… if your Mother ran it?
In my case it’d be just great. Ok, so in your case it’d be different. That makes your smart or funny or something.
So here’s the really big question.
Not for you.
For your kids.
What would your school/office/whatever be like if your ma or pa ran it?
I think there are few things more frustrating than trying to sell to a buyer who is already happily buying from another supplier. You know you’ve got a good product or service, maybe even better than the competitor’s, but your buyer is perfectly happy as is.
Don’t give up. I’m the kind of person who will the same thing for lunch every day, so I relate to the buyer not wanting to change suppliers. But here’s the deal. If my lunch place puts the price up, or the quality goes down, or the staff suddenly change and are no fun, then I quietly go and find somewhere else to eat. Your buyer might well be just the same. Resistant to change, sure, but not impossible to change.
And things do change. If you are patient and work at it, you’ll become part of the buyer’s landscape too. When they become dissatisfied with the supplier they will come to you because they know you.
If you are working in sales (and if you have your own business you ARE working in sales) you have two issues to address – a) maintaining your existing customers, and b) finding new customers. You have to do this ALL the time.
In the same way that you are maintaining your customers, your buyer’s supplier should also be doing the same thing. The question is – are they better at maintaining than you are at finding?
Thing change, all the time. I like to take the approach that, “the supplier’s goods are good, sure, however, in the event that you’re looking for a new choice, this is what my product has to offer. In fact, here’s the comparison. Today so many things are much the same, so, let me point out the difference that makes the difference… and here’s my card. Call me, I’ll be standing by to help.” And I move on fairly quickly, to either service an existing client, or find a new client. It is vital though, to leave your doors open for communication. Under promise, over deliver.
If you come up with a new product, go back as soon as possible and touch base with the buyer. Could be just the thing they’re looking for. Service existing or find new customers. I’m also inclined to ask for referrals – if this is not for you, can you suggest someone who might be interested?
Buyers can also be interested in window-shopping – out of curiosity or comparison, or long term planning. They’re not making a decision today, or indeed any time soon, but they need to know what’s available for strategic purposes. Things change all the time. If you give the impression of being a credible performer you will have an edge over the long haul. Existing suppliers can grow fat and complacent – their service might lose some of the gloss over time.
Buyers also change – they move on for one reason or another. Their manager can equally move or change. I know very few people who are doing exactly the same job, in exactly the same way, that they were doing five years ago. Read the papers and trade journals to spot change – you might even get a chance to preempt it because of your excellent business intelligence. Keep up to date on the changes and diversifications in your field.
Quick Questions:
1. Do you know of an existing buyer/seller relationship that might be eased apart?
2. Are you calling regularly on buyers who buy elsewhere, “just keeping you informed?”
3. Do you thoroughly inform buyers of the benefits of your products?
4. Does this include delivering great presentations, even if the buyer is otherwise committed?
5. Do you stay up-to-date with finance/business intelligence via papers, net, journals?
6. Do you give outstanding service to your existing customers?
7. Do you ask for referrals? How about any upcoming changes in the buyer’s organisation?
8. How many new accounts have you landed in the last three months?
9. How many of these were previously serviced by another supplier?
10. Who is a prospect, right now, whom you think you can make into a customer? Call them, set up a meeting.
According to Dan Roam
Visual thinking is the future of business problem solving. Using our innate ability to see?both with our eyes and our mind?s eye?gives us entirely new ways to discover hidden ideas, develop those ideas intuitively, and then share those ideas with other people in a way they are simply going to ‘get’.
Really? The future? Of course Leonardo would probably think presenting problems and solutions visually was pretty mainstream in a renaissance kind of way. Dan has shared The 10 1/2 Commandments of Visual Thinking: The “Lost Chapter” from The Back of the Napkin with us. For free. Thanks, Dan.
As you build your business, more ideas and better ways to communicate those ideas clearly and quickly are essential. Jim, one of my favorite visual thinkers, helps explain some of the creative processes in the following videos. Thanks, Jim. As you look through the videos, think about how some of the ideas can be applied in your presentations.
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