Black Sales Journal

Your relationship with your spouse or significant other is a focal point in your life. You are familiar with them, and they know you, yet you are wise enough (if you are smart) to constantly show how you feel and at the same time hold up your end of the relationship by doing the perfunctory tasks like paying bills, keeping up the residence, and providing income and services for the family.

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You do thoughtful things like bring home flowers, prepare a special meal, present small, thoughtful gifts and keep yourself in the mind and the heart of that special person.

This is what you need to do for your best clients as well. You need to do your job and at the same time do unanticipated acts that show them they are the focus of your efforts.

This sounds corny, but give it some thought.  So many sales professionals look for the new sale, and forget that your best future customers are your current customers.  The current customer’s tendency to by new products, sign-on for subsequent years, and give good referrals to people looking for your product makes your customer a valuable asset even past helping to increase your income.

The 5 Random Acts

Customer retention is important in any sales operation.  Those sales professionals who have solid customer retention are going to experience higher sales and more consistent earnings, along with more opportunities for growth.  Black sales professionals need to “wall off” their most important customers even more vigorously than other professionals: BSJ 4/11/2011-“Wall Off” Your Most Important Customers shows us some ways to do it.

As stated before, and no different than any interpersonal relationship, this is your chance to stay in front of your customer.  Here are some ways how:

• Small thoughtful gifts
• Cards and letters
• Refer some of your other customers to your customer when possible – and let the customer who is the beneficiary know it
• Business entertainment w/your upper management
• Share relevant clippings and articles from web and print – with a note

Small Thoughtful Gifts – These gifts should be inexpensive, and in good taste designed to show thought.  Example – Buying a customer a $12.00 frame that will house the picture of him/her and you at the latest outing, fishing trip, etc.  This works, and the customer will not toss the frame, or re-gift it usually if the picture is in the frame.  Know your companies gift policy and check this out: BSJ – Entertainment and Gift Giving Etiquette 11/17/2011

Cards and letters – Almost a lost art, but extremely effective and quite inexpensive.  Use very good stationary and cards, and read how it is most effective here: BSJ – Make Yourself Memorable 2/3/2011

Refer your other customers to this customer – The key is to let him know it.  Make sure that you get your mileage from it.  There is nothing more of an endorsement for your customer than for you to send some of your other valued relationships to them.  Have them call your customer contact directly, and advise them to ‘drop’ your name in the first line of the conversation.

Business entertainment with your company leadership – You may not consider it a treat to ‘break bread’ with your company’s management that often, but you would be amazed at how this brings your customer closer to your organization.  Customers love the attention, and in most organization’s the policies require that the management pick up the tab in stead of you.  Don’t under estimate this one as it can help to lock-up the customer, and endear you to management as well. Check this one out - BSJ – Is Your Sales Manager Managing? 10/17/2011

Share relevant clippings and articles from web and print – with a note – Show the customer that you are thinking about him/her frequently by sharing important information about products, economics, the marketplace and other information from the web, or print.  Keep them informed or someone else will.  Be the expert, and anticipate the client’s need for information.

Strengthening the Bond

Why are these effective?  This one is simple:  They strengthen the relationship.  Remember that in sales ‘relationships are everything’.  It is obviously a topic that I cover often in Black Sales Journal and is discussed further in BSJ – Revisited – Deepening Your Customer Relationships 11/11/2011.

Take a moment to put some of these suggestions to the test.  Strengthen the bond and deepen the relationship, then reap the benefits.  You cannot lose if you do.

Always master the relationship!

Your comments are appreciated. You can reach me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.

By now you know my sentiments regarding the strength of being an expert.  It was not only the post done on Black Sales Journal 12/20 -Your Customer Needs an Expert , but my many references to it in previous posts.  Being an expert gives you a type ofpreference that we all covet.  Black sales professionals should want to be bestowed with this tag any time that they can have it.

This type of preference is earned by doing those things in preparation that lays the groundwork for the ‘expert’ status.  We need to include doing things to get the notoriety and acclaim for having accomplished this groundwork.

What Makes You an Expert?

Being an expert means that you have a deep knowledge of a particular topic.  I have advocated that expert status gives youpreference, yet you still have to earn it by doing what is right in the customer’s eyes.  In other words, you still have to perform.

