What is the Best Sales Strategy

Welcome back,

Today we are going to go through what a good sales strategy is because this comes up quite often with sales teams.  What is your strategy to win the sale?  Most of the time the sales person is thinking on the fly and often falters when pressed for details.  This is also when the sales person is confronted that thinking on the fly is not going to work.

With the sales landscape ever evolving, sales people need to have a good sales strategy. 

Here is what I have use as my sales strategy: 

Have a plan to serve the customer with a process that walks with them through their five buying decisions

That’s my sales strategy.  I want to serve the customer and walk with them through their five buying decisions in a way that allows them to buy the best product that meets their needs.  In order to do this. I must do a few things.

I must build rapport and trust with the customer.  If I know who I am meeting with, I can do research on them to learn about them and their families.  If I don’t have that option, or want to learn more, I can ask questions.   A great deal of questions to understand them and their needs.

The easiest way to build trust and rapport is to learn about customers.  We need to make sure we are learning about the customer because if we are not doing so, the three major questions that the customer has will go unanswered.  Do I like you? Do I trust you? How can you help me?  These three questions if unanswered spell defeat for a sales person because the first buying decision for a customer is in fact the sales person.  If we do not know, like, and trust the sales person, we are not going to buy from them.  Especially when there are so many options out in the marketplace.

The sales person is essential in growing the product line.  People buy from people. 

To help sales people I have created “The Sales Process Uncovered,” to help the sales person use the roadmap on how to sell effectively to customers.  It starts by asking a great deal of questions and the different types of questions needed to uncover the customer’s needs.  This process has worked in different industries, in different markets, and B2B as well as B2C sales.

That is right I use a process to solidify my strategy.  All the successful people use a process whether it for championships, expeditions to uncharted territories, or business.  Even those amazing Navy Seals that are the elite of the elite use a process for preparing for a mission.  Those individuals use a process to plan, action, review, and do it over again. 

If you want to have a great sales strategy, you need to implement a sales processes that will help us walk with our customer.  By doing so influence actually increases with the customer and if we do a great job selling, the customer will start telling others why they need to do business with us.

Who wouldn’t want that? 

If we want to gain sales success, and achieve great goals, we need to have a plan and the easiest way to do that is have a process in place that is simple and repeatable for success. 

If you want to gain some more insight about the sales process uncovered and how it can help you, click here.

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

Sales People..., don’t fear it, embrace it

How many of you like to hear the word no?  No is not typically something people want to hear when they are trying to sell a product or service.  While working through the sales process with the customer we are envisioning the finish line, checkered flags waiving, confetti, and then we hear…”No”

Most sales people have had the experience early on in their careers to keep sitting in the selling phase of the sales process and not asking for the order.  They do not want to hear the word “no” from the customer.  During this buying decision far too many sales people will start spouting off more benefits and features, price dropping, etc. before the customer even provides feedback.

When we start justifying our price as soon as we send it, we immediately devalue our proposal.  Now the customer has no other course, but to challenge the price.  The old saying less is more applies here.  When the sales person sends 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.  We are trying to help the customer here, but we need to also be paid for our services.  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 if they see the value of the investment, or if they have more questions.

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 see the value.

It is our job as sales professionals to help the customer’s needs get answered and help them win in this investment.  If we simply walk away when we hear “no,” we are missing a large opportunity to correct and help the customer.  Maybe a large need changed due to the organization’s direction.  Maybe the purchasing team has been reshuffled and there is a new buyer.  That happens quite often doesn’t it.   

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!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why Customer Service Reps Dislike Their Sales Reps…

Good morning everyone,

Have you ever experienced tension between customer service and the sales team?  Has there been passive aggressive exchanges between the two groups in your organization?

Ever have a customer service representative blindsided by a customer agreement?

Today I want to dive into an area of opportunity to help serve your customer as well as your organization.  In many organizations there are sales people and then there are account managers/ customer service representatives. 

Two separate people supporting groups for the customer and if communication is not great, two separate messages being communicated to the customer.  This drives customer satisfaction down as well as cross functional teams to argue and point fingers when issues arise.  Anyone that has been in sales for a while will be able to relate to this tension.

After a sale the sales person rides off into the sunset never to be heard from again which I have preached about in the past as being the ultimate sin in sales!  That’s right about 99% of sales professionals fall into this trap.  This hurts the relationship with the customer, effects return customers, and puts the customer service representative in a bad position when the customer asks for their deal that the sales professional made with them.

 Ever have this situation happen to your customer service team?  The sales person negotiates something different from the standard terms and conditions leaving the customer and customer service representative in a sparing contest to see who will give in.  The customer continues to get irritated stating, “ This is not what I agreed to!”  I’m sure some other adjectives are also used.  The customer service representative is also irritated and the customer experience has just blown up.  It does not even matter if the sales person resolves this issue, the customer already has an opinion of how this organization will support them in the future. 

