What we drive speaks volumes about us. Sometimes it might not be what we think it is.
There was a mildly successful salesman whose territory was in the country calling on various types of manufacturing plants. After 10-15 years calling in this area, he took an opportunity for a partnership in another part of the U.S. The salesman who took his place found out that while customers respected the previous man's knowledge they didn't feel that he needed their business.
A gentleman with an HVAC business had an appointment to visit a friend to price out a new central air conditioning system. The job almost didn't happen for him.
A salesman for a very high grade tool company was barely successful. Some of his customers weren't sure of his capabilities despite being given good service.
In the first two cases, the customers felt that volumes were being spoken by the salesman's respective cars: "I Don't Need Your Business!" . The industrial salesman was driving a top of the line Mercedes and the HVAC guy was driving a Porsche. I don't know what the industrial salesman drives today but I know the HVAC man ONLY drives his service truck for any kind of job now. In the third case, the tool salesman was driving a 15 year old compact car that looked ready for the junkyard. Nothing about the car said "success".
What does your car say about you? Is the image that you want to project being sent AND received? Is your office on the road clean - inside and out? Are you able to transport a customer on a moment's notice without embarrassment? Are you driving a vehicle that suits your business?
Monday, October 19, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The Genius !
One of the most amazing men of all time has to be Michelangelo along with that other guy, Da Vinci. Perhaps this was one of Michelangelo's PMA phrases he used to propell himself. It has been attributed to him.
"The greatest danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short but in setting our aim too low and ACHIEVING our mark."
"The greatest danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short but in setting our aim too low and ACHIEVING our mark."
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sell High !
Oops! Not THAT high!
One of the imperatives is to sell high, meaning as high up the ladder as you can get and to maintain pricing levels. However, that does not mean to price yourself so absurdly that it approaches usury.
As a manufacturer's rep for many years, I found that one particular product line my distributors sold generally went for about a 27 - 30% mark-up. Large orders ($10k ) went for less, usually. This was a multi-tiered distribution product that was discounted according to sales volume. Key distributors got a 30% better price than those distributors that purchased erratically.
One of my key distributors received an opportunity to place a bid for a very large quantity of product, about $22,000 at their cost. One other distributor, not a key account, also got the bid and of course their price was 30% higher. The non-key distributor got the order.
The sales manager of the key distributor called and asked who had authorized better pricing for the other distributor. Investigating, I found out that the other distributor had NOT gotten any better pricing. Reporting back to the sales manager, I asked how much his salesman had put into the quote. The sales manager shuffled some papers and advised "yep, our fault". I pressed for a more concise answer to which he muttered that "the greedy guy put 70% into it".
This was done by a seasoned salesman who knew better but thought that he had the order locked up. Instead what happened was his customer REMOVED him from the bid list believing that my key distributor was, uh, taking indecent liberties.
Know your products, competitors, customers and pricing levels. In today's marketplace, customers (ok, some) will pay more for the sheer "pleasure" of doing business with you. Others will pay more for a better product, service and knowledge. You've got to think really hard to be able to rationalize being twice (or in this case, more than twice) as high as your competitor. Just do the math quickly; Key distributor quoted $73,000 and the non-key distributor quoted just $34,500 , for the exact same product. The salesman probably wanted to put in 30% but most likely used the wrong equation. Somebody besides the customer should have caught this mistake.
Of course, I actually came out ahead because I got a better commission. C'est la vie!!
One of the imperatives is to sell high, meaning as high up the ladder as you can get and to maintain pricing levels. However, that does not mean to price yourself so absurdly that it approaches usury.
As a manufacturer's rep for many years, I found that one particular product line my distributors sold generally went for about a 27 - 30% mark-up. Large orders ($10k ) went for less, usually. This was a multi-tiered distribution product that was discounted according to sales volume. Key distributors got a 30% better price than those distributors that purchased erratically.
One of my key distributors received an opportunity to place a bid for a very large quantity of product, about $22,000 at their cost. One other distributor, not a key account, also got the bid and of course their price was 30% higher. The non-key distributor got the order.
The sales manager of the key distributor called and asked who had authorized better pricing for the other distributor. Investigating, I found out that the other distributor had NOT gotten any better pricing. Reporting back to the sales manager, I asked how much his salesman had put into the quote. The sales manager shuffled some papers and advised "yep, our fault". I pressed for a more concise answer to which he muttered that "the greedy guy put 70% into it".
