Use social media for what it can do – and don’t ask it to do what it can’t.

Many people don’t know this, but he late, great country comedian Jerry Clower started out as a feed and fertilizer salesman.  Some of his jokes and stories were from this life, and one of my favorites is this one.  As they say, if it isn’t true, it ought to be.  He was once selling to a hog farmer, and he asked the farmer what he fed his hogs.  “Slop,” the farmer replied.  He then began extolling the virtues of the advanced hog food he sold, and closed by saying, “With this food, your hogs could be grown and market-ready in half the time!”  The old farmer looked at him and said, “What’s time to a hog?”

That story illustrates how the same words can mean different things to different people – and few things exemplify this more than social media.  “You’ve got to be on social media,” one person says.  Another says, “Quit prospecting – social media is where it’s at!”  However, at the root, what salespeople are concerned with is not social media; it’s prospecting and lead generation.  To that extent, social media has one big Achilles’ heel that no one is talking about.

The Achilles heel is this:  Your target must KNOW about you before anything you do with social media has any effect.

One of the big positives – for the user – is that social media is an opt-in mechanism.  You might be Tweeting some great stuff, but if I’m not following you (by my choice, not yours), I’ll never see it.
If you’re a salesperson, this is a big problem.  Part of what we need to do in our new-business selling process is to reach out to people to make it so that they DO know us.

“But wait,” you say.  “People pass along what they see in social media; that’s how people build audiences.”  Sounds great, and it does happen.  That’s what they call “going viral.”  But there’s a problem:  In the real world, very little business-oriented material gets the reTweet or the Facebook recommendation.

One example of this is a prominent sales author who in recent years has been, shall we say, emphatic about the power of social media.  At the start of 2011, he promised that he’d tell his readers how to monetize social media.  At the start of 2012, he said that he’d hired a consultant to help him show people how to monetize social media.  So far in 2013, the discussion hasn’t advanced.  However, last year, he posted an example that speaks volumes.

He gave an example of a pithy comment that he posted, and, he said, “It was re-tweeted 18 times!”  Sounds great.  Except that he has 30,000 followers.  I don’t even want to run the ratio involved.  And this guy has been a best-selling author for 20 years, which is how he got his 30,000 followers.

Now, it may sound like I’m down on social media.  I’m not.  What you’re reading is a form of social media, and it’s been very beneficial to me for eight years.  That’s why I keep publishing it.  But to succeed in selling, it’s vital that we understand what social media CAN do and what it CAN’T.

Social media CAN be a great mechanism for reputation-building, relationship development, and demonstration of expertise.  Many buyers will use it as a “check-you-out” mechanism to learn more about you….AFTER they have encountered you from some other mechanism (such as personal contact at a networking event or a prospecting call).

Social media CAN’T be a primary contact mechanism, because of the Achilles heel issue that I mentioned earlier.   There’s an exception to this rule; salespeople in B to C businesses should probably invest more time in social media for two reasons:  First, cold-call prospecting is virtually nonexistent in B to C.  Second, what does get forwarded and re-tweeted tends to be information on personal purchases, entertainment, etc.  Real estate salespeople, in particular, have had a lot of success with social media.

I should also qualify what I said in the last paragraph.  At this time, the social media technology does not exist that will get past the opt-in provisions of the genre, and allow social media to be a primary sales contact mechanism.  That technology may exist someday, however (and I’m sure people are working on it).

Last week, at the ASI Show in Dallas, I did a little test.  I was speaking to a group of about 150 people about prospecting.  I asked all the business owners in the room to raise their hands.  About 50 did.  I then asked every one of the business owners to keep their hands up IF they watched their Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn feeds to find new vendors.

Every hand went down.

Since most of you reading this are B to B salespeople, that should tell you something.  Use social media for what it can do.  Don’t ask it to do what it can’t.

If you’re a regular reader of this sheet, you know that I advocate looking at yourself as a profit generators instead of as a revenue generator.  And if you’re not a regular reader (shame on you!), now you know it.  However, you can’t hold someone accountable for achieving a set of results without letting them know how to achieve them.
 
Even so, many businesspeople do just that every day; that is, they send their salespeople into battle with little or no idea of how to sell to generate the desired long-term results of the company.  That’s because the corporate sales culture is what I call the “Keep ‘em dumb” philosophy.  Too many business owners think that the way to make sure that their salespeople hold price and profit is to just not tell them what things cost, how profit is generated, and what prices generate the desired profit.
 
That’s a philosophy borne out of distrust of salespeople in general, and their own salespeople in specific.  It’s a shame, and it ends up being counterproductive.  If salespeople don’t know what goods cost, and what profit needs to be generated, they don’t know specifically what constitutes a “good” or “bad” deal.  They spend all their time returning to the “bat-cave” for the next price or proposal offer.  Then they get disgusted with the process and move on to a new company.
 
