The secret to more sales in any economy

Do this and you practically can’t lose with a customer or prospect

Most of us feel that we would be unbeatable in the market if we had the best quality, the best price, and powerful differentiation. In my experience, you could have all that, and still fail. You also need trust between you (and your company) and the client.

Trust is the challenge

Trust, while vital to any worthwhile and productive relationship, seems to be a challenge for many to build and maintain successfully. Further, sales and marketing efforts that lack this vital ingredient, often (always, in my experience) fall far short of their potential.

The cost you never see

People hate to tell you that they don’t trust you. Instead, they let their actions do the talking for them. You usually can’t see the cost. What I have observed is that, as trust grows, new, interesting, and rich opportunities suddenly emerge, right before your eyes. Those goodies were always there, just waiting for you to earn the right to see them. That right almost always comes through trust.

I meet often with CEO’s and presidents

The first test I set for myself is the test of trust ability. Nothing else matters if I can’t pass this test. I got in the door because others said I was trustworthy. Now they run their tests to confirm it. If I pass, I move forward. You know what happens if I don’t pass the trust test: Nothing.

Surveys point at trust

Dozens of survey’s, done over the last 30 years; consistently show that prospects and customers feel they can tolerate average products, average service, and average pricing. But they can’t tolerate working without a certain degree of trust.

Trust can buy you some potent benefits:

• Real loyalty, when times are tough: The behaviors that create and sustain trust are not affected by any economy.
• Referrals. Some trust will deliver some referrals. Deep trust can drive a torrent of referrals your way. (However, this won’t happen without some action on your part.)
• Better information. Some trust delivers some information. Deep trust results in a lot more information.
• Win-win deals. Sometimes you must walk away from a deal to maintain your long-term trust relationship.
• Better self esteem for you.
• Far higher margins. In most surveys, price is not actually in the top five reasons that people buy or keep buying. Getting what they want in a fair manner is usually the main thing they are after. With trust, you can be paid what you are really worth in a situation. That doesn’t mean overcharging. It does mean that, if you provide great value, you are much more likely to be paid for that great value.
• Fewer surprises.
• Sales forecasts that become revenue reports with a minimum of leakage. (One forecast was for $100K while the actual revenue received turned out to be $30K. Nothing erodes your credibility like consistently missing your revenue forecasts).

What isn’t necessary to have trust (This might surprise you.)

You might be surprised to know that being liked is not a necessary part of a trusting relationship. It is helpful, and it likely leads to greater and more-effortless productivity, but it is not actually, in my experience, a requirement.

Story

I once had a business partner who was a very religious person. He was also off-the-charts brilliant at what he did for a living. But, he was a “difficult” person in the opinions of most of our customers. I cringed every time he got near a customer. Despite all that, we still got great customers. And we kept those customers while we increased our revenues each year. While this person was a royal pain at times, he was as trustworthy as the day was long.

Three levels of trust

• Level one: Our values are aligned
• Level two: I am competent in the things you need me to be accountable for.
• Level three: I have the authority to achieve the things you need me to be accountable for.
  

An example:

I trust (level one) my lovely wife, in that our values are deeply aligned. We are going on vacation to Hawaii June 1st. I wouldn’t trust her to fly the 747 we will be flying on, because she is not competent to do that task (level two). Let’s just imagine, for a second, that she did know” how to fly a 747. I would not trust her (level three), because she would not be authorized by any airline (with a brain) to fly one.

To be powerful

You must test the levels of trust that your objectives require. We call this qualification.

The magic of keeping your word

The fundamental underlying all this, is the requirement that you keep your word. So easy to say and, oh so very hard to do, even if you know the mechanics of keeping your word. I’ll cover those mechanics next week, by the way.

How to build trust

The key is to ask, listen, and keep your word:

• What do they want from what you are selling?
• What do they value?
• What does success look like?
• How will they know success when they see it?
• What complaints have they had with others who provide what you offer? (You are not asking the name of the others. You just want to know what the issues have been in the past. I like to ask, “What did they say when you told them about your concern”?)
• What kind of service do you want and need?
• What is the single most important thing to you in dealing with what I offer? (If it is price you might also want to say: “Pretend price is the lowest you have ever seen. What would be the next most important thing to you”?)