This was done by a seasoned salesman who knew better but thought that he had the order locked up. Instead what happened was his customer REMOVED him from the bid list believing that my key distributor was, uh, taking indecent liberties.
Know your products, competitors, customers and pricing levels. In today's marketplace, customers (ok, some) will pay more for the sheer "pleasure" of doing business with you. Others will pay more for a better product, service and knowledge. You've got to think really hard to be able to rationalize being twice (or in this case, more than twice) as high as your competitor. Just do the math quickly; Key distributor quoted $73,000 and the non-key distributor quoted just $34,500 , for the exact same product. The salesman probably wanted to put in 30% but most likely used the wrong equation. Somebody besides the customer should have caught this mistake.
Of course, I actually came out ahead because I got a better commission. C'est la vie!!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
It's Time to Make Records
Have you ever seen real fear? The type of fear that requires full concentration but yet is wildly distracting? I have and it ain't pretty.
The same gentleman I wrote about in my last blog that had taught me several things not to do also taught me to do one thing well: Maintain Good Records. The lesson was purely by accident, of course.
The poor guy got a letter from the IRS simply asking to review his travel records including mileage and expenses. He had little to offer and had to recreate from call reports where he had been for his mileage, and call customers he thought he might have taken to lunch. He of course had his tax records but now he needed specifics about customers. Can you imagine THAT conversation; "Uh, Joe, do you remember going to lunch 11 months ago? Oh, I've never taken you? Must have been Jim, can you connect me to him?"
Keep good and complete records for yourself, your company and our governments!
By the way, he did get out alive but a thin man looked a little thinner by the time he was done.
The same gentleman I wrote about in my last blog that had taught me several things not to do also taught me to do one thing well: Maintain Good Records. The lesson was purely by accident, of course.
The poor guy got a letter from the IRS simply asking to review his travel records including mileage and expenses. He had little to offer and had to recreate from call reports where he had been for his mileage, and call customers he thought he might have taken to lunch. He of course had his tax records but now he needed specifics about customers. Can you imagine THAT conversation; "Uh, Joe, do you remember going to lunch 11 months ago? Oh, I've never taken you? Must have been Jim, can you connect me to him?"
Keep good and complete records for yourself, your company and our governments!
By the way, he did get out alive but a thin man looked a little thinner by the time he was done.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
The Bigger They Come . . .
Are you easily intimidated? Do you conjure images of failure before making an attempt?
There was a co-worker many years ago that I learned many things from. Almost all of them were things NOT to do. He was an old guy, probably 28 or 29 to my 23 and he had an awesome territory. Easy geography, no more than a 2 hour drive to get to an account and a list of accounts that were good steady C accounts thru good steady A accounts as well as some prime potentials.
As part of my training, I would frequently get to travel with a "senior" salesman for a day every once in a while. It was fun and educational to meet customers and find out what their business was and how we fit in.
"Prince Frederick" and I headed out for calls in the furthest part of his territory, in a town I'd never been to. Leaving one account, we headed down a quiet, country road rounded a curve and into view came the largest building I had ever seen! As we drove by the entrance gate I asked "Aren't we going in there?" Prince Frederick's reply was complex and he talked plenty about why he never went there. It all came down to lack of confidence in himself to make the call for an appointment or to just drive up and make a cold call.
Upon getting back to the office the next day it was discovered that our business amounted to a few thousand dollars a year. It bothered me that Prince wasn't making an effort and that the branch manager was letting him get away with it. A couple of years went by and a new sales manager took over and assigned a new salesman. His impact was immediate as he made the calls and dedicated himself to top to bottom selling. Opportunities came daily and sales grew rapidly. I wish I could say it was me but alas it wasn't. Sometimes with a little work these big accounts will fall nicely into place.
Are you rationalizing not visiting accounts? Are you a winner at mom & pop establishments but a whiner concerning accounts where there are more people to contact than you have in your family? Have you done your math and looked at the return on investment of time spent at the various accounts?
You have what it takes or you wouldn't have your job! Step up and back your own fears into the toilet where they belong.
There was a co-worker many years ago that I learned many things from. Almost all of them were things NOT to do. He was an old guy, probably 28 or 29 to my 23 and he had an awesome territory. Easy geography, no more than a 2 hour drive to get to an account and a list of accounts that were good steady C accounts thru good steady A accounts as well as some prime potentials.
