How to Get Prospects To Use You Instead of Their Existing Supplier

How often does this happen? You make a call to a new prospect to introduce them to the idea of using your products and services and they tell you that they already have a supplier with whom they are happy,thank you. Not you, I am sure, but poor salespeople would say, "Oh, that's okay good-bye." They would lose the opportunity of ever doing business with this person simply because they had never worked out what to say, when this objection comes up.

The objection probably comes up frequently too. What if you had the perfect answer to this objection? Then every time it came up, you would have an answer to keep the prospect interested?

I suggest you don't immediately start data dumping all over the customer about how much better your product or service . The best tactic is to show understanding and get the customer talking by asking questions.

Let's explore some different ways of dealing with this:-

Start every answer to an objection with empathy to build rapport.

"That's fine Mr/Mrs ______ I understand that you would most likely have a supplier already." (note you use empathy to build rapport.)

Then continue with the option of your choice below:-

Option 1.

"May I ask who you are using?"

"What is it you particularly like about your existing supplier? (wait for answer)

What else would you like them to do for you to make them absolutely perfect? (wait for answer)

So, if we could do or give you (what they like about their current supplier) and (the thing that would make them perfect), you might want to talk to us further do you think? What time would suit you to get together next week, Monday or Tuesday?"

Option 2.

"What would happen if your current supplier, all of a sudden, could not fulfill your requirements? (or ran out of stock?)" (Depending on their answer, you would continue with:-)

"Howabout we send you our contact details and information about our services so we can be your standby if such a scenario occurs?

Option 3.

"How long have you been using your existing supplier?" (wait for answer and repeat what they say)

"Sometimes it is good to check whether you are paying the right price for services when you have been using the same supplier for a while. Howabout I give you a quote for using our services so you can make sure you are getting the most value for your money? Please note when comparing prices that our products/services also include ........." (add your value here - it may put doubt in their mind.)

Option 4.

"What would have to happen for you to consider changing your supplier?"

Option 5.

"That's great that you are happy with your supplier. When you changed to your current supplier, you must have changed for a specific reason. Do you remember what that was? When you next get around to contemplating a change, what would you want your next supplier to do?" (It may give you a chance to offer what they want.)

Option 6.

"I realise you may not be interested in our services right now but I would love to send you some information about our products/services so you will be well informed for the future."

Option 7.

"I realise you are happy with your existing supplier, so I am not asking you to give us all of your business. I would like you to consider giving us 1% of your business initially, so you have the opportunity to compare our services with theirs and see the difference. How does that sound?

Option 8.

If none of these work for you try this:

"So what do I/we have to do to be able to do business with you?"

It is recommended you put your favourite option on a wall in front of your phone so you will never choke on this objection again!

Developing a customer-experience vision

To provide a distinctive experience for customers, an organization must unite around the goal of meeting their true needs. Done well, the effort can power a vast amount of innovation. 

Almost every successful company recognizes that it is in the customer-experience business. Organizations committed to this principle are as diverse as the online retail giant Amazon; The Walt Disney Company, from its earliest days operating in a small California studio; and the US Air Force, which uses an exotic B2B-like interface to provide close air support for ground troops under fire. Conversely, companies that are not attuned to a customer-driven marketplace are remarkably easy to spot. Consider the traditional US taxi industry, which is facing significant new competition from the likes of Lyft and Uber. Customer-service standouts clearly understand that this is central to their success as businesses.

Read rest of article here.

From touchpoints to journeys: seeing the world as customers do

To maximize customer satisfaction, companies have long emphasized touchpoints. But doing so can divert attention from the more important issue: the customer’s end-to-end journey. 

When most companies focus on customer experience they think about touchpoints—the individual transactions through which customers interact with parts of the business and its offerings. This is logical. It reflects organization and accountability, and is relatively easy to build into operations. Companies try to ensure that customers will be happy with the interaction when they connect with their product, customer service, sales staff, or marketing materials. But this siloed focus on individual touchpoints misses the bigger—and more important—picture: the customer’s end-to-end experience. Only by looking at the customer’s experience through his or her own eyes—along the entire journey taken—can you really begin to understand how to meaningfully improve performance.

Read rest of article here.

Here comes the modern Chinese consumer, from China, that is .....

Despite concerns about economic growth, the country’s consumers keep spending. Yet our latest survey reveals changes in what they’re buying and how they’re buying it. 

Cooling economic growth, a depreciating currency, and a gyrating stock market are making political and business leaders concerned that China’s economic dream may be ending. Yet Chinese consumers remain upbeat. In fact, consumer confidence has been surprisingly resilient over the past few years as salaries have continued to rise and unemployment has stayed low.

Read rest of article here.

