L. T. Dravis asked:
As we’re reminded everyday when we log on and confront pop-ups, when we’re blinded and deafened by advertising everywhere, the business of selling, especially B2B selling, has changed dramatically. Remember the recent economic boom? If you were like most folks in the sales game, you sold products and services like there was no tomorrow.
There was a ton of demand and a corresponding ton of money chasing products, parts, and service. Those were the good old days when all you had to do was just be present every day - in the office or in your territory, it really didn’t matter all that much - and you’d get calls from people who were ready, willing, and able to buy. All you did was generate quotes, collect checks, and look forward to your hero’s welcome every time you strutted into the office with another signed order. Nice, huh? Short term - YES - because you made lots of dough! Long-term - NO - because you ain’t as good today as you could have been!
What happened? Well, there was a tomorrow and it finally came. These days, you don’t have the luxury of earning a living as a professional order taker because the whole buying/selling scene has flip-flopped. Today, more sales companies offer more products, parts and service for less money in declining markets. No doubt about it. For lots of reasons, times are tough. So what? Ups and downs in business are inevitable. Right? Of course. The important question is this: “How can you manage ups and downs so the ups and downs don’t manage you?”
The simple answer is this: Use the following 12 Creative Techniques:
1. Focus your creativity on the single market or market segment with the greatest potential for new business. Research economically sound businesses in your territory to determine where meaningful growth opportunities exist for your company. Let’s say, for example, that you sell computerized control systems. Let’s also say that you’re smart enough to thoroughly research hydraulic pump manufacturers and you discover that these manufacturers typically source electronic controllers from multiple suppliers. Mixed brands and types can mean higher maintenance and repair costs. So what creative door does this scenario open for you? Could you do an in-depth application survey to determine whether it would be profitable for your company to design, prototype, and ultimately produce an application-specific control system for hydraulic pump manufacturers?
2. Focus creativity on selling more best-sellers. Let’s say that you’re knocking the competition on their collective seat pads with a specific product because the bean-counters have decided to offer a special pricing program on certain, perhaps, bare bones products with few or no options. Your selling price is ten percent below any other competitor and since you recently incorporated a brochure in your consistent direct mail program, the phone won’t stop ringing. Instead of running off with another creative idea, hold up for the time being, and continue to promote your bread and butter product. Get testimonials, take photos, and launch a territory-wide ad blitz to inspire every prospective buyer to buy one of these beauties before the opportunity fades away and you move on to the next best-seller.
3. Refine your creative focus on target markets. If you’ve defined a specific target market in your annual Territory Planner, revisit the planner after 3 months to see whether you were right to select that market. Are you selling as much as you projected last year? If not, why not? Revise the territory plan, or redefine target markets, as necessary to create the sales volume you originally envisioned.
4. Take a creative walk around your advertising and promotional playground. Invest some time to determine which mailers and promotions sell the most. Call customers who’ve responded and ask specific questions about what in the mailer or promotion actually motivated them to buy. Then call customers who received the advertising or promotion and didn’t respond and ask why.
5. Get creative about revamping and expanding advertising and promotions. Don’t waste time and money on programs that don’t work; put your creative energy into refining the ones that do work. Brainstorm new ideas. How about a guaranteed buy-back program? Why not create a low-cost lease plan for low-hour applications with mandatory Planned Maintenance on ninety day intervals to protect your company’s investment? Why not consider offering new warranties on selected low hour reconditioned products? These may be good ideas or they might be lousy ideas. That isn’t the point. The point is, your ability to create new opportunities to sell is limited only by your imagination - combined with good business sense
6. Create partnerships with other departments. When was the last time you took your Parts and Service Rep to lunch? How often do you talk with the road service guys in your territory? Does the parts department notify you when one of your customers makes a large purchase? How often do you refer leads to the service department? Probably about as often as the service department refers leads to you. Every field person in your territory multiplies your ability to sell. So, why not create partnerships that benefit you, the other guy, and the company. We can’t think of a good idea not to…can you?
7. Create partnerships with allied suppliers. Talk to allied suppliers about developing partnerships to increase sales. Would you be able to sell more products if accessory suppliers were willing to provide extended warranties?
8. Create relationships with mentors to build your territory and your future. Too often we get bogged down just trying to earn a living instead of building the territory. Develop friendships with people in the business you respect. Hang around with winners whose track records speak for their ability to create something from nothing. Ask for help to manage your time and learn to break free from all the administrative stuff of selling so you can focus on what is required to develop your territory to its full potential.
9. Create quality time with your Sales Coach. Be smart. Take advantage of an incredible resource: a coach who understands you, your business, and your territory. Put your ego aside and admit when you need help. After all, what is important is not whether you are right or wrong…what is important is that you sell more, more profitably, more often.
10. Create time for yourself to reflect on what you do best. Take time every day to decide precisely what you want to accomplish in the next 8 to 10 hours. What do you do best? What don’t you do so well? Where do you need help? If you don’t manage time well, for example, but you’re terrific in front of customers, schedule your days, your weeks, and your months with a program like ACT so you can spend more time in front of people. If you’re a detail person perhaps you should invest more time creating mailers, promotions, and quotations so you make better presentations. Whatever you do during this time, be honest with yourself. After all, you have a lot to gain by consistently using this technique!
11. Create more effective ways to prospect. Take time to define precisely what your company has to offer the market. What are you selling in terms of customer service, price, and product quality? What is unique or special about how your company delivers products and services to customers? What exceptional quality is there about your after sales follow-up? Which prospects in your territory will benefit most from your products and services? After all, not every prospect is your customer. So, create direct pathways to people most likely to buy and don’t waste time and energy trying to track down the folks who won’t.
12. Create better ways to present and close. Your ability to create and make an effective sales presentation is the single most important factor in your success. By way of definition, an effective sales presentation demonstrates to a prospect that buying from you is the best possible choice they can make. You’ll know that you’ve made an effective presentation when your prospect fully understands what you are offering, the benefits of your offering, and the prospect becomes ready to make a buying decision. After nearly three decades in the business, we are constantly amazed at how many sales are lost because Sales Players don’t ask for the order at the end of the presentation. Have you ever made a brilliant presentation and then failed to ask for the order? If not, we hail you…if so, don’t do it again!
EPILOGUE
Creativity can’t survive much less thrive if you’re not willing to take some creative risks. The question that begs to be asked is, “What can I do to ensure that I’m always ready, willing, and able to create new sales opportunities to help myself and my teammates to sell more, more profitably, more often?”
Remember…it’s you, your team, and your Sales Coach against a very tough, very competitive world! Your competitive edge, your ability to sell, your ability to earn a good living, depends on your ability to be creative - to think outside the box!
How else can you sell more, more profitably, more often in the volatile, commodity-driven, price-sensitive markets we face today? What options can you count on to increase sales? How far can you go in trying to outwit the competition on product features? How much more discounting can and should you do to win a sale?
The truth is frighteningly simple: If you can’t answer these questions and if you don’t prepare yourself to lead in your territory with creative, outside-the-box thinking, you’ll have no options.
You’re much too smart to put yourself in a spot like that, aren’t you?
