Look at how technology is affecting your customers in your industry right now. But don’t just look at productivity. Look at the overall customer experience as well as who is buying your offerings.
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Posts Tagged ‘Sales’
Take a Moment To Understand How Technology Is Affecting Your Customers
The Hydrogen Car Has Finally Arrived
Honda has rolled the first mass-production fuel cell automobiles off the assembly line. Called the FCX Clarity, the revolutionary new car looks and drives just like its gas-powered counterparts, but produces no harmful emissions. It’s powered by a specially designed, 100-kilowatt fuel cell that’s 65 percent smaller than other designs, leaving enough interior room to carry four passengers comfortably, while boasting a top speed of 100 miles per hour and a range of 280 miles.
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TRENDS FOR EVERY SALESPERSON (PART III)
Over the last two months I have shared several trends for every salesperson to know: #1 Your past success will increasingly hold you back, #2 Technology-driven change will dramatically accelerate (Rapid change is your best friend), #3 Time is increasing in value, and #4 We are shifting from the information age to the communication age.
This month I would like to share the final two trends I have identified for successful salespeople to keep abreast of changes in their industry.
#5 SOLUTIONS TO PRESENT PROBLEMS ARE BECOMING OBSOLETE FASTER
Almost every salesperson has been told to be proactive, which means to be taking positive action. How do you know if a certain action is positive? You wait and see. That sounds like a crapshoot with bad odds. Therefore, you need to be pre-active to future known events. To determine pre-known events, you need to look at your customer segment and identify what types of events you are certain they will be experiencing soon. You then focus your actions on what will be happening rather than on what is happening. Being pre-active also means that you change the way people think. For example, if you put out a new product or service and hope it catches on, you’ll quickly learn that it can take a long time because you’re not actively changing the way people think about how the product can be used or how it might change their lives. Therefore, constantly educate your customers on the value you and your products and/or services offer so they begin to rethink the results they can achieve and the value you provide.
#6 THE VALUE YOU BRING TODAY IS BEING FORGOTTEN FASTER
Sell the future benefit of what you do. Most salespeople sell the current benefits of what they do. But your customers already know the current benefit you offer. One of the reasons customers leave you for a competitor is that you haven’t cemented the future benefit you can bring them. Your goal as a salesperson should be to establish a long-term, problem-solving relationship with customers rather than a short-term transaction. Your most profitable customer is a repeat customer. Therefore, you want customers to see the benefit you can give them over time, not just in the present. You want to show how the products and services you offer are going to be evolving with their needs. In other words, you want to sell the evolution of your products or services. Unfortunately, most salespeople don’t know their future benefit. Therefore, you need to sit down with your fellow salespeople and create a list of future benefits that you have for your customers. Also, talk to the people developing the products and services and get an idea of where they’re taking them. Realize that you’re more likely to deliver future benefits if you think of them ahead of time. As a side benefit, this kind of dialog will also help internal communications within the company.
SALES SUCCESS FOR THE FUTURE
The more you understand and adapt to today’s current business trends, the better your sales will be—today and in the future.
TRENDS FOR EVERY SALESPERSON (PART II)
Last month I covered two trends for every sales-person to know: #1 Your past success will increasingly hold you back, and #2 Technology-driven change will dramatically accelerate. (Rapid change is your best friend.)
This month I would like to share some additional trends for successful salespeople to keep them abreast of changes in their industry. The more you understand and adapt, the better your sales will be – today and in the future.
#3 TIME IS INCREASING IN VALUE
Increasingly time is becoming more and more important to people. Why? We have an aging demographic in the United States, with 78 million Baby Boomers. And time gets more valuable as you get older because you have less of it. Additionally, the world has become more complex with much more for people to do with their time. Today we have iPods, cell phones, the Internet and a host of other technologies that didn’t exist when the Baby Boomers were babies. There’s so much more going on and we’re connected in so many more ways that everyone is increasingly strapped for time. With that in mind, the last thing you want to do in sales is seem like you’re taking someone’s time.
Instead, you want to be giving them time. You want your customers to feel that talking to you is actually saving them time. Think about all the time wasters your customers might experience: long wait times for service, long hold times on the phone, long delivery times for products…the list is virtually endless. Such time wasters hurt your sales and profits. Therefore, make sure you have the processes in place that will keep customers from wasting time. When you can prove that you’re a time saver, people will choose you over the competition every time.
