I just read a 500-word article from some consulting firm to a Fortune 10 company on one point – “managers say that relationships are important.”
Well gohleee!
Where is Gomer Pyle when you need him?
Boy, what a non-surprise.
Relationships are important?
Now you tell me!
What was I thinking all these years?
This non-information is typical of money wasted on one-dimensional consultants who tell you what you already know, but not ONE THING or ONE WORD on what to do about it.
These are the same people who think it’s important to “measure” customer satisfaction. This is not just a waste of time and money; it’s a total joke. Relationships are about loyalty, not satisfaction.
There are two words that are missing from this “relationships are important” drivel that would clarify the issue, and save hundreds of thousands on consultants who have no concept of what to do and managers who continue to focus only on symptoms or desired outcomes rather than deal with real-world problems. The two words are: REAL ANSWERS.
Many companies tell me that they have GREAT relationships with their customers.
Many salespeople tell me that they have GREAT relationships with their customers.
Those SAME PEOPLE lose orders on PRICE to the customers they have a GREAT relationship with. WHAT?
COLD HARD FACT: If you lose an order to an existing customer because of price, you have NO RELATIONSHIP.
Let me help them – indirectly. All they have to do is read this.
But first let me help you. Because you don’t care about them.
In fact, you hope they never find out how oblivious they are, so you can continue to clean their clock. And they can continue to blame loss of customers on price, and a bunch of other wrong reasons. Blaming instead of taking responsibility.
Instead of telling you how important establishing a relationship is, here, for YOUR benefit, are 17.5 elements that will make relationship happen:
1. Relate to me. Know my needs and issues. Engage me by showing me the customers who are benefiting from doing business with you.
2. Prepare for me. Show me you have done your homework about my situation, not just yours.
3. Don’t waste my time. Don’t ask me what you could have found out on your own.
Read the rest of this article here...
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Get Ready Salt Lake City!
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October 22nd 2008Spend the morning with Jeffrey Gitomer, best selling author of The Little Red Book of Selling, as he presents his Little Red Book of Sales Answers. Got a question that you can't seem to find the sales answer to? Well now is your chance to ask the expert himself while learning other answers to help make you a SALES MASTER!
Then in the afternoon, develop your personal plan to find and keep a winning, loyal, well-trained, and self-directed sales team. This seminar will provide strategies and techniques about real-world sales leadership, plus self-evaluation to measure your present level of achievement. Click Here to Register NOW!
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Jeffrey,
Do you create buying desire by asking problem questions and talking about the problem or asking them need questions and showing them how they can be better off using your product?
Thank you,
Shon
Shon,
Some of each – I use engagement questions that focus on the customers needs and experience – their motive to buy, and what value they hope to gain by owning what I have to sell – if you’re going to say anything about your product, make certain that it’s in the context of how they win – how they produce -- how they benefit from -- or how they profit form ownership.
Best regards,
Jeffrey
Jeffrey,
I frequently visit your website for sales help as well as motivational tactics. I have a customer who has used my company (we happen to be the "bottom feeder" in the supply chain) as the reason why a particular product failed. My customer has not admitted to their customer, after the request was made to find another supplier, they were at fault. We have data that confirms our product and they have data saying they were having issues. The damage has been done. We lost an opportunity for a substantial amount of business. This issue proves to be bigger as the damage may and will spread throughout our industry. Do you have a suggestion to repair this damaged reputation? As a supplier, I am walking the fine line of exposing a customer and losing all of their business but I feel the need to protect my company's interest. I know how I would like to handle it. I figure, I am better off inquiring... "cooler heads prevail.”
Tee
Tee,
The easy way is to burn them so that you look good – but the end result will not be good. The best thing to do is meet with a c-level executive (above your current level) at the customer’s place of business, and try to work out a solution where everyone feels good, and looks good. Proving you were right and they were wrong never works. Better to prove that you are willing to work things out – who knows – with the right meeting, you might be able to save the account.
Best regards,
Jeffrey
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Will You Pass the Flinch Test?
By Lee B. Salz
There is a little test that professional buyers give to every salesperson. It is a test to see if they are confident in the price they presented. They call it the flinch test. This is the test Procurement Agents and other professional buyers give to salespeople when they provide pricing. "Wow! You are 25% higher than your competition."
These pros are trained to react with surprise so that they can see if the salesperson is confident in the price they have put forward. It is nothing more than a straightforward negotiation tactic. Often times, they overstate the price difference such that you can do some quick math and see that the differential is bogus. I can recall a time where I was told that we were 50% higher than the competition. When I reviewed the numbers, this meant that the competitor was losing 18% based on fixed costs that we both had. It was highly unlikely that the competitor was signing up for this kind of an account. When I asked the Procurement Agent about that figure again, he flinched and we ultimately won the business.
The key to passing the flinch test is to respond with confidence in your price. If you don't believe you are providing a fair, competitive price for the solution, my question is why are you presenting it anyway? One would hope that you have integrity so why present something you don't believe in?
Some responses that cause you to fail the flinch test.
What price were you looking for?
I'll ask my manager if we can do better.
How about if I take 10% off?
The reason these are failed responses is that they create trust issues with the prospect. Were you trying to rip them off with the price you presented? One of two things is true. Either you were trying to rip them off or you believe you provided a fair price. What other option is there? Some will say that they were preparing for a negotiation. That's a fair point; however, it is a terrible negotiation strategy to give the appearance that you will drop your price first moment someone balks. That approach gives the impression that you sought to gouge them.