The old saying, “knowledge is power,” applies here.  Salespeople that know their own cost structures and profit structures are salespeople who are able to negotiate from a position of strength with the customer.  They’re also salespeople who won’t be coming to YOUR desk with deals that YOU know YOU can’t accept.  If that sounds appealing, let’s talk about how to equip your salespeople to generate profit.
 
Teach your salespeople how your company makes money.  I’m not talking about platitudes like, “We make money by selling our products.”  I’m talking about getting out the old Profit/Loss, and showing them the cost of goods, ancillary costs, overhead, and yes, sales expenses.  Give your salespeople enough information to understand how their actions, decisions, and proposals affect the company’s overall profit picture.  I’ve managed numerous sales forces, and every time that I shared P&L information with them, our average price and profits went up.  Salespeople are smart, and they are able to understand and buy into this type of information.
 
Simplify your pricing structure.  Nothing leads to downward price pressure like a complicated pricing structure.  Here’s a general rule:  The more complicated your pricing, the more your customers fear getting taken – and want to negotiate price and profit.  Equip your salespeople with the knowledge and tools to price in front of customers, on-site, when the iron is hot, and they will find it much easier to hold price.  What your salespeople really want is to have the tools and ability to close business on-site.  Give them that, and they’ll use it.
 
Pricing stability is a good thing.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t raise or lower prices; what it does mean is that you shouldn’t do so like a hyperactive child playing Tiddlywinks.   I once worked for a business owner who was constantly after the sales team to “get our price.”  The trouble was that we didn’t really know what “our price” was on any given day or week.  We gradually became less invested in our profit picture, because we never got a true feeling for what our profit picture was at any time – the owner reserved that knowledge for himself.
 
Don’t get weak, and live by your own rules.  If you want to know the Numero Uno way to frustrate your salespeople, this is it:  Demand that your salespeople hold a particular price.  Then, when the customer comes directly to you, give the customer a price you told your salesman that you “couldn’t accept.”  This is guaranteed – NOTHING will upset your sales team and de-motivate them quite like this.  Don’t be that guy. 
 
Compensate and reward based on profit.  This sounds intuitive, but actually, it’s not.  At least, it’s not practiced very often.  If your salespeople are to be profit generators, but you compensate and reward them based on revenue, they’ll always be after gross revenue.  Instead, align all your measurements (compensation, bonus, stack rankings, and evaluations) based on gross profit generated during a given period.
 
Banish certain money-losing terms from the vocabulary.  I’m not a big “word guy,” but there are some things that salespeople say that are automatic money losers:
 
“I can save you money on…”
“I’ll give you the best deal around…”
“Can I bid on your business?”
“I want the last shot at the price…”
“If you find a lower price, call me…”
 
If your salespeople are saying these things, they’re costing you money – guaranteed. 
 
“But Troy, I’m only a salesperson.  My company won’t share this info with me.”
 
Well, then, it’s time to put your selling skills to work.  You understand how to sell benefits and results, right?  Sit down with your boss.  Explain what you need in order to be the best salesperson you can be, and what the results will be from doing so.  Show this article if you want.  Ask for an investment, and make a commitment.  Then be prepared to live up to that commitment with better results and higher profits.

There’s an ad playing on the radio here in Kansas City that really irritates me.  It’s for a car dealership, and it extols the virtues of their “Non-Commissioned” sales staff several times in about 60 seconds.  To hear them tell it, “commissions” are a dirty word.  Now I know that they believe that the term “non-commissioned” is a selling feature to their customers.  My question is, “Why?”

Unfortunately, I think this is another example of us (salespeople) doing it to ourselves.  We have an image of being commission-chasers above all else.  Why?  Because too many salespeople are exactly that.  As I’ve been saying for some time, the world is changing around us, and we’d better adapt.

You see, sales in the 21^st century will be more and more about earning.  It’ll be about earning your spot in the customer’s buying process, earning your spot on the payroll, and yes, earning commissions.  The car dealer who brags about his “non-commissioned” sales staff is making a statement.  He’s saying that his salespeople don’t earn their commissions, and he’s also saying that they really don’t earn their spot in the customer’s buying process.  What does that mean?

Earning your spot in the customer’s buying process is one of those things that’s simple to say – but challenging to implement.  To earn your spot in the buying process, you must work to improve the buying experience for the customer.  I know you’re sitting there thinking, “I do that already!”  But do you?  Do you really?  More to the point – do your customers think that you do?
I’ve always been amazed by salespeople who use certain tactics on customers, yet are offended or irritated when those same tactics are used when they are the customer.  Be honest with yourself.  Think about the sales calls you made this week.  On how many of those sales calls did you do something to contribute value, knowledge, or expertise to the customer’s situation?  How many calls resulted in you improving the customer’s condition – i.e., was the customer better off after you left?

