To build long term business…list the faults of your customers and make their weaknesses your strengths!
To build long term business…list the faults of your customers and make their weaknesses your strengths!
The point then is that you must know precisely what the two forms of customer weaknesses are…and then do all in your power to reverse their performances in one or both areas of weakness. This ‘obligation’ holds true for companies and for sales people, because the weaknesses of your customers are not intentional and usually the customers are unaware of their faults and failings. Companies and reps usually do know where customers go wrong, but they complain more than they act! Prior to speaking at a conference for ‘dealers’ some years ago, organised by a company selling power tools, I was briefed by the MD and he said ‘John, these blokes like to service the products and get oil on their work clothes, but when it comes to planning, marketing, selling, service and management…they are useless, and I think you should know what kind of people you are going to speak to.’ This disrespectful attitude does nothing to arrest or reverse the nature of the problem. In every market, with no exceptions, the customers will disappoint their suppliers. In ‘financial services’ most clients fail to plan or to be proactive. In most retail stores customers know what they want but not what they need. In the printing industry most printers want quotes but they need to help drive marketing action for clients (which produces print jobs!). Here are two examples of creating strengths, at rep and company level…
• When I started as a rep at age 21 I had 3 very ‘notable’ customers who bought a lot of products, and many customers that were ‘not able’ who bought very little. All I used to do was observe and understand what the good customers did and pass this knowledge on to lesser [non competitive] customers…plus I would pass whatever positive information I had to the better customers too. Everyone was happy and bought more products!
• When I was at Schwarzkopf, many of our salon customers were weak at selling key services (such as colour and treatments, etc.) and retail products, plus they failed to set sales goals for staff or the salon; they were also weak at training staff on service and selling skills…and the owners lacked marketing ability. These customers were in effect our ‘2nd sales force’ and we felt compelled to assist, and so we created an array of ‘beyond product services’ such as management systems, sales concepts, staff development programmes, a business education forum and much more…over many years. Salons loved this form of support and gladly gave us the lion’s share of their purchases, plus as they became more productive…they needed to buy more products!
If you offer strength to offset market weakness, in a non-patronising way, you will be welcome anywhere, you will control your sales growth and you will be the ‘preferred supplier’! This involves the key move from distribution to contribution.
To build long term businesslist the faults of your customers and make their weaknesses your strengths - To learn more about this author, visit John Lees's Website.
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In two distinct business areas your customers will often perform badly and their ‘weak performances’ will in turn lead to disappointing results for you and for them. One area concerns their ‘performance’ in using or reselling the products you sell to them, and the other area relates to how well they ‘generally’ run their businesses. A simple example would be that if you sold retail products to my retail store and I failed to sell your products to my customers, that would disappoint you and stifle your sales growth. Secondly, if I don’t run a good retail store, in that I don’t train my staff well, we don’t set sales goals for the store or for staff…and our customer service is average, all of these ‘general’ deficiencies will also impact negatively on your sales growth.
The point then is that you must know precisely what the two forms of customer weaknesses are…and then do all in your power to reverse their performances in one or both areas of weakness. This ‘obligation’ holds true for companies and for sales people, because the weaknesses of your customers are not intentional and usually the customers are unaware of their faults and failings. Companies and reps usually do know where customers go wrong, but they complain more than they act! Prior to speaking at a conference for ‘dealers’ some years ago, organised by a company selling power tools, I was briefed by the MD and he said ‘John, these blokes like to service the products and get oil on their work clothes, but when it comes to planning, marketing, selling, service and management…they are useless, and I think you should know what kind of people you are going to speak to.’ This disrespectful attitude does nothing to arrest or reverse the nature of the problem. In every market, with no exceptions, the customers will disappoint their suppliers. In ‘financial services’ most clients fail to plan or to be proactive. In most retail stores customers know what they want but not what they need. In the printing industry most printers want quotes but they need to help drive marketing action for clients (which produces print jobs!). Here are two examples of creating strengths, at rep and company level…
• When I started as a rep at age 21 I had 3 very ‘notable’ customers who bought a lot of products, and many customers that were ‘not able’ who bought very little. All I used to do was observe and understand what the good customers did and pass this knowledge on to lesser [non competitive] customers…plus I would pass whatever positive information I had to the better customers too. Everyone was happy and bought more products!
• When I was at Schwarzkopf, many of our salon customers were weak at selling key services (such as colour and treatments, etc.) and retail products, plus they failed to set sales goals for staff or the salon; they were also weak at training staff on service and selling skills…and the owners lacked marketing ability. These customers were in effect our ‘2nd sales force’ and we felt compelled to assist, and so we created an array of ‘beyond product services’ such as management systems, sales concepts, staff development programmes, a business education forum and much more…over many years. Salons loved this form of support and gladly gave us the lion’s share of their purchases, plus as they became more productive…they needed to buy more products!
If you offer strength to offset market weakness, in a non-patronising way, you will be welcome anywhere, you will control your sales growth and you will be the ‘preferred supplier’! This involves the key move from distribution to contribution.
To build long term businesslist the faults of your customers and make their weaknesses your strengths - To learn more about this author, visit John Lees's Website.
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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