Selling to Consumers | Sales Training Blog by Skip Anderson

Selling Doesn't Suck!

Recently, I heard a salesperson announce that he was going to stop selling and instead focus on his customer.

I guess it depends upon your definition of selling, but isn't selling something that does focus on our customers? Perhaps this individual's definition of selling is centered around manipulation, winning at all costs, or taking advantage of the customer. But that's not my definition of selling, and I don't think that's most sales professionals' definition of selling either. The way I sell and the way I teach others to sell in my sales training seminars is all about the prospect and meeting his or her needs. That requires focus on your customer. That's selling, right?

There have been bizarre books published recently, including "Selling Sucks: How to Stop Selling and Start Getting Prospects to Buy."

Really? Selling "sucks?" Yet you want to get your prospects to buy? Isn't that selling? Is this some kind of strange semantics game? Maybe the author's title sells books, but I think anybody who thinks "selling sucks" should get out of the profession and find something else to do 40+ hours per week.

Then there's a recent video that proclaims the biggest myth in selling is selling benefits. Huh? Aren't the benefits of our products and services the reason people buy them? Why else would they buy? Customers don't buy a hammer because they want a hammer; they buy a hammer because they want to pound nails into things. Isn't that a benefit? Is it bad to talk with your prospect (the one who wants a hammer) about how your hammer does it's job well? Why on earth would we not talk about benefits of our products and services with our prospects?

I've heard others (often they are people who are trying to sell books or seminars) say that you shouldn't use open-ended questions, or you shouldn't ask your client buy, or you shouldn't ask for referrals, or you shouldn't create rapport with your prospect.

Really? Is this the state of the sales profession as we enter 2009? Thankfully, it is only fringe elements in our great industry.

Selling is a noble profession. At its best, it's respectful of both the prospect and the salesperson. Selling is not about abusing your prospects, it's about guiding them through a buying process so they can get what they want and desire.

The skills used in selling can be similar to the skills used in clinical psychology, crime investigation, trial law, and journalism interviewing. Can you imagine a new book called "Journalism Sucks?" or "The Mental Health Profession Sucks?" Who would buy these books? (I guess people who don't like their chosen profession?!?). Who would buy a book titled, "Selling Sucks?"

Be proud that you're a sales professional. Develop your professional sales skills. Learn more about selling. And don't let anybody tell you that selling sucks.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Selling in the Home: What to Drive

Someone once told me that in-home salespeople shouldn't drive a nice car to their sales appointments.

I say "hogwash!"

I believe it's perfectly appropriate to drive an upscale car to most sales appointments at customers' homes. Salespeople shouldn't try to hide their success. If you're successful and you have a nice vehicle,then go ahead and drive around town in a nice vehicle. This won't have a negative impact on your sales performance if you're engaging, friendly, and focused on your customers' needs.

I'm not suggesting you flaunt your riches to your prospects. But don't be afraid to be the most successful real estate agent in your town, or the best paid residential landscape designer or the most successful custom closet consultant. 

Prospects hate snobs. But they love to deal with successful people who they feel comfortable with.

Flickr photo by Fabio Aro.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Retail Marketing: Winning the Battle but Losing the War

Retail marketing expert Rick Segel shared this story about his retail shopping experience. With his permission, I'm passing it along here for my readers.

* * * * *

I am Mad as Hell and This Retailer's Behavior Disgusts Me

by Rick Segel

I got suckered into a store over a very deceptive TV ad that ends up hurting every retailer. I am especially annoyed because I traveled 43 miles each way to go to this phony "make-believe sale". A chain of men's stores advertised that if you buy one suit or one blazer or a leather coat or jacket, you can get 2 other items of equal or less value for free. Now I have bought things in this store several times and was always pleased with their selection, their staff (very professional), and the value of the product.  So it was worth the drive.

I got to the store at about 3:30 on Sunday and just from the look of the store you could tell they had been busy. I was sure I was going to do well there right after I tried on the first suit. It fit great and I loved the fabric. I didn't focus too much on price because like I said, I had shopped there before and the price range for suits was between $200 and $450 but the $450 range was not the strong price point of the business. So I tried the suit without looking at the price. When I went to the dressing room to put the pants on, I was shocked to see the price of $995. Ya Right! This store never carried a suit for $995 in their life.  Then I noticed that the price tag had been altered. There was a small piece of with tape covering the original price of $395.  I couldn't believe that any store could do that.

Then I started to look at the prices of the other suits. They did not carry any suit that was priced less than $595.  So then I started to look at sport coats. Navy blazers were all priced at $395 but someone messed up because they left the previous sale tag on some of the blazers. They were all originally priced at $159.  So I asked what was going on and showed the difference in the tags. The sales associate then replied, "Since they are buying 3 sport jackets for the price of one, that means that the customer is paying approximately $133 per jacket or a savings of about $28. That's pretty good in this economy."  HUH? Of course he had to add that, "Every retailer does that and the customers know it." NO, they don't!