Earning your spot on the payroll is done through being a driver of your business and not a passenger. Too many salespeople are passengers of their business.  I see it every day, and it’s become more pronounced since the economic downturn.  When “times” are good, they prosper; when times are bad, they suffer.  Ask yourself this:  What did you do this week – what activity did you undertake – to drive your company/territory forward by bringing on a new customer, or significantly upselling a current one?

This is best illustrated by a mortgage company owner I know.  He used to have five brokers working for him.  As the market tightened, he realized a few things.  His brokers pretty much sat and waited on the phone to ring.  Further, the reason that the phone rang was his advertising and Web presence.  When the phone rang, the brokers took the applications, ran them through the system, and prepared approval letters.  They pushed paper, in other words.

The company owner figured out that he could, for a moderate expense, invest in a Web page that allowed his customers to fill out their applications online and create approval letters.  If they called in, an administrative person could handle those applications.  He fired all five brokers and downsized his office suite.  Sales, in 2012, were down 10%.  Profits were up 400%.  As Bruce Springsteen sang, “These jobs are gone, boys, and they ain’t coming back.”  It used to be about protecting your spot on the sales force; now it’s about keeping your job in existence.

Which brings us to the final aspect of earning – that is, earning your commissions.  What is a commission?  It’s compensation for a valuable achievement.  The car dealer I referenced decided that his salespeople weren’t achieving anything valuable.  So did the mortgage company owner, although he handled it in a different way.  So, allow me to close with this question:  What are you doing to earn your commissions, your spot on the payroll, and your customers?  If you can’t think of anything, it’s time to rethink your work.

Maybe today’s article should have been titled, “Old Hackneyed Sales Tactics Debunked, Part 117,” but I thought the above was catchier.

What I’m talking about is an old tactic called, “Not Spilling Your Candy.”  This tactic assumes that customers are simply talking to you to pump you for information before buying from someone else, and that your job – as a defensive selling strategy – is to avoid giving them important information at all costs while trying to lock them down into a purchase.  Hint:  It doesn’t work.  Especially now.

Here’s the scenario.  A client of mine was interviewing two Website developers.  Both were very competent.  One communicated the proposal bearing the “Don’t Spill” mindset at hand; he showed her the “what,” but not the “how” and the “why.”  The second walked her through the proposal step by step.  He showed her part of the “how” and all of the “why.”  When I met with my client, she raved about his comprehensive approach to the business, and how she learned a lot about how a website can be used as a business tool.  Guess who’s going to get the business?

You see, the second vendor tapped into a principle called Reciprocity.  Reciprocity is the idea that, when you do nice things for other people, they feel that it’s appropriate to do things for you – which could include giving you a referral, a testimonial, or buying from you.  It’s one of Dr. Robert Cialdini’s Six Principles of Persuasion, and in my opinion, it’s the most powerful one.

Further, he tapped into what I call the Brave New World of Selling:  These days, the salesperson MUST create value for the customer through the sales call itself – not just the purchase.  The customer – my client – walked away from the sales call better off, more knowledgeable, and more comfortable with Web marketing than she was before the meeting.  He earned his place in her buying process.  If you’re worried about “spilling your candy,” you’re not going to do that.
Here’s the Catch-22:  The information that salespeople are worried about “spilling” is out there already.  And it’s probably free, if you want to Google it.  My client didn’t, but she certainly appreciated the fact that the information was communicated.

“But Troy,” you say, “What if I tell them what I know, and then they take that information and buy from someone else?”  Simple, short answer – that’s your fault.  If they buy from someone else, that’s because you didn’t give them enough positive and persuasive reasons to buy from you.  What generations of salespeople have failed to realize is that customers have the ultimate control of their buying power and their money – and if they want to buy from you, they will – and if they don’t, they won’t.  Successful selling is based on getting them to want to buy from you, not trying to keep them from buying elsewhere.

That’s the core of the whole “Spilling Your Candy” philosophy.  It’s not focused on making the customer want to buy from you – it’s about preventing them from buying from anyone else; the idea is that if you withhold knowledge, they’ll “have” to buy from you.  Again, it doesn’t work.  It never really worked all that well, and it works even less in today’s information age.

Troy’s Truth of Selling: Today’s successful salesperson knows that he/she must GIVE value to the customer before expecting to GET value from the customer.

If you’re “busy,” you’re losing sales!

In February, I attended a conference at the Palms casino in Las Vegas.  I love Las Vegas.  I’ve been going there for years, and normally when I do, I stay at a Harrah’s property on the Strip.  The Palms is owned by a different group, and it’s off-Strip.  Still, first impressions were good.  I arrived, checked in, and attended the first afternoon of the conference.  That evening, I needed to get my car out of valet, so I could go out.  I called the valet, and then came the first sign of trouble.