Remember the organization is the second buying decision, even before the product is sold so we need to make sure we are all working together to make the customer experience exceptional. 

I worked for an organization where the sales people were all over the place with making side deals outside of the normal parameters.  The customer service representatives were processing orders without this knowledge and issues started popping up.  Customer relationships were paying the penalty.  Business was starting to erode and the owner of the organization was getting calls from large customers venting their frustration.  This was a bad situation.

To remedy this, the sales people were brought in for a sit down to understand how to get sales done following the standard program.  There needed to be conformity because there is something else that happens because our customers talk.  They will brag about the deal they received only to make the other customers resent the sales person for not giving them the same deal.  Profits were eroding and things were just not flowing in the organization.

When selling a product / service the customer service teams as well as sales teams need to have an understanding of the program and where there are opportunities to make small changes if needed.  Sales people and customer service representatives need to be on the same page so there is one message communicated to the customers at all times.  This helps when some of those slick customers try to get “a better deal.” 

Communication is key!  If sales professionals are not communicating terms of the deals and with the customer service representatives then there will be opportunities for misses with the customer.  The sales professionals also need to address as much of the terms of the agreement in writing so there are no issues for others to action against.  It is up to sales professionals to support their teams and not just hoping others will just figure it out. 

Both teams are extremely busy!  One idea that I have shared is to use a sharepoint directory so that our customer service and sales teams can reference the signed agreements so that way they can check what was agreed to.  Having this one location is crucial to the success of the organization!  This way we can serve the customer effectively, maintain relationships, and keep profits up!  Everyone needs to be on the same page when communicating with the customer.  Otherwise, the customer experience and profits suffer.

Have a great day everyone and happy selling!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

How Entrepreneurs Can Find Opportunity During the Pandemic Recovery

I am grateful for Curtis Fisher and his support of young entrepreneurs. This week’s blog post has been written by Curtis and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Small business owners everywhere have dealt with the economic impact of the pandemic. If your small business was considered “non-essential,” you may have had to close your doors for a period of months, only to return to limited operations afterwards.

Now, as the world begins to open up again and restrictions are gradually rolled back, you can slowly prepare for a return to normal. Maybe you need to revise your budget, get in touch with business and leadership consultant Kevin Sidebottom, or change your approach to marketing. No matter what you plan to do next, these tips will help you navigate this period of the pandemic.

Administrative Items

Business might not be back in full swing yet, but you can take advantage of this lull by working on administrative tasks instead. For instance, this might be a good time to go over your business plan and determine how you can tweak it for the upcoming year. You could also spend some time getting your digital files and paper documents organized.

In addition, now’s the time to register your business with the state in which you operate. Choosing to structure as a limited liability company (LLC) is optimal for many small businesses, primarily due to benefits like reduced risk to personal assets, less paperwork and greater tax advantages. You can use an affordable online formation service to get this done quickly and easily. Zenbusiness not only walks you through this process and helps you file, the site provides information on items like getting a statutory or registered agent.

Budgeting and Finances

The past year may have been rather lean for your business. Some sectors have benefitted from the pandemic while others have struggled. And if your business was categorized as non-essential, there’s a good chance that you’re wondering how to make up for lost profits.

First, it’s a good idea to create new financial projections for the coming year to see what you can expect in terms of your finances. Next, you’ll need to update your business budget by cutting expenses. What can you reasonably cut? Clean Tech Loops recommends nixing any software programs that you do not use regularly, switching to paperless files whenever possible, and considering a long-term remote work plan or renting an office space in a cheaper location.

Develop a Safety Plan

Depending on COVID case counts in your area, it might be time to bring your employees back to work in-person. It’s a good idea to consult with your employees before you make this decision. If everyone is on board to come back, Work Design recommends spacing out workstations with six feet in between them, stocking up on hand sanitizer, and having the office cleaned regularly. And if you have a retail space or waiting room where you’ll be allowing customers, make sure to put signs indicating that they are required to wear masks.

You may find that some workers aren’t ready to ditch telecommuting, especially those who live with people who are particularly vulnerable to the virus or those who simply feel much more productive while working from home. If this is the case, you’ll need to develop a plan for permanent remote work. Virtual Vocations recommends working with your employees to establish codes of conduct and decide which communication tools should become standard.

Delivery and Pickup Systems

Even though restrictions on businesses are slowly coming to an end, some of your customers or clients still might not be able to conduct transactions in person yet. Some people may still want to take care of business online or purchase items through a delivery or curbside pickup system. Make sure that you continue making efforts to accommodate this for the foreseeable future so as not to lose any customers.