I am sure that you can think of a dozen other questions whose answers you need to know to align with your clients in your market. Just make sure you write them out, ask them, and record the answers. There is no memory in the world as powerful as words printed in pencil on plain white paper.

The big issues that derail trust even if you know all of the above:

1. Thinking about what you are going to say next, instead of really listening.
2. Not asking clarifying questions. The client is aware of it when you don’t ask a question that you should be asking. This is where the amateurs are separated from the professionals. The client loses trust in you if you don’t ask the right questions, and you begin to pose a risk to them, their career, and to their company. Even when you think you know, ask the question.
3. Not doing what you said you would do, every time. Essentially, you must keep your word. Again, we will go into the mechanics of keeping your word next week.

Bottom line

The bottom line is to take care of trust first, and then your product, service or company. You can have the best price, best service, and best quality, but without trust, you can, and will, be beaten by the competitor who has an average price, an average service, and average quality, but is wrapped in the security of trust.

Creation and maintenance of trust before the sale

If your clients know they can really trust you, they can tolerate almost anything else, as long as you and your offer truly meet their needs.

Choose to act now

Begin today to ask those questions, keep your word, and build trust. You will likely be amazed at what a difference it will make in your life.

Cheers,
Eric

Slow purchase decisions: What to do?

If people can delay

If people can delay, they will. Your job is to make it easier and more logical to act, than to delay. If they delay, you have a choice; act or wait and hope for the best.

If you choose to wait (passively)

Let me know how that works out for you. I’ll be busy taking actions, making sales and going to the bank (with vacation, retirement and other deposits.)

The pain of delay

Delay costs you in many ways:

• In lost revenue and profit
• You incur more risk of loss to competitor
• There is more risk that you have wasted your sales effort
• It is emotionally unsatisfying
• The irritation creates a drag on life in general
• It robs you of the feeling of being effective and powerful
• lients don’t get the value you offer. It’s a classic lose/lose situation.
  

Why do you delay?

If you know yourself, you will often know others. Answer this question for yourself, and you will be well on your way. We all delay when we can get away with it.

How people decide things

My observation, after 30 years and more than $1.5 billion in sales transactions under my belt, is that people make decisions in just two fundamental ways: 1.) They seek to clarity everything until a decision becomes obvious, or 2.) They take a stand, regardless of new information, or the possible availability of new information.

What is the cost of delay?

If the cost of delay is large, and the downside of acting right away is known or limited, things will happen. If there is no cost of delay, or there are unknown risks, things don’t happen until clarity is achieved.

What is possibly missing?

What information is possibly missing to make a good (safe) decision?

Background conversation

Most people are trying to make a decision that they can defend to others in their world. In essence, they want a good story, and they want a story that is simple enough for them to repeat successfully. Giving them that story is part of your job.

Service and detachment

You give the prospect all the help that you can, and then you ask for the order. Your clients will fall into a pattern. You just need to be prepared to help them, in a systematic way, get through their issues. When they get through the issues, they can make a decision. Don’t get emotionally involved. It will slow you down.

If you can’t walk away, it’s tough to sell

If prospects are not meeting you half-way, you are probably better off graciously setting them aside or suggesting that they not make a decision now. Get them, and yourself, off the fence and move on to the next target.

My internal conversation is always this

I always tell myself, “I am rich and I don’t need the money.” I am here to do this person a favor, but I don’t have all day. I did this when I was broke. It wasn’t easy, but it was the key to having the bank account that I enjoy today.

What I want

I want a firm “Yes,” or “No.” If I get a “Not now,” I want to know what it will take to get a firm “Yes,” or “No.” If the prospect can’t help me with that, I put them on a tickler list and keep dripping valuable information on them with lots of opportunities for them to buy.