The phone rang several times, and the bell desk answered.  I explained that I needed to get my car, and gave her the ticket number.  She said, “I’ll try to get this to them – but they’re awfully busy.”  So, I walked downstairs and nobody had taken the number to them.  I gave my ticket to the valet, and he said, “I’ll do my best, sir, but we’re pretty busy.”  Then it occurred to me – in a decade of staying at Harrah’s properties all over the country, an employee had never told me they were “busy.”  It had already happened twice in five hours at this property.  Further, it started me thinking about what “busy” really means in the sales and service world.

When you tell someone you’re “busy,” you are sending them a subliminal message that says, “I’m doing things…and every one of those things is more important than you!”  In some cases, that could be true; in the case of sales and service, I’m not sure how it could be.  For instance, the valet’s job is to park cars and retrieve them for the customers.  Being a customer, I’d say that I was at least as important as anything else that he could have been doing.

Another example of this phenomenon came when I attempted to eat lunch at a local restaurant last week.  All was fine as I ordered my lunch – a salad and a half of a club sandwich.  The waiter brought me my salad, which I ate.  And then waited. And waited. And waited.  Suddenly I looked at my watch and I realized that a half-hour had passed since my order, and my waiter hadn’t even checked on me.  I flagged him down and asked about my sandwich, and he said, “Well, the kitchen is awfully busy right now.”  I looked at my watch; it was Noon.  I said, “Does it happen about this time every day, by any chance?”  I have to be honest – I don’t suffer this kind of thing well.  He said, “Well, your food is in line, sir.”

I told him not to worry about it.  I dropped six dollars on the table – enough to cover the salad and drink – and said that if the kitchen was too busy to prepare a club sandwich in a half-hour, they were too busy for me to spend my money.  Again, that word – “busy.”  Again, I wasn’t asking anyone to fulfill an unreasonable function.  It was a restaurant, and I wanted to eat.  But what he said conveyed to me that I was an imposition, and I really hate to impose on people.

I don’t think salespeople or service people recognize what an off-putting word that is.  Speaking as a manager, I always hated it when my employees were “busy.”  I liked it when they were engaged in conversations, tasks, meetings, etc.  But usually when they were “busy,” I found that they were engaged in less-than-productive behavior – picking up dry cleaning, knocking off early, etc.

Sometimes, words are just “extra.”  They are words that convey nothing but negative meanings, and are unnecessary.  Here’s the kicker – the valet service at the Palms wasn’t even slow. The valet didn’t really need to say anything.  It took a few more minutes than what I was used to at the other casinos, but not enough to be a problem.  His “busy” declaration said nothing about the service I was about to receive – but everything about the attitude of the employees.

It was the same at the restaurant.  I knew that the restaurant was “busy,” i.e. that they had a lot of customers.  I could look around and see that for myself.  What I really wanted to know was, how much longer was I expected to cool my heels before having my sandwich?  And was there someone (i.e. my waiter) that was looking at the situation?  In this case, the answers were that he didn’t care enough to find out.

What’s the advice here?  Don’t be “busy.”  Be engaged.  Be helpful.  Care about your customers enough to learn the answers to their issues.  If you never say “busy” to a customer again, it will be a positive.

Troy’s Truth of Selling:  “Busy” is a word that only conveys negativity to the receipient.

In today’s economy, I find that many business owners have shifted their concerns and sales effort from acquiring new customers to a bear-hug-like effort at retaining their current customers (which, by the way, is the wrong approach to sales development, but I’ll deal with that in an upcoming HotSheet).  The trouble is that most of them look for complicated ways to retain customers when in fact the best way to do it is dirt-simple, and should be instinctive.

Think about this – how much money does your company invest in customer satisfaction surveys, mailings, customer appreciation days, loyalty reward programs, and the like?  These, of course, can be helpful in different ways, but the all-time greatest way to gauge the quality of your customer relationships (and hence retain your customers) is much cheaper and simpler:

Try to sell them something else.
That’s it. Really.  Try to sell them additional items, higher frequency of service, a higher quality of item, or anything else that could be considered an “upsell” or “development” sale.

How does this retain customers?  Simple.  You can’t sell someone something without talking to them, and the “secret” to retaining your customers is TALKING to them.  When I say “talking” to them, I mean HAVING A QUALITY CONVERSATION.  Most purely “retention” calls aren’t quality conversations.  They go something like this:

Salesperson:  “Hi, Mr. Customer.  Great to see you.  I just wanted to come by to let you know how much I appreciate your business.  How’s everything going?”

Customer:  “Fine, good.”

