Keep it short,
Keep it simple,
Make your message shine
Like a dimple.
You've got five seconds
To make the impression;
If you get their attention
It's a thirty second session.
If they give you three minutes
You've got a base hit;
With thirty minutes
You know it's a fit.
Listen a lot
'Cause that's how you learn
And knowledge is how
A paycheck you earn.
That's the life
A salesman leads
Trying to meet
Someone's needs.
Showing posts with label salesman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label salesman. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Monday, September 8, 2008
Cold Calls
Last week's travel threw me behind. It is amazing how much can accumulate in a few days time. However, the trip was productive. It resulted in one new customer and a number of others who I believe soon will be customers. It is rare in my business to get an immediate order for our services on a first visit. The key, I believe, is that we just seemed to click -- personality, timing and service fitting a need. It happens.
In my years of training salesmen (I may have posted on this before but can't remember), I have tried to teach them to look at each customer contact as one step closer to the sale. That is a difficult proposition for a young salesman trying to get started. "No's" can be hard on the confidence. However, if you count "no's" as being part of the process of getting to "yes," each "no" is considered a positive step forward.
Thinking back on the week, there really weren't any "no's." There was only one stop out of about 30 that was "cool" to the idea of our services. The rest were all positive -- and some were very positive. I expect significant results to develop.
Neal, I appreciate the help.
In my years of training salesmen (I may have posted on this before but can't remember), I have tried to teach them to look at each customer contact as one step closer to the sale. That is a difficult proposition for a young salesman trying to get started. "No's" can be hard on the confidence. However, if you count "no's" as being part of the process of getting to "yes," each "no" is considered a positive step forward.
Thinking back on the week, there really weren't any "no's." There was only one stop out of about 30 that was "cool" to the idea of our services. The rest were all positive -- and some were very positive. I expect significant results to develop.
Neal, I appreciate the help.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Meetings and Writings
I had a great meeting with a customer this morning. They are planning a trip in which they will be recruiting new customers for their business and working with existing customers. They asked if I would like to go with them to talk about the services that we offer. I jumped on it "in a heartbeat!" What better way to strengthen a customer relationship than to help them build their business. This particular customer is very large and there is a lot of growth potential with them.
We will be doing what we call "producer meetings." These are evening meetings where we invite cattle producers to a meal and presentation. We are planning a week-long trip in which we will put on one of these meetings each night and during the day will meet with individual producers. The large customer that I am working with has a strong base in the areas that we will be traveling to and will be introducing me to their existing customers as well as to prospects.
The service that we provide can be administered at several different points in the production stream. The earlier in the stream that it is done, the greater the potential benefit to all concerned. Our customer is wanting to push the process to the the cow/calf level -- which is the ideal point. In that way, their customer will receive the full benefit of our service as their cattle move through the production cycle. It is a win-win-win proposition.
On a totally different note, I have been asked to start writing a weekly news article for our newspaper. Each Thursday, the paper has an agriculture section and they have asked me to write for that section. The first article will be published this week. It will be a little extra work, but I think well worth it. No, it won't be as Panhandle Poet, it will be under my real name.
One of the things taught by many experts is that it is important to be considered expert in your field -- whatever that might be. One step in becoming an "expert" is to be published as such on items of interest to your business, your customers, and your prospects. I will be attempting to submit some of the articles that I write to trade publications as well as to our local paper. We will see how it works out.
We will be doing what we call "producer meetings." These are evening meetings where we invite cattle producers to a meal and presentation. We are planning a week-long trip in which we will put on one of these meetings each night and during the day will meet with individual producers. The large customer that I am working with has a strong base in the areas that we will be traveling to and will be introducing me to their existing customers as well as to prospects.
The service that we provide can be administered at several different points in the production stream. The earlier in the stream that it is done, the greater the potential benefit to all concerned. Our customer is wanting to push the process to the the cow/calf level -- which is the ideal point. In that way, their customer will receive the full benefit of our service as their cattle move through the production cycle. It is a win-win-win proposition.