New Offerings

The world is turning over a new leaf, and this could be the perfect time to introduce new offerings from your business. For instance, you could invite your customers or clients to a series of workshops that are held virtually for the time being and will shift to in-person gatherings as soon as it is safe. If you run a retail business, you could launch products that customers can easily enjoy outdoors this summer, since people will be looking forward to getting back outside.

Sales consultant and speaker Kevin Sidebottom blogs about the importance of knowing what customers crave. “What is the customer really asking us each time they interact with us whether [it’s] face to face meetings, calling customer service, on social media, etc. What is it that the customer is trying to communicate to us? We need to be intentional to reach out to them to figure out what they need. It’s that simple.”

Marketing Strategy

As people continue shopping online while others venture out, you’ll need to focus on combining both digital and offline advertising in your marketing strategy. You can rely on social media marketing, email campaigns, and search engine optimization to bring in new customers through the internet. In addition, set up fun window displays to attract more foot traffic to your store!

As restrictions are rolled back during the recovery phase of the pandemic, small business owners will have some breathing room to expand. You may want to use this time for administrative tasks, reworking your budget, or finetuning your marketing strategy so that you can speak to what your customers need right now. By looking forward with an optimistic attitude, you can prepare for profitable months ahead!

The Customer Bought, Now What Do We Do?”

We’ve done it! 

We have made it to the fifth and final buying decision for the customer which is “Buy”

The customer has now purchased our product / service and we celebrate! Unfortunately, this is where 99% of sales people fail in the sales process. 

That’s right, they fail!  I am not saying that it is not okay to celebrate the win and I encourage the celebration, but when the sales person stops the sales process after receiving the order, the customer is left to fend for themselves.  This is wrong and we have not served the customer if we do this!  If we leave the customer and don’t make them successful with their purchase then the customer soon will develop buyer’s remorse, not hitting the desired outcome from the purchase, and possibly thinking they were just sold something instead of purchasing a solution.  The customer then associates us with the slimy salesperson that does not care about them.

Far too many sales people take the signed order and ride off into the sunset never to be heard from again.  It’s a huge opportunity that unfortunately most sales people miss out on!

That’s right, when the customer agrees to buy, this is the time that sales professionals need to roll up their sleeves and move forward with the customer.  The more this is done, the more the customer will brag to their friends, family members, social media, etc. about how awesome we served them and that everyone they know needs speak with us.  Who wouldn’t want a salesforce of individuals selling of us without having to pay them?  

I love having people that have taken my trainings tell others that they need to work with me because I know that what I am doing is working!

First and foremost, when the customer agrees to purchase, they will second guess themselves (buyer’s remorse) about the purchase.  That’s right, they are not sure what they did was the right decision.  This typically happens for purchases over $50.  No, we are not talking about a pack of gum.  The real-estate market has done a fantastic job overcoming this issue of “buyer’s remorse.”  As soon as the customer agrees to purchase a property, they immediately begin moving the customer into the next steps. 

When we confirm that the customer has made the right decision, they feel justified and will be set at ease.  Getting the customer moving forward after this decision to buy and onto the next steps such as delivery date, onsite training, etc., the customer is reaffirmed and feels like they have made the best decision possible.  They have a game plan for the next steps.  The customer will be fired up and ready to begin moving forward with our help!  They appreciate this, because most sales people do not do this!  This simple step!  Now we have a few other things we need to do as well.

The last step in the sales process is crucial.  Again 99% of sales professionals do not do this.  This is the most crucial step in gaining influence with customers.  It’s the next 90 days after the sale that really makes the customer’s purchase a success, or a failure.  That’s right, after the installation and quick run through, the customer is going to have issues.  The faster we communicate how to resolve those issues the better the customer will feel.  That is why organizations have had support lines waiting for customer to call, but the sales professional has an opportunity to take this one step further.

This is the sales process step in trainings that most organizations ask a great deal of questions on how they can get better.  This is where I gain my consulting business and coaching for.  Helping them gain the tools so they can make the customer successful 90 days after the sale.  We figure out how to make the customer successful and the organizations see higher levels of business gains.

What do we have ready for your customers so that they can consistently win with our product / service?  That is the question that we need to answer and if we do this well, we will be rewarded with greater levels of influence.  With more influence comes greater growth in sales and increased revenue.  At a certain point we become such an influencer that people stop focusing on price.  Wouldn’t that be amazing to take the pricing discussion off the table?

We are in the service business no matter what we sell.  Serve the customer well and reap the rewards.  Underserve, and stay a commodity in the customer’s eyes.