Salesperson:  “Good, glad to hear that.  Hey, did you see that football game Sunday?”
And there it goes.  The salesperson, confident that he has assessed the customer’s satisfaction, reports to his boss that everything is great with the customer.  And it goes on that way until the day that the customer leaves, catching everyone by surprise.  Why did this happen?  It happened because the salesperson stopped DIGGING, and PROBING, his customer.  The salesperson became complacent, and maybe even a little fear-driven, to really dig into the relationship.  The reason why is that salespeople don’t like to hear negativity, and digging can produce negativity.
However, there’s a way around this.  Try this conversation on instead:

Salesperson:  “Hi, Mr. Customer.  Great to see you.  I just wanted to come by to let you know how much I appreciate your business.  How’s everything going?”

Customer:  “Fine, good.”

Salesperson:  “Good, glad to hear that.  You know, I really do appreciate your fastener business, but I’d like to take a stab at helping you with your cutting tool needs, too.  We carry a great line of cutting tools, and can supply them at he same level of service we’re already giving you.  It’s the same truck, the same delivery person, and the same invoice; you save costs by having to deal with less vendors.  Can we have that conversation?”

Customer:  “Whoa, wait a minute.  I do like working with you, but we have some issues with your delivery person.  He’s not always on time, and he’s let us run out of items from time to time.  It’s not often, but I’d really rather address this issue first.”

See the difference in the two calls?  The second call included a pitch for additional items, but ended with an issue being raised by the buyer.  The buyer raised the issue because he wasn’t completely comfortable with the existing service level, an issue not exposed by the superficial nature of the first call.  At first blush, some salespeople might think that the first call went better.  They would be wrong.  The SECOND call went better, because now, knowing that an issue exists, the salesperson can work to fix it – thus increasing the probability of retaining the customer.  Also keep in mind that the retention of the customer was actually the WORST case scenario; the best case scenario would have been engaging the customer in a discussion on additional stuff.
“So,” you’re saying, “that sounds great, Troy.  But what if I’m already selling the customer everything I can?”  Good question.  In this case (and make sure it’s really true), you can still have an agenda.  That agenda can and should be to produce some gain.  Do I hear referrals?  Yep, I think I do.  Conduct a detailed business review and then ask for referrals.  Regardless, you should go into retention-customer calls with an agenda.  Here are five quick ways to build a good retention call:

1.  Sell an additional item.
2.  Sell a higher service level.
3.  Sell a price increase (really).
4.  Sell a higher quality item.
5.  Ask for a referral.

Each one of the above agendas will smoke out customer objections, and potentially result in greater profit and volume from current customers.  If that’s not a win-win, I don’t know what is.

Troy’s Truth of Selling: There is no better way to retain a current customer than to try to sell them something new.

Sometimes, you can get a column idea and a steak at the same time.

There’s nothing like getting real live inspiration for this column.  Such inspiration happened to me as I was eating out recently at a steakhouse.  It was one of the chain steakhouses that have sprung up all over the city, not one of our local gems.  But it was close, I was hungry, and they usually serve a perfectly acceptable sirloin.

I decided on one of their “summer specials,” a marinated sirloin with onions, mushrooms, and cheese on top (I think they called it their “Cardiologists’ Special”).  I dislike mushrooms, but liked everything else, so I asked the waitress if it could be fixed without the ‘shrooms.  She replied that it definitely could, she didn’t like them either, and in fact, that was the way that she ordered this particular steak.  Then, it started to go bad.

You’ve already guessed; when my steak arrived, it had mushrooms.  Since they were melted into the cheese, I couldn’t even pick them off.  Since someone besides our waitress had brought the food, and didn’t hang around to see if it was as ordered, I just slid the toppings off and started on the steak.  The steak itself wasn’t bad.

Five minutes went by, and finally, the waitress showed.  I told her about the mushrooms, and she immediately said, “I’ll have my manager talk to you,” and hustled away.  I should point out that at this point, I wasn’t upset at all – just mildly annoyed about the mistake.  I kept eating.  At about the time that I had finished most of my steak and potato (at least 10 minutes later), the manager arrived and said that she would “make it right for me.”

She asked if I wanted another steak (this was the first anyone had offered this).  I said, no, I’d already eaten as much as I could hold.  Then – this is my favorite part – she began to explain “how this happened.”  Apparently, the onions and mushrooms come pre-packed…blah, blah, blah.  I finally stopped her and told her that I didn’t particularly care how it happened.  I ordered it without, and it came with.  As the customer, that’s what I care about.  She then proceeded to tell me “how to order it correctly next time.”  NOW I’m getting irritated.  By the time she was done, she ended up knocking my meal off the ticket (I wouldn’t have asked if she hadn’t made me mad).  And I left agitated.  Now, let’s break this down and look at the mistakes they made, and things that YOU can avoid doing when something goes wrong:

Incorrect Order Taking:  When I asked if it could be fixed without mushrooms, the waitress rushed to say, “We can do that,” without recognizing that it would be a problem.  I’m the customer, and all I know is what I want.  I don’t know what you can do.  Had she told me that the ‘shrooms were part and parcel, I’d have ordered a different menu item and been perfectly happy.  The lesson is: Tell your customer up front what you can do well, and what you can’t.  Most of the time, your customer will adapt.

