Selling from Good to Great

In the wonderful book Good to Great, Jim Collins says when companies transition from good to great they have to know what not to do. This also applies to selling. I can certainly recommend what not to do. Here are some of the things that I’ve seen and they surely didn’t work!

1. Don’t forget to start selling. Early in my career, I was at a sales call with the sales manager and we had quite a pleasant conversation about their products, what they did, and how they were doing. I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I never asked how long we had for our meeting. Within 25 minutes the meeting ended because the manager was pulled out into another meeting. I never asked my strategic questions. I lost the opportunity to present what I could do for them. I had chatted away the time because I was having such a good time. You’re there to sell. It’s your job to guide the conversation. Don’t lose your focus.

2. Don’t sell if it’s a bad fit. I normally work with managers who have a clear understanding of what they want. We discuss where their sales staff is and where they want the group to be. I will design a program to improve the skills for the strategies we discuss. The initial call with the manager expressed an interest in improving customer service skills. He hired me. I got a phone call and he wanted to include selling skills. I modified what I had. Then the project scope kept changing and my frustration increased. I finished the project and vowed never to work with this manager again. Know the person or company who is right for you and your products. Avoid the ones who are not. Learn from your first mistake. Don’t make it twice.

3. Don’t have an ordinary introduction. When people ask you what you do, don’t respond, “I sell (the product you sell).” I’ve heard enough people describe themselves by their job function to a prospect. It’s boring and is not an effective selling message. Always say what you do for your customers. Try to address the problems you solve. I say, “I work with sales and business professionals who want to make it easier to sell.” After all, selling is the easiest job in the world. Just ask anyone who’s not in sales.

4. Don’t think you can keep your business without demonstrating and documenting value. If your products and services are as good as you say they are, you’re customers are seeing benefits. They’re seeing reduced costs, avoided costs or increased revenues. Why not document this in a savings letter or report to your customers? If you don’t know the impact of your products, ask your clients, “How has my product/service impacted your business?” Was I in for a surprise when the Vice President of one of my largest accounts transferred. The new Vice President said to me with his feet up on his desk and his hands clasped tightly behind his neck, “I’m your worst nightmare. I don’t know you, your products or your company… and I’m not loyal.” Fortunately, (after I caught my breath) I was able to show him the files of work I had done and the total dollars I and my company had saved him because he was doing business with us. The best way to be prepared when people change at your accounts (and they will) is to document and present the work you do.

5. Don’t think your customer will be a good one forever. Businesses change. Marketing strategies change that cause our customers to go in new directions. Those directions are not always the best for our business. We see it more and more today. A once large customer is now a smaller and less critical one. If you continue to spend the same amount of time you were with the account, you’re taking time away from developing your next big account. It’s sad when things change. Recognize it and make changes. It’s acceptable to maintain contact by phone instead of a costly sales call when the customer no longer meets your criteria for an important account.

Now that you know what not to do, you are well on your way to go from good to great selling.
 

Maura Schreier-Fleming works with business and sales professionals on skills and strategies so they can sell more and be more productive at work.  She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results which is available at www.BestatSelling.com.  She founded her company Best@Selling in 1997.  You can reach her at 972.380.0200 or info@Bestatsellling.com.

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