As part of my training, I would frequently get to travel with a "senior" salesman for a day every once in a while. It was fun and educational to meet customers and find out what their business was and how we fit in.
"Prince Frederick" and I headed out for calls in the furthest part of his territory, in a town I'd never been to. Leaving one account, we headed down a quiet, country road rounded a curve and into view came the largest building I had ever seen! As we drove by the entrance gate I asked "Aren't we going in there?" Prince Frederick's reply was complex and he talked plenty about why he never went there. It all came down to lack of confidence in himself to make the call for an appointment or to just drive up and make a cold call.
Upon getting back to the office the next day it was discovered that our business amounted to a few thousand dollars a year. It bothered me that Prince wasn't making an effort and that the branch manager was letting him get away with it. A couple of years went by and a new sales manager took over and assigned a new salesman. His impact was immediate as he made the calls and dedicated himself to top to bottom selling. Opportunities came daily and sales grew rapidly. I wish I could say it was me but alas it wasn't. Sometimes with a little work these big accounts will fall nicely into place.
Are you rationalizing not visiting accounts? Are you a winner at mom & pop establishments but a whiner concerning accounts where there are more people to contact than you have in your family? Have you done your math and looked at the return on investment of time spent at the various accounts?
You have what it takes or you wouldn't have your job! Step up and back your own fears into the toilet where they belong.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Athletes of the Company
"The individual who is not spending a minimun of one hour a day developing sales skills is just kidding him or herself about how serious he or she is as a professional." Zig Ziglar
Professional athletes practice constantly for their time in the spotlight. Professional presenters (entertainers) practice constantly for their time in the spotlight.
How much time do you devote to perfecting your skill? Or are you making the same mistakes call after call, day after day, etc?
Professional athletes practice constantly for their time in the spotlight. Professional presenters (entertainers) practice constantly for their time in the spotlight.
How much time do you devote to perfecting your skill? Or are you making the same mistakes call after call, day after day, etc?
Monday, October 5, 2009
Prospecting
Last spring I was sitting in my library and happened to be staring out the window (where WAS my mind?) when a Cooper's Hawk landed on top of the large azalea bush right next to the window and dove in. There was a whole lot of shaking going on but I couldn't see into the bush. In a moment, the bird re-appeared and took off.
Knowing that there was a bird's nest with eggs in that bush started me thinking. Had the hawk been watching for a while or did he just get lucky and notice activity in and around the bush? The bush is obscured from open visability for about 250 degrees of the circle with walls 15 and 30 feet around it. Was it luck and the hawk just knew instinctively that it was the time of the year to be hunting? I checked the bush and sure enough, the eggs were gone.
When we are prospecting do we keep our eyes and ears open? Do we network? Ask for referrals? Ask for the NEXT order? Do you occasionally make an unscheduled cold call just to squeeze one more chance in for a good days' work? Are you well read and keep up with the comings and goings of clients and potential clients? Are you checking the sign-in sheet to see who else is visiting your customer?
Some businesses have a limited number of potential customers. I had an account that if they sold 2 pieces of equipment every five years, they were somewhat happy. Other business have infinite opportunities. Develop a plan for prospecting which includes expanding business in your current accounts and finding new ones. Then, of course, implement the plan.
Knowing that there was a bird's nest with eggs in that bush started me thinking. Had the hawk been watching for a while or did he just get lucky and notice activity in and around the bush? The bush is obscured from open visability for about 250 degrees of the circle with walls 15 and 30 feet around it. Was it luck and the hawk just knew instinctively that it was the time of the year to be hunting? I checked the bush and sure enough, the eggs were gone.
When we are prospecting do we keep our eyes and ears open? Do we network? Ask for referrals? Ask for the NEXT order? Do you occasionally make an unscheduled cold call just to squeeze one more chance in for a good days' work? Are you well read and keep up with the comings and goings of clients and potential clients? Are you checking the sign-in sheet to see who else is visiting your customer?
Some businesses have a limited number of potential customers. I had an account that if they sold 2 pieces of equipment every five years, they were somewhat happy. Other business have infinite opportunities. Develop a plan for prospecting which includes expanding business in your current accounts and finding new ones. Then, of course, implement the plan.
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