It’s okay to have a little celebration, but then get to work rolling up your sleeves and help serve the customer!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

The Scariest Part Of The Sales Process

Welcome back everyone,

We have been walking through the buying decisions that customers must make before they will buy a product / service from us sales professionals.  If you haven’t read the past few blog posts, I encourage you to go back and read them as they will help you understand how we got here.  For today, let’s jump into this fun topic! 

When I first got into sales, I actually hated this buying decision.  I was so nervous that I kept selling the product as long as I could and would talk myself out of a sale in most cases.  The reason was that I feared rejection.  Just like asking that girl out in high school, I was nervous to ask for the order from the customer. 

Back in high school I was literally under five-foot-tall, weight around 100 pounds and let’s be honest the wind may have been able to knock me down if it blew over 10 mph.  Asking for a date seemed like a monumental task when I had to look up to just about everyone.  Luckily, I grew taller and so did my confidence.

No one really enjoys rejection and I was no different when it came to sales.  I did not want to find out if I had not done a good job at understanding the customer’s needs and addressing those needs.  I did not want to hear “NO” just like a child hates the word no.  I did not want the customer rejecting my request to move forward with the purchase.

Here is what I have learned through many years of selling.  We as professional sales people need to hear the word no.  That’s right, if we have not answered the customer’s needs, we should hear “NO”.  We do not need the customer buying the product only to hate the purchase and then remember us as the ones that sold them that product / service.  We need them to be glad they purchased the product / service and that it helped them.  Otherwise, we are just another sales person that made a quick buck that did not help the customer.  Serving the customer well leads to much more sales success in the long run.

Now, why is it okay to hear the word no?  Once we hear the word no, we can go back to the uncovering needs and verification of needs steps to make sure we completely understand the customer.  Which is what the customer truly wants.  The customer wants to be known and understood.  They want to know that this solution in front of them will actually help them move forward. 

As professional salespeople, we need to make sure we have courage to ask for the order.  We need to find out if we are on the right track or if we missed something.  This is our opportunity to come back and help the customer better if we missed something.  It’s our sign to make sure we are moving in the right direction.

You never know, the customer may actually say “Yes” and award us the business if we have followed the process correctly.  That is when the real work starts! 

Have the courage to ask for the order and wait for the reply from the customer.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

The One Decision Sales People Get Wrong

Ever have a customer answer your sales proposal with the following statement, “ That is great, but how does that help me?”  I have had this experience and had to use those same words with some sale people when they tried to sell me something.

This part of the sales process is where most sales professionals believe they need zero help.  Unfortunately, most sales professionals need a great deal of help with this part of the sales process.  To show this I ask people to sell me their product / service.  This is where the attendees have a reflection moment.

Most attendees start with firing features and benefits in rapid fire, their elevator pitch, or how their product is so revolutionary like they are in one of those late-night infomercials.  Unfortunately, this is an incorrect process in selling your product / service.  The reason I know this is because I started out selling my products this way which drove my lack of sales.  The customer does not care about how many features and benefits we have to offer.

What the customer does care about is how this product / service will meet “their needs”.  That’s right! How does what we offer help them?  That is the question our customers are asking.  Each customer is different and has different needs which means we need to be smart about how we approach this part of the sales process.  We can not simply rain features and benefits all over them.  We need to answer their needs.

To effectively answer the customer’s needs, the salesperson needs to do the work in the first buying decision by asking great questions to uncover the customer’s needs.  By asking questions we are able to actually understand the customer, what they are looking to achieve, and why they are looking to achieve it with this purchase.  If we assume that we know exactly what the customer needs we typically miss the mark in sales.  

You’re probably asking yourself how do I avoid this mistake?  The answer is simple.  By making sure that the question I am asking aligns with my features and benefits.  That’s right I use the features and benefits of my product / service to roadmap questions for the customer.  If the customer is saying yes to those questions, then we know that we are on the right track to help the customer.  Simple right!

One more point here and this is a big point!

If the answer is no to most of my questions about my product / service.  I quickly understand that what the customer is looking for is not what I offer and I point them in the right direction to meet their needs.  That is right, if my product / service will not help the customer I am going to do everything in my power to help them find what they need.  Most sales people are shaking their heads in disbelief, but they are wrong.  See I am playing the long game with selling that builds influence.  Influence that will come back to me ten fold later on.

If my current product / service does not help the customer and I help them find something that does, I have just solidified my value and gained tremendous influence with the customer. Even if they do not buy this product / service today, they will tell their friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, etc. about the service that I have provided and how I helped them.  They will tell those people that they need to come talk to me.  It has helped me time and time again with references and grow my sales in the long run.

Yes, this is an internal decision to focus on helping more than just selling our products / service.  I chose this early in my career which helped me gain more sales than I could have ever thought possible.  Customers have come to me years later telling me that someone referred them to me because I was the best and helped in such a way that they needed to see me first.

