The Coveted Last Look

Who doesn’t love getting the “last look” in Sales?

But what does it say about your company if you are repeatedly getting the last look, but little business?

It sounds something like this “…we’ve talked to competitor A, competitor B, and competitor C….and heard you might be a good option to try”.

Careful, don’t start sharpening your pencil quite yet:

1. Find out if someone did in fact recommend you?  If they did, your chances of selling them something just went up 40%.  Your response should sound something like, “great, if you don’t mind my asking, who recommended us…and what did they have to say”?
2. Find out why they didn’t already buy from competitors A, B, and C?  Are you giving offering up one more free consulting meeting for them or beating price down further?    “Wow Don, it sounds like you have talked to my best competitors in town already?  I’m curious why you didn’t already sign up with one of them”?
3. Find out what they actually want?  “Don, usually when I meet with business owners like yourself, they have something specific that they believe will really help their business (grow, become more efficient, lower costs), can you share with me what that one thing is and how you see my company delivering it”?
4. Find out what the competition has already offered them?  This is the coup de grace , because chances are out of three competitors, one has already offered everything under the sun to get their business and they still didn’t budge?  You might say, “I know my competitors well Don and they all do good work.   Some just fit better for certain businesses than others do.  Out of curiosity, who stood out as your best option thus far and why didn’t you just sign.  After all, no company is perfect”?  Whatever reason they give you at this point, should be quickly followed by, “…and when you told them (the reason), I’m surprised they didn’t (cut price, promise more service, promise more efficiencies, etc.).

These may sound like bold moves, but face it, you are last on the list and more than likely getting a “one more option to look at” shot.  Chances are, everyone else was afraid to ask the tough questions or they would have already picked up the business, right?  Or it could be, you are truly helping them get a better price/more options from A, B, or C…and if that is the case…well, we can save that for another article because you can turn those around too!

 

Recognition as a Motivator

What happens when one of your Sales Reps has an especially good month?

“If the answer is…(jokingly) we pay them”.  Read on.

Great managers know what motivates people.

One of my old Managers had a habit of thanking his sales team with hand-written notes.

Mine would always reside on the refrigerator…for months.

I had another Manager, early in my career who would say, “take your wife out somewhere nice, save the receipt, and let the company pick it up”.  

I have been fortunate in my career for the most part with having excellent leaders, but I have met many people from the other side of the spectrum.

The sad part is, many supervisors believe, “if I reward my employees too much, they’ll become lazy”.

Recognition doesn’t always have to be financial.  I have a good friend and former customer, Paul, who has arguably one of the tightest employee teams I have ever been around.  When his Supervisors come to town, he doesn’t have to coach his staff on being nice and pretending everyone likes each other, because they live it every day.

That is the X factor every company should strive towards, but few do because…frankly, it takes time and an empathetic spirit to accomplish, which my friend Paul has.

Finding what motivates employees is an art (that can be learned).

• Do you know that one of your ace Reps loves to play golf on the weekends?  Have you ever told him, “John, great job last week.  I was thinking…why not start your weekend a little early…with a round on the company Friday?  I have you set up to play at 1:00 pm at XYX Club.  Lunch and four spots are taken care of already.  Invite whoever you want and enjoy the day.  We really appreciate the hard work you have put in”.
• Do you have a fashionista on your team?  How about rewarding her with a gift card to the Ann Taylor store?  Or to one of your dapper male stars, a gift card to Brooks Brothers?
• Did you overhear one of your employees take care of a problem customer no one likes to deal with?  Why not slip them a pair of movie tickets before the end of the day?
• Do you have a music fanatic in the office?  An itunes gift card would be nice…or better, concert tickets to one of their favorite venues.

 

The key with recognition is to make it personal.  Make it immediate.  And be on the lookout for ways you can reward often.  In other words…catch them doing things right.

Does this sound like the type of place you would like to work?

I would hope so(!)…and that is why the few companies that do these little things can’t beat their employees off with a stick, in good and bad times.

I know employees who have saved a positive note from their boss for years…and the hurt from the lack of recognition for just as long.

 

“Just Kicking Tires”

How many times have you gotten to the decision maker, had a good, engaging conversation over the phone, and set the appointment…only to show up a few days later  with an unengaged prospect that seems to have forgotten everything you had discussed over the phone?

It sounds something like this:

“Thanks for inviting me in today Bill, as we discussed over the phone, we help companies that are frustrated with __________________, are constantly fighting _________________, and tired of ___________________.  If you don’t mind, can you share with me the main reason for wanting to get together with me today…from your perspective?  And maybe give me a little history about where you have come from, where you are now, and where you hope to be in the future with regard to…(whatever you sell)”?

“I don’t know, we are always open to looking around at other things…what do you have”?

“Really, we are pretty happy with our current supplier, I just wanted to see if you had anything better”?

“Don’t you have some sort of presentation you start with”?

Ever hear those responses?

If you do, picture yourself chain-smoking at the car lot…because that’s where the prospect just put you.

“No, I’m good, just kicking tires”.

…Or your favorite clothing store.

“No, just looking today, seeing if you had any good deals”.

If he invited you…meaning, you didn’t beg or stiff-arm your way through the door, why is this happening?

Answer:  Because every other Salesperson has trained him to sit back and wait for the magical Presentation typically given in the first five minutes, that on fantasy island people buy.