#4 WE ARE SHIFTING FROM THE INFORMATION AGE TO THE COMMUNICATION AGE
Many salespeople rely on such marketing tools as a company web site, flyers, and sales letters. But all these things are static, meaning they are merely informing people. You hope your sales messages will entice the prospect to call, but it’s still a one-way interface. A better way is to have your sales messages create action. One way to do that is to engage prospects with your sales and marketing efforts. For example, you could have a contest that encourages people to go to your site and enter. So instead of just saying that you want people to buy your snack product, for instance, you can tell customers that they can go online and create or vote for the next new flavor. Now you get them involved in your product. The key is to generate communication, engagement, and involvement through your sales and marketing efforts. If you call someone and just talk to them and aren’t creating dynamic dialog, then you’re really just giving them information. You want to give people consultative advice. You want to listen and speak and create dialog. Only then do you truly capture your prospects’ interest and convert them into paying clients.
TO BE CONTINUED…MORE SALES IN YOUR FUTURE
Next month I will cover the final two sales trends taking place – all of which affect salespeople in every industry. Understanding all six of these trends and how to maximize them will help you reap the rewards of a successful sales career.
TRENDS FOR EVERY SALESPERSON (PART I)
Every industry and profession goes through changes, and the sales profession is no different. Just because a certain sales technique or mindset worked in the past doesn’t mean it’ll work today. To be a top performing salesperson, today and in the future, you need to continually adapt to both market and social conditions.
With that in mind, there are several new business trends taking place—all of which affect salespeople in every industry. Understand what the trends are and how to maximize them so you can reap the rewards of a successful sales career.
#1 YOUR PAST SUCCESS WILL INCREASINGLY HOLD YOU BACK.
People who are in sales long-term tend to be successful. Realize, though, that success is your worst enemy. When you’re at the top and doing well, you’re really just trying to keep up and meet demand. Having so many sales knocking at your door lulls you into a false sense of security. As such, you’re not looking at enough future opportunities because you’re too busy reaping the rewards of the current opportunities.
You’re not sowing the seeds of future success, and that’s setting you up for a fall. An old saying goes: “If it isn’t broke don’t fix it.” In today’s world we need to rework that statement to be: “If it works it’s obsolete.” For example, if you just bought the latest laptop, is the next newer and better version already in existence and about to be released to the public? You bet! Remember that rapid obsolescence isn’t just about products; it’s about how we do our business too.
#2 TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN CHANGE WILL DRAMATICALLY ACCELERATE.
It’s human nature to protect and defend the status quo. However, you have to understand that technology is changing the future, your customers’ behavior, and your company’s reality. That means if you don’t change, you’ll be soon out of a job. As a salesperson, you need to embrace change and make it your best friend rather than fight it and hold tight to the way things were. So how do you make rapid change your best friend? You spend some time thinking about where the changes that are impacting you and your customers are going. Remember that change causes uncertainty in customers’ minds. You can bring certainty to your customers when you are confident in where change is going. You can lead your customers through the change, causing them to view you as more than just a salesperson, but as a solutions provider and trusted advisor.
TO BE CONTINUED…MORE SALES IN YOUR FUTURE
Successful salespeople know that in order to stay on top, they need to keep abreast of trends and changes in their industry. Only then can they stand out and be a true solutions provider for their prospects and customers. Next month, I will share additional trends to help you understand and adapt to today’s changing sales industry.
TAKING SALES TO THE NEXT LEVEL, PART II
Last month, I covered the Golden Rule of Sales—give people the ability to do what they currently can’t do but would really want to do if they only knew they could have done it. This month, I would like to cover some additional areas to help take your sales to the next level.
REDEFINE THE VALUE YOU DELIVER
Always remember that you’re not simply selling a “thing”; you’re selling the competitive advantage of the product. In other words, part of your job is to help your customers use the product you sell to gain competitive advantage. No wonder margins are slim. Most companies simply sell the product, deliver it, and then leave. It’s then up to the customer to figure out specific guidelines for maximizing the use of the product organizationally. Is it any wonder why so many customers underutilize their purchases?
Obviously you can’t share secrets or proprietary information you learn about any of your other customers, but you can go beyond the guidelines and actually help customers figure out how to get a competitive advantage by using your product. By offering that kind of knowledge, you could possibly even charge more for your product because now you’re giving business value that far exceeds the value of the individual product.
REDEFINE PERCEPTION OF THE SALESPERSON
You need to shift from being a vendor to being a trusted advisor. A vendor simply supplies a product. A trusted advisor supplies true advantage. For example, a trusted advisor will recommend what is best for the customer, not best for the salesperson. When you seek that higher ground and become a trusted advisor, your clients trust you more.
Remember that the future is all about relationships. Relationships are all about trust, and you gain trust by earning it. So never teach people to distrust you by stretching the truth or hiding some pertinent information. To differentiate, you need to raise the bar on trust.
REDEFINE YOUR LEVEL OF SALES SUCCESS
When you focus on redefining what you already have you can take your current offering and leverage it to new levels. That’s when you become a sales leader, not because of some fast-talking sales pitch, but because of your commitment to your customers and their true needs. So focus on these four elements of redefining today and you’ll be able to give your customers tools and solutions they never dreamed possible. As a result, both you and your company will attain new levels of success and realize the profit potential you always knew existed.