The real problem

I suspect you already know most of what I have said. The real issue is that, in some cases, if you walk away from a prospect who can’t act, you know you really don’t have anyone else to sell to. Delay is not your real issue. Getting enough prospects to sell to is your real issue.

Only four major ways to get new prospects

They are: a solid, on-going marketing program, cold-calling, getting referrals and luck. Now I am going to put the shoe on the other foot:

• Do you have a marketing process in place that gives you all the qualified prospects you need? If not, sign-up for my next marketing class and get busy.
• Do you know how to cold-call successfully when you need to? Invest $49 and follow the directions. Then get busy.
• Do you have a referral system in place that delivers a steady stream of qualified prospects? If not, get on the list for my upcoming referral program tele-seminar. Click here to join the list.
  

Are you going to delay? If so, why?

Your action

Put this newsletter into action. Do what you can to help prospects make a good decision. Then ask them to buy. If they still delay, move on to the next prospect.If you don’t have enough prospects to sell to - so you can walk away from someone who delays too much - consider taking one of the actions above. Without delay. It’s your life, and it’s happening now.

Cheers,
Eric

Customer disloyalty - What to do?

Disloyalty can shake you to your core

At a very basic level, when we perceive that someone else has acted in a way that we describe as being “disloyal,” it is a shock to the senses and may make us feel threatened at a fundamental level. This is one bad feeling. You thought things were one way, but they weren’t.

Too much can put you out of business

Nobody really expects perfection in life. Disloyalty in customers just happens. If it happens too much, you could be out of business. If you notice a trend; it is probably wise to act, so you’re not.

The brand of loyalty we want

Most of us just want people to be consistent, tell us when things are not what they want. We want them to be patient and flexible with us, while we try to get things back in line enough that they can be happy once again. Is that too much to ask for? Sadly yes, it is too much to ask for, realistically.

Where it comes from

People are disloyal when they don’t get what they want or need. In marriage, coffee, burgers, dry cleaners, and so on. If, overall, the needs are met, people stay loyal.

Bad economy often brings on disloyalty

Your customers are pressed in a bad economy just like you are: more for less. If you and your value proposition stay the same as they were when times were good, you could be at risk. If someone comes along that will meet their needs better for the same or lower price, then disloyalty might occur.

What we can choose to do

“Disloyalty” is simply a conversation your customer has in his or her head. It often goes like this: “Joe doesn’t get it that things have changed for me. He doesn’t realize that my priorities have changed. I keep telling him, but they don’t make the changes that I need. Bill (with another company) keeps promising to give me what I want. Maybe I should give him a try.”

No, they often didn’t actually let you know

The tough part is that nobody told you that things were changing. One day they just left. Sorry. Welcome to adulthood. That is just the way it happens sometimes. It simply means that they like you enough to not want to talk about it. They can’t stand the pain of owning up to what they feel they must do. They just want to run away and think about something else, as they give their business to someone new.

What can you do?

Ask the questions: “How is the economy affecting you? Let’s assume the product is no-cost. What else would you want from me so that all of your needs are met”?

You might not like what you hear, but you will be dealing with reality.You can’t change human behavior, but…

You can change the ways you act or don’t act. I hope you are sitting down. In most cases, disloyalty simply means we have fallen out of alignment with our customers’ perceived needs. Sometimes, you can make the changes necessary to stay aligned, other times you can’t. In the end, “disloyalty” is usually just that simple.

Action step

Consider getting out there and asking 10 customers the question above. See if you can stay aligned with customers, using your current business model with just small adjustments. Often the necessary changes cost you little, and get you back into alignment. Sometimes the changes are too much, and you must make major changes or let the customer go.

Get serious

If you want to slow or stop disloyalty, you have to start with questions, in my experience. You can take action this instant, with our book on questions, Closing More Sales by Asking Better Questions.

This book will help you get answers that allow you to slow or stop disloyalty. But, you have to act on what you learn. It’s an investment of $49 that, if put into even modest action, could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars, or even your job. Click the link above, or cut and paste this URL, to get the book:http://www.succeedinginbusiness.com/value-closing.html

Cheers,
Eric