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Think like a customer––or lose the sale
by John Graham
Thinking like a customer isn’t easy. In fact, it’s so difficult
many companies are unable to do it. Coca-Cola is a classic example. In the
mid-1980s, it changed its long-standing formula in an effort to attract
younger customers. The public outrage was instant and unyielding.
It didn’t take long for the company to give back what it had taken
away. Coke sales, after languishing for a number of years, took off. Evidently,
Coca-Cola forgot what it had learned. When the water wars heated up and
the power drinks appeared a few years ago, Coke ignored the message, while
Pepsi-Cola embraced trend.
What does it mean to listen to the customer? Here are 10 guidelines to make
sure you hear the message:
1. Doing it your way. After searching for heating system
filters of a certain size, the homeowner found a supplier. “We’ll
call you when they come,” said the person taking the order. “Since
I am ordering a full carton, would it be possible just to have them drop-shipped
to my home?” he asked. “No,” came the reply. “We
don’t do it that way.”
When a seminar leader asked what bothered them most about their suppliers,
a group of farm store dealers were unanimous in their response. They didn’t
like “all the little charges” vendors tacked on to their invoices.
Then the seminar leader asked, “How do you think your customers feel
when you charge them for deliveries?”
Listening to the customer means figuring out ways to avoid unnecessary aggravation.
2. Focusing on your objectives. A marketing executive was
meeting with a nonprofit organization’s development officer and its
event-planning firm regarding an upcoming activity. This was basically a
get-acquainted session. In less than two minutes after being introduced,
the event planner began talking about other services she could provide the
marketing executive’s client. She went as far as wanting to get together
with the president of the company he represented.
It was brutally clear that the event planner had her own agenda and that
her goals took precedence over those of anyone else. Her behavior sent a
clear message: her number one customer was herself.
Everyone wants more customers but elbowing your way to the head of line
is not the way to create confidence and earn new business.
3. Pushing for meetings. “Oh, you want us to send
you the information. We can, of course, but it might be more helpful if
we met.” Those who push for a meeting are generally pushing in the
wrong direction. Even worse, salespeople believe that they can make a sale
if they can get in front of the customer. Perhaps they feel like the Dodge
dealer from Phoenix who complained that the Internet denied him the opportunity
to meet face-to-face with the customer and “work his magic.”
The task is to engage customers by capturing their interest. Few
meetings can possibly accomplish that objective. However, if you connect
with what is going on inside the customer’s head, you’ll be
invited through the door.
4. Deciding when the customer should buy. Perhaps the most
costly mistake made by salespeople is not just failing to think like a customer
but brazenly thinking for the customer.
It’s normal to want to get the order signed, whether it is a retailer
selling a sport coat or a defense contractor closing a deal for a nuclear
submarine. We all want to get it done because so much depends on “making
the sale.” The merchant wants to keep her doors open and the defense
contractor has years of R&D hanging in the balance.
Since the mid-1980s, a far-reaching change has taken place, one that is
more pronounced now than ever before: Decision making is more complicated
(corporate buying committees lengthen the process) and no one wants to make
a mistake (people who do so get replaced).
Instead of viewing a buying decision as an opportunity to improve efficiency,
increase productivity, or solve a problem, it is more often than not a dreaded
experience. As a result, it is delayed as long as possible. The point is
simple: the salesperson can no longer control the buying cycle. This means
that getting the order depends on shadowing the customer until the customer
gets ready to buy. If you don’t, someone else walks away with the
order.
5. Pushing the customer. Traditionally, selling has been
something of a “push process.” In other words, the salesperson
develops strategies for getting the customer to buy. “I know you have
been considering our color copier for some time now,” said the salesperson.
“I just wanted you to know that we have a trade-in special for the
next two weeks that I think you’ll find quite attractive. When would
be a good time to go over it with you?”
While the “push” technique is used every day of the week, it
is less and less effective since it flies in the face of what can be called
the “pull approach.” This is just one more example of how the
Internet has changed the way customers think and how they expect to do business.
Amazon.com is the master of “pull.” It constantly invites the
customer to look more and to follow new, interesting, and worthwhile “paths.”