TAKING SALES TO THE NEXT LEVEL, PART I
As a salesperson, you’re trained to ask customers what they want in terms of your product offerings. That’s wise advice. However, if you only ask customers what they want and then give it to them, you’re missing the biggest opportunity that has ever come in front of you.
Realize that clients will always under-ask because they don’t know what is possible. Think about it…No customer ever asked for a fax machine. They didn’t know it was possible to send printed communication via a phone line. No customer ever asked for an iPod. They didn’t know it was possible to listen to music without some sort of CD or spinning device. People don’t ask for things that they don’t know exist.
Technology allows us to do things that were once thought impossible. So for salespeople, while it is important to ask customers what they want and then to give it to them, realize that by doing so you’re merely competing with your competitors. Chances are your competitors are asking customers the same questions, they’re getting the same answers, and they’re providing the same solutions. When that happens, you end up competing on price and not differentiating yourself.
Therefore, the Golden Rule of sales is to give people the ability to do what they currently can’t do but would really want to do if they only knew they could have done it. That’s so much more profitable than simply giving clients what they ask for.
The key is that you have to look a little bit further into your customers’ predictable needs based on where they’re going. Only then you can see unmet needs and new opportunities.
At this point many salespeople might say, “But I don’t create the products; I just sell them. How can I deliver what customers don’t know is possible?” The answer lies in how you can redefine various aspects of your offering. Consider redefining your product. Today, it’s not about high-tech; it’s about higher-tech. In other words, it’s not about your product; it’s about how your clients use it.
Think about the products you sell. Sure, your customers are probably using the product for what it was intended to do. But could the same product help in another department? Could it impact the effectiveness of the company in some other way? Could it do something else or something more for your customers? Analyze how people have always used your product and think of other creative applications. That’s how you redefine your product so it adds more value and does what no one ever thought to ask.
Next month, I will show you how to redefine your customers and the value you bring to them.
The Trust Factor
As you might guess, I review a variety of electronic newspapers and news sources every day, but after all these years, I still enjoy reading a traditional print version of the morning paper with that first cup of coffee. It might be because I spend so much time every day looking at a computer screen, that I just want to start the day unplugged, moving more than just my eyes.
A little over a month ago, the local newspaper I subscribe to sent me my annual renewal form in the mail. The annual renewal price was $190. I was in the middle of a speaking tour and didn’t have time to respond to the renewal notice. Another few weeks went by and then I received the marketing call. They said; “We noticed you did not renew your paper this year. If you renew now, it will only cost you $90. That’s a savings of $100. Will you renew now?”
I said yes. They didn’t know it, but I would have renewed at the usual $190; I was just too busy. There is something else they obviously don’t know. I will never trust them again. In just a few sentences, they taught me to never pay the bills they send me, because if I do, I’m ripping myself off.
THE REAL LESSON
I’m sure this is not what the management at the local paper wanted to teach me. How do mistakes like this get made? The answer is simple. We “assume” trust is there because we see organizations and ourselves as being trusting and trusted. Because trust is assumed in all that we do, we often fail to consider if our actions will undermine trust. In this case, the local paper taught me not to trust any of the offers they send me in the mail. I now know, there will be a better deal if I take no action and wait for the better offer.
NEVER ASSUME TRUST
Anytime you are introducing something new, a change of any kind, ask yourself what will happen to trust if you do it in this way? If the answer is that trust will go down, don’t do it in that way. I didn’t say don’t do it. I said don’t do it in that way. Change how you do it so that trust is maintained. And, if anyone in your organization can find a way to increase trust, reward those people openly because you will want that behavior repeated.
Another strategy would be to say they are offering me a one-time-only offer to renew at a reduced rate and this price would not be offered again. By emphasizing the one-time-only aspect of the offer, it is less likely to be seen as a rip off.
HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY
There are millions of AOL customers today who have a broadband connection and are still paying $21.95 per month for e-mail and access to their content. Millions have called to cancel and were then offered $19.95 per month for the same service. If they said no to that offer, they were then offered $5.95 per month. If this happened to you, how would you feel? My guess is that you would wonder how long AOL had been ripping you off at $21.95 per month. Trust would be undermined.
About a month ago, AOL decided to offer their e-mail and content service for free allowing them to better compete with Yahoo! and Microsoft’s free services. Did AOL notify any of their customers who are still paying $21.95, $19.95, or $5.95? No! Instead, they are hoping that they don’t ask so they can keep collecting the money. My guess is that the remaining, long-standing, loyal AOL customers will eventually find out, feel ripped off, and leave AOL forever. Is this what AOL really wants? I don’t think so.
The moral of this story is: never teach your customers to distrust you.
