Ideas for the Next 90 Days

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!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Buying Decision 4, Don't be Scared!

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!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Buying Decision 3...The One Most Sales People Get Wrong!

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!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Do I Trust You, and How Can you Help Me? Key Components for Buying Decision 1

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!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Buying Decision #1 For Your Customer

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!

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Ready, Set, Stop Jumping Into Your Pitch

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!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Rapport Is The Building Block For Influence

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!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Proximity, How It Will Help You Win with Customers

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

www.kevinsidebottom.com