On a totally different note, I have been asked to start writing a weekly news article for our newspaper. Each Thursday, the paper has an agriculture section and they have asked me to write for that section. The first article will be published this week. It will be a little extra work, but I think well worth it. No, it won't be as Panhandle Poet, it will be under my real name.
One of the things taught by many experts is that it is important to be considered expert in your field -- whatever that might be. One step in becoming an "expert" is to be published as such on items of interest to your business, your customers, and your prospects. I will be attempting to submit some of the articles that I write to trade publications as well as to our local paper. We will see how it works out.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Back Home Again
It's the pits when I don't get a chance to blog. The last couple of days have been full, full, full! That's good though because there was quite a bit of it that was productive.
I am back home. It was a great trip to Denver to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) mid-summer conference. It is still going on, but I did not stay for all of it. Basically I traveled up to attend a committee meeting and to meet with a few customers and prospects. All of it turned out well. The meeting that I mentioned in the last post actually fell through and has been rescheduled at their place of business. I'm still excited about the opportunity and more so because they initiated the contact and in spite of scheduling difficulties, they continue to express much interest.
I know that I've mentioned it before, but I enjoy meeting with customers and prospects more than any other part of my job. We offer a service that is innovative and of high value. It is easy to get excited about educating people on how it can benefit their operation.
Education is another major component of successful selling. A good salesperson needs to be an exceptional educator. If you cannot explain, teach, show, etc. your product in a manner that highlights the benefits to your customer, you will struggle with sales. A good salesman knows his offering and can easily and quickly articulate its features and benefits -- with excitement! Your enthusiasm if genuine, is contagious. You should be excited about what you are selling. If you're not, you need to find something else to occupy your time!
I am back home. It was a great trip to Denver to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) mid-summer conference. It is still going on, but I did not stay for all of it. Basically I traveled up to attend a committee meeting and to meet with a few customers and prospects. All of it turned out well. The meeting that I mentioned in the last post actually fell through and has been rescheduled at their place of business. I'm still excited about the opportunity and more so because they initiated the contact and in spite of scheduling difficulties, they continue to express much interest.
I know that I've mentioned it before, but I enjoy meeting with customers and prospects more than any other part of my job. We offer a service that is innovative and of high value. It is easy to get excited about educating people on how it can benefit their operation.
Education is another major component of successful selling. A good salesperson needs to be an exceptional educator. If you cannot explain, teach, show, etc. your product in a manner that highlights the benefits to your customer, you will struggle with sales. A good salesman knows his offering and can easily and quickly articulate its features and benefits -- with excitement! Your enthusiasm if genuine, is contagious. You should be excited about what you are selling. If you're not, you need to find something else to occupy your time!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
I Love Sales
I enjoy my job most of the time. I manage a small company with multiple locations. We utilize a very lean business model with many of the "overhead" functions being outsourced. Not only am I responsible for general management, I also am the primary sales force for our company. Each week I allocate my time between the various functions that I must perform for our business to operate effectively and continue to grow. I have been fortunate in being able to hire good people who for the most part do not require close supervision. This allows for a tremendous amount of flexibility in my scheduling. Today was fully devoted to business development/sales.
Many companies -- especially small ones -- have difficulty differentiating between the sales function and the marketing function. The best way that I know to look at the difference is that marketing sets the stage, or creates the environment for sales. Sales is the actual transaction which includes the offer, the negotiation, overcoming objections, and closing the deal. A successful sales call is any customer contact in which there is progress made in any of these areas. In other words, if in my first contact with a prospective customer I am able to introduce myself, my company and my product or service and schedule a next contact with that prospect, then I have had a successful sales call. Successful marketing on the other hand is more difficult to measure. Essentially, a marketing campaign is successful if it raises awareness of your product or service to the point that the prospect knows what you are about before you ever walk in their door as a salesperson. Marketing also is the function of providing support material and research for sales. In many ways the two functions are inseparable, but they are two different functions.
Today was a successful sales day. I have to admit that no deals were closed, but out of six calls on prospects, there were three that produced significant movement toward a close. In addition, at lunch I was able to visit briefly with two additional prospects. Now, prospect is another term that needs some definition. To me, a prospect is a qualified potential buyer. Until you know that someone is definitely in the market for what you wish to sell, they are only suspects.
