Steve Ferrante's High Performance Blog for Sales/Customer Service/Leadership Champs and Progressive Professionals!

Posts tagged ‘Steve Ferrante’

You Are An Example for Sales and Customer Service Performance

We’ve all heard the expression “leading by example”.  This popular phrase is most often used when referring to managers and leadership executives of an organization but it also applies to every member of a sales, customer service department or organization in general.

A few points to ponder…

Are you maintaining a proper positive attitude all-day while on-the-job?

Employees who are constantly negative tend to contaminate their environment and bring everyone else down with them.

Are your actions bringing to life your business’s customer service mission in each and every customer interaction?

Service representatives with no PRIDE that don’t live up to their business’s customer service pledges and demonstrate poor behaviors set the stage for their counterparts to do the same.

Are you putting in 100% effort regardless of what others in your organization may be doing?

Salespeople on teams where everyone else is failing to meet their numbers tend to adopt a “it’s not me, it’s everyone” mentality and settle into a comfort zone of mediocrity.

Are you the setting the example that inspires others to follow?

On the flip-side, when an “A Player” sets the bar with their winning attitude and behaviors this typically has a positive effect that influences others to raise their own game and perform at a higher level.

The fact is you are an example to others as they are to you.  Whether you are a good example or not is up to you.

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Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

* You Are An Example also applies perfectly to parenting and although that’s a whole other story it’s well worth mentioning here!

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6 Essential Success Traits of Top-Performing Salespeople

Sale Away Logo-2

As a professional sales trainer, I get asked regularly what it takes to be a top-performing salesperson and the fact is there’s no simple answer to that question. 

Having spent 25+ years in the sales industry myself, I have seen a wide variety of salespeople, from dreadful to truly great with most somewhere in between. Of course, top-performing salespeople are invaluable to any business as they typically represent the 20% of the team that generate 80% of the revenue or thereabouts.  

While there’s certainly no magic formula for producing sales superstars, I have found that there are proven principles that are directly applicable to high-achievers.  

Here are my six essential success traits of top-performing salespeople: 

1. BELIEF

Belief is the foundation of success. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Vince Lombardi said, “If you don’t think you’re a winner, you don’t belong here.” This quote fits perfectly with the attitude of top-performing salespeople. They possess a “champion mindset” and believe they are the best or capable of being the best.  

Along with the confidence in themselves, top salespeople also have an absolute belief in their company, industry and the products and/or services they sell. Whereas the belief in oneself is primarily personal, the belief in the company and its products/services is something that is created by way of the corporate culture and experience with the ownership and management of the business. 

2. ATTITUDE

I have written plenty on the importance of having a positive attitude. It certainly relates to providing world-class customer service and as a member of a winning team culture, but attitude also plays a major role in sales performance.  

The sales profession is predominantly one of rejection, with far more people saying “no” than “yes” to product and service offerings. That’s not particularly pleasant for any normal person to experience on a day-to-day basis. Poor to average performers tend to take rejection personally and that translates into a negative, pessimistic attitude that weakens their sales interactions.  

Top-performers have mentally conditioned themselves to maintain a confident, optimistic attitude. They realize that those inevitable rejections are par for the course and treat them as the stepping-stones to success.  

3. RAPPORT

Sales research supports that, in most cases, more than 75% of a customer’s decision to purchase is based on having good rapport with the sales person. Conversely, one of the main reasons customers ultimately decide not to purchase (even though they may need the product or service) is that they don’t feel a genuine sense of rapport with the sales person. So, yes it’s true, people buy you first and your products/services second.  

Top sales performers are also models for what I refer to as “Masters of Human Relations.” They possess the “people skills” to effectively communicate and connect with customers and build superior trust. Whereas a typical salesman will be a talker, a top performer usually excels at listening, enabling them to gather more information to aid in the selling process.  

4. GENUINE

Going hand-in-hand with rapport, top-performing salespeople also tend to genuinely care about their customers’ best interest, as opposed to poor/average salespeople that tend to care more about making a sale.  

Nearly everyone loves to buy, but no one likes to be sold. When a customer senses the salesperson really doesn’t care about them personally, they perceive the exchange as salesy schmoozing, not sincere communication and only performed because the salesperson was trying to sell them something.  

Obviously, this behavior damages trust and harms sales performance.  

Top-performing salespeople are genuinely customer-focused and take pride in helping customers solve their problems and meeting their needs.  