Then it got worse. I went to look at shirts and spotted a great looking striped shirt. The price was $59.95. Although the price was inflated, 3 shirts for $60 wasn't a bad buy so I picked out 2 more shirts from the same table and proceeded to the checkout counter. I gave the cashier the 3 shirts and she told me that I really should buy another one for the best savings. I didn't get it. Then she showed me a sign that looked the same as the other signs but read, "Buy one, the second one is free." Yet that was never mentioned on the TV ad or in any other advertising at all. So I told the cashier that I would only buy the 2 shirts.

I bought the two shirts and said to myself that $30 a shirt was still not that bad. They rang my credit card through and I was signing a credit card slip for $80.  I just assumed that they marked up all of the shirts to $59.95 but my assumption was incorrect.  Some of the shirts were priced at $74.95, then with tax it became $80. Did I get ripped off? No, but I felt manipulated and deceived. I don't care about every other store that does that. It is still wrong and it will catch up with them. At a time when consumer confidence is at an all time low, we don't need retailers playing shady pricing games. It hurts the store and the industry.

You can fool some of the people some of the time but the ones you fool always seem to get back to you. Trust me, short cuts and deception never pay off in the long term. This store may have won a battle, but they are losing the war.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Love Your Customer Award (#3)

A Our family got our new Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier puppy this past summer. LuLu joined our family after our 12-1/2 year old Wheaten, Chloe, had to be put down a year ago. 

I've been a dog owner all my life. I was pleasantly surprised when we took LuLu to a new vet for her first check-up. The personnel at Pet Crossing in Bloomington, Minnesota came over to us to meet Chloe. They kneeled down to pet her and talk with her and welcome her. The smiles on their faces were genuine. I've never had that experience at a veterinary clinic before.

The clinic mailed a greeting card to welcome us to their practice. Everybody hand-signed it. This was a gesture that took only a few minutes of effort, but made my wife and daughter very happy.

A few weeks ago, it was time to spay LuLu, so my wife and daughter took her to the clinic once again. The staff was, once again, welcoming and genuinely welcoming. When we came to pick her up, Pet Crossing provided us with the familiar "lampshade" cone to keep LuLu from biting her stitches and staples.

The staff had decorated LuLu's cone, complete with her name and stickers of Disney princesses. How much effort did this take? Not much. But how many veterinary clinics bother to delight their customers the way Pet Crossing did?

 

LuLu didn't care if the lampshade was adorned with these accouterments, but my wife and seven year-old daughter sure did. The folks at Pet Crossing understand that giving a little extra effort pays off big in customer satisfaction.

What little things can you do to delight your customers?

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Strong Holiday Sales

Adam Davidson from NPR reports on an online retailer that is pleasantly surprised by strong holiday sales. Listen to Surprised by Strong Holiday Buying.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Effort in Selling

Effort can be over-rated. Effort only works if you know what you're doing.

I'd rather have a brain surgeon who knows what he's doing rather than one who doesn't know what he's doing (even though he puts forth a lot of effort).

Sales training can teach you what to do to sell more. Once you reach that point, effort counts. But if you don't have the selling skills, effort is having without an engine.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Terminating Sales People

I work with companies that sometimes have sales people who should be terminated from their job. Either their work performance is low, or their toxic personalities have a negative impact on the larger work group.

But why are they still employed?

This often becomes a subject of discussion with my clients. Here are the responses I've heard:

1. "Her sales are so strong that it would take us a long time to replace the revenue she generates."

2. "He's been with us for a long time."

3. "She's single and she has a family."

4. "He's not that good, I know, but he sure is a company man; he'll do anything for the company"

5. "She's such a nice person."

6. "We're afraid of a lawsuit."

For an organization to function effectively, decisiveness in human relations matters is important (just as it is in all business matters). I'm not an advocate for premature termination of employees, but I am an advocate for termination of sales representatives when sales quotas are not being met and the sales person is either rejecting coaching and training, or the effort necessary to achieve the sales quota is not being put forth. I also believe that the negative impact of toxic employees on the greater organization is often underestimated.

Companies that wait too long to terminate a sales employee often have much longer recovery periods than companies who act decisively in these matters. Having clear (but reasonable) expectations for sales and workplace performance will help create clear termination criteria for management.

Who do you need to fire from your sales work group?

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Your Order is Ready

Breanne Potter writes about an interesting buying experience in her MBTI blog.

She purchased an item online at Sears, then opted to pick up the item in the store. She received notification from Sears that her order was ready for pickup, so she went to the store to do so.

Sears has a five minute guarantee for picking up online-ordered items in the store. Within five minutes, the order screen in the customer pick-up area said her order was ready.