Unless your product(s) or service(s) is cheap, this strategy of puking your features and benefits on your prospect rarely works.

Prospects love to buy, but hate to be sold, despite their default position when a Salesperson walks into their office.

So what do you do?  Get out of the way.

“Bill, I would love to tell you all of the great things we do and all of the happy customers that we have if you have an extra hour.  Typically when I meet with business owners like yourself, they are looking for something more than they are getting today, an edge maybe?  You told me you are happy with your current supplier, but no one is perfect, agreed?  If they could do one thing better what would it be”?

Remember the car lot scenario?  How would you feel if as soon as you walked on the lot, the Salesperson started telling you all of the reasons why you should buy from him, immediately, without asking you any questions?

It would be offensive!  But when you do it, it’s o.k.?

(Legitimate) Prospects want to be asked questions about their business.  They want to be validated that they are doing the right thing.  Many also understand that they don’t know what they don’t know.

When you find they won’t open up, chances are:

1. They never wanted to buy, but would be happy to take any free consulting you may provide.
2. They wanted a price…so they could get their current supplier to drop his.  How will you know this?  When the entire focus of the meeting is price.

“But what if I make them mad by not presenting our solutions or giving them a price at the end of the meeting”?

Sponcia’s irrefutable truth #3 says: Prospects that get mad never intended to buy from you.  Don’t sweat it.

 

Stop announcing your honesty!

How many Salespeople, when asked a question of remote importance lead with the standard, “I’ll be honest with you…”?

You know what your prospect hears when you say that?  You got it.  The opposite.

Have you ever met an honest person that repeatedly has to announce they are being honest?  Me neither.

That line…is a credibility killer.

Honesty is demonstrated in 7 ways (without you having to blatantly announce it):

1. Doing what you say your are going to do.  If you just met the prospect, this is revealed in the third party stories you weave into the sales interview.  On repeated appointments, it is the proof you provide to back up what you claim.  Always better to under-promise, over-deliver.  Many lead with the opposite.
2. Being prompt.  Whether it’s the first call, a call back, or with information you couldn’t answer at the time they asked…getting back in a timely fashion seems to be a growing complaint among prospects despite technology that says we should be better at this than ever.
3. Demonstrate technical proficiency – Relationships are critical and I do submit that on anything other than price, people still buy from people they like.  However, don’t lose sight of the fact that people love to brag about something that one-ups everyone else.  A new driver that gives them 15 more yards off the tee.  A 4g connection vs. 3g.  A flat screen with better resolution.  A new Apple anything.  If you give them something to brag about, they’ll be your biggest fan.
4. Show humility.   While your competitors answer every question and always come off as perfect, you shouldn’t.  Admit a few errors…you have learned to better serve your customers.  Admit that you don’t always fit for everyone, but of the people that do buy, many are very happy as shown by your retention rate.
5. Avoid being defensive.  Defensiveness usually indicates guilt.  If everyone was perfect, there would be no competition.  Rarely will a prospect ask tough questions of a company they have little interest in doing business with.
6. Take the high road with competitors.  Customers like dealing with ethical companies.  Many salespeople make the mistake of dogging the competition when the prospect throws red meat on the ground.  The pros avoid this kind of talk and instead find ways to compliment the competition.  What usually happens next?  You get to hear the prospect taking your competitors down a few notches for you.  That is strong.
7. Err on the side of conservatism when toting your product performance.  My old company made over 600 sku’s for the construction industry.  Each product had their own technical data sheet detailing the lab performance results so customers could better make an informed decision.  One of my biggest frustrations initially was fighting competitors that I felt fudged the numbers, while we erred on the side of conservatism.  Inevitably, customers would always call me back and say, “Joe, your data sheets are wrong…we bought your product and gained 800 psi over what your lab expected”.  In head to head competition and if the deal was large enough, customers would test my competitors products against my own, and against our data sheets.  The ones that fudged things had a hard time ever getting back in the door.  I would recommend you do the same.

 

Option 2

Question:  How do you eat an elephant?

How many times have you heard this oft-quoted truism…and chosen to ignore it?

Of course the home run deals get all the press, but give me a sales force that hits singles and doubles, and I’ll show you a championship team.

The problem with many companies is their “all or nothing” product offering, which surprise(!), produces all or nothing sales.

If you don’t already have a low-barrier to entry product or service, create one…tomorrow.

This doesn’t mean your sales force can’t or shouldn’t swing for the fences, but on the off-chance they don’t get a big contract or order on the first try, option 2 should be your next play.

What is option 2?  Something easy to say yes to/hard to refuse.

“I understand, you have been with XYZ company for some time, and I don’t blame you for not jumping ship right away without establishing a little trust first.  I don’t suppose you could allow us to start with something smaller…”

Option 2 can be a commodity service or product, it really doesn’t matter.  The goal is to get your foot in the door with something low stress, low risk.

Once you are in the door, your team can then work its magic.

The benefits to this strategy are huge:

• You’ll get to know your customers key people on a personal basis.
• You’ll get a close-up view of your competition.
• You’ll get some revenue flowing.
• If you do well, you’ll probably be at the front of the line to get the bigger piece of business down the road.
• You may get a referral.

…and the negatives?  There really shouldn’t be one, unless you gave your product or service away to get in the door.  If you did low-ball your way in, just be aware, there will be another company that will come in behind you to do it cheaper.