This caring behavior is true empathy, the ability to assume the customer’s position and adapt behavior to their feelings. This is especially important in a service business, as the majority of customers have some sort of problem that is causing them some amount of stress and/or grief. Top-performers maximize their effectiveness by always practicing empathy and keeping the customer’s feelings in mind.  

5. AMBITION 

The drive to succeed is essential for top performance. It never ceases to amaze me how many people in sales – probably 80% – are not true students of their profession.  

Other than sales activity during the day, they do little, if anything, to improve their skill set along the way. This is the equivalent of playing a professional sport and only showing up for the games, not practicing and expecting to win! 

With so much competition selling the same products and services, it is critically important that front line employees are well trained and regularly maintained.  

Top-performers – that 20% – understand this and invest the time to expand their knowledge base and hone their selling skills. They strive for continuous improvement and are committed to becoming an expert in their business/industry/products and a master at their craft – selling.  

6. ACCOUNTABILITY

Poor performers often blame everyone and everything else for their lack of success. The marketing department isn’t doing a good enough job getting leads, the economy is weak, the manager is a jerk, the computer system is slow, the coffee is too weak, the list goes on and on. 

Top sales performers do not focus on any of this or let anything outside of their direct control affect their performance. They spend their time and efforts focusing on results: How to beat the competition; how to improve/work around operational issues; and how to capitalize on the selling opportunities they do have.  

In my Pinnacle Performance training, I teach and preach the importance of working with PRIDE, an acronym for Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence. Top-performers ‘get it’ and have the mindset of what I refer to as “YOU Inc.”  

They take ownership as if they are in business for themselves (not by themselves) and assume 100% responsibility for their success or failure to control their own destiny.  

Seek these six success traits in your new hires, instill these principles in your existing sales team members, and reap the rewards.

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Steve Ferrante is the Grand PooBah & Trainer of Champions of Sale Away LLC., providing Pinnacle Performance Sales, Customer Service and Winning Team Culture training, speaking and professional development services to success-driven businesses throughout North America. For detailed information visit Sale Away. Steve can be reached directly at 866-721-6086 ext. 701 or via email at steve@saleawayllc.com

Click-On Printable PDF > 6 Essential Success Traits of Top-Performing Salespeople

 

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4 Seldom Considered Reasons Sales/Customer Service Training Fails

SuccessNothingLess

Regardless of what your business sells, training to maximize performance in sales and customer service should be an important piece of your success plan. Unfortunately, countless companies waste vast amounts of time and dollars on training that doesn’t produce the desired gains and ultimately fails.

There are a variety of reasons why sales/customer service training initiatives fail. Topics like matching the program to the business and needs of the participants is certainly high on the list when considering outside training resources but there are several other seldom considered factors that directly affect whether or not a sales/customer service training program will achieve a successful outcome.

1) Not Setting The Stage

Typically the engagement planning for sales/customer service training is with ownership and key management behind closed doors and away from the company personnel that the training is intended for. That’s perfectly acceptable as company training should be a managerial decision. However, once an engagement has been planned, ownership and/or key management should prepare personnel so they are properly positioned to most effectively receive the training.

Unfortunately, this step is often missed altogether. I have personally conducted programs (and am aware of many more) where I (or another trainer) arrived for the first day of training with a new organization and no one knows why they’re there. Participants haven’t been told anything other than to “show up”.  While skilled trainers can overcome this and create clarity for a successful commencement, obviously this is not the most conducive environment for learning.

Like a Broadway play, the stage should be properly set before the show begins. However, unlike a Broadway play, creating a positive learning environment need not be a major production. It could be as simple as an email and/or company newsletter announcement like this actual tire/auto service client piece:

“We are excited and proud to announce our new relationship with Steve Ferrante of Sale Away LLC! As the producer and host of the highly-acclaimed “Pinnacle Performance” sales/customer service/winning team culture training program, Steve is the trainer for numerous leading tire/auto service businesses across North America. Steve also serves as the contributing “Selling Smart” editor for Tire Review Magazine and their sister publication, Shop Owner. We have engaged Steve to provide training to all of our sales and customer support personnel and are extraordinarily confident that with his proven expertise and resources we can achieve new levels of success in 2014 and beyond! Our first sessions with Steve will begin on…”

Introduced this way, confusion is eliminated as company personnel know what to expect, and everyone is prepared to enter training with the proper positive mindset.

2) Disengagement

Training is only as good as the trainer providing it. For training to effectively produce meaningful (and sustainable) gains, the employees must first be engaged with the trainer. Many otherwise good programs fail because the attendees were not really engaged, became bored and tuned out long before any real gains were made.

