In my role, I approach my clients as a valued resource rather than as a sales representative. At my company, we sell our products through distributors rather than directly to the client; however, we still work with the client. We want to make sure that our clients continue to buy our products and that our distributors continue to sell our products. This is where communication comes in. In order to maintain these relationships with clients and distributors, it is important to keep the communication constantly flowing.
In addition to communicating with a client face to face, there are three main channels of communication for me: phone, email, and text. A part of developing as a professional is learning what source of communication is appropriate in what situation. Some clients prefer all communication to take place over phone calls while others may prefer text. It is so important to learn what communication channels that your client prefers because you want to be responsive. If you are not responding to the client’s needs or concerns in a timely matter or in a way that they feel like their concerns are being taken serious, it could potentially hurt your relationship with them.
When communicating with a client, it is very important to listen to them and let them determine where the conversation is leading. Perhaps they have concerns that would go unnoticed if you are doing all the talking and not enough listening. In my classes in college, I learned that sales people are known to walk into a meeting and do all of the talking, and metaphorically throw stuff (products) at the wall (client) to see what sticks (what products the clients are interested in). You don’t want to do that! You want to go into the conversation with helpful questions to learn exactly what that particular customer needs.
In the beginning of my role in a new area of the US, I started reaching out to clients using email since my email signature contained all possible sources of communication with me. If a client preferred to communicate over the phone, I knew that they could read my email and call the phone number in the email signature, thus changing the communication mode from email to the phone. This allowed me to learn what method of communication that each specific client preferred.
Source: Tucker Burquest, Fall Protection Specialist or Field Sales Representative , 3M, used with permission.
Being Authentically Curious About Other’s Interests
When prospecting, it is important to learn as much as you can about the person you will be calling upon. Let’s face it, nobody wants to start a conversation with another person where the first thing that they do is dive right into a sales pitch. For example, AJ, a salesperson for a sports entity, identified during social media observations that one of his prospects writes poetry in their free time. With this knowledge, AJ took time out of his schedule to read the poetry and write down a few quotes that caught his attention. After doing this research, AJ carefully curated a thoughtful introductory message to the prospect on LinkedIn and included his favorite quote that he read. When the prospect received the LinkedIn note, he messaged back to AJ that while he might be interested in considering doing business, the thing that he was most impressed with was the fact that AJ took the time to get to know him before even reaching out. AJ’s work paid off, with the prospect ultimately agreeing to a first meeting for the two to talk about how they could work together.
Another salesperson, Bridget, also realizes the importance of learning during the prospecting phase. Her first and most important rule is to always do proper research before walking into a meeting. Bridget’s process of research begins with LinkedIn, blogs and websites of the potential buyer. Looking at the posts and activities about the person on these platforms can tell her important facts about their personal and professional life. Once her research is finished and she is preparing to connect with the prospect, Bridget starts focusing on how she will include this information in her introductions, and gets clues on what to look for when she walks into a meeting. For example, based upon what she learned about one new prospect, she walked into the new client's office looking and listening for things that could help build rapport. She noticed a football jersey on the wall and upon further listening and observing, Bridget could tell that football was something this buyer was passionate about. Using this knowledge allowed her to have a more productive and camaraderie-building meeting.
Source: Personal correspondence; Bridget, Sales Director, used with permission.
Working for a company like 3M is very beneficial for me when making a sales call. The company has credibility in the industry and with customers which allows you to get everyone around the table. They know that when you come in to sell a product, you are bringing them something valuable. For many of my customers, this means that when going to a sales call, you are not there to take the order. Instead, you are there to maintain the relationship with the customer and receive feedback on the products that you are selling.
Customers in industrials are very vocal and are excited to give you feedback. This means that you have great opportunities to grow and develop as a salesperson while doing your job. When you are new to the job, you not only have to learn the products that you are selling, but you also have to make sure to build rapport with the customer. Rapport that you have built with a customer gives you good credibility, something that you want to have if you want to continue having a strong relationship with a customer. You can build rapport by showing up with something new and exciting for the customer. A good way to do this is by bringing a big book that shows them the products that you offer. You also want to make sure to show them that you are a real person who is listening to their concerns and following up to make sure that they are happy with their products.
When making the sales call, you are there with one goal - selling the products or services that you are bringing to the table. This highlights another important aspect of the sales call - knowing your products. It is somewhat connected to what was said earlier about credibility. If you do not know the product or service that you are selling. On the other hand, you shouldn’t know “too much” about products either. Aim at having surface level knowledge of 5 to 6 products rather than having deep knowledge on one or two. While you may know what the customer wants, you want to be prepared to show your knowledge on other products as well if the customer’s attention is brought to another product in the big book.
Source: Emily Schreck, sales representative, 3M, used with permission
When thinking about how you want to present a product in front of a customer, you need to remember that every customer is different, and as a salesperson, you need to adapt accordingly. It’s important to understand the audience and situation in which you are presenting. If you are going to an industrial client, where there is a higher probability of the presentation taking place on a construction site, you may want to choose a different type of presentation than the typical PowerPoint presentation and rather present the product in a different way, such as bringing the product and allowing the customer to look at it and hold it. If you are trying to sell a product in a hospital, on the other hand, you may choose to use a PowerPoint.