But when is a "ready order" not really ready? Read Breanne's article, A Study of Performance Metrics and Employee Honesty.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Customer Engagement Makes the Difference

I think customer engagement is so important, I've named it one of the three dimensions of selling in my 3D Selling™ model that I teach in my sales training seminars.

Wonderful things happen when customers are engaged: Products are no longer commodities; but instead are products that resonate with the unique needs and desires of the customer; Sales interactions are no longer routine, but instead are meaningful for both parties.

When customer interaction is high, sellers don't sell on automatic pilot and buyers don't shop on automatic pilot. That means a higher average sale, a better closing rate, and happier customers.

If you sell to consumers, whether insurance, real estate, financial products, in customers' homes, or in big-ticket retail, take your interactions with your customers into a new dimension by nurturing engagement with your prospect.

Here's a video that came to my attention thanks to Steve Martinez and Nesh Thompson. Watch "The Simple Truths of Service" and see if you can't find some new ways to engage your prospects.

Customer Engagement | Talbots

One key to maintaining sales success during this economic downturn is customer engagement. Companies that engage their customer base and keep them engaged are positioned to keep sales at acceptable (or better?) levels.

Retailer Talbots is now putting customers in the role of hostess at their stores. What a remarkable way to engage their customer base.

Read all the details.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Simple Things: The First Priority in Business

Eventually, you can become incredible. But first, you've got to take care of the simple things. Not managing the simple things in your business can create frustration in your customers. Even a little bit of customer frustration is too much.

If you have a "Manager on Duty" sign in your place of business, you have to have the name of the manager in the slot on the sign. If you don't, you're going to irritate your customer who needs to speak with a manager, or you'll look like you don't have your act together.

You want me to hire you to deliver a valuable gift to my relative on the east coast? You say you'll deliver it in 3-4 business days? You say you're reliable? Really. Yet you don't bother to put your manager's name on your own "Manager On Duty" sign in your own customer lobby? Hmmm.

You either want your customers to know who the manager on duty is, or you don't. There isn't any middle ground here. If it's not important, take your sign down and throw it away. If it is important, get a name on the sign whenever you're open for business (I took the photo at the USPS office in my neighborhood).

If your voicemail message tells callers their calls are important to you, then treat those callers like the are important. If you use an automated system, make sure the navigation of it is intuitive, easy, and quick, and most of all, ensure the caller will never arrive at a dead-end.

If you tell your customer you're going to call Tuesday morning, you'd darned well better do it, even if you don't yet have the information they needed. If you want your customers to place value on your word, then you've got to make sure you're good for your word.

When the hours on your door say you open at 9 AM, but you don't show up until 9:35 AM, you've lost credibility with all your customers on everything, not just your business hours. Why should they trust anything you say?

Most successful businesses don't hit home runs; They hit singles over and over again. Those singles add up. Doing those little things right will help keep you in the game.

How is your business doing with the simple things?

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Introducing SalesBloggers.com

I have the honor of being one of nine members of the Sales Bloggers Union, a group of well-regarded sales experts who produce some of the leading sales blogs in the world. I formed this group earlier in 2008 as a way to bring the best sales minds together under one umbrella group to offer varying sales perspectives to the blogosphere.

The Sales Bloggers Union now has a new website which features the writing and expertise of all the group's members. Unlike many sites, the union members' blog posts all revolve around one specific topic at a time. Readers can read a new post each day to get a different perspective on the featured topic from a different union member. This is a wonderful sales training opportunity for the site's regular readers.

Among the areas of expertise included in the group are the selling of professional services, media sales, pipeline management, start-ups, sales management 2.0, and of course, B2C and retail selling.

Read the sales bloggers press release to learn more about the Sales Bloggers Union.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Unproductive Sales Behaviors: Do You Have Them?

My friend Tim J.M. Rohrer has an engaging and very well written article about unproductive sales behaviors on his Sales Loudmouth Blog.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Don't Talk Yourself out of a Sale

Here's a retail conversation I witnessed while holiday shopping yesterday:

Customer: (bringing jacket to cash-wrap counter) "I'd like to buy this"

Salesperson: "Oh, cool, I just bought something similar to this for my son"

Customer: "How old is your son"

SP: "14"

Customer: "Oh, my son is 14, too!"

SP: "Yeah, he one I bought had a similar print on it; these kinds of prints are all the rage with the kids right now."

Customer: "OK, that's good to know because I wasn't sure if he'd like this."

SP: "The one I bought was actually more of a sweatshirt than a jacket, though"

Customer: "Oh really? Where do you have those?"

SP: "I bought them at [insert store name here]; we don't have anything like that here."

Customer: "It's more of a sweatshirt than a jacket? Hmmm...I wonder if my son wouldn't prefer something more like a sweatshirt than a jacket."

