I have spent the majority of my sales career studying why people buy. Being that I was an engineer there had to be an equation and magic was not going to be the answer. What I found is that when people use humor, are upfront, and show empathy towards others. That is when people really start to open up and trust.
I’ve had a manager that had issues gaining trust. This manager would openly tell anyone he first met within the first few minutes about his Christianity, but his actions would contradict what he would say he stands for. He was explosive to be around and would demand you follow his view points on business. If you challenged his view points, watch out!
This kind of behavior erodes trust the same as lying to others. Trust is crucial for any kind of growth between sales organizations and their customers.
So how can we grow trust fast?
1. Social Proof
2. Heart of a teacher
3. Open and honest communication
4. Encourage customers to show you opportunities for improvement
Social proof is using a mutual connection between the customer and yourself. So many people like Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, music artists, etc would see huge followings after being on the Oprah show. Once they leveraged that connection, they were considered the go to expert. Now we can’t all get on the Oprah channel, but we can leverage anyone that we know who knows us well that could reach out on our behalf.
Having a heart of a teacher is offering help to the customer get them to a better place even if it does not benefit you. Teaching the customer to give them free knowledge for the heart of helping them is something that is lacking in today’s culture. People tend to only want to help if they will receive something in return. What I can tell you is that if you want to gain trust, you have to have a heart of a teacher to help the customer.
Open and honest communication means reaching out when you see something bad coming, but also making sure that the customer is not unsure about anything related to your products. Making sure that they are communicated to in a personal level is key. Pick up the phone when you can instead of just sending an email. This is something that I still struggle with sometimes when I am busy, but what I have learned is making sure I talk to the customer is key. Keep in mind the written word it taken negative most times when someone reads it. Most of communication is nonverbal, posture, tone of voice, etc. An email does not help with communication.
The last key thing to do is encouraging the customers to show you opportunities for improvement. Allowing the customer to feel like they are apart of the product design in the future makes them feel like they are apart of something more than just themselves. We all strive to feel like we are included in decisions, so encouraging them will allow for this to open up.
There you have it. Four ways to grow trust fast. SHOE… You need to have your shoes on if you plan to walk the talk :)
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Most business 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!”
Good morning everyone. Last week we discussed the three questions that customers ask when the meet with us on every interaction. If you missed it click here to catch up.
The first question that we ask ourselves subconsciously when we interact with another person is “Do I like you?” Our brains are trying to figure out if this person standing in front of us is a threat or a potential ally. Should we stay, or run like…
Physically our bodies will change posture depending on how this question is answered. Our posture will literally change as much as leaning in to leaning back depending on engagement and trust. This is why sales professionals have been taught to always mirror your customer’s posture.
Did you know that depending on if you are male or female you tend to want to stand in different postures when interacting? Women prefer to stand at 90 degree angles to men when they are interacting in the personal space. They naturally want to keep a guard up to not feel vulnerable. Men typically like to stand face to face total body facing their counterpart.
Are you starting to see how this might be a problem getting someone to like you if you do something small like use the incorrect stance?
Here is something else that will impact the way someone answers that question. The color you wear on your clothing can also impact how you are judged. That’s right the color we wear actually has an impact on how others perceive us. We could start the discussion off on the wrong foot just by color. In Robert Cialdini’s book “Influence,” he breaks down the colors and what they mean. It is a must read if you are working to sales! To make it easier for you, I tend to wear light blue and white shirts when I meet someone for the first time because those colors are associated with “Trust.” They are also calming colors. I want the customer calm and feeling like I am a trustworthy advocate for them.
I make sure to wear the right color tones for the meeting that I am about to have. The reason is I need the customer to feel at ease while meeting with me. They will be more relaxed and willing to hear me while we are discussing a topic. I also pay close attention to their posture as what I have learned is that 93% of communication is actually non-verbal.
Here are some other factors that can affect the first impression:
Scents you wear
voice tonality
pace of speech
jewelry you wear
There is a great deal here, but for now just focus on how you present yourself and talk may affect whether your customer will like you. The old saying you only get one chance to make a first impression still is true today. Making sure we are paying attention to the person standing in front of us will help us greatly.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Most sales teams can’t seem to understand why some of their sales team can sell their products or services and why others struggle with mild success. I teach your sales professionals to walk the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to allow all of your sales professionals generate more sales with higher margins!”
Do I like you?
Do I trust you?
How can you Help me?
These three questions are asked in our subconscious every time we interact with someone. Our bodies are hardwired to want to know if we like, trust, and can be helped by the other person. These questions have been embedded into our survival since the beginning of mankind. We also are programmed to know if we are safe in an environment, or if we need to run (fight or flight response). Think about that when you are in the grocery line and someone coughs…
In business, if we are not answering these questions for our customers then we are not helping our customers. It’s about answering these questions that gets us into meetings to discuss larger topics that the customer needs answers to. They need us to help them get to a better place. If they didn’t need us then we would not be in the conversation.