If you choose to use a PowerPoint, remember that less is more. Do not fill the slides with text and don’t just copy and paste information on there. Add pictures of the products that you are trying to sell and post questions for the client. Use solution-based selling by giving the customer an idea of what this product can solve for them, without “shooting” reasons or ideas on them. You want to find one reason and a meaning to focus on in the meeting. You want to start small and grow it from there. The first presentation is high level and you start digging into the products more
Knowing your customer and reading the audience are two very important steps to do before you show up to present the products. In my first year of working in sales, I brought a PowerPoint to a customer with the intent of using it to present the product. I thought that this meeting was going to be a lunch and learn, and it was, but what I didn’t realize was that the meeting was taking place at a construction site. There was no electricity and no screen to hook up my PowerPoint to. Instead, I had to stand in the middle of the construction site and present the products using a megaphone due to the loud environment. Looking back, I should have read the crowd and asked myself a few questions beforehand. Where am I going? How should I present the information? How should I dress? There are no universal answers to these questions as every customer is different from one another.
Source: Paige Arlen, 3M, used with permission
Negotiations happen in two different settings, formal and informal. Informal negotiations are typically based on the current contract that the client and seller have previously established. Bob gives the example that when he was a sales representative and he still needed to achieve total target revenue for the year, there was a 5% price increase in their contracts across the board. It was his job to gain commitment from the buyers, but many of his clients did their job to say, “no, we will not take this price increase”. Bob was preparing for his upcoming meeting with a bike manufacturer, by researching where his company could continue to provide value even with a slight price increase. He had noticed that there was a product that the buyer could benefit from in a different industry such as power tools. With this knowledge he called his manager to ask if there was a potential deal that they could offer with a 3% price increase if the buyer promised business in their power tools. The buyer was pleased that Bob was looking for a solution that would benefit both parties emphasizing a win-win situation.
Bob’s example of negotiating worked out smoothly because of his philosophy to “expand the pie”. The first way to start this is to have these conversations in person and ask questions to understand the customers priorities. Think about the things that you can give that require little to no effort but offer the other side immense value. This shows the other side that you do not want them to walk away feeling like they lost, you want them to walk away happy that they are doing business with you. It’s also important to not go into the negotiation with a hard line, every negotiation is going to require a give and take relationship.
SOURCE: Bob Usselman, 3M
It is said that salespeople can be the worst people to sell to because they understand the underlying motives for a salesperson when they make a sale. AJ mentioned that if a salesperson does not introduce themselves with their name right away, he does not give them the time of day. He mentioned that one night he walked into a car dealership wearing a nice suit, and the salesperson wanted to sell him this really nice corvette. What this salesperson doesn’t know is that AJ came into the dealership tonight looking for a car that can hold his wife, three kids, and all of their hockey bags with extra space. The salesperson made an assumption and avoided asking what brought him into the dealership that day. AJ stated that if the salesperson had at least said his name and asked the simple question of what he was looking for, then he probably would have had his business but because of the assumption he asked for a different seller. From the buyer’s point of view, a seller needs to show how they provide value by asking questions to gain the buyers business.
SOURCE: Anonymous, used with permission.
+When a sales person is preparing for a meeting with me or other buyers, there are some things to keep in mind. The first one is to LISTEN. The worst way as a sales person to start a meeting is by not asking what the buyer needs and just diving into the products that are offered.
Within one week, I had the perfect examples of a really bad sales call and a really good one. The first one happened to be the bad one. The sales people walked into the room and rather than listening to my needs and the strategy that I am trying to follow, they kept telling me that I need the product that they were selling. Any time I tried to object, they just kept pushing it and didn’t take a moment to think about me and what I was there for. That can right away steer me away from a product.
My good sales call was the opposite to the bad one. The meeting started with the sales person listening to me for 5 minutes rather than immediately trying to sell the product. This allowed them to get a better understanding of my strategy, my priorities, and my opportunities. It is so incredibly important to listen to the buyer, not just for the sales person, but also for the buyer. Listening to me and my needs allowed the seller to find a business idea that would fit my strategy: great sales, great profitability, and good assortment. It saves so much time and effort to do something as simple as listen to me and my concerns before trying to sell something. We only have so much time so you want to make good use of this time. Spending half of the meeting presenting all of the products you have available when only one or two products fit my needs is a waste of everyone’s time.
Just like sales people prepare for a sales call, I do my own preparation before a meeting with a vendor. Relationships are important in sales and understanding the vendors is going to be important when building these relationships. I want to understand the vendor before meeting with them. I ask myself questions like “How much does this vendor matter to me?” and “How are we better partners to the vendor?”. I also send the vendor high level information or notes about my priorities to give them a heads up for the open dialogue that we will have during the meeting.
In regards to preparation by the sales person before the meeting, I want to see a balance between data and product. Sales projections are important to see but it’s just as important to see the product. I work as a buyer for toys at Target and toys are like apparel, every year there are different trends. While I can’t see into the future, I try my best to see the next big thing before it is popular.
Source: anonymous