Slow Follow Up:  Our waitress waited entirely too long to see if our food was satisfactory and as-ordered.  Part of this was caused by the fact that someone other than our waitress brought our food (I hate that – if something needs to be done, the second person rarely takes care of it).  This was exacerbated by the long wait for the “manager.”  By the time she showed up, I’d had a chance to assume that they really didn’t care.  The lesson is:  Follow up on order satisfaction as soon as possible.  That means, “immediately.”

Not  Empowering Front Line Personnel:  As soon as she was aware there was a problem, the waitress immediately turned to her manager, rather than dealing with it herself.  That produces longer waits, and reduces the credibility of the waitress.  At most restaurants, wait staff is empowered to deal with re-orders and check adjustments.  The lesson is:  Empower your service and salespeople to fix the problem immediately, if not sooner.

Talking About Stuff the Customer Doesn’t Care About:  How many times do we see people, confronted with a problem, explain “how this happened” rather than “how we’ll fix it?”  I don’t care at all what happens back in the kitchen, and your customers don’t care what happens in the warehouse.  All they (and I) know is that our stuff is incorrect, and we expect you to deal with it.  Do otherwise, and it’s an excuse.  The lesson is:  Focus on fixing the problem, not blaming someone for it.

Blaming the Customer:  I didn’t really get irritated until she began telling me “how to order next time” so it would be right.  Her responsibility – and yours – is to make sure that the order aligns well with what your company does.  Your customer probably doesn’t know your processes, your chain of command, and your limitations – UNLESS YOU COMMUNICATE THEM PROPERLY.  The lesson is:  Explain to your customer what to expect up front, and make sure that you can fulfill those expectations.

The ironic thing is that I didn’t get irritated until they began “managing” the problem.  Am I mad now?  Of course not.  I got a free steak, and even got a column out of it.  However, if you don’t want your customers to write their own stories of your failure, you’re well served to learn the above lessons well.

Why has “Bar Rescue” been a wild success, and “Car Lot Rescue” a failure?

You probably know that I’m a sucker for sales-oriented, or more specifically business-oriented, TV programs.  I find it fun to see how much of “reality” actually makes it to reality TV.  For the last couple of years, one of my favorites has been “Bar Rescue,” on SpikeTV.  Bar Rescue, featuring John Taffer, a longtime expert in the bar and restaurant industry, has been a hit for Spike, and something of a cult favorite.

Spike recently tried to duplicate that success with “Car Lot Rescue,” featuring Tom Stuker, a consultant and trainer to the auto sales industry.  Stuker’s focus is on salesmanship, and good car lot business practices.  Spike even gave Car Lot Rescue a time slot right behind Bar Rescue, so it would have a good lead-in.  However, at this point, Car Lot Rescue appears to be dead.  Why?  I believe I know the answer – and it reveals much about both the TV show and the auto industry.

Bar Rescue was a very revealing show.  While the previews always focus on Taffer’s loud and bombastic style, the show gives viewers real insight into the science and solid business practices that make up a successful bar.  Taffer starts with basic blocking and tackling.  Inevitably, the failing bars have a cleanliness problem (something to think about the next time you decide to grab a burger in an obviously struggling establishment), and lackadaisical leadership.  Taffer works on these issues.

The fun, however, is the science of developing customized menus, drinks, pouring systems, physical layout and flow, and other things that typical bar customers don’t know.  Watch a couple of episodes, and you’ll be amazed at the science of running a successful bar.  It’s as sophisticated as any high-end business.  And Taffer’s methods WORK.  One of the most exciting parts of each episode is when Taffer designs a new concept for the bar – it’s not enough to shore up the fundamentals; he redesigns the whole establishment into something completely new, different, and exciting.  Then he re-launches it.

In contrast, Stuker is virtually a cartoon stereotype of a car salesman.  Loud, arrogant (at least on TV), with a big black cowboy hat, he looks precisely like the type of salesman that would cause many customers to turn away from driving into a dealership.  This would be all right if the show revealed intricacies of running a car lot that customers hadn’t seen.  Sadly, car lot customers are all too familiar with what Stuker teaches – get them in the car at all costs, don’t “let” the customer leave without talking to a manager, etc.  It turns them off on the lot – and they turn off the televisions.

Car Lot Rescue failed because there really is no peek behind the curtain.  It’s a rehash of hackneyed old tactics that customers didn’t like when they were invented, and like even less now. In watching it, I was struck by the fact that no one appeared to be having any fun – not the owners, not the salespeople, not the customers, and not Stuker himself.  Instead, it was a dreary look at a business that has itself gone dreary. It’s no wonder that it failed.

