Sunday, September 30, 2007

You're there to Sell: approaching dining and drinking with customers



You finally get time to meet with that tough (yet important customer). Your customer wants to meet over dinner. In my business, a lot of information regarding my products is presented over dinner. Sometimes one on one and sometimes in a group presentation. Either way, this is an excellent, albeit expensive, opportunity to sell my product. I cannot, however, truly share the benefits of my products (which I believe will truly improve the lives of my customer and the people he works for), if I am pouring over the menu and contemplating the specials. Even worse, after a couple of drinks, I cannot focus on the technical aspects of a question brought up by my customer. What a waste! Sales people must remember the purpose of ANY and ALL interactions with customers (no matter who they are) is to sell. This, of course, may be on different levels (rapport building for network contacts, gaining access to a decision maker, closing for business, etc). Whatever your purpose, treat your whining and dinning as you would any other sales call. Plan ahead, have resources available, and be as sharp as you can be. When dining out:

1. Go early (even a day in advance) to find a good section or seat that will afford some privacy and a table arrangement that will work best for you to "work the table". (Do I want a big round table, a long rectangle, private room?).

2. Look at the menu before your customers get there. Don't be picky or spend too much time on the menu.

3. Be aware of the VERY EXPENSIVE wines and let the server know you are paying the bill and your budgetary limits. My customers know my expense limits (as they are industry wide guidelines)- you may want to share yours with your customer--or the host customer when your schedule the meeting (use your best judgement here).

4. Don't drink--if you feel so pressured, order a reasonable glass of wine and simply sip it for a toast. Not drinking is the best--keep your senses about you--most people these days understand if you don't drink and simply don't make a big deal about it!

5. Be overly kind to the service (even if they aren't to you). Abusing the "help" is never good, especially in front of a customer---let's face it, you may be their "help" and you don't want them to abuse you.
6. As with any customer interaction, close for next action, whatever it may be. You are spending valuable shareholder dollars to be with that customer, don't make it simply a social call. Get the business.
Good luck and good selling.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

It's a lazy Saturday morning and I am watching the Santa Clause movie with my son. I know it's only September, but Christmas is a "state of mind" in my home. Tim Allen's character has an arguement with his ex-wife about Santa Clause being a "state of mind". That made me think...is success or failure a state of mind? Success, because that's what we want to focus on here, is most certainly not ALL about mindset. Success, however, will not come without having a "state of mind" to succeed. This "state of mind" will motivate and drive you to do the things you need to do to succeed, such as pre-call planning, time management, facing challenging accounts, and much more. Those of you in sales more than an hour realize that we face numerous challenges that can "take us off the market" for a day. If we do not have a "state of mind" that demands success for us (however little our daily success may be), we will be knocked down by the cancelled appointment, the "for sure" deal that tanks, or a bad call from the boss. Whatever your downers are, loose 'em, and change your state of mind to that of success! I mentioned a few ways to do this in my last post, but I am sure there are other ways to do this. Good luck and good selling.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Where to start?

What makes a great sales person? If I could give you all the answers, I would be a best selling author and a very wealthy consultant. That I am not. I do have enough experience, failure, and success to tell you that everything starts with the sales person's ATTITUDE!

Do you know the "old timer" who knows everything? They "know" so much that simply no longer have any use for training, meetings, conference calls, best practices, etc. These are the people I like to call the "eye rollers". The cynicism is is ridiculous. These are the reps who have been around, through the good and the bad, and feel that they have earned the right to not try.

What does this mean to the rest of us? These people can act like a cancer to the organization. Jack Welch recognized these people as a danger to the company. They are especially dangerous if they have any performance above average. It can be hard to justify removing a rep who brings in revenue, even if he brings down others...think about it...the net may be a loss. The influence they have on new reps and experienced reps can be dangerous to morale. Don't fall into the attitude trap. Remember that "misery loves company". If you are trying to better yourself, don't let these people bring you down. Instead:
  • Read motivating and skills focused books
  • Listen to motivating music and podcasts ( I love Zig Ziglar stuff--some is free!)
  • Hang around and talk with the positive, energetic reps.
  • Drink some (not all) the company Kool-Aid---know thy master.
  • Demand positive thoughts of yourself.
  • Visualize your success.

Remember, the buck starts and stops with you. Good luck and good selling.

This is what Sales is all about