Instead of buying being painful, negative, and unpleasant, it becomes an
exciting experience because the customer is invited to see more, learn more,
and most importantly of all, to participate more. Amazon.com customers
recognize that the retailer is walking with them. It is even permissible
to put items on a “wish list.” What a wonderful “pull”
technique. From time to time, the customer is reminded of “wish list”
items. Wooing customers is the key to selling success.
6. Failing to listen. Unfortunately, failing to listen
isn’t just a matter of matter of not hearing what’s being said.
More accurately, it is deliberately ignoring the customer’s agenda.
In the past, customers were more forgiving than they are today.
A Pitney-Bowes salesperson met with a company executive regarding ways to
improve personalized direct mail functions. The salesperson asked about
typical jobs, the types of mail involved, the approximate quantities, and
the personnel who would be operating the equipment. When the meeting ended,
the customer felt that the salesperson seemed to understand the requirements.
When he opened the proposal a week later, he thought the wrong document
had been enclosed. The recommendations did not even remotely fit the company’s
needs.
The salesperson didn’t fail to listen. Listening was unimportant,
actually irrelevant to what the salesperson wanted to sell. Not surprisingly,
that salesperson rung up a “no sale.”
7. Keeping your sales strategy a secret. Contrary to what
some salespeople would have us believe, selling is not warfare. The customer
is not the enemy that must be subdued. The first principle of selling should
be to dispel any adversarial feelings. By the way, just using such words
as “partnering” or “consultant” fails to disarm
today’s customers.
Selling must be a mutually agreed upon process that involves both salesperson
and customer. What do we want to accomplish? What is the best way to get
there? How can we do this together?
A collaborative approach creates trust and establishes credibility because
the customer knows where you are going and what to expect.
8. Making the sale the goal. How many times have companies
bought three to 10 times as many brochures as could ever be used? The print
salesperson offers an attractive per unit price. Five years later, cartons
of brochures are still stashed away in the warehouse. Now obsolete, they
will eventually be trashed. All the so-called “savings” were
actually a cost.
One advertising account executive takes a different approach and actually
cautions clients to buy a limited supply initially. “Once a brochure
is in use,” he says, “I recommend that clients keep track of
comments and suggestions so that changes can be made sooner rather than
later.” He points out that clients appreciate the recommendation because
there is always the tendency to look at the per unit cost. “If the
brochures cannot be used, there are no savings.”
The primary goal should be to satisfy the customer.
9. Limiting options. Too many choices can confuse and overwhelm
customers and render them unable to make a buying decision. At the same
time, offering a single solution may only serve to drive a customer to seek
other alternatives. Most customers respond positively to a limited number
of relevant options. This also provides the salesperson with feedback as
the customer evaluates each one.
A marketing firm developed a series of dealer programs for a client. The
presentation included two or three options for each program. With the rationale
in hand, the client reviewed the choices and made the necessary decisions.
In the same way, a computer software salesperson presented a client with
a rationale for making recommendations. One the client had accepted the
rationale, the salesperson returned with three specific software approaches
for the client to review.
Today’s customers want choices, but they want them to be relevant
to what they need to accomplish.
10. Writing off the customer too soon. There are those
occasions when customers have an immediate need, but not frequently. More
often than not, buying decisions are not made quickly. Customers take more
and more time deciding what course to take. Unfortunately, salespeople often
misinterpret such delays as a lack of interest. Delays in decision making––even
long delays––are normal today.
The key to making the sale is managing prospects over time. This is why
agreeing on a step-by-step sales plan is important. Failing to do this usually
results in dismissing the prospect too quickly. If you’re not there
when the customer is ready to buy, the sale goes to someone else.
If there’s a common theme or thread running through these 10 issues,
it is this: Understanding what’s going on inside the customer’s
head is more important than anything a salesperson wants to accomplish.
Thinking like a customer isn’t just an interesting option, it’s
a prime requisite if you want to make the sale.
© 2004 Graham Communications
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John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications,
a marketing services and sales consulting firm. Mr. Graham is the
author of four books on marketing and sales, including Break the Rules
Selling: Success Strategies that Beat the Competition (Superior Books).
Mr. Graham writes for a variety of marketing and sales columns for
business and trade publications and he presents his Magnet Power presentations
at company and association meetings. He can be contacted at 40 Oval
Rd., Quincy, MA 02170; by telephone at 617-328-0069; by fax at 617-471-1504;
or by email at j_graham@grahamcomm.com. The web site is grahamcomm.com. |
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