This is the reason the first element in Sale Away’s Pinnacle Performance Credo is ENGAGE.

Any business considering an investment in training should make the “who” will be conducting the program a priority. Often companies sweat the what and where details of training and give relatively little consideration to the importance of who will be conducting their program.

Sometimes companies will appoint an existing employee to conduct training. Many times this presents a significant challenge as this person is already perceived, for better or worse, as something else in the company. Typically, the tasked individual is a sales or customer service manager and, although they may be outstanding in that role, training is almost always not their primary purpose or skill-set. Their well-intentioned efforts naturally don’t carry the weight or have the desired impact with employees as a reputable training authority from outside of the company would.

If you cannot see, feel and experience employee engagement with the trainer on the first training that’s a clear warning sign you’re heading down the wrong path and quite likely doomed to fail.  In a nutshell; engagement first then everything else second.  

3) Inconsistency

All too often sales/customers service training is treated as an event. A business conducts an in-house training and, assuming it was good, participants get energized with new insight, techniques and tools.  Then, with no real follow-up program in place, participants fizz out and return (at varying speeds) to the same level of performance they were at prior to training. Training research has revealed that, without ongoing reinforcement, 90% of what is learned is forgotten within 60-90 days.

Like physical fitness, it doesn’t matter how good your workout at the gym is today. If you don’t continue to exercise on a consistent basis, you will never truly get in shape and stay that way.

Part of the problem is many managers adopt a been-there done-that attitude when it comes to sales/customer service training. It sounds simplistic but training works with consistent training.

The science of training confirms that true ownership of learning is created with consistent exposure and application of the skills over time. World-class sales and customer service companies recognize this and typically engage their employees in 100 or more hours of training in their first year with ongoing training in the years ahead.

At Sale Away , I create consistency and superior results for clients by combining regular in-house sales/customer service training with an exclusive online training/professional development program. Visit Your Teams Training Portal for details.

4) Wandering Off The Path

This reason goes hand-in-hand with inconsistency but deserves separate acknowledgment. Like the proverbial kid in the backseat saying “are we there yet”, many business owners and managers view training as a destination with the goal of getting there.

Training should be viewed not as a destination – but rather an evolution. All too often, businesses will engage in a flavor of the month type of training, never fully developing any one area before moving in a different direction.

Imagine this: You play for a professional football team, let’s assume the New England Patriots under head coach Bob Belichick. Do you practice regularly? Of course. Do you practice at the game? Of course not, you practice for the game. What do you think the odds are that one day at practice coach Belichick will say something like this: “Hey guys, many of you have been training and practicing these same plays now for years. I think we all got it… no need to practice that anymore. Let’s play basketball today.”

Odds of that happening are exactly zero yet many sales managers do it regularly.  They switch things up, fumble the ball and ultimately miss the end zone.

This lack of focus directly correlates to reason # 2, disengagement, with many participating employees not trusting the business will stay the course and see any program to fruition.  If management demonstrates they are not fully committed to stay the course (with a successful program) then they shouldn’t expect their employees to be fully committed as they continue to introduce new initiatives to the mix.

Proper training is an ongoing process of continuous professional development. Just like a professional sports team, your sales/customer service team must regularly practice and work on their game through a disciplined and committed training program if they are to consistently win in (and for) your business.

Make a Great Day!

Steve

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Steve Ferrante is the Grand PooBah & Trainer of Champions of Sale Away LLC., providing Pinnacle Performance Sales, Customer Service and Leadership training, speaking and professional development services to success-driven businesses throughout North America. For detailed information visit Sale Away. Steve can be reached directly at 866-721-6086 ext. 701 or via email at steve@saleawayllc.com

 Click-On for printable PDF version of this article >  4 Seldom Considered Reasons Sales Training Fails

 

 

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Sale Away’s Pinnacle Performance Credo

Here’s my company’s new, special edition, less-filling, environmentally-friendly Pinnacle Performance Credo:

Pinnacle Performance Training

For details visit > Pinnacle Performance Credo

Feel free to share with friends, family, general bystanders and everyone in your professional network.

Make a Great Day!

Steve

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Honoring All Who Served and All Who Serve Them!

honoring_vets

On this Veterans Day, Americans across the nation are honoring the sacrifice and service of the armed forces.

President Barack Obama has stated that the country’s obligations to those who have served “endure long after the battle ends.”

