Greenville Business Magazine 2010 July issue : Page 10
››columns Professionalism Grows Sales Without Cutting Prices BY BILL LEE ever. And I’m not referring necessarily to making a sale, but just getting in front of a buyer. To get buyers’ attention, salespeople all too often resort to quoting low-ball prices. Buyers tell me that almost daily they hear such tactics used when salespeople leave voice mail messages. Example: “Hello, Mr. Jenkins, this is Ray Sanchez. I realize you don’t know me, but I’m a new sales representative repre- senting A to Z Printing Services. To help me build my business, my company has authorized me to offer some really good prices. If you’ll give me a few minutes of your time, I’ll be happy to sit down with you and go over what we have to offer.” When I hear words like these, the only word I can think of is L-A-Z-Y; that is, a lazy excuse for getting a prospect’s favorable attention. Why, you might ask. First of all, about 90 percent of salespeople use lower than market prices in an attempt to “buy” business, so this tactic is not exactly unique. A second reason is because only a poor excuse of a salesperson has to resort to low-ball pricing tactics. If I were Sanchez, I’d be ashamed of myself. This approach may allow him to buy an order or two, but it certainly won’t buy him customer loyalty. Consider this: it takes even a highly professional salesperson a minimum of six to twelve months to build a book of profit- able business.Keyword: profitable. I encourage relatively new salespeople to invest the time to earn new customers rather than trying to buy them. H ighly professional salespeople are naturally more highly respected by customers and prospects than less than professional salespeople, largely because they command respect. It’s perhaps not as true today as it was 30 years ago, but there was a time when a salesperson could pull out of his or her pocket an IBM business card and instantly command respect. Why? Because the company – in this case,IBM – had such a sterling reputation that anyone representing IBM was far more likely to be ushered directly into the decision maker’s office than would a salesperson representing one of IBM’s competitors. Today, few companies are in the position that IBM was in the 1970s and 1980s, so salespeople must be more innovative to command respect. Decision makers seem to me to be busier today than ever before. To protect themselves from unwanted interruptions, they hide behind receptionists, secretaries and voice mail systems, all of which make a salesperson’s job tougher than 10 GREENVILLEBUSINESSMAG.COM | JULY 2010 How to Earn New Business 1. Identify 15 or 20 creditworthy prospects that meet your company’s ideal customer profile. Your job now is to turn these prospects into customers. 2. Typed on your company letterhead, send a highly profes- sional sales letter to each of these 25 prospects. In the letter, introduce yourself and tell each prospect that you represent your company in their community and that they have been identified as a prospect who meets your company’s ideal customer profile. 3. During week two, visit and introduce yourself to each of these prospects. Present a good image and remember that the purpose of this initial call is not to make a sale, but strictly to get permission to come back. 4. During week three, send a second letter that lists some of the measurable benefits your company offers, such as order turnaround times, satisfaction guarantees, service commit- ments, etc. As you make sales calls this week, jot down in your notebook the answers to several of the open-ended questions you custom designed for each prospect.
>>columns - Professionalism Grows Sales Without Cutting Prices
Bill Lee
Highly professional salespeople are naturally more highly respected by customers and prospects than less than professional salespeople, largely because they command respect.
It’s perhaps not as true today as it was 30 years ago, but there was a time when a salesperson could pull out of his or her pocket an IBM business card and instantly command respect. Why? Because the company – in this case, IBM – had such a sterling reputation that anyone representing IBM was far more likely to be ushered directly into the decision maker’s office than would a salesperson representing one of IBM’s competitors.
Today, few companies are in the position that IBM was in the 1970s and 1980s, so salespeople must be more innovative to command respect.
Decision makers seem to me to be busier today than ever before. To protect themselves from unwanted interruptions, they hide behind receptionists, secretaries and voice mail systems, all of which make a salesperson’s job tougher than ever. And I’m not referring necessarily to making a sale, but just getting in front of a buyer.
To get buyers’ attention, salespeople all too often resort to quoting low-ball prices. Buyers tell me that almost daily they hear such tactics used when salespeople leave voice mail messages.
Example: “Hello, Mr. Jenkins, this is Ray Sanchez. I realize you don’t know me, but I’m a new sales representative representing A to Z Printing Services. To help me build my business, my company has authorized me to offer some really good prices. If you’ll give me a few minutes of your time, I’ll be happy to sit down with you and go over what we have to offer.”
When I hear words like these, the only word I can think of is L-A-Z-Y; that is, a lazy excuse for getting a prospect’s favorable attention. Why, you might ask. First of all, about 90 percent of salespeople use lower than market prices in an attempt to “buy” business, so this tactic is not exactly unique.
A second reason is because only a poor excuse of a salesperson has to resort to low-ball pricing tactics. If I were Sanchez, I’d be ashamed of myself. This approach may allow him to buy an order or two, but it certainly won’t buy him customer loyalty.
Consider this: it takes even a highly professional salesperson a minimum of six to twelve months to build a book of profitable business. Keyword: profitable. I encourage relatively new salespeople to invest the time to earn new customers rather than trying to buy them.
How to Earn New Business
1.Identify 15 or 20 creditworthy prospects that meet your company’s ideal customer profile. Your job now is to turn these prospects into customers.
2. Typed on your company letterhead, send a highly professional sales letter to each of these 25 prospects. In the letter, introduce yourself and tell each prospect that you represent your company in their community and that they have been identified as a prospect who meets your company’s ideal customer profile.
3. During week two, visit and introduce yourself to each of these prospects. Present a good image and remember that the purpose of this initial call is not to make a sale, but strictly to get permission to come back.
4. During week three, send a second letter that lists some of the measurable benefits your company offers, such as order turnaround times, satisfaction guarantees, service commitments, etc. As you make sales calls this week, jot down in your notebook the answers to several of the open-ended questions you custom designed for each prospect.
5. The following week, bring along with you an article you have clipped from either a trade magazine or the Internet that addresses one of the pressing problems that your research has revealed that each prospect is likely to be facing.
RULE: If you want to raise the odds that your letters will be opened, hand-address and hand-stamp them.
Just yesterday, a client told me a success story involving one of his salespeople: the salesperson, in an attempt to attract some new business, made an initial call on a prospect he had not called on in years. He walked out the door with a $2,000 order at full price.
In this case, all the salesperson did was “show up.” Half the battle sometimes is just showing up. How many prospect calls do you make each week?
I encourage salespeople not to merely make more sales calls, but to make more “high quality” sales calls; i.e., do your homework and learn as much as possible about each prospect’s current challenges and ask several probing questions that show the prospects that you have a genuine interest in somehow, someway, helping them make more money, solve a pressing business problem or be more successful.
On each sales call, use your notebook to make pertinent notes that will jog your memory the next time you call on each prospect. One mark of a professional salesperson is the self discipline to make good notes and to follow up on commitments promptly.
Your prospects are buying from someone. Now, it’s your job to meet them, make a positive first impression and do something for them that will earn their respect. Accomplish this and an order won’t be long in coming.
The economy is slowly improving. Work on your professionalism and earn the right to some new business.
Bill Lee is president of Lee Resources, Inc., a Greenville-based consulting and training organization and author of Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line and 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot. For more information, call 864-248-4048 or e-mail: Bill@BillLeeOnLine.com
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