Most negotiations end at the middle ground. They wanted 5; you wanted 10 and settled at 7.5. That seems logical. However, if you lower your price early, the middle ground is lower. In the same scenario, if you dropped to 8 right off the bat, the middle becomes 6.5. As I mentioned, you have to manage the negotiation such that the middle is not lower than an acceptable price for your company.
Successful salespeople have a planned, or dare I say "canned," response for the flinch test. They don't expect a prospect to respond with excitement about a price. They anticipate shock and have a process to handle it.
Here are their secrets...
1. They set expectations upfront. Early in the buying process, they set the expectation that they are not the low price provider. "To be clear, our company is rarely the low bid, does that mean that we won't be working together on this project?" If they say no, you are set for the later phases of the process. If they say yes, at least you haven't invested a ton of time in an account that you won't win. If you are going to lose, lose early.
2. They don't flinch! "I'm not surprised by your reaction. I get that a lot. As I mentioned at the outset, we are rarely the low bidder."
3. They seek to understand. "When you say that you are shocked by the price, which part is surprising? This is the subject of another article of mine which addresses the importance of understanding the prospect's perspective of price.
4. They reinforce their position. "Since we are rarely the low price provider, what do you think our 1000 clients see that leads them to pay a little more to have us?
To share a little secret, I use the flinch test all the time when I buy. It's amazing how quickly sales people drop their price. I bet I've saved my family 20% across the board for all of our spending just with that test. It's no wonder that professional buyers use this. I often wonder how many commission dollars were lost just because they flinched. How may commission dollars have you lost because you flinched?
Lee B. Salz is President of Sales Dodo, LLC and author of "Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager." He specializes in helping companies and their sales organizations adapt and thrive in the ever-changing world of business. Lee is available for keynote speaking, business consulting, and sales training. He can be reached via email at lsalz@salesdodo.com, his website at www.salesdodo.com or by phone at 763.416.4321.
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Work out your sales fitness and command loyalty.
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Work out this week while listening to a copy of Jeffrey's BEST OF Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless CD Set and Jeffrey Gitomer's 10.5 Commandments of Sales Success. We’ll throw in a Customer Loyalty Gym Towel because sales training is hard work and you’ll sweat a little. All for $49.00 ($88.00 Value)
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“I would like to thank you for writing such great books about selling. I am a sales rep in a pharmaceutical company. I have all your three Turkish translated books: The Sales Bible, Yes Attitude and Little Red Book of Selling. And these books are on my bedside always. Every night before I sleep, I read 10 or 15 pages from your book and prepare myself for the next workday. You can't even imagine how you help me by writing these wonderful great books. Thanks again and lots of love from Turkey” -Onur Yildiz
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SEND US A PHOTO to ezine@gitomer.com.
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“I was able to apply some of his ideas on the very next customer that came into my store! This is a MUST READ for the way a customer service employee (or boss) should treat every customer - whether online or in-person. This should be required reading in every business class in the country.” -TML
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“In sales it's not knowing what you should do -- it's doing what you should do. Salespeople know everything, the problem is they just don't do it. We are each responsible for our own success or failure. Winning at sales is no exception. To ensure yourself a win, you must take a proactive approach to learning and following the success rules.”
-From Jeffrey Gitomer's internationally syndicated column Sales Moves
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“Year to date we have doubled our sales volume from the prior year. Our margins have improved as well up 116%. Our company prides itself on our repeat business and now does business with 80% of our clients more than once. All of this is occurring while others in our industry are still cutting staff and tell us that business is off as much as 50%.” -George
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Your Success Story.
Today I went to a local supermarket that had a special coupon (THEIR coupon) for $1 off of a product. I also had a 50 cent manufacturer coupon. They would not let me double dip. The cashier was downright RUDE: “Only one coupon per product!” No “I’m sorry” (and after reading your book, I understand that that is not a good thing to say – but come to think about it…SHE WAS SORRY!). No ”Oh, that’s horrible,” no “you’re in luck.” She got downright rude and when I asked to speak to a manager, she locked her register and walked away in a huff to find one instead of calling one. I told her and the manager that I have done this before – lots of times. No luck. All this over 50 cents! After reading your book, I WILL NEVER, EVER DO THIS TO ONE OF MY CLIENTS. This would have cost them a mere 50 cents. Unbelievable! -Mark
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Each week, we feature a salesperson's success story. Please send your stories to gill@gitomer.com. If your story is published, we'll send you a free Sales Caffeine mug!
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Raleigh
Managers 08/15/08
Raleigh, NC 08/15/08
Orlando, FL 09/12/08
St. Louis, MO 09/19/08
Syracuse, NY 09/23/08
Calgary, AB 09/25/08
Salt Lake City, UT 10/22/08
Salt Lake
Managers 10/22/08
Indianapolis, IN 11/07/08
Kansas City
Managers 11/10/08
Kansascity, MO 11/10/08
The Netherlands 11/18/08
Jackson, MS 03/24/09
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Speaking and training worldwide more than 150 times a year, Jeffrey provides answers, informs, challenges, and inspires sales forces and upper management for hundreds of the largest and most successful companies. You and your people want someone who can make a difference. The difference is Gitomer.Click here to hire Jeffrey for your next event. |
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 The person who works harder when the boss isn’t around is headed straight for a better job.
It is a foregone conclusion that you will never reach great heights of success if you perform at high levels only when others are watching you. The most exacting standards of performance should be those you set for yourself, not those set by others for you. When your expectations for yourself are higher than your boss’s expectations for you, you will never have to worry about job security. If you work to your highest standards, the promotions will take care of themselves.
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