Our business is one in which a sale typically creates a long-term customer relationship. It is not a single transaction. It is establishing a non-contractual agreement to provide an ongoing service. The volume of business that relationship creates is a direct function of the size of business that I am working with. In the three successful calls today, the potential volume is extremely large. One of the prospects would be similar to getting the contract to supply all plastic bags to every Walmart in the Dallas-Ft Worth metroplex. That is a lot of plastic bags. No, I don't sell plastic bags. What we provide is a service.
I love sales call days. One of my greatest joys in business is meeting and visiting with my customers, prospects, and suspects. In fact, the thing that typical salespeople fear the most is the thing that I most enjoy -- the "cold" call. A cold call is showing up at a potential customer's place of business without an appointment, introducing yourself and your product, and attempting to establish a relationship that will ultimately lead to a sale, or will help you to determine whether that individual is truly a potential customer. It is extremely intimidating to new salesmen because of their fear of rejection. Across most industries, it takes approximately 9 customer contacts before a transaction occurs. Most young salesmen never get to contact number 2. They become discouraged if the potential customer doesn't immediately purchase from them. They typically see it as a personal rejection instead of a step in the right direction.
I may decide to post more on this in the future, I don't know. I don't normally go on about what I do for a living in this blog. I guess that I'm still a little pumped up from the success of the day. I hope it didn't bore you too much! Tomorrow will be another sales day. Let's hope I'm still as fired up tomorrow night as I am tonight.
Many companies -- especially small ones -- have difficulty differentiating between the sales function and the marketing function. The best way that I know to look at the difference is that marketing sets the stage, or creates the environment for sales. Sales is the actual transaction which includes the offer, the negotiation, overcoming objections, and closing the deal. A successful sales call is any customer contact in which there is progress made in any of these areas. In other words, if in my first contact with a prospective customer I am able to introduce myself, my company and my product or service and schedule a next contact with that prospect, then I have had a successful sales call. Successful marketing on the other hand is more difficult to measure. Essentially, a marketing campaign is successful if it raises awareness of your product or service to the point that the prospect knows what you are about before you ever walk in their door as a salesperson. Marketing also is the function of providing support material and research for sales. In many ways the two functions are inseparable, but they are two different functions.
Today was a successful sales day. I have to admit that no deals were closed, but out of six calls on prospects, there were three that produced significant movement toward a close. In addition, at lunch I was able to visit briefly with two additional prospects. Now, prospect is another term that needs some definition. To me, a prospect is a qualified potential buyer. Until you know that someone is definitely in the market for what you wish to sell, they are only suspects.
Our business is one in which a sale typically creates a long-term customer relationship. It is not a single transaction. It is establishing a non-contractual agreement to provide an ongoing service. The volume of business that relationship creates is a direct function of the size of business that I am working with. In the three successful calls today, the potential volume is extremely large. One of the prospects would be similar to getting the contract to supply all plastic bags to every Walmart in the Dallas-Ft Worth metroplex. That is a lot of plastic bags. No, I don't sell plastic bags. What we provide is a service.
I love sales call days. One of my greatest joys in business is meeting and visiting with my customers, prospects, and suspects. In fact, the thing that typical salespeople fear the most is the thing that I most enjoy -- the "cold" call. A cold call is showing up at a potential customer's place of business without an appointment, introducing yourself and your product, and attempting to establish a relationship that will ultimately lead to a sale, or will help you to determine whether that individual is truly a potential customer. It is extremely intimidating to new salesmen because of their fear of rejection. Across most industries, it takes approximately 9 customer contacts before a transaction occurs. Most young salesmen never get to contact number 2. They become discouraged if the potential customer doesn't immediately purchase from them. They typically see it as a personal rejection instead of a step in the right direction.
