The Selling Newsletter
The Selling Quote for the Month
“Whoever thought up the word “Mammogram”? Every time I hear it, I think I’m supposed to put my breast in an envelope and send it to someone.”
Jan King, humorist
I picked a humorous quote this month. I needed it. How about you? I hope this month’s quote reminds you that words mean different things to different people. I know that’s especially true for selling. Ever hear a customer say, “I need my order fast.” What you hear is, “I need it tomorrow.” You jump through hoops to make the order happen only to hear your customer say, “Why that was fast. I was expecting it next week.” When you hear words that could mean different things, or gray words, make sure you are asking for clarification. Words that are these gray words are comparative words like more/less, better/worse and broad categories like fewer, a lot, always, and never. When you hear these words, pay attention and ask what the speaker means. Try to avoid using gray words with customers unless you do want to be unclear as you communicate. If you hear “Your price is too high” I hope you respond, “What do you mean by too high?” Then hope it’s a lot less than you thought.
I’m now a guest columnist for the Dallas, Austin and Houston Business Journals. My column is called “Customer Connections.” I’ll be answering readers’ questions about selling. Do you have any selling questions? Send them to info@bestatselling.com
Upcoming Programs
When:October 19 11.30 AM- 1:30 PM
What: Active Listening Skills
Where: Small Business Development Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
For more information: 972-985-3749 or
972-985-3758
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When : November 2
11.30 AM- 1:30 PM
Where: Small Business Development Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
What: Power Persuasion: Unleash Your Hidden Influence Skills
For more information: 972-985-3749 or
972-985-3758
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When : November 9
11.30 AM- 1:30 PM
Where: Small Business Development Center
4800 West Park Blvd.
Plano, TX
What: Group Decisionmaking for Great Solutions
For more information: 972-985-3749 or
972-985-3758
The Selling Ideas for this Month
When Hopium Won’t Work
You’ve worked hard. You’ve just closed the deal. It’s a few months later and you have a satisfied customer. How do you know? You just know. After all, a long-term, satisfied customer is what you hope for. False hope stems from too much reliance on the salesperson’s drug, hopium. Hopium, which too many salespeople are addicted to, will not help you when you want to retain your customers. Here’s what will.
What is retention? Terri Schepps is president and founder of Integrity For You, Inc., an international, proactive customer follow-up service company. Retention is both finding out what your customers believe about your products and services after the sale and using the relationship to grow your business. She says, “Most large companies are not focusing on customer retention because they believe their products are so unique that they don’t have to. They’re wrong.” With a good retention strategy she sees small companies taking business from large ones. She adds, “A good retention strategy is to first focus on your own employees’ happiness. It’s difficult for disgruntled employees to please customers.”
Start customer retention now. Retention work starts before you close the sale. Schepps says, “How you sell is a clue about how easy it will be to retain a customer.” She advises that you use your customer’s timeline, not yours. Ask them how often you should be calling them and when they expect to buy. A too pushy salesperson creates a customer that can have retention issues and be less loyal. Look for ways to make it easier for customers to work with you. You may have expectations of what your customer has to do in order for you to serve them. If you do, make sure you tell them about your expectations before you begin working together. Be sure to educate your customer about how your products/services are unique when you are selling. She adds, “You create a customer who is more informed. An educated customer creates less retention issues and is more likely to be loyal.” She cites dry cleaners with their prices ranging from budget to expensive. Unless a customer knows that the more expensive services use cleaner solvents and use certified experts in spot removal for a range of fabrics, there doesn’t appear to be a difference in services other than the price. The salesperson’s job is to explain this. She says, “Get your customers to repeat to you why they are purchasing your product/service. Let them reaffirm to you the value of their purchase. This is more beneficial for them than for you”—and it increases retention.
Use retention to sell. The retention phone call is totally focused on the customer. Ask the customer: ‘Are you taking advantage of (a particular product feature)?’ ‘Have you had the opportunity to try….?’; Most important is to ask ‘Are you aware that we offer (other services/products)?’ You might uncover other selling opportunities. Hold off selling until another call. When you learn you have a satisfied customer you should ask for a referral. Ask your customer to recommend other people who could also get the same benefits.
You’re not alone. Sometimes salespeople create their own retention issues by ignoring other parts of their own company. Instead they should focus on building better relations with other departments and understand their work and needs. Schepps has seen many departments which look down on the sales department. Their disdain of salespeople translates into a poor attitude toward the salespeople’s customers. Schepps advises salespeople to reach out to other departments so they can be sure that their customers will be handled well. She says, “The salesperson is responsible. Someone has to start.” She adds, “By learning more about your own internal operations you might even eliminate some problems in the sales cycle. That will increase retention.” Sounds like a better idea than hopium.
Action Items
1. Do you know how often you should be contacting your customers? Find out.
2. How can you make it easier for your customers to work with you?
Selling Tips
Get more selling tips from Maura’s ebook: 97 Ways to Sell More Now E-Book
https://www.bestatselling.com/e-books.html
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Looking for new strategies to improve your persuasion skills? This easy to apply Audio CD will give you many new ideas to easily improve your persuasion skills so you can sell more and close business faster.
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I’m always looking for success stories and other tips from sales professionals. Please feel free to email me at info@bestatselling.com with ideas that have worked for you.
If you want to build customer relationships for long-term business, you can easily do it using Exacttarget (www.exacttarget.com) and their CANSPAM compliant broadcast services.
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Written by Maura Schreier-Fleming, Best@Selling (www.BestatSelling.com). Maura works with business and sales professionals who want to sell more and be more productive at work. She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results.
For free articles, selling ideas and morale boosters
visit https://www.BestatSelling.com
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About Maura Schreier-Fleming
Invite Maura to speak at your next conference or sales meeting! Contact: info@bestatselling.com
Maura Schreier-Fleming works with business and sales professionals to make it easier to sell more and be more productive at work. Her Best@Selling clients want to create long-term client relationships. They include Fujitsu, Fannie Mae and Dr Pepper/7UP. She has an M.S. in Textile Engineering from Georgia Tech and was Mobil Oil’s first female lubrication engineer in the U.S. With over 20 years of sales experience, she teaches the art and science of selling with a unique hands-on perspective and a great deal of real-life insight. She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results (a book filled with ideas to make selling easier and more productive. Her business column ‘Selling Strategies’ appears in the Insurance Record magazine and her column ‘Street Talk’ appears in Jobbers World. You can contact her for seminars at company or trade association meetings at 972 380 0200 or info@BestatSelling.com
Privacy: At Best@Selling we take privacy issues very seriously. Your information remains with us and will never be sold, shared, or distributed in any manner, for any reason.
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Contact Information
1. Our Web site: www.BestatSelling.com
2. E-mail: info@bestatselling.com
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