Isn’t that where we want to be?  To be the person everyone wants to come to for a solution to meet their needs?

If you need support on making sure you are hitting the mark on this part of the sales process, or any others feel free to click here to see my online membership that gives you lifetime access.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Does Your Organization Answer The Second Customer Buying Decision?

Have you been disappointed by the lack of customer service lately?  Has it affected your decision to buy from this place of business again?

Have you ever decided not to buy a product or service because of the reputation of the organization?

I recently ordered some workout gear from an organization that I often do business with.  I ordered the products and received the shipping information and for a week with no shipment info.  When I reached out to this organization, they informed me they would ship out a new order for me.  A week later nothing.  I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but after weeks of trying to figure out why my products were not shipping, I reached out once more to find out that the replacement order was never placed.  This was exhausting follow up that was very discouraging.

If an organization builds a reputation of poor customer service, unethical practices, bad quality, etc., they are not going to be the organization with the large value proposition to customers.  Organizations often try to cut corners to save a few dollars, that end up sacrificing millions in the long run.  Truth be told that if organizations are not providing exceptional value they are a commodity.  There are other options to buy similar products and services.

With the onset of Millennials in the workforce we are seeing a trend of them working for organizations that align with their values more so than just to collect a paycheck.  This same demographic is also the largest demographic of individuals in US history.  This demographic of individuals stive to work for organizations that align with their personal mission statements.  Millennials want to make sure they are going to help society by working with and for these organizations.  It is imperative that organizations recognize this and make sure they are selling themselves as well as their products.

These same Millennials are also purchasing products and services from organizations.   If the organization does not align with the Millennials goals, guess what, they won’t buy from these organizations.  Again, the largest demographic in US history means the largest buying power.

How do organizations make sure they are selling what makes them unique to the customers?  Organizations should use the same process they use to sell their products and services correctly.  They answer the needs of the customer.  What does the organization offer that will help the customer “WIN?” 

When we look at our organizations whether they are for profit or non-profit, we need to see what we do well.  Do we offer online SEO plans to help customers get quicker growth on the internet marketplace?  Do we have solutions to handling ecommerce for the customer’s products and services online?  What does our organizations do to enable personal growth of our customers?   Do our organizations donate a large part of our profits to help society?  Each of our organizations offer solutions that are vital, but it is up to us to define those game changer answers to the customer’s needs.

What does your organization do well to help the customer?  It just may save your organization in the long run. 

Put your answer in the comments below in this blog as I love to hear how organizations answer the customer’s needs.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Do I Trust You?

Good morning everyone,

Last week we talked about how we need to let the customer feel comfortable and relaxed when they meet with us.  What colors to wear options and why were provided, how to approach them, tones of speech, etc. to help us make the customer feel comfortable and so that they could be relaxed which will allow them the opportunity to like us.

This week I want to work on the other two questions that the customer has which are Do I trust you?, and How can you help me?  These two questions are very important with sales of $50 or more.  People need to know like and trust us before they will do business with us.

If in the first buying decision that the customer has, “The Salesperson” the customer does not trust us and we can’t show them how we can help the customer, then they will simply go to another source and purchase.   Our product / service has now become a commodity.   It does not matter if we have the best product on the face of the earth.  The question is how do we build trust and how the customer knows that we are there to help them.

In my training on The Sales Process Uncovered, I walk sales people through the house analogy that I use to learn about the customer.  We want to learn about the customer, their family, their passions, issues they are needing help with, and the consequences of not fixing those issues.  We need to know their S.I.R. before we can identify a solution.

Asking questions is the way to get to know if what we have to sell will actually help the customer.  Not just simple questions like, would the customer like a certain color of the product, but why are they looking to achieve with this purchase.  What did they like about the last product they used, what do they wish they had on the previous product that they are replacing today?  What does a win look like for the customer with this purchase? 

Is the customer looking to gain a certain sense of prestige, needing a vehicle that basically drives itself so they can get more work done on their commute, or do they have a child that has a condition that makes the need for them to have a certain easy entry vehicle?  Ask deeper questions to understand the why behind the customer’s decision.  Until we do this, we are unable to help the customer.

People crave to be understood and known. Customers also want to know that we are with them to make them a hero in their story.  Customers need to be the hero in their story and know that they have the solution that will solve their issues.  That is why they talk to sales professionals.  They are looking for guidance to find a solution.

Think back to the last time you had an amazing buying experience.  What were some of the key elements of that sale that you had to tell your friends about because it just made you feel like you were set up for success with that purchase?  How did the sales person make you feel?  What did that salesperson do that stood out to you?  What extra step did they do that no one else has ever done when you were making a purchase?

Next, think of a bad buying experience?  What were some of the reasons why the sales person lost the sale?  What could they have done better?  What made you run away as fast as you could to get away from that sales person?

