Stepping Back to Step Ahead in Sales
I bet you’ve heard the phrase it’s like one step forward and two steps
back. Some of us might have heard it a lot growing up, and a few of us might remember that long before she was the recently departed nice girl on American Idol Paula Abdul had a song that sang those very words. Don’t worry no one is here to sing to you but it points out that progress isn’t always progress. In sales wheter its cold calling or closing sales you don’t get anywhere by going forward if its going to set you back at every step but some times stepping back can give you a little perspective and that is exactly what you need to do.
If you take one or two steps back not because of mistakes or set backs, but because you need to evaluate, as objectively and unemotionally as possible how to position both yourself, and your company for shifting business conditions such as a tough economy with tight spending. Sure it could be other things as well, a new competitor, entering a new market, a different type of product or service, what ever the shifting need or market is demanding.
Ok so you’re a little hesitant, after all what you’ve been doing is working. Keep in mind the purpose of stepping back is to plan, to adjust and improve. If you’re selling and doing well anticipating and planning for changes economic or other wise can help you stay consistent. No one said to blow and trash what you’ve been doing if it’s working. Actually even if you aren’t getting where you need to be start by evaluating what’s right and then build on that eliminating what wasn’t so effective.
Being a bit of a sports guy bear with me through this analogy, you’ve got a decent batter who hits for average they go into a slump. Unfortunately dry spells in batting happen to even the consistent hitters and slipping economies, tight buying conditions, and sales droughts can happen to even the most prolific sellers and greatest products.
Just because things aren’t working you can’t start to press, you can’t panic. Going back to baseball. If you’re in a slump and you’ve never batted left handed, now’s not the time to try it. If your customers started slowing down, buying less. And your prospects were getting more difficult to get in front of now’s not the time to slow down and accept rejection.
It is the time to step back and look what you offer and how. So you can end up moving forward much more easily and rather than one step forward and two steps back you can make a splash as you move forward, it might not always be on a dead run but taking market share, creating new customers, expanding existing ones, and over achieving the goals you set for yourself.
In the world of sales, we need to continually reinvent ourselves. So you’ve stepped back, your staring at your customers and prospects now what? Great question!
(Personal Value as part of the offer Offer)
As part of that reinvention stop and think of the value that you bring to your prospects and customers. Not your products or services but your personal value. Do you have industry insight to share that goes beyond self serving purposes of here buy my stuff. If so use it, add perspective and depth to an ongoing relationship. Offer insight, sales is understanding the market both yours and your customers. It is about learning or creating needs that your products and services can fill and crafting an appealing offer. Some of it is thought and planning and some of it is just ongoing trial and error. Ever watch a base ball palyer who kept fouling off pitches. You can choose to look at it one of two ways. The negative way, that he just couldn’t put the ball in play or they way a positive and focused person will, He’s still at the plate, still at bat and as long as he’s there a pitch might come down the middle that he can not only put in to play but reach base on.
As long as you’re in front of the customer and learning about what they buy, looking for opportunity, and offering your knowledge as a valuable resource to them in exchange. You’re still at the plate, and guess what you are getting closer the more you know to making the sale and unlike base ball when you get that hit both of you win.
Nothing can or will change in your sales life….or your sales goal for that matter…without first deciding that you CAN and WILL have a positive effect on those around you and that you are part of a valuable offer for your customer. Starting now, you’ve got to commit to a positive outlook on all of the reasons that a customer should see as a valuable resource. You know your product, your solution, and their needs, and working with your company will positively affect those who do business with you.
(Why they Buy/ Why they care)
Put your order pad away for a minute…oh I’m showing my age? Sorry about that. Fine forget the order pad, but put your objective of making a sale in the background for a minute or two and become a consultant…not just another sales person calling and asking for wallet share.
You’re calling out, but times are tough, less people are buying, I’ve got to work harder for the business I get. That is all very true. But don’t forget to work smarter as well.
We all want more wallet share, the nature and purpose of our sales careers isn’t to maintain the status quo but to grow the number. Every one want more wallet share. I’m not shy I want you to open up your wallet and buy something else from me, I want you to buy everything from me that you can. As nice as that would be as my mother used to tell me “you can’t get buy on your good looks” well she was right and guess what just because you want more wallet share and mind share doesn’t mean it will show up. Like everything else you need to work for it and when times are tough you need to work a lot smarter and as I’ve already mentioned a little harder
Still standing back a bit to take look at why what you offer in good economy. It may that may not be nearly as strong as strong as it was several years ago when times were good and the cash was theoretically flowing. Think about the products that you offer. The answer is different for each of you Are they consumables, capital expenditures that are only bought every so many years, services on intangible offerings like insurance. And keep in mind that you may be able to offer a combination of things, looks across your portfolio, find and discuss combinations of products, services and offer that will separate you from your competition, that again show the unique value to the relationship and that you not only know and understand their business and industry but have their best interests at heart.
(Helping make them feel good about doing business with you)
When people are downright frightened by what may loom in the distance it is more important than usual that you become their partner in the relationship. Understand that if you sell in to a particular market what pressures they are feeling. Probably in every business school in the world they are extolling the virtues of efficiency, improving profitability and doing more with less.
Rather than focusing primarily on the features of what you sell approach it from a customer benefit perspective. Will they help your customer save money in the long run? Think about the technical aspects of your product? How much do they cost to actually operate? Are they friendly to the environment? Will they help your customer work smarter, communicate more effectively and make a financial difference in the long run?
The “go green” movement is affecting our world right now! Your competitors are not thinking in these terms today! Start to think in those terms and you have one definite differentiator in your presentation. You will also show your customers and prospect that you…and your company care about the future and are in it for the long haul.
Look at ways to grow your wallet share by expanding your offers to other products already in your bag that they may not even know you have to sell. Chances are there are things they are buying that you have. Look at ways to make it easier to do business with you, perhaps it is a regularly scheduled series of replenishment orders for a consumable product that can quantities can be adjusted two weeks prior to shipment. A quarterly review of the business and information sharing on the trends you’re seeing with others who buy from your company and in your industry over all, compare notes, create an open dialogue. Also it’s a great time to work in new offers that might be a benefit, look for ways to make them more profitable and efficient and improve on how your companies inter act.
