We need to make sure we are forming a trusting environment because speed and cost are the two variables in business that are affected by trust.
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influence
Organizations should use the same process they use to sell their products and services correctly.
The key is to really take an inventory of our relationships and see if there are any areas where we are being a little selfish.
Far too many sales people take the signed order and ride off into the sunset never to be heard from again. It’s a huge opportunity that unfortunately most sales people miss out on!
If we jump straight into selling mode after we get the customer’s name, we are failing the customer. Ever wonder why when asked what brings you in to this store today the customer says something like this, “Just looking…”
I have worked with ex-navy seals, business owners, entrepreneurs, engineers, contractors, etc. The most successful people are vulnerable to those they need high levels of trust with.
What the customer does care about is how this product / service will meet “their needs”. That’s right! How does what we offer help the customer?
When I have failed to communicate expectations, or parameters to those I am about to have an experience with, things ultimately go off the rails. Someone gets upset, someone ends up sleeping on the couch, or worse someone could start building a wall between the other person that is hard to take back down.
Today, let’s talk about the second variable in building trust. It’s Reliability. How reliable are you? When you say you’ll do something will you do it? Will you do it to the best of your ability? Do you forget to do it? Will you do the right thing when no one is looking? Do you think it is that big of a deal to be reliable?
It's a BIG DEAL!!! Trust is won or lost by your actions, not just your words.
I remember when I was younger, my father telling me to always do what you say you are going to do. Do not waiver. He also stated to do the right thing if everyone is watching and when no one is watching. Don’t tell me, show me is the slogan I have heard all my life from my father.
I remember when I first met my wife’s parents. We were up at their cottage grilling steaks and I was assisting my future father-in-law. I told him that I usually every spring season the grill grates after the first steaks have been cooked by applying foil to the top of the grates and turning the heat up high while I ate and then it would bake in all the flavor.
What I didn’t know is that his grill grates on his expensive grill were actually anodized aluminum and not steel…
Did you know when you crank up the heat and use foil that reflects the heat back into the grates that are anodized aluminum, they actually can’t take that much heat and melt and then break in half? Yep, it was an awesome first experience…
I told him that I would replace them even though my future father-in-law said don’t worry about it. The next day I was on the phone with the grill manufacturer ordering the new grates. I was originally going to order just two, but they informed me that they had two different sizes in that grill…. so, I ordered a complete set. Did you know that anodized aluminum grates cost more than any grill I have ever bought? Yep that’s right almost $300 for grates.
That weekend was the most expensive steak dinner I have ever had, but by doing the right thing and doing what I said I was going to do our relationship has grown and he has put a great deal of trust in me. He knows that if I say I will do something that I will get it done.
When we interact with our teams, customers, family, or friends we need to make it a constant effort to be reliable. Without being reliable it is almost impossible to have a trusting relationship. Especially when we are first getting to know others.
Here are a few things I do to make sure I follow through:
List it and do it – As you can see from the picture of this blog, I love to utilize post-it notes for my action items. I will literally list out something I need to do and stick it to my wallet when I leave so I do not forget what I set out to do. Some people use an app, but I am low tech. A side note is that when people cross things off list they feel good and empowered. If you are someone that keeps forgetting to do things, then maybe making a list and keeping it with you as a reminder might be a good tool.
Action It – I am bombarded with requests regularly and if I set something to the side I tend to forget about it, so I make sure I do it right away if I can. CEO’s have utilized this method of acting right away of forgetting it. Emails are a way they sort through action items to either take action right away, or throw it in the recycle bin.
Delegate it – If you are unable to do something and someone else is better equipped to handle the item then delegate it. John Maxwell has endorsed this idea of delegate to elevate. My wife and I set up weekly meetings to look at things that need to be done and delegate things that each other can do. It allows us to work more efficiently, communicate effectively, and flow in our strengths.
L.A.D. are three helpful options that I we can all utilize to make sure we are reliable.
Is there a time that pops in the back of your mind where someone else has fallen short being reliable? How did it make you feel? Did you lose a little trust in that person?
I know I will fall short sometimes, but I make it my best effort to do what I say I am going to do and if I am going to come in short I communicate the situation and try to better the situation to the best of my ability. We need trust in order to keep moving forward with others. We need to focus on how we can make sure we are doing what we say we will do and apologize to anyone that we may have fallen short with.
Being reliable is essential in building trust.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Have you ever had customers call you complaining that they are not being taken care of properly? Ever had them say this is not what they agreed to? How about this statement, “I think you need to come pick up your stuff as I no longer wish to do business with you?”
Good morning everyone!
How many times have you been nervous to hear a result? Whether it was a test result from your doctor, that first time you asked a girl out in school, or how about when you sent the price over to a prospective customer and were in the silence which seemed like forever?
Most sales people have gone through this period at least in the beginning of their careers when they get to the fourth buying decision for the customer. It’s when the customer will inform the sales person if the work put in and the price align, or if they are not sold yet. During this buying decision far too many sales people will start spouting off more benefits and features, price dropping, etc. before the customer ever provides feedback.
When we start justifying our price as soon as we send it, we immediately devalue our proposal psychologically. Now the customer has no other course, but to challenge the price. The old saying less is more applies here. When the sales person send over the price, they need to stop speaking. Just like in a negotiation, the first person that speaks loses.
Now I temper that with a statement that submitting pricing is not an us vs. them situation, because we have done all of the steps in the sales process and are trying to serve the customer. What I am saying is that when we submit the pricing, we need to not devalue our proposition to the customer. Now the discussion should be on the customer to decide how to proceed.
Maybe the customer needs a little more information because we did not answer one of their needs that is high value. That’s okay because we can address that need quickly to help them make sure this is the best product / service they are about to purchase. Maybe the customer is in the research phase of decision making. This should have been discovered early on in the first buying decision, but maybe they are trying to budget. Then it is up to us to make sure we identify the next step for them to take and how we can help the customer.
There is nothing wrong with hearing a no right after we have provided the price. This is how we adjust and understand what may be limiting the customer from making the purchase. Just like shooting a rifle from 1000 yards away from a target. Sometimes a small adjustment needs to be made to hit the target in the center. This is our opportunity to correct and address the customer’s needs and help them.
If we don’t sell the product / service right after the first time we submit a price, that is okay. Sometimes there is a better option for the customer, but if we have done a great job, the customer will tell us why we may have lost this sale, but they will tell others how we helped them if we walk with them through the five buying decisions correctly.
As a side note most sales people never go back and find out why they lost a sale. This is valuable information if that happens to adjust the sales approach going forward!
We just need to make sure we do no devalue ourselves, or our offerings while working through the sales process with them.
Have a great day!
Sincerely,
Kevin Sidebottom
“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business. I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”
Credibility is typically linked to knowledge. A person goes to school, gets a degree and then they are finally credible on a subject. While that is very true, there are other aspects to Credibility that many do not think about.
We cannot just fly by the seat of our pants and hope for the best. You Only Live Once (YOLO) unfortunately is not a term that works well with finances. It’s the B-word that most people make disgusted faces when said out loud that will enable you to thrive long term.
The sales process is the key to mastering the art of first impressions, building rapport, and likeability. Once we master the first buying decision of the sales process, we can build rapport with those around us faster!
Isn’t it interesting that no matter how hard we try, it just doesn’t seem like some people will not like or trust us?
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!”
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!”