Now look at some of the wins and losses we have had in sales.  This will take some time, but it will help us in the long run.  Playing through the situations in our head will help us reevaluate what we did well and what we can improve on.  We want to focus on opportunities for improvement to allow the customer to have a fantastic customer experience.  Experiences that customers can’t help but brag to everyone about how we helped them.  Do this enough times and we will not have to work as hard in sales and will become a success.

If we do not get the first buying correctly and constantly improve, then we will be mediocre in sales.  No one really wants to be mediocre.  We want to keep growing and getting better because without success we start losing hope and looking for other careers.  This is a slippery slope as with all new ventures, failures come quickly and often.  This is why people that consistently start over when a challenge happens never really excel.  Those that stay true to the process of growth and refining are the ones that truly hit high levels of success.

Today focus on making sure that the question asked to customers are ones that will hit the mark.  If you need help with drafting questions reach out.  I am here to help you!

Have a great week everyone. 

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

They Won't Buy From You If They Don't Like You

Good morning everyone,

Last week we talked about how sales people tend to get introductions out of the way quickly and then jump straight into selling.  These same sales people have not proven themselves reliable, or trustworthy to the customer, but yet these sales people believe that the customer should trust and investment with them.  Sales people assume the customer likes, trusts, and believes that the sales person can help the customer.  How do we perform typically when we assume in situations?  When we assume we get the situation wrong. 

The first buying decision is the longest and hardest to complete.  Mainly because there is so much decision making that happens in this buying decision before anything can move forward for the customer.  The customer has to know, like, and trust us before they will ever buy from us.  Do you think that right after someone gets your name and starts selling that they really care about you or your needs?

We as sales professionals need to make sure we are answering these three questions for the customer within the first 60 seconds of the interaction:

Do I like you?

Do I trust you?

How can you help me?

If we jump straight into selling mode after we get their name the customer will be quickly be turned off.  Ever wonder why when asked what brings you in to this store today the customer says something like this, “Just looking.”  It’s because the customer has been trained to think that sales people are all the same and all the sales person cares about is selling their product or service.

Let’s change that perception.

Let’s start by using a plan on how we will approach the customer in a way that builds likeability and trust right out of the get go.  Let’s start with making sure when we approach the customer we are not circling like hungry vultures.   Let’s let the customer come into our facilities and let them get comfortable by smiling and saying “Hi, welcome.  We are here to help you when you are ready.” 

Smiling, wearing the right colors that psychologically reflect trust, honesty and lowers anxiety.  Not power ties, not blacks, not dark greys, but light blues whites, and some greens to ease the customer into lowering their defenses. We also need to listen to how we talk.  That’s right speech patterns that don’t align will also increase anxieties.  I found this out when I started selling in the southern United States.  I needed to change my speech patterns a bit instead of a fast-paced midwestern speech pattern. I also needed to say soda instead of pop J

Science has shown that depending on the environment (noise levels, smells, colors, lighting, etc) the customer can actually become engaged, or withdrawn.  Next time you walk into a department store check out the different areas of the store and notice the lighting, colors, music playing, and scents pumped into each area.  This helps to ease the customer’s anxiety lower.  Ever wonder why Costco offers free samples?  Because the longer a customer is in the store the higher the probability they will buy more.

The next time we show up to work we need to be putting our best foot forward to make the customer relaxed.  Will we be paying attention to the customer and welcoming them, or will we be going in for the kill to make a sale?  Make sure to be attentive to the customer and allow them to like us.

Answering Do I trust you and How can you help me? for the customer is essential in the first buying decision. We need to build that trust as well as show the customer that we will work to help them meet their needs.  There is a great deal in these two questions so we will have to save that for next week as to how we will do this, but for today think about asking questions to the customer. 

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Stop Jumping Into Your Sales Pitch

Ever attempted to buy a car, furniture, or some large electronic device and the sales person asked how you are doing and immediately dives into trying to sell you something?   At this point you have likely decided it is time to plan your escape.  Hopefully not with the sales person holding on to your leg saying, “Please Stay!!!”

Far too often sales people jump right into the deep end of the pool and start trying to sell to customers before they understand the customer.  How do they even know the situation before they make that leap? Most often times sales people are spitting out all sorts of features and benefits of the product / service they offer in hopes something will make customers say yes and close a sale.  What most sales people forget is that customers buy to satisfy needs, not features and benefits.  It’s a simple concept, but hard to put into practice unfortunately.

When I train sales professionals, I have to make sure that I highlight this fact each time I start the training.  We as sales professionals need to stop launching right into a sales pitch early on in the sales process.   The customer is actually put off by this practice of selling.   I know some sales people at this point think that sales is just a numbers game so keep it up and a sale will happen. 

