Track Selling Times - December 1998
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Track Selling Times
The Voice of the Sales Profession
Issue No. 109
December 1, 1998
Published by Max Sacks International
Home of 100% Guaranteed World Class Sales Training, and
Developers of the Track Selling System™.
Author/Editor: Roy Chitwood, President, MSI
Archives of this letter are available at
http://www.maxsacks.com/newsletter.html
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In this issue:
Newsletter
Archives
"Making the Sale 'Wear Well'"
by Roy E. Chitwood, CSP, CSE
The concept of 'wearing well' lies at the heart of successful selling. It
means that the sale is right for both you and the buyer, that you have
created a happy, satisfied customer and helped build an ongoing
relationship in which your prospect becomes a long-term client. But it is
not a rote or fleeting gesture. For making the sale 'wear well' requires
that everything you promise on the front end is delivered at the back end - and more.
You can see the results of this reflected almost immediately in sales
performance. If you're not creating the bulk of your new business from
customer referrals, you're failing to make each and every sale wear well.
As a result, competitors are scooping up many of your prospects.
To avoid this fate, here are some simple actions to take to make all your
sales wear well:
1. Send thank you cards.
Everyone sends out thank you letters. It's almost a given these days. So
when they arrive, they don't make much impression. Thank you cards, on the
other hand, are more novel and can make a big difference. For instance, in
her early days in the specialist printing business, a salesperson sent a
thank you card after securing a small order. The manager still has it on
his desk three years later. The sales rep was able to capture 50 percent
of that market in Las Vegas and 90 percent in Reno.
2. Follow up regularly.
Whatever promises you've made, follow up to make sure they are delivered.
Meeting expectations, or even better, exceeding them, is a sure route to
repeat business. However, any time you know your company is not going to
be able to come through, it makes a big difference if you let your customer
know ahead of time.
3. Contribute to your customers' success.
Anytime you can contribute to client success, do so. Send them business,
promote them in your publications and be of service in any way you can.
4. Continue to "Sell Your Company."
Although it may seem to be unrelated to wearing well, share your company's
success and accomplishments with your clients. Positive publicity,
articles written or awards, for instance, should not be left to speak for
themselves. Let your customers know and thank them for contributing to
your growth. After all, everyone wants to do business with successful
people.
5. Sell yourself internally.
If you go out of your way to form a relationship with internal delivery and
service personnel while another salesperson fails to recognize them, whom
do you think they are going to service better? And whose customers are
going to be most satisfied? Every hour it takes to sell yourself
internally is time well spent.
The important factor is to always take care of your customers. You don't
only represent your company. By the act of selling them something, you
implicitly have agreed to act on their behalf within your own company.
They are counting on you to ensure they get what you promised.
Don't let them down.
Integrity Pays:
Sticking to Your Guns on Quality
Jack Asgar is Chairman of the Board at Practical Management Inc., a Las
Vegas firm that designs and conducts training programs. He has been
involved with Track Selling for over 20 years. Recently he was faced with
losing a large contract over a quality issue.
"A couple of months ago, one of our consultants was redesigning a complex
training program for a Fortune 500 company. The goal was to reduce its
length from six to four weeks while improving the quality. Our
representative, however, ran into a major snag midway through the project,
when the client's Executive Vice President originated a completely
different idea on how the job should be done."
What did you do about it?
"The consultant told me that what the client
wanted was traditional, but wrong for her company. He felt strongly that
it would not help to reduce overall program length, nor would it
significantly upgrade quality. I told him the company would stand by his
decision, regardless of the threat of financial loss."
What happened?
"He went back to see the executive vice president and tried
to explain why the traditional approach wouldn't accomplish her company's
goals. She became insistent and refused to see his point of view. Our
consultant replied by telling her that she hired him as her advisor and he
was only comfortable doing what would be best for her company. He
continued by telling the executive vice president that if she didn't think
that was correct, she had the right to fire him on the spot. With hundreds
of thousands of dollars on the line, that took a lot of guts for him to
say."
Did you lose the contract?
"She paused for a while, then told him that she
really appreciated his professionalism and integrity. She suggested a
short experiment to prove which was best. When she found out our way was
better, she accepted it happily, and the project was allowed to continue as
originally designed. We achieved our objectives, too. The training
program took slightly less than four weeks, saving the company almost
$700,000 annually. Not only that, the first few groups through the new
program are reported to be the best graduates ever."