What I’d really love to see is Car Lot Rescue, featuring John Taffer.  If Taffer could redefine a car lot the way he redefines bars, they’d have to fight the customers off with a stick. I know I’ve harped on this in my columns before, but if there is any business that needs a reconceptualization, it’s the auto dealer.  It’s amazed me – ever since I was in that business – that we live in a country that is completely in love with the automobile (and justifiably so), yet so ambivalent about the actual experience of buying them.  It really doesn’t have to be that way.

Why can’t car dealerships be a celebration of the automobile, the way the most successful bookstores (like Barnes & Noble) are a celebration of reading?  Why can’t the industry grab ahold of the incredible level of turnover in the sales department, and move toward a level of stability in the sales force?  Why can’t they (finally) begin establishing relationships with their customers?

Yes, I’m positive that this column will offend some in the car business.  I criticize because I care.  If there’s any industry that needs a “rescue,” it’s the auto industry.  The methods are out there, the ideas are out there, and it could work.  All it takes is some people brave enough to try.

Meanwhile, look at your own business.  What do your customers think and experience?  Are you doing the basic blocking and tackling needed to succeed?  Is it time for your own “rescue?”

Are you really a “relationship salesperson?” Most people who think they are…aren’t.

In the world of sales, we’re great at creating divisions between types of selling.  Service sales vs. product sales; hunters vs. farmers; senior salespeople vs. rookies; etc.  Few people, however, are talking about the real divide in sales.  That’s the divide between “transactional selling” and “relationship selling.”

Of course, if you ask, nearly every salesperson is going to describe themselves as a “relationship salesperson.”  Very few of them actually are; probably 90% of our profession works in a transactional mode.  That was OK when a salesperson was necessary to foster and facilitate the transactions.  However, that’s all changed – now every salesperson has to be a real relationship salesperson.  Few salespeople really are, because few salespeople really know what a ‘relationship’ means in sales. If you keep reading, you will.

We’ll dispense with “prospects” for a moment – those are people who don’t buy from you currently, and haven’t bought from you (normally) for at least a year.  Instead, let’s talk about the people who do buy from you – your customers.  You probably think that you have a ‘relationship’ with all of your customers.  You probably don’t.  There are essentially three levels of customers:

The first level is the occasional buyer.  Occasional buyers view every purchase as a new selling process, and the sales effort that goes into the purchases (from your perspective) is nearly the same as a brand new sale.  OB’s shop you every time; they compare offerings and prices, and at the end, they make their purchasing decision with no regard for past experience.  You win or lose each sale based on its merits alone.  However – and this is important – with an OB, one mistake in fulfillment typically costs you the opportunity for future sales.

The second level is the habitual buyer.  Habitual buyers buy consistently from you because you’re who they buy from.  There’s no loyalty or emotional bond; you’re simply the card in their Rolodex.  That’s not all bad, of course – consistent revenue is a good thing – but again, you’re always vulnerable to your competition.  You’re vulnerable if you make a mistake (again, one mistake can cost you the business), and you’re vulnerable to good salespeople who understand how to turn HB’s into a temporary OB, and then prove their value over you (which, by the way, is a great tactic to take HB’s away from your competitors).

The final – and by far the best – level is the loyal customer.  Loyal customers buy from you because they have an attachment to you.  They appreciate what you do for them, and they are willing to evangelize for you by providing referrals, testimonials, etc.  LC relationships can withstand the occasional bumps in the road, including a mistake on your part or a competitor’s approach. If you hadn’t figured it out yet, LC’s are what we should be shooting for with every customer.  How do we get there?

It all has to do with the value that you provide your customer on each sales call.  This is the divide between transactional selling and relationship selling.  Transactional selling actually facilitates and encourages OB’s and HB’s to continue in their pattern; the goal of the sales ‘touches’ (whether in-person calls or otherwise) is to get another order.  When the order happens, the salesperson is gratified and moves on, thinking that he or she has ‘advanced a relationship.’

Relationship selling views the account strategically, and works to convert an OB first into an HB (it’s rare to skip that level from OB straight to LC).  A real relationship salesperson works to improve the customer’s condition on every sales call, through providing value in the call itself.  Relationship salespeople provide information, referrals, advice, counsel, and expertise – whether it’s tied to an order or not.  Does your customer have a need?  If you can fulfill it, great.  If not – can you help your customer find someone who can?  What best practices do you see that you can bring to your customer – even if it doesn’t involve another purchase?

