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SAVVY
SELLING - FEBRUARY
17, 2006
The
First Task: Respect Yourself
By Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
If you want your customers to
respect you, teach them.
How you regard your
position plays a big part in
how customers will relate to
you, so think of yourself as
a partner, not a pest
If there was an election for
the patron saint of selling,
I'd nominate the late comedian
Rodney Dangerfield. His signature
line, "I don't get no respect"
describes a feeling that most
sales reps have experienced
sometime during their careers.
I don't understand why some
people don't respect salespeople.
I've always loved being in sales.
Years ago, when I was new to
selling, I heard a speaker say,
"Look around this room.
Everything you see was sold
by someone -- the wallpaper,
the podium, the water glasses,
and the light fixtures."
That simple truth really impressed
me.
I got to thinking about respect
for sales professionals -- or
lack thereof -- while on a recent
plane ride. I was sitting next
to Jeff, a sales director for
an outfit that sells big-ticket
engineering software. He told
me that in his first meeting
with prospective customers,
he tells them he makes no excuses
for being in sales. He's a professional
salesman, and his job is to
sell his products and services.
Setting the tone for his selling
relationships right from the
start shows his high level of
self-respect, so his customers
can't make him feel like Rodney.
CRUMB BUMS.
In my many years of selling,
I've found there are basically
two kinds of customers. There
are those sadistic Neanderthals
who don't respect salespeople
and those who see their vendors
as partners.
Customers who get their kicks
out of treating their vendors
with no respect seem to picture
their sales reps sitting at
their feet, begging for crumbs
and willing to endure any humiliation
for a meager purchase order.
The only saving grace is that
this type of customer rarely
gets ahead over the long run.
Unfortunately, in the short
term you may encounter some
of these types in your selling
territory.
Fortunately, most successful
customers see their vendors
as partners. With all the choices
and options customers have available
today to solve their problems,
an informed and caring vendor
partner really can make or break
most companies.
UP FROM THE APES.
For instance, you can bring
your customers ideas on how
to raise their revenues by showing
them new products and services
they could buy from you and
resell to their customers. Or
perhaps your wares can increase
the value their customers perceive
and allow your customers to
raise their rates. Either way,
you can help them increase their
top line.
You can also show them ways
to reduce their expenses by
offering them new products that
are more efficient or perhaps
create less waste. Perhaps you
can arrange to negotiate better
volume pricing and reduce their
per-item costs. In all of these
examples, you make more sales
and your customers make more
profits. A business-partner
relationship between a customer
and a vendor can be a beautiful
thing.
The good news is that this
type of evolved customer is
often a rising star in a company
or their career. After all,
those employees who can increase
the bottom line deserve the
next promotion, a bigger territory,
or better benefits.
INTERMEDIATE TERMS.
When your customers get promoted,
you benefit because they usually
have larger budgets to buy more
from the vendors who helped
them succeed. These same successful
customers can also refer their
peers, who can then sign large
purchase orders with you. If
their referred peers are outside
their company, you've just added
another company to your happy
customer list.
My seat-neighbor, Jeff, also
explains to his customers that
he sees himself as an intermediary
between the customer and the
company. His job is to help
the customer get what they need.
From there, Jeff shuttles back
and forth between his customer
and his company, getting and
giving information and ideas,
with the goal of coming up with
a proposal that meets the needs
of both parties.
Seeing yourself as an intermediary,
instead of a serf, is a great
way to build a partner-based
relationship with your customers.
After all, your customers want
the best solutions for their
situations at the lowest price,
and your company wants more
happy customers at the highest
profit level. This requires
respect for your abilities from
your company as well as your
customer, but it all stems from
you having respect for being
a sales professional.
TENDING THE FLOCK.
One technique I have used if
the customer has a very big
desk is I ask if I could sit
next to them on their side because
I have some information I want
to show them. By the way, if
they're of the opposite gender,
be sure you say this with complete
professionalism. Most customers
don't want to make me work and
write upside down so they say
O.K. By sitting next to them
instead of across from them,
I have physically demonstrated
the idea that we're on the same
side, playing on the same team,
and our conversation is more
partner-oriented.
So how do you sell to more
partnership-focused customers?
First, you have to find them.
Just remember the old saying,
"Birds of a feather flock
together." Quality customers
will refer you to other quality
customers -- and disrespectful
ones will refer you to more
bad-mannered ones. You'll know
quality customers because they
give straightforward answers
and treat you with respect.
LIKE FAMILY.
Never forget that if you want
to sell to customers who see
their vendors as partners, inspect
everything you do to make sure
it's how you would treat a true
partner. A good yardstick is
how you would treat a favorite
relative or best friend. You
would tell the unvarnished truth
without being asked, you would
refer prospective customers
and other quality vendors, and
you wouldfollow up on every
detail you said you would, before
the time you said you would.
So the next time you're on
a sales call, don't see yourself
as Rodney Dangerfield. See yourself
as looking for customers to
partner with to help them make
more money -- and your sales
will grow too. Happy selling!
Michelle Nichols is a
professional sales speaker and
consultant based in Reno, Nevada.
She welcomes your questions
and comments. You can visit
her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684.
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