Sadly, for far too many veterans this sentiment has not materialized into tangible benefits as an alarming number of veterans are struggling to make ends meet now that their service to protect and serve our country has ended.

A Chicago-based brewery is on a mission to change that.

In this Chicago Brewer Plans To Hire Only Military Veterans article by CBS News, Veteran Beer Company President Paul Jenkins said, “rather than sit around and let others solve the problem for us, why not start our own company and figure out how to employ as many veterans as quickly as possible. So the concept behind the Veteran Beer Company is that we will produce the finest beer in America — brewed by, the recipes written by, bottled by, sold by veterans. Everybody in the organization is to be a veteran”.

Veteran-Beer-Company-logo    Read Veteran Beer Company’s Mission HERE

Paul and the entire team at Veteran Beer Company should be applauded for their servant leadership and pro-active efforts to help American Veterans, none more so than on this Veteran’s Day.

So Hats Off, Thumbs Up & Cheers To All American Veterans and all the people, organizations and companies that have made it their business to serve them!

Steve

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How to be Engaging and Memorable: A Lesson from Virgin Airways

Richard Branson

In my “Put Some Zip In Your Do Da!” post I wrote about how a positive, upbeat attitude naturally improves your interactions with customers, co-workers and human beings in general. 

The sad fact is there’s far less than Zippy behavior out in the marketplace today with employees in countless organizations providing customer service with no life in it. Their bored, unengaged going through the motions demeanor demonstrating that they would rather be somewhere else (anywhere else) than serving customers.

The problem is so common that most customers have learned to live with it, usually tuning-out during and then forgetting about their lousy experience afterwards.

A good example of this is the airlines industry. With clients spread out over No. America, I travel frequently for business and have occupied a seat on just about every domestic airline there is. My experience has revealed there’s a clear distinction between those airlines that ‘get it’ when it comes to engaging, memorable service and those that don’t.

Case in point: Anyone who has flown knows that shortly before take-off a flight attendant will announce the FAA-mandated flight safety information.  Most airline attendants do this as if their reading a restaurant menu, all facts and figures, no emotion whatsoever. Consequently, 98% of the passengers tune-out and focus on something more interesting; a book, the view outside, the back of the chair in front of them, etc. For the record, it’s a sure sign your safety (or any other) announcement is failing when the  Solafeet Foot Tanner in the SkyMall catalog is more intriguing!

A few airlines do this noticeably different, Southwest and JetBlue being two of my favorites, with employees regularly injecting ‘fun’ into their customer interactions and typically making announcements with added humorous flair.  In fact, on a recent JetBlue flight the attendant received a seated ovation from the captive audience that was clearly entertained and engaged by his funny flight safety rendition.

And now,  Virgin Airways trumps them all with their version of the flight safety announcement in this entertaining video that was just released on October 29th:

As I posted recently, Richard Branson and Virgin Airways understand the importance of having fun to engage their internal customers (employees) and external customers to create memorable experiences.

Ask yourself and your customer service team: What can we do differently to add more fun in our customer service process to create more engaging, memorable experiences?

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

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Steve Ferrante is the Grand PooBah & Trainer of Champions of Sale Away LLC., providing Pinnacle Performance Sales, Customer Service and Winning Team Culture training, speaking and professional development services to success-driven businesses throughout North America. For detailed information visit Sale Away. Steve can be reached directly at 866-721-6086 ext. 701 or via email at steve@saleawayllc.com

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Enthusiasts Drive Your Business

 Enthusiasm

Ever been to a NASCAR race? If you have, then you know those are special events well-attended by a special brand of people.

Having partaken in a couple NAS­CAR race-day events at NH Motor Speedway, I can testify that racing is alive and well, and New Hampshire is certainly not alone in attracting the masses to its local NASCAR events.

The first thing a novice attendee (like me) notices is just how far away from the track you have to park – so far removed that I couldn’t even remotely see the track from our parking spot. So you need good walking shoes.

As you trek the five or so miles to the track, the next revelation is the sheer magnitude of campers you encounter along the way. I lost count at 1,271 or thereabouts. And the fascinating thing is almost all of the campers are not locals. Taking in the license plates, you realize the whole country is here and accounted for, from as nearby as the New England states to the South, West, and everywhere in between.

Who are these people? And, more importantly, why did they travel all this way for this?

The answer is they’re enthusiasts, and, like NASCAR, your tire and auto service business is dependent on them to grow and prosper.