The great thing that we have going for us if they are interacting with us, then they are actively searching for solutions. Even if they don’t currently know it yet! That is right sometimes the customer does not know what they need before they meet with us. We need to study them and their needs so that we can support them with the best option available to them.
Have you ever been talking to someone about a topic and a great idea pops into your head? Most of the time though we forget about these ideas 15 minutes after we have thought about them. The same thing happens with our customers when we are talking with them. When they do this, we need to take notes and keep asking deeper questions. At the end of our time we need to summarize the major topics and see which ones the customer really wants to dive deeper into for the next conversation?
Now for an exercise. I want you to sit back and think of an interaction with a recent customer that did not buy from you and ask the three questions from the customer’s point of view: Do I like you, Do I trust you, and how can you help me? During that interaction, where could you have done something more that would have likely resulted in an opportunity? What might you have missed answering for the customer out of the three questions? Chances are we get comfortable with customers and our sales process and we forget the most crucial buying decision “us” that the customer has to decide on.
In the coming weeks we will dive deeper into each of the three questions, but for this week I want you to ask those three questions at each interaction. You don’t have to be selling them something either. It could be a family member, neighbor, coworker, mail carrier, etc. Focus on answering each of those three questions to the best of your ability, even if you are talking to them while in quarantine via phone call, or web meetings.
Have a great weekend and stay healthy!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
P.S. if you have a need for sales or leadership keynotes / trainings follow the link below.
Today we are busier than ever with work, family time, and travel. We are constantly on the go, moving things forward and trying to keep our heads above water.
Have you ever tried to figure out how to stay fit while traveling?
What fitness program can we do anywhere at any time?
How do we schedule time for fitness with our busy schedules?
I have spent a great deal of time on the road in my career and I can say that it is extremely hard to stay fit when traveling. I have spent hours trying to plan workouts whether traveling for business or pleasure and was mostly unsuccessful.
Some things I would do was research where I was traveling to in order to find hotels with fitness centers that were not just a treadmill and an exercise bike, map out gyms near hotels, or figure out routes to run. I would get so exhausted from all of the planning that I would usually just give up and find something on tv to watch.
One day I was watching infomercials when I could not sleep from an extensive business trip. One caught my attention mainly because it was stating that fitness could be done in a small amount of space with limited workout equipment. The infomercial was for P90X taught by Tony Horton. For those of you that don’t know Tony, he is a mix between Ace Ventura and Tony Robins. His challenging workout with bits of “dad jokes” kept you motivated.
I bought the program and I have to say it worked. I was able to get in the better shape than I was in college. It worked so much that I have done it at least once a year for the past decade. I was able to travel with minimal workout equipment. Usually just fitness bands and running shoes. I could also plan my workouts. I could do plyometric training, kick boxing, and yoga while I was on the road. I was even able to use a small 8’ x 8’ space to workout. Back when I started you just carried dvd’s, but now Beach Body who owns the P90X program has released a new work out streaming service.
This service is called Beach Body on demand (BOD). There are over 40 different workout programs on this system with different coaches. There is a great variety of workout programs on this service so whatever you are feeling like that day you can push play and get to work easily on your schedule. Now here is the cool part about this. You don’t need a gym membership, a bunch of gym equipment at your home, or a great deal of space. You also don’t have to waste time waiting for people to get done sweating over equipment you need to use. It’s efficient and wide open for you to decide what you want to do that day. You can also stream it on your phone from the app, or from a laptop.
No, I am not a beach body coach, I don’t sell the materials, or their magic shake formula (which I don’t use), but I do endorse this format especially if you are a busy individual. It works if you put forth the effort and push play. I have used this workout formula which helps me mitigate stress, process ideas, and clears my head. If it worked for me then it can work for anyone.
Also, when I finish a workout program entirely, I treat myself to something as a way to set a goal to complete a program.
I hope that helps any of you that travel, or just don’t have a great deal of time for fitness in your busy schedules.
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
P.S. if you are in need of a sales or leadership keynote / training check out the link below:
Have you ever noticed how you react when you are in a crowded space in comparison to walking in a nearly empty mall?
Have you ever felt uncomfortable with others crowding your space?
There is this principal that depending how close you are to others the more trust is needed. It is called Proximecs. This principal basically defines why at different proximity with others we need different levels of trust. The closer we are to another person the more trust we must have, or we will become uneasy. There is a reason why stadiums sell out so easily for sporting events, coffee shops have people littered all over working on their Macbooks, and why people will wait for hours on hot summer days in lines for the best roller coasters striking up conversations with strangers.