I may decide to post more on this in the future, I don't know. I don't normally go on about what I do for a living in this blog. I guess that I'm still a little pumped up from the success of the day. I hope it didn't bore you too much! Tomorrow will be another sales day. Let's hope I'm still as fired up tomorrow night as I am tonight.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
A Few Sales Calls
Today was a great day for getting out and making calls on customers and prospective customers -- which is just what I did. Because of my general management responsibilities, I don't get to go out to my customers place of business on a regular basis. It is the part of my job that I enjoy the most. It is crucial that I talk to them about what's important to them, about how we can provide better service, about where they are headed with their business and what is shaping their decisions. That kind of input from customers is critical for my business as we shape our strategy for the future and as we adjust tactically to meet the current demands/needs of our customer base. It is also enjoyable to me to prospect for new customers. In some ways, it is like trying to solve a puzzle. How can we meet their needs? What do we offer that will benefit them? Why are they not our customer currently? -- and a million more questions. Many times that is the key -- asking the right questions. Once I understand their needs and what their objections are, I can shape an offer that meets, or exceeds, their needs and overcomes their objections.
People are interesting. Most are driven by completely selfish desires. It seems to be what makes this world tick. There is a constant "what can you do for me" attitude. It is sometimes expressed as a "why are you taking up my time" attitude. Rarely do you find individuals that are at least somewhat altruistic in their approach to life. Those individuals are motivated more by "what can I do for you" than the opposite. There is a rather interesting argument about what type of person makes the best salesperson. Most corporations look for someone that is highly motivated to succeed. Their definition of success is totally focused on money and production. So, they look for salespeople that are greedy. They want someone who is driven to make more and more money because that is the only way they know to motivate them. Interestingly, some of the most successful salespeople that I've ever met are just like a good teacher. They feel called to be in sales. That calling is one of providing the best possible product at a fair price that will solve a problem for someone else. The type of individual that best fits that role will walk away from a sale if he thinks the customer is making a mistake in purchasing what he is selling. If he isn't able to help his customer, he won't try to "finagle" a sale just for the sake of profit. He's in it for the long run. He knows that he must provide value to the customer in order for the customer to continue to rely on him to fill his needs. The best salesmen give more than is expected in the way of value and service. Their customers love them. I think Sam Walton said something to the effect that "great wealth will come to the person who gives the greatest value to his customer. The amount of wealth gained depends on how much a person gives or serves."
It seems to me that's an attitude that we all need to take in life. Give of ourselves to those around us. It is sometimes very difficult to do -- especially when it interferes with what we want to do. However, I truly believe that the rewards are great to those who give the most. It seems to me that Jesus said something like that -- you must give to receive, you must die to live. This world would be a better place if we all practiced those principles.
People are interesting. Most are driven by completely selfish desires. It seems to be what makes this world tick. There is a constant "what can you do for me" attitude. It is sometimes expressed as a "why are you taking up my time" attitude. Rarely do you find individuals that are at least somewhat altruistic in their approach to life. Those individuals are motivated more by "what can I do for you" than the opposite. There is a rather interesting argument about what type of person makes the best salesperson. Most corporations look for someone that is highly motivated to succeed. Their definition of success is totally focused on money and production. So, they look for salespeople that are greedy. They want someone who is driven to make more and more money because that is the only way they know to motivate them. Interestingly, some of the most successful salespeople that I've ever met are just like a good teacher. They feel called to be in sales. That calling is one of providing the best possible product at a fair price that will solve a problem for someone else. The type of individual that best fits that role will walk away from a sale if he thinks the customer is making a mistake in purchasing what he is selling. If he isn't able to help his customer, he won't try to "finagle" a sale just for the sake of profit. He's in it for the long run. He knows that he must provide value to the customer in order for the customer to continue to rely on him to fill his needs. The best salesmen give more than is expected in the way of value and service. Their customers love them. I think Sam Walton said something to the effect that "great wealth will come to the person who gives the greatest value to his customer. The amount of wealth gained depends on how much a person gives or serves."
It seems to me that's an attitude that we all need to take in life. Give of ourselves to those around us. It is sometimes very difficult to do -- especially when it interferes with what we want to do. However, I truly believe that the rewards are great to those who give the most. It seems to me that Jesus said something like that -- you must give to receive, you must die to live. This world would be a better place if we all practiced those principles.
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