Most customers will wait for the presentation to end patiently and then thank the sales person for their time before making a way to the exit as fast as possible.  People want to feel heard and understood.  Too many times sales people leap into action and sell something because they are looking for that next kill.  Most sales people think of sales just like hunting for something. 

I started selling like this, but quickly learned that sales is actually like farming.  When we hunt we can eat for a day if we end up achieving our goals.  When we farm and plant the seeds, take care of the soil, we will harvest a feast for a long period of time.  We start small and grow our influence with the customer over time. 

By changing out mindset and focusing on how to serve the customer well we will gain more influence and generate more sales.  We need the customer to buy off on us before they will ever think about buying our product or service.  That’s right people will not buy from us if they don’t know, like, and trust us. Here’s another fact, the larger the sale, the longer it takes to understand the customer’s needs.  That means the sales process will take longer.

I have structured multi-million, multi-year contracts and every one of these deals took years to come together.  Not one of these customers has ever stopped on my doorstep and said please help me, I need you to sell me your product without growing the influence with them first.  I had to grow influence before they would look at me as an option to help them with their larger investments.  They gave me opportunities for smaller deals and then as they grew to trust me and trust that I understood them well enough they gave me larger opportunities. 

Apple has done a great job of getting people to line up for their new products, but back when they started, hardly anyone wanted their products.  It took years of the correct leadership, marketing, and growing influence to get to where they are today.

Each day there are new strategies on how to sell to a new sophisticated type of customer, but most of these new sales strategies are trying to do the same exercise of growing influence with the customer.  Shortcuts may work for the short term, but long term they fizzle out and influence erodes.  I have used the same process for almost two decades to sell to different industries, and in different parts of the world.  It’s a simple process and it helps the sales professionals walk through the customer’s five buying decisions that they must answer before they will purchase our products or services. 

We have to meet the customer’s needs and then we will be rewarded with their business and grow influence with them for future sales. 

If you’d like to take the opportunity to learn this easy to utilize process to increase your sales click here.

Have a great day!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

What Customers Crave

For the past couple of weeks, I have been hoping that you have been able to understand how to generate more sales and influence with your customers.

Today, let’s talk about what customers actually crave from us as we sell to them.  What is the customer really asking us each time they interact with us whether face to face meetings, calling customer service, on social media, etc.  What is it that the customer is trying to communicate to us? 

Customers want to be known and heard.  That is right, our customers want to be known by us, called by name, and to know that without a shadow of a doubt that our teams will support their needs!  They also want us to know what they mean when they can’t articulate into words.  So how do we do this for them?

We need to be intentional to reach out to them to figure out what they need.  It’s that simple.  Get out of our comfort zones, stop trying to guess, and actually ask the customers what are their struggles.  What issues do they currently have so we can go to work to resolve those issues.  All of the great customer focused organizations like Amazon, Apple, Google, Zappos, etc are customer focused organizations. 

In the book Invent and Wander, all of the Amazon shareholder letters are shared from inception up to now as to what Amazon is focused on.  The root of all decisions is how can me make doing business with Amazon better for the customer.   Decisions revolve around that one main core value.

Customers were even asked what other products / services they would buy besides books when Amazon started in 1997.  That question led to expanding offerings from books to windshield wipers, to today where you literally are now able to purchase groceries in certain areas.  Asking the customers for their input is powerful and a large task at the same time.

I would also ask customers that we are currently doing business with to understand what issues they have with dealing with us.  When we see common themes we can know where to spend our time to focus on improvements that will actually move the needle.  When customers notice improvements, their confidence does increase.

We also need to make sure that when the customer is buying from us that we make it as easy as possible to deal with us.  That is key because they are already having resistance to parting from their hard-earned money.  They are investing in making their lives better.  We need to help them with that decision and make sure when the customer invests with us customers are taken care of.

Not do we need to make sure our products / services meets the customer’s needs, we also need to make sure the customer experience is exceptional.  Too many organizations make it so hard to do business with in an effort to make sure the organization is showing profits to its shareholders.  Now I’m not saying we need to make sure we are giving everything away.  What I am in fact saying is that we need to make sure our focus is on how to enrich our customer’s transactions, experience, and life with our product / service so that they don’t hesitate to purchase from us again.

Only then will we be able to look back with exceptional growth in our markets.

Check out my online training The Sales Process Uncovered for help with growing your sales.

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Customer Loyalty, We Want It Right?

Good morning everyone,

Everywhere you look you see articles on how to build customer loyalty.  Just about every major retailer has a loyalty program.  Offers are given with point systems in hopes of retaining customers.  These are all great things, but there is one area that businesses are falling short.

