Black Sales Journal

In most sales positions, you are the relationship expert. You are the true  expert on the customer!  You may know well the product and process, but you may need someone who is intimate with procedures, tolerances, and even engineering and legality.  The call is yours, so know how to frame it!

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Whether you are you taking your manager or a specialist (such as an engineer or technician) on a call to see your customer, there are rules to follow.

This is normally done to facilitate a product or service with complicated nuances and utilizing this assistance correctly could push you toward consummating the sale.  No matter how much assistance you get, the sales call is yours to control, and the deal is yours to make.  This instant credibility and expertise could be very helpful to the Black sales professional because you strive for the credibility that happens when you put together company resources to produce a win.

If you are wise, you will learn how to master the assisted sale because in the end, the credit is all yours, and the compensation is usually not split.  Having someone else do much of the work is a benefit; having someone with you that gives your customer instant solutions coupled with your continued credibility is even more beneficial.  It also gives you a solid opportunity to learn more about your products that will benefit you on future calls.

You’re the Quarterback!

There are a few methods that you can employ to make sure that yourassisted sales call goes smoothly:

• Always have a pre-call meeting - Whether it is with your manager, his manager, or an engineer or specialist who is there to explain technical information, a discussion involving all participants before the sales call is essential.  Make sure you delineate call objectives and what information will be shared.  Make sure your people know who they are meeting with, the hot buttons, and discuss how you collectively should handle them.
• Do an agenda and the written introductions – You all know that the most important activity is to advise everyone who is going to be present, what their roles are, and what their credentials are for providing solutions.  This is not as necessary with your manager, yet with technical people, you want to make sure it is known how they will help your customer.
• Information must be from the same source and same dates – Make certain that you review all information that will be disseminated and that it is necessary and appropriate.  There should be one set of facts, and no situations where you are quoting numbers from different sources and with varied evaluation dates.  Nothing is more embarrassing than to watch a meeting derail while the participants joust about information facts and origins. You want to see each piece of information that will be handed out.
• Monitor the sales call – We all technical sales support people.  Whether they are in financial services, office equipment, machinery, or otherwise, we know that they may be very focused, and maybe not as solid in the role of communicating to the customer.  When you have one that does it well, you will want them as a ‘sales partner’ every time.  Your role is to watch your customer’s expressions and reactions to make sure that those assisting the sale deliver information in a format that is readily understandable.  You can clarify points, restate issues, and direct the conversation correctly to make sure your customer gets the information they need.
• Ask for the Business – It is the sales professional’s responsibility to close the sale, if the sale is at that stage.  No one should ask for the business but you.  As you are keeping tabs of the open issues, outstanding follow-ups, as well as any questions that can affect the sale.  Make sure that your pre-call meeting includes discussion about your responsibility in this important area.
• Open and close the meeting – The sales professional in the capacity of the relationship manager opens and closes the meeting.  Never give up that responsibility as that increases the control that you need.  You will do the requisite introductions, openings, summaries and, if appropriate, closing statements.
• Do the written meeting follow-up – As the quarterback, your summary with follow-up items once distributed gives the “now what do we do” and next steps that will shape the timeliness and quality of the response.  Do it within a day after the meeting.

Always Show Your Value

Part of the value that you will show is that you can bring the people that can make the difference to your accounts.  When your customers are consistently satisfied, you have value.  Be an integral part of that solution by assuring that the call goes well, and the results are achieved.  Know your company’s people and how to use them in a way to consummate the sale or provide solutions.

There is evidence of teamwork when a sales professional puts everything together well.  The customer sees a coordinated attempt to provide his/her needs, or solve their organizations problems, and you are the beneficiary.

Monitoring the Sales Call Revisited

I am going to focus on this aspect from above, as a result of its relative importance.  When you are on that call, you are doing no one any good if you don’t make sure that your customer gets what they need.  If the talk is technically too lofty for your customer, you must insert yourself into the conversation.

Saying to your own people, “Can you break that down for us?” is a start.  You can say, “Once more, can you help us clarify how we can get this solved, I don’t understand?” Don’t hesitate to force the issue.  Remember, you are the advocate of the customer, and if they don’t understand the commentary, they you are a part of the “circus”.

If you are adept at explaining, do so using terminology that your customer will understand, then ask your technical person if they agree.

Always remember the best sales professionals are not the most technically oriented, but they are the ones who understand best how their products, are perceived by the customer.

Create solutions for your clients, and you will prosper.

We would enjoy your comments.

I worked for years to get a coveted prospect to buy from our company, and was not successful.  After being promoted to manager I reassigned all of my prospects to an experienced sales rep from my unit, who quoted and sold the prospect that I thought should have been my account for years.