At a NASCAR event, these enthusiasts are loyal, devoted, committed followers who happily march the miles (and pay the fees) to attend each event – essentially, doing business with NASCAR as often as possible.

What a concept!

I also learned that there are not only NASCAR race enthusiasts, but more often than not, NASCAR race driver enthusiasts. Case in point: As I was sitting there watching the cars warm up before the flag dropped, the clearly southern gentleman next to me screamed at me, “Who ya here to see?” I wasn’t there to see anyone in particular, but using my keen powers of perception, I noticed he had a Jimmie Johnson hat, shirt and banner so I shouted back, “I like Jimmie Johnson.”

The guy turned to his pals and screamed, “He’s here to see Jimmie!” I was now part of the club, an insider enthusiast among true insider enthusiasts. Coincidentally, Jimmie Johnson went on to win the championship that season, a fact that likely earned me ‘fortune-teller’ status with my new friends.

A Winning Team

People love winners. Which brings me back to you and your business. Have you created a winning team at your business? As I wrote in my article “Eight Great Practices for Creating a Winning Team Culture”, your business must live “winning team” every day with leadership consistently demonstrating, communicating and reinforcing the company’s commitment to excellence.

Above all else, enthusiasts are enthusiastic. Winning teams are much the same in that they look like winners and act like winners. There’s an old saying in sales: “success breeds success.” The same is true for business.

Have a look at your staff. Are they communicating success or distress? Success looks a certain way. It has a good mood, stands tall, looks people in the eye, is attentive, confident and engaging.

Conversely, failure has an unmistakable look all its own. Disengaged, depressed, foot dragging, off-putting. If your business is the only one in town, a monopoly, none of this matters. I bet that is not the case. Given that consumers likely have many choices for your products and/or services, yours better convey “winning team.”

Buying is primarily an emotional experience. Customer loyalty is driven by emotional engagement. You need only be at a NASCAR event for 10 minutes to realize there is a very high level of emotional engagement there. It would take the Hulk to pry the typical fan away from the track.

Emotional engagement and creating enthusiasts is all about how customers feel when they do business with you and, more importantly, how they feel when they’re done.

Enthusiasts’ feel good about doing business with you and take it upon themselves to promote your business at every opportunity!

Steve 🙂

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Steve Ferrante is the Grand PooBah & Trainer of Champions of Sale Away LLC., providing Pinnacle Performance Sales, Customer Service and Winning Team Culture training, speaking and professional development services to success-driven businesses throughout North America. For detailed information visit Sale Away. Steve can be reached directly at 866-721-6086 ext. 701 or via email at steve@saleawayllc.com

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Monday Morning Motivation: It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over

Brady & Ortiz

As you certainly know if you’re from the Boston area, and really should if you’re not, Sunday October 13th was an amazing day in New England sports. And that’s saying something given all the success Boston sports teams have had in the last dozen years or so.

First there was the New England Patriots playing the undefeated New Orleans Saints.  Trailing by four points 27-23, needing to drive 70 yards with 1:13 left in the game with no timeouts, the Patriots got the ball. With all signs pointing at defeat, fans were leaving the stadium and many made it to their vehicles to get out of dodge and avoid the looming agony of defeat. But then, when all seemed lost, a champion emerged victorious.

Tom Brady went to work advancing the team down the field and, with 10 seconds left in the game, had two plays to take a shot at the end zone. He would only need one as he launched a picture-perfect pass just over the reach of New Orleans defender Jabari Greer and into the hands of New England receiver Kenbrell Thompkins for the winning touchdown with just five ticks left on the clock.

It would have been easy to throw in the towel, concede defeat, and go home. But that’s not what champions are made of. And Tom Brady is the quintessential champion.

Suddenly, it was a great day in New England! Everyone had a pep in their step, reinvigorated by the high drama and the unmistakeable vibe of victory.

Then, as soon as that game ended, the Red Sox began their 2nd playoff game against their American League Championship Series opponent, the roaring Detroit Tigers. The first game was an epic pitchers duel, favoring the Tigers as their pitching staff, led by Anibal Sanchez, nearly threw a no-hitter allowing only 1 hit in the game and ultimately winning 1-0.

Game 2 was shaping up to be more of the same as the Tigers pitching was equally amazing with Max Schezer allowing just two hits and one run through seven innings and, along with a hitting offense, carried the Tigers to a commanding 5-1 lead entering the eighth.

Facing the abyss, many fans decided to bail and headed for an exit to get out of Fenway before the walking dead. But then, when all seemed lost, one big swing of the bat changed everything.