My consulting work with Protasco Trading Sdn Bhd

My office at Protasco Trading for the next three months wef March 3 2016

Laying the ground rules for the staff

 

The company located in PJCC

Stop selling and start providing solutions for free.

In all my 30 years of selling and managing sales teams, I have always advised my staff that once they meet a client, do not sell but start showing an interest in their problems and provide the solutions for free.  Sales will come much easier after that.

The reason is very simple.  Once you start to sell, they will not buy for any one of the four reasons :

1. Your price is too high
2. We do not have the budget.
3. We already have another supplier, and the worse is,
4. I do not like your company (for some rhyme or reasons).

SO Stop selling!

The other reasons are as follows.

Let's start with a controversial statement and one that flags the need for sales forces to recognise they have to adapt to stay relevant in today’s market reality.

To raise your professional sales capability, stop selling!  There is a strong reason to “stop selling”.

Buyers are better trained and better equipped nowadays, and they do not want to be sold to. They do not need or want a sales pitch.

Hence, sales teams have to play “catch up” on acquiring new skills and adapting to the new reality.

Research from Chief Sales Officer Insights indicates that the number of sales forces hitting their goals and targets hovers around the 50% mark, so there is a strong message to sales people: Adapt or become irrelevant.

In Jim Collin’s book Good to Great, he writes: “Get the right people on the bus, in the right seats, and get the wrong people off the bus.” He makes a valid point.

Further comprehensive and validated data is available from the Objective Management Group, the pioneers of sales specific assessments.

Founder and chief executive officer Dave Kurlan says: ‘‘We started designing and developing sales specific assessments in the late 1980s.

“Tools available then were limited to, or based on, personality or behavioural tools that had been adapted to sales, which is pretty much the case today.”

Kurlan adds: “Over those 20-plus years, we have evaluated more than 500,000 sales staff, over 50,000 sales managers and more than 8,800 sales forces across a diverse range of industries around the world.”

The validated data that has emerged should cause concern:

1)        ·85% of sales forces have no formal sales process;

2)        ·32% of sales staff cannot/will not sell;

3)        ·61% of sales staff sell inconsistently;

4)        ·Just 7% of sales staff sell consistently;

5)        ·21% of sales staff cannot be trained;

6)        ·45% of sales managers struggle to manage effectively;

7)        ·Few sales forces have genuine new business sales staff, that is hunters; and

8)        ·There is a mismatch in sales role allocation.

The good news is that the data indicates that the average growth potential of a sales force today is a whopping 85%.

Kurlan says: “Show me any chief executive office or vice-president of sales who would not be happy to have a genuine 20% uplift in revenue, let alone 85%.”

There is an inescapable fact — sales forces are leaving millions of dollars on the table.

Sales forces need to redesign their entire sales approach by moving away from “hard selling”.

They have to diffuse the pressure they create for themselves, thereby taking the pressure off the buyer.

Buyers want to engage in a business conversation, not a sales pitch. That requires a different combination of skills over and above traditional sales skills.

Buyers have a variety of issues, problems, perspectives, styles and personalities.

They are rightly demanding that the salesman has business acumen and is not simply focused on “selling what he has in the bag”.

Skills

The skill set of sales staff will need to look something like this:

1)        ·Business skills/acumen,

2)        ·Communication skills,

3)        ·Listening skills,

4)        ·Empathy skills,

5)        ·Presentation skills,

6)        ·Negotiation skills,

7)        ·Thinking skills, and

8)        ·Decision making skills.

Characteristics

A well-developed sales force will have the following characteristics:

1)          ·Learning and development is seen as an ongoing and frequent investment and not simply ad hoc sales training which does not work;

2)          ·Daily or weekly online and offline coaching, developed by great sales management;

3)          ·Access to learning and development workshops;

4)          ·The right people in the right roles based on an accurate evaluation, not gut instinct;

5)          ·Customised training. The notion that all sales staff need the same training at the same time is frankly naïve, yet it happens frequently today;

6)          ·Only “A” players, whether they are salesmen or sales managers;

7)          ·Accountability, with no excuses; and

8)          ·A compensation/benefits package that reflects and rewards great performance.

Makeover needed

• The sales force recruitment process needs a makeover.
• Wrong sales hires at any level cost money and potentially damage a brand.
• The Objective Management data points to a robust 10-step process for sales personnel recruitment and that includes evaluating/assessing every applicant at the outset, not just those on the shortlist.
• Many sales recruiters are missing both the critical skills and the major weaknesses in candidates that will determine sales success because subjectivity in selection is alive and well.
• Sales managers and recruiters still hire people in their own likeness and, while understandable, the approach is flawed. – Singapore Straits Times/Asia News Network

To all my friends, a Happy Chinese New Year to you and may the Year of the Monkey brings you good health, happiness and prosperity.