Relationship selling also works to deepen the relationship and expand the pool of contacts within the customer.  Here’s a quick litmus test for your ‘relationships:’ if you want to speak to your contact’s boss, do you get resistance?  Relationship salespeople don’t, because the contact understands the salesperson’s need to meet more people and be a better vendor.  The contact also trusts that the salesperson will use that contact for mutual benefit.  Transactional salespeople encounter resistance because they haven’t broken the natural territorialism and haven’t established trust.

The real danger is in mistaking the first two types of customer (OB and HB) for the third type (LC).  You only really have built a relationship with your customer when they have reached the Loyal Customer level.  That’s because there are factors that are external to your performance on each order and transaction that keep you in place with the customer.  Most salespeople are smart enough to know that the Occasional Buyer isn’t a strong relationship; however, they kid themselves into thinking that the Habitual Buyer is.

If you’re wondering how to distinguish the HB’s from the LC’s, put the relationship to a test.  Ask for referrals.  Ask for testimonials.  Ask one of the all-time scariest questions ever:  “How vulnerable are we to our competition?”  And if you’re scared to do these things, then you already know they’re not a Loyal Customer; you just haven’t admitted it to yourself yet.

Transactional selling is becoming obsolete, because customers can research, compare, and complete transactions without the intervention of a salesperson (the Internet again).  However, relationship selling – done right – will never become obsolete.

The secret to selling success in 2013 may be found in an ancient Latin phrase.

I was talking, a few days ago, with a friend of mine who asked me if I had any curriculum on “identifying buyer types.”  He had worked with a philosophy before that placed buyers into four different “types” for the purposes of knowing how to sell to them.  It was all part of the salesperson’s “game plan,” he said.  Now,this guy has been very successful over the years.  I respect him.  But I can and do disagree, from time to time, with people I respect.  This was one example.

I told my friend, “I have a very simple method of determining the number of buyer types that there are.  Simply count up all the people, and then multiply by one.”  I explained that my process is centered on dealing with people as INDIVIDUALS, not “types,” and that, for me, it has been more successful.  This, however, led me into an internal dialogue about how much head-baggage salespeople can carry into a sales call.  Canned presentations, fake rapport tactics, buyer identification tactics, and so forth, can really trash a call before it gets a chance to thrive.  And I returned to a concept that I discuss in my book, Sell Like You Mean It!  There are two words that most salespeople don’t know, and every salesperson should.

They are: Tabula Rasa.  That’s a Latin phrase meaning “Blank slate,” and it’s the foundation of high school and college debate (which I participated and excelled in), as well as legal proceedings.  It’s also the foundation of today’s successful selling.  Stick with me.  Essentially it means that the debate, proceeding, etc., begins with no presumption whatsoever, and that concepts and contentions become “fact” as they are stipulated to, proven, or agreed upon.
One of the key skills in debate – and law – is the ability to see and react to what is happening.  That’s an essential skill of selling, too.  Here’s how this manifests itself in selling.

When we walk into a sales call with highly structured presentations, manipulation techniques, and other strategies of the kind, we remove the individual characteristic from each sales call.  Essentially, we treat one customer like the next – even though they aren’t.  While a salesperson is trying to pigeonhole his buyer into one of four boxes, the customer is trying to express an individual need – and usually failing.

A tabula rasa approach is much better.  With this approach, the salesperson has two objectives:

 First, to learn about the buyer and the buyer’s individual needs and situation.  Second, to improve the buyer’s condition through the sales call itself. The salesperson does so by lending his/her expertise to the buyer’s situation.  What the salesperson recommends, presents, and proposes, is not preplanned – instead, it is the result of the questioning phase of the sales process.  The salesperson reads and reacts.

Does that mean that the salesperson goes into a call and just wings it?  Far from it.  The salesperson has  a game plan – but that plan consists of the questions he/she plans to ask.  The rest of the call is dependent entirely upon the answers to those questions, and the needs expressed.

This sales call approach places burdens that are demanding and different upon the tabula rasasalesperson.  Those burdens are completely in line with the changes in the selling world.

First, the salesperson must be an expert questioner.  The ability to read off a list of questions and write down the answers doesn’t make you an expert.  The salesperson who succeeds with this approach is the salesperson who can formulate excellent, deeply probing questions on the spot – with the pathway of the call determined by the answers.

Second, the salesperson must be an excellent listener.  Most people say they are – few really are.  This salesperson must be able to capture information and the information behind the answer – and then drill down appropriately.

Finally, the salesperson must be an agile thinker with the ability to craft presentations on the spot that speak directly to the buyer’s needs and situation.  Further, the salesperson must be able to interpret the information given by the buyer and use that information to create the presentation.

This type of tabula rasa selling isn’t easy.  In fact, it’s demanding as heck; much more demanding that memorizing lists of questions, presentation statements, and canning yourself up.  But it’s incredibly rewarding, both in terms of the effectiveness of your sales calls and in terms of the fun you’ll have in selling.