There are many things that may give the perception that you are an expert.  We will cover the items that generally customers perceive as helping to earn expert status.  Remember, perception is reality to the customer.

A positive perception can give you a preference that can be so powerful, possibly only being “triumphed” at times by the preference on the part of the customer of the “business friend” (Black Sales Journal 1/13 Deepening Customer Relationships) relationship level and some other relationship-based levels.

Here are some items that can help you be perceived as an expert:

• Vast experience
• Accreditations & Designations
• Education, Certifications, and degrees
• Renown Speaker
• Letters of Recommendations and Reference
• Association Membership
• Publishing

There may be other items, yet these can be meaningful in attaining an expert status.

Vast Experience – This is solid.  If you are able to boast that you have a wealth of customers and have delivered solutions to them (Black Sales Journal 6/20 Deliver Solutions, Then Sell!!), you probably can boast to be expert on a class of business, geographic area, or product.  Grouping your customers to determine your expertise would be important.  You will need to “develop” a product or “package” offering, yet this is quite doable.

Accreditations  & Designations – These are important, and very durable.  Going through some type of training or educational program, and normally testing for proficiency in the end can result in attainment.  In some cases, they are very formal, and in other cases, they are less formal, yet they yield a “diploma” in most cases.  For example, my degree from a four-year university did not mean much in the world of commercial lines insurance, so I engaged in additional educational coursework and designations (CPCU – Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, ARM – Associate in Risk Management, and AIAF – Associate of Insurance Accounting and Finance).  I showed these designations proudly on my business card to show my expertise as well as my devotion to the industry that I was in.   It was helpful in convincing many that I was committed and qualified.

Education, Certifications, and Degrees – This one is very much like the one above.  Note that education can include the extent of your education; including bachelors and masters level education.  Certifications can include completion of certificate programs that do not render a degree, yet do show the fact that completion of the program shows some mastery of the subject matter.  A sales professional selling institutional food products and cooking implements that has a certification in food safety would be someone who a restaurant owner might listen to.

Acceptance as a Renowned Speaker – I recognize that every sales professional does not desire to be a prominent speaker.  Some know a subject matter to such a degree that they can attain a “speaker” status.  If they know the subject matter well enough to help others by speaking on it.  If you are in that group, you can allow this to work for you by making sure that you have a platform to pass the information along.  This includes press clippings, mentions in blogs, or entries in your own blog or written information.

Referrals and Recommendations – This one is simple from the standpoint of making sure that those who have benefited from your delivery of solutions “reduce it to writing.”  It allows you to distribute the document to show your expertise.  The objective is to have a proof source to support your strengths.  It is more esoteric than some of the other solutions, yet it can be effective.

Association Membership – This one certainly does not denote true expertise, yet could support your commitment and professionalism.  It can be used in conjunction with the others to show the commitment that might tip the scale.  For example, if you are a sales professional who works heavily with the general contractors, you can join a chapter of a contractor organization.  Joining the New York General Contractors Association would be evidence of support for the group as well as a commitment to working with contractors.  It can result in you having the association logo on your card, and getting great information to use in your solicitation effort such as a members list, legislative information, and current issues and events.

Publishing – This would include having your information put to print, or could be something easier to do such as blogging.  This is more work than many of the items above, yet can be fruitful.  If you do it with other items like speaking, it could be quite easy as the subject matter would be something that you had an engagement on.  One way or another, it would keep you in the public eye, and addressing the issues.

You Still Must Perform

None of this makes a difference if you don’t perform when you act in the capacity of the expert.  Researching, answering questions, and acting as counselor (BSJ, The Consultative Selling Style  6/6/2011) only works, if you know what you are talking about, and give real value.

What is normally the case is that several of the items above are combined to assure a customer of the sales professionals expert status.  The sales professional who not only has the education, but also the certifications and designations, coupled with the requisite vast experience might get consideration as an expert by a customer.

When the Black Sales professional has one of these combinations, preference is within reach as few customers will avoid dependence on a proven expert unless the water is teaming with them.

Prepare yourself, and claim your status.

Your comments are welcome.  Write me at Michael.Parker@BlackSalesJournal.com.