Categories
Archives
Search
Subscribe to Our Monthly Digest
Category: Sales
What strong brands are built on
Six months ago one of my coaching clients found himself in a predicament: Ty received a phone call from his biggest customer and it wasn’t a happy one. His customer had not received their delivery and it was past due. As a result, this missed delivery date caused the company to be late with a shipment to one of their customers.
Ty checked into it right away, and found out the error was due to some communication error between two departments. They made a big mistake. Ty could have called the company and made up some excuse. Instead, he said, “We made a mistake. We are sorry. We are now making arrangements for you to receive it by air freight, and we will absorb the additional shipping charges”.
Fast forward to today. Not only is this still their biggest customer, they have purchased far more than anticipated since the error. I am quite certain this would not have happened if Ty and his company hadn’t owned up to their mistake and made it right quickly. Ty knew that the most important asset his company has is their sterling reputation, and he fought to preserve it.
What Ty did seems like common sense. It is common sense. Yet how many times have you seen a situation where there was a mix-up in a process, and a shipment has to be sent out late? Have you ever heard someone ask the question, “What should we tell them?” How about the truth? It worked for Ty
Our reputation is our brand, and it is a strong determining factor when a purchasing decision is made. Think of it like that commercial for a Nationwide Freight Carrier: “We are in the business of keeping promises”.
What is your sales “recipe”?
One thing I love about coaching is sharing in my client’s success. Today was a special day. Bill called me all excited: He just received two PO’s that enabled him to achieve his goal for the entire year. That means that in less than three months his sales were now equal to his boss’ expectations for the whole year. How did he do it?
Bill has a lot of good qualities. He plans well, works hard, and knows how to maintain a sense of humor and positive attitude. He also knows how to plan a clear, detailed road map to his goal and get there one foot in front of another. He knows his goal and he knows the type and amount of activity needed to get there. It is not guesswork. He has figured it out through his consistent tracking. Sounds simple, but I find that most sales professionals have no idea of the amount of activity and planning it will take to get to their goals. Not surprisingly, they usually fall short.
Here is an analogy: Last month I had knee replacement surgery. For those who have had this procedure, you know that there is much rehab and physical therapy needed after the operation. If we aren’t disciplined in our exercises, the scar tissue will become stiff in the knee, and we will walk with a stiff leg the rest of our lives. So, we do the exercises! The PT knows just what activity we need to do and to what intensity we need to do it. If we diligently stay with the program, our knee will be fine.
Think about our sales strategy. Like the PT, have we developed our own strategic road map to our sales goals? If not, there is no time like the present. Like Bill, take the time to map out your strategy in detail and employ a daily discipline to stay with it.
Be successful, stay successful, know your customer
“The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence”
– Vince Lombardi
Last week my wife and I celebrated Valentine’s Day by having dinner at one of the most famous restaurants in Chicago. We each ordered a steak. My steak cost $70, and my wife ordered a $50 filet. Our expectations were high!
When the steaks were served, we began enjoying each bite. It was delicious and I made sure I cut the meat in extra small chunks so that I could maximize the experience. Along the way I ran into some fat and gristle, and I carefully separated it from the lean meat. When I was finished, the only thing left on the plate was the fat and gristle.
The quickest way to business failure
OK. I know you aren’t reading this because you want your business to fail. You’re just curious. What is the quickest way to get a business to fail? Be rude! With today’s unforgiving social media reviews, one or two poor customer interactions can do serious harm.
Successful sales professionals are good quarterbacks
If you are a sales professional it s quite likely that you have experienced a big deal fall through in the 11th hour. This kind of experience can take the wind out of us. How do we reduce the probability of a big sale crumbling at the last minute? We need to be a good quarterback!