She advised that we had ‘won’ the business and that we were going to do a meeting to introduce our team and ‘install’ the business.  Three weeks later, she lamented, “This is the most difficult account that I have ever worked with!  Nothing is good enough.  They demanded new and special payment terms, they still have not paid their deposit, and they want to tell us what suppliers we need to work with.  I am not sure that we can last with them!”

Well, this situation is not unusual.  It is difficult to know how much trouble a new customer is going to be until they are in the fold.

What is A Good Customer?

It sounds simple enough to suggest that as a sales professional you would want as many of your customers as possible to be “good” customers.  They won’t all be good customers, but the reasons why you want the good ones is because they are predictable and can be an advantage for your.  In sales you need every advantage you can get so you want to align yourself with the kind of customers that everyone else covets.

We will simply define the traits of a good customer:

• Prompt and responsible in payment
• Communicates well
• Provides unsolicited feedback on you and your organization
• Suggests customers/clients for you
• Acts as a reference for you and your company

This list is not all-inclusive as I am focusing on the main customer traits that benefit the sales professional.

Prompt Payment – You know this drill!  Some sales professionals don’t get paid until the monies are collected.  Any client that is delinquent, or elects not to pay costs you and your company ridiculous amounts of money.

Communicates Well – This customer is respectful of your time and efforts and lets you know by communicating meaningfully and with intent.

Provides Feedback – Gives relevant feedback to you on your efforts and your company’s products and services.  Gives feedback the right way, personally and constructively.

Loyal – Loyal customers give you an opportunity to rectify any problems or deficiencies, including pricing issues, before making relationship-ending decisions.  They stick by you and do not make a change for nominal differences in price.

Refers Customers to You – This customer will refer their relationships and ‘business friends’ to you recognizing that they will be taken care of and will receive the great service that you give to them.  This is extremely important to Black sales professional as it gives you an opportunity to have the credibility that the referral gives you to help make the sale.

Acts as a Reference for You – You can count on this customer when you have a new relationship and need someone to sing your praises.  Again, this is important to the Black sales professional for the reasons above (Refers Customers to You).

The Intangibles – They Cost Money!

Spend some time doing a good evaluation on your customers.  Be careful though, as it is the intangible items that really cost money.  A relationship with a customer who pays late, ask for more, and will leave for a dime is not going to end up good for you.

Be cognizant of the intangibles as the costs are hard to recognize.  Do you have to provide additional services and visits because they won’t do what all of the other clients do?  Are they unduly critical of your team and your service personnel?

Know whether the complaints are justified, and if not, you must, I repeat must; stand up for your team.

Customers…We Can’t Do Without Them

I comment often that “we can’t do without them”, and that is the truth.  They are the reason that we exist in our respective roles.  It is our job as sales professionals to make sure that we get the right ones.

In our effort to survive and prosper in our jobs, we sometimes take on customers who do not deserve us.  I am sure you know some now.  If they get in your way of prospering and selling to other clients, they are costing you money.    Think about it hard!  Consider at what point you take action if it is problematic.

What is the Lifetime Value of Your Customer?

Give some consideration to figuring out the lifetime value of your customer.  We are talking about an economic value.  This isyour lifetime value, not the lifetime value that your company receives.  This figure is based on the length of relationships, the revenue received from the relationship in terms of bonus or commissions and the amount of compensation that you receive from their referrals, references, and other contributions to your existence.

The lifetime value could be estimated by knowing the following:

• Average annual revenue (commission/bonus) from your customer.
• Average period of time a customer stays.
• Total revenue earned from this customer’s referrals.

Oversimplified, here is the quick and easy formula to show relative lifetime value.  Relative means that you can compare it against your other clients effectively:

Lifetime Value = [Annual Commission Revenue  * Average Period of Relationship] +Total Revenue From Referrals

Or…..

LV = [ACR *APR] + TRR

Here is an example:

Customer A:

Annual Commission Revenue – $20,000
Average Period of Relationship – 4.5 years (company average)
Total Revenue from Referrals – $0

LV = [20,000 * 4.5] + $0 Referrals
LV = $90,000

Customer B:

Annual Commission Revenue – $12,000
Average Period of Relationship – 4.5 years (company average)
Total Revenue from Referrals – $ 30,000

LV = [12,000 * 4.5] + 30,000 Referrals
LV = 54,000 + 30,000
LV = $84,000

In both examples you can see the effect of referrals.  Customer A pays the bills, yet they are not helping your revenue as much as Customer B, who is a good customer overall as they referred you to new relationships and new revenue.  The moral of this story is…”Customers are not created equal”.

The total referral revenue is understated as it should show revenue from the referral relationship in total, and that could be much more substantial.  I hope you see the logic.

Always do a good evaluation and realize that a good customer is more than the commissions or bonus from that customer.  Know the facts.

Your comments are welcome.