Jack Asgar can be contacted at (800) - 444 - 9101
World Class Sales Management:
Good Service Versus Lip Service
By Dick Boudreau, West Regional Manager of Ameripride Uniform Services
I have almost 34 years of experience in sales management, with much of that
time spent in my current line of work - renting image or protection-wear
garments to industry. My region consists of nine plants, each with a sale
manager and approximately 40 salespeople producing annual revenues in
excess of $70 million.
Many of our sales staff have completed the Track Selling workshop. Probably
the biggest thing that it provides is an awareness of the importance of the
needs of the client. As this business is not a one-time sell, wearing well
is everything.
Due to the service-intensive nature of the uniforms industry, however, it's
not feasible for the salespeople to monitor customer satisfaction. For
that reason, we created a sales and service coordinator post that forms the
bridge between the two functions. Once a salesperson makes a sale, the
coordinator visits the new customer with the salesperson and a service
manager. This is done to make sure the customer understands our programs,
to explain our administrative procedures, to fully capture their
expectations and to measure each employee for a proper fit.
With 60 competitors in our field, the actions of the coordinator set us
apart as delivering good service as compared to paying lip service to it.
Only with wonderful service can you hope to stand out, and that's what we
take pride in. We guarantee a 24-hour response, too, by implanting a RF
(radio frequency) chip in every garment so we can track each one on its
journey into the plant and back to the customer. That way, we can promise
no losses. No one else can.
The results of our wear-well approach speak for themselves. We have
achieved close to double-digit growth for each of the last three years.
Dick Boudreau can be contacted at: 213-587-3941
Focus on the Professional - Bob Weiland
Bob Weiland is Director of Business Development for Southern California for
Valley Crest, a landscape irrigation and site development company. He has
34 years sales experience.
"My company handles large ticket items, with the average job costing over
$300,000. We deal mainly with home builders, contractors, public agencies
and developers. In that field, repeat business is critical. If you don't
do a good job, you don't get to work for them anymore. Fortunately, we're
doing it right. We take in around $65 million annually, with an expansion
rate of 10 to 15 percent per year."
How do you accomplish that?
"It all boils down to making sure the sale
wears well. As part of the deal, we agree to maintain the site for three
months. During that time, we groom everything to the highest standard. We
talk to the customers to find anything that didn't meet their expectations.
I personally follow up within 30 days of a sale to ensure the client is
fully satisfied. As well as taking care of anything that may have been
missed, it shows the customers that you care about more than their money.
And if you keep calling, it proves you have their well-being at heart."
When did you get introduced to Track Selling?
"It's over twenty years since I did my first workshop. For me, forming relationships wasn't the
problem, so much as time management. I could spend two hours to negotiate
a million-dollar job with one contractor and twenty hours on a $100,000
contract with another. Track Selling gave me a workable system that I
could use to complete each stage of the project in a timely manner."
How are your sales? "Not so long ago, I set a company record of $22
million while putting a lot less time due to having to run two offices.
The secret of that success was based on service. What salespeople have to
understand is that if you don't develop a good relationship with a client,
someone else will. You have to keep on top of keeping customers happy.
Bob Weiland can be contacted at: mbwmva@netscape.net
Ask Roy
Maria Rodriguez from El Paso, TX,
""I'm being let down by my delivery
department. I don't know whether it's something against women,
discrimination or incompetence. But no matter what I do, hardly a week
goes by when I don't lose a sale because of poor or late delivery. What
should I do?"
Roy's Answer:
"You said it yourself Maria - you don't know. The way to find
out is to talk to your delivery manager or whoever seems to be getting in
the way. These people have to be sold, every bit as much as your
customers. Find out what the problem is from their perspective, and see if
you can make them care about servicing your clients. But remember, they
will only do it for their reasons, not yours. Give that your best shot;
and if it doesn't work, take it higher. Chances are, if it's happening to
you, it's happening to others, too.
"
Reader Survey
1. What do you think of Track Selling Times?
2. What else would you like to see included?
3. If you have sales questions for Roy, or know of a salesperson, sales manager or integrity story that should be featured in Track Selling Times, mail it
to:
The Editor, Track Selling Times
c/o Max Sacks International
2442 NW Market Street #409
Seattle
WA 98107
Tel: (206) 706-4119 Fax: (206) 706-5359
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