Facing Detroit closer Joaquin Benoit, David Ortiz smashed a game-tying Grand Slam out of the park.  One inning later the Red Sox’s Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a walk-off single that gave the Sox a 6-5 victory and tied the ALCS series at one game apiece.

An unbelievable one for the ages fairy-tale day in Boston sports that won’t soon be forgotten.

How many times have people (perhaps you) been facing challenges, been seemingly down and out, and given up? One thing is for sure, you cannot win if you quit during the game. After all, it ain’t over till it’s over.

RockyInspiration

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

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Southwest Airlines Customer Service Recovery In Action!

As I train my Pinnacle Performance clients and wrote about in this Winning and Losing with Customer Complaints article…

The True Test Of Customer Service

One ‘Pinnacle Performance’ company that sets the standard for managing customer service problems effectively is Southwest Airlines.

Here’s a great example of this:

A loyal Southwest Airlines passenger was upset that his luggage had been damaged on a flight.  When the agent he initially reported the problem was less than helpful, he sent Southwest customer care this witty diddy:

DearSWA

Of course, this would have been best managed if the first Southwest employee he encountered assumed ownership and pro-actively resolved the issue.  Fortunately, after that initial misstep, Southwest recovered nicely by taking care of the customer in equally stylish fashion:

SWA_Response

In summary, Southwest Airlines passed the ‘test’, recovered what could have been a lost customer with a ‘bad service’ story to tell,  and set a great example for other customer-focused business’s to follow.

Make a Great Day!

Steve 🙂

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Sell Value or Pay The Price

Selling Value Guy

Businesses lose substantial dollars in revenues and profits each year because their sales and service people do not effectively sell the value of their product and service offerings.

Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi said, “Inches make the champion.”

The same applies to the selling profession; it’s a game of inches. Every business day your salespeople have opportunities to win new business. How effective or ineffective they are in their customer interactions determines their success or failure – and ultimately the return (or lack thereof) on your sales staff investment.

The fact is your salespeople are always on the verge of either making or losing their next sale. What if they could execute better and win a sale that they would have lost? How about if they did that on a consistent basis? Now multiply that by the number of salespeople you employ. That’s your value opportunity!

Defense! Any coach worth his whistle will tell you that a strong defense is the best solution against a good offense. The reality of many organizations is that their customer’s have a better system (defense) than they do of selling them on their value (offense).

Ask yourself: Ever had a prospective customer request a discount, postpone an order, or worse, cancel purchasing from you? Well, then it’s a good bet they don’t understand your offering’s true value.

Wait a minute you say, no one wins them all. You’re right, but those who effectively sell value win more often, accelerate their sales cycle, and make customers feel better about their purchases in the process.

True Value Areas

Value is in the eye of the beholder. In the case of selling anything, it’s the customer’s perceived value that matters, is essential and vital – not the sellers.

Customers don’t want all your stuff! They only want what they perceive and believe will help them. This is especially important to understand in product or service sales where potential customers can quickly be turned off by technical features and functions they don’t understand or perceive to be unnecessary and of little or no advantage.

All too often sales staffs employ a one-size-fits-all, throw it against the wall and see what sticks presentation. I’ve witnessed countless phone and face-to-face encounters that were cut short because the sales person says some version of “just let me show you” and moves too quickly into the product demonstration without first really understanding the customers’ needs and true value areas.

To effectively sell value, sales people need to engage the customer in a proper discovery process first to uncover what is important to them and why. It is only with this understanding that the sales person can effectively communicate value and tailor a presentation to fit the needs of the customer. By implementing this consultative approach, the buyer-seller relationship is strengthened by properly positioning the sales person as a consultant/advisor.

In addition, sales people need to know what their competitive differentiators are, the areas that their product/service business is better/faster/more cost effective than the competitive offerings the customer may compare them to.

When these Selling Value areas are proper incorporated, sales people have much better control of the sales process, become more efficient, improve customer experiences, and ultimately produce better results for themselves and the businesses they represent.

Sell Value or Pay The Price

Steve Ferrante is the Grand PooBah & Trainer of Champions of Sale Away LLC., providing Pinnacle Performance Sales, Customer Service and Winning Team Culture training, speaking and professional development services to success-driven businesses throughout North America. For detailed information visit saleawayllc.com. Steve can be reached directly at 866-721-6086 ext. 701 or via email at steve@saleawayllc.com

Click-On for a printable pdf of this article > Sell Value or Pay The Price

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