The distances breakdown like this:
Public Distance – 12.1’ +
Social Distance – 4.1’- 12’
Personal Distance 1.6’- 4’
Intimate Distance < 1.5’
The most fun and engaging interactions in our lives occur in social and personal distances. The closer we get to others the more powerful the emotion can be shared during thrilling experiences. Ever had an experience at a sporting event where you were slapping hands with some unknown individuals celebrating a score seemingly without thought about if they washed their hands or not? We are wired to have more emotional significance to others we are in close proximity to. Our bodies actually crave this connection to be understood and these interactions are a way to make that connection.
When working with customers it is extremely hard for us to get in front of them with emails, literature, billboards, etc. We need to get in touch with them on a closer level. This means sales professionals need to be in front of customers often. This is also why deeper relationships are made outside of the office i.e. golfing, sporting events, hands on training, etc. There isn’t a barrier between us and the customer like that of a desk, or board room table. Their guard is lowered and in most cases are more willing to share more details that will enable you to help serve them.
Now that we are in close proximities with the customer and trust is psychologically given as we are in close proximity, deeper discussions can happen and relationships formed. Have you ever had a customer out at lunch share some deep dark secret about the organization just to vent?
Work at meeting with the customer if you want to gain more business with your customers.
Warning!
Keep in mind that the intimate level should be those you should be giving intimate affection to like that of family and spouses. Doing that with customers is just awkward outside of a casual hug when a bond has been made to wish each other well before, or after a meeting.
P.S. the picture associated with this blog will help you understand visually the distances a little better.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
Good morning everyone.
Last week we spoke about what not to do in generating customer loyalty. Today let’s talk about how to generate “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? I state it in a question, but we already know the answer. YES, YES WE DO!!!
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 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 us to show them how to be successful with this new investment! If we simply take the payment and say, “Good Luck!” we’ll be looking back later wondering how our sales our down. People talk to people and social media makes it so easy to reach a larger audience with our opinions of a product / service.
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 you have bought only for them to be collecting dust because you did not know how to use them properly. We fell that infomercial we watched late at night lied to us. What do you wish you had been provided by the organization that you purchased that product / service from so you could have really used it to make and impact on your life?
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 you 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. They 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 been reading 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 businesses 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
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 your brand and has no idea how awesome you are? What are you doing for them to attract them?
They have no loyalty to you, or anyone. These customers are lost in the space of who to pledge their loyalty to. These individuals want to believe that if they join your “club” you are going to take care of them, but they have been taken advantage of so many times they are skeptical.
One story I share as of recent is from a personal experience with a large manufacturer of automobiles. I have owned a vehicle from a company that I will not name, but their initials are “G and M.” I take care of my vehicles with great maintenance to make sure they last a long time. This current vehicle has roughly 62,000 miles on it. In relative terms nothing major should happen to this vehicle for quite a while. I also have a 100,000 mile warranty that had the five years recently expire.
On my way home the truck showed me a message of no oil pressure and to turn off the engine. After the truck was towed to the dealer it was understood that the oil pump had failed and that a new one was needed for the cost of $2500 for parts and labor. After some research I have found that this organization has a bulletin out for these oil pumps failing. This means that this is not a rare occurrence.
I contacted the factory rep and met with him at the dealership. We will call him Richard to protect his identity. When reviewing the case about possible assistance Richard stated that they take in account if the customer has had multiple vehicles from this brand in to account if they would help... I asked him if I was hearing correctly. If I had bought more vehicles from your organization in the past then your organization would be willing to help? He confirmed. Keep in mind there have been some major recalls on the vehicle including the braking system failing that the government had to step in and force this organization to mandate a recall.
When an organization focuses only on profits and not on serving the customers whether they have been life long, or are new customers, it never ends well. Doing the right thing consistently is what creates loyalty.
Focusing only on maintaining the customers you currently have loyalty with will erode as they expire. Yes, I have checked the data everyone expires! If you only focus on those that have bought several products from you to generate loyalty at the risk of making things right for a new customer, you will LOSE!!!
Profits and losses should be tempered and not focused on for the short term which most organizations think. 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 you, they tell others how awesome you and your organization are. They share stories of how you have helped them and rave about your service. You have sales people selling for you that are not on your payroll. Would you like that?
The results in 2019 did not fare so well for “G and M” and another OEM outsold them for the first time in the truck market. I wonder what that means to the stock price?
Do not take the customer’s payment and walk away from the transaction waiting to see if the customer will buy from you again before you give extra effort. Give the extra effort up front and every time you engage people!
Next week I will 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