What about the new customer that does not know our brand and has no idea how awesome we are?  What are we doing today to keep them for a lifetime?  These individuals want to believe that if they join our “club” we are going to take care of them, but they have been taken advantage of so many times they may be a little skeptical.

All of us can be Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A in the future with lines for the drive through wrapping around parking lots and disrupting street traffic flow.  What we need to do is think about ways to serve customers so well that they want to keep coming back.

Both Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A do one thing really, really well.  It’s customer service.  That’s right they are always going above and beyond the call to serve the customer. This is resulting in customer loyalty, a Fanocrocy, and great business success even during pandemics.  People will literally wait in 20 min lines for a cup of coffee, and chicken sandwiches. 

Chick-Fil-A also has one thing they do every time they serve us when we say thank you.  They respond immediately with “it’s my pleasure.”  They literally ingrain each employee to be customer service focused.  It does not matter which location we to go, we still get great consistent service.

When an organization focuses only on profits and not on serving the customers it never ends well.  Doing the right thing consistently over time creates loyalty.  Making sure we have set up a solid customer service focus no matter how long the customers have been doing with us is key to achieving customer loyalty.

Focusing only on maintaining the customers we currently have loyalty with will erode as they expire.  Yes, I have checked the data everyone expires!  If we only focus on those that have bought several products from us to generate loyalty at the risk of making things right for a new customer, we will LOSE!!!

Too many organizations focus on short term profits.  One main driver for this is publicly traded companies focusing on making their stock holders more money as their main goals.  All organizational goals serve this one main goal.  How do we make shareholders more money? 

Organizations should also not focus on helping only those that have pledged loyalty to their brand, but consistently doing the right thing to generate future loyal “Fans.”  When “Fans” pledge their loyalty to us, they tell others how awesome our organization are.  They share stories of how we have helped them and rave about our service.  We have sales people selling for us that are not on our payroll.  Wouldn’t you like that?

Do not take the customer’s payment and walk away from the transaction waiting to see if the customer will buy from us again before we give extra effort.   Give the extra effort up front and every time we engage people and we will be rewarded!

Check back in next week and I’ll help you with a few ideas on how to grow more loyal customers and some ideas of how to gain more fans that will sell your brand.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com

Why You Need To Focus On Relationships With Customers

Good morning everyone,

I remember a story of a successful business owner that had sold his company and stayed on to support the transition.  The new organization had a Chief Financial Officer making the decisions.  This CFO also did not like sales people and had a belief that every sale could be done automatically.  No need for outside sales people.  Salespeople were just an expense to the organization.

If we are not meeting with customers regularly to learn about their needs, then how are we going to build influence?  Sales is influence and the more influence we have the more sales opportunities we have as a result.  A lack of influence will quickly turn us and our product into a commodity!  The only differentiating factor for a commodity is price.  Then starts the race to the bottom where there is no margin and likely no quality.

Some of the most successful business owners that I have had the chance to sit with state that it is imperative to build the relationship with the customer.  The larger the relationship, the more influence we are granted and as a result the move opportunities we have with the customer.  We need to have relationships before we are ever going to be able to sell something to someone.  That is of course unless we are the cheapest price which typically means less value proposition.

I have been able to visit some of my old customers that I have not called on in years.  They will smile, ask me out to dinner, and sit with me for hours to discuss where they are at with their current business situations.  They even have asked for insight on what I might recommend still to this day!  It is a great feeling that I was able to influence individuals enough that they will take time to catch up as well as look for my advice.

These conversations would not have happened had I not worked on the personal side of the business as much as the transactional side.  Knowing our customers on a personal level and understanding their aspirations is a huge benefit.  People want to know that they matter.  Building that relationship is extremely important in helping them achieve their goals. 

It is almost an art form watching an old sales professional work the personal relationship and send birthday cards for the customer’s family, as well as celebrating wins that the customer has had. 

Meetings on the golf course have transacted in large business deals that cannot be instantaneously measured.  Looking back on the sales process and building relationships will allow our business to grow with our customers.   The transactions do happen, but not until we have a level of influence that the customer allows us to show them a better way.  People will not buy from us if they do not know, like, and trust us. 

I encourage you to leverage the personal side of business along with the professional side.  If learning about people was not important than why do Amazon, Facebook, and your smart phones listen in on your conversations as well as track your searches? 

Send a card for your customer’s birthdays, kids’ birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc.  It is a great feeling to celebrate with customers and form lasting relationships. 

Remember the first buying decision a potential customer makes is the Salesperson!

Sincerely,

Kevin Sidebottom

“Businesses wonder why the majority of their sales teams struggle at winning profitable business.  I teach your sales team to walk with the customer through the five buying decisions, and in the correct order to generate more sales with high margins!”

www.kevinsidebottom.com