SP: "It's really cool. They had plenty of them when I was there. It had a blue and black print on it, similar to this one."

Customer: "You know, I think I'm going to hold off on this jacket. Thanks for the information about [insert store name here]."

*  *  *  *  *

I have three observations/thoughts:

1. This is an example of a retail clerk, not a sales person. I think businesses would be better off if they would hire (and train) more sales people than they do clerks.

2. One could make the argument, "It's just a jacket...no big loss to the clerk's employer." But my counter argument is this: If this sales clerk would learn that sales people shouldn't talk so much, she would sell more every day, so the issue goes beyond merely one jacket.

It goes to the root of how a sales person sees their role, and what skills they have in working with their prospects, especially when a sale is lost after the prospect announced they were buying an item. The customer didn't want a sweatshirt until the sales person started talking about a sweatshirt; the customer wanted a jacket, or she wouldn't have brought it to the cash-wrap to purchase it).

3. When a customer wants to buy something, sell it to them, smile, and quit discussing the product or the purchase. Don't be your own worst enemy. Don't talk yourself out of a sale.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Sales Coaching: A New Edition

I bought Linda Richardson's book, "Sales Coaching: Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach" when it was first published in 1996. For me, it was one of those books you read where you find yourself thinking, "I wish I would have written this book!" As a believer in the importance of sales manager's who coach, it was the best book on Sales Coaching I had ever read.

Now Linda's book is being released in a revised and expanded second edition. If you're a sales manager, get this book.

The principles of the first edition remain in this new edition, but special attention has now been given to streamlining Linda's Developmental Sales Coaching Model. Additions to this edition include remote coaching and a discussion of technology.

I admire Linda's Developmental Sales Coaching model:

1. Connect and Clarify
2. Compare Perceptions
3. Consider Obstacles
4. Construct to Remove Obstacle
5. Commit to Action

Linda believes the power of sales coaching is in the questions you ask (not unlike the power of selling lying in the questions one asks!). I agree. Questions are the secret strategy of effective sales coaches.

This book is not for sales managers who believe their job is to be the top seller in an organization. Nor is it intended for the sales manager who spends the entire day hunkered down in front of his computer in his office. This book is for the sales manager that understands that her biggest impact on her company will be achieved by rolling up sleeves and digging deeply into the sales behaviors of each of her sales people. For that kind of sales manager (and I wish there were many more of them), this book leads the way.

- - - - - - - - - -

Speaking of sales coaching, for a limited time, I'm offering a free 50 minute sales coaching session to any of my readers who are business-to-consumer sales representatives, sales managers, or business owners. Contact me for more information here or call our office at 651.681.8568.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Sales Bits from the Blogosphere

Thanks to all the folks that have joined the Selling to Consumers Group on LinkedIn. If you haven't done so yet, please do. Join here.

My new podcast that was released yesterday is all about planning for prospecting success. Jonathan Farrington wrote a nice blog post recently about how top sales performers have a penchant for effective planning. Please read it. Proactive planning is very important in maximizing sales.

Joseph Provenzano writes a blog for restauranteurs. His recent post about benefits instead of ingredients is similar to how I teach to present benefits and not just features.

If you have friends who sell business-to-business, have them read Brad Trnavsky's post about Sales Management 2.0. It may also apply to some B2C salespeople.

Retail Design Diva has a post about the renewed popularity of retail layaway, powered by the weak economy.

Reminder: If you're a Twitter user, please consider following Skip Anderson on Twitter.

Onward!

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

New Sales Podcast Episode: Sales Prospecting

 
Some of us in consumer selling are adept at prospecting for new business leads. In fact, for many (real estate, insurance, financial sales), it's the single most important sales survival tool.

But many in retail selling (big ticket retail, home improvements, automobiles and the like) don't prospect for business effectively, if at all. The latest episode of the Selling to Consumers Podcast will help you develop a prospecting plan, which is the first step in creating revenue via prospecting. Listen to the sales podcast here.

If you wish, you can subscribe to the free Selling to Consumers Podcast on iTunes or at our sales training podcast site so you receive new episodes automatically when they're published.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Your Call Is Important To Us

It was early one evening after an out-of-town training session when I wanted to call my mother who is temporarily staying in a nursing home while she recovers from surgery. I didn't have the phone number to her room with me, so I called information and called the nursing home. I listened to the automated prompts and followed their directions.

Eventually, I reached a phone that started ringing. It rang and rang and rang. I called back and tried it again with the same result. No answer; no voicemail; just ring after ring. I called back a third time to see if there was some other selection I should have made in the automated phone answering system. I tried several other options, all with the same result. It appeared that I would not be able to reach my eighty-something-year-old mom.

I called back the next day and was pleased to find a live voice at the end of the line. I explained my displeasure about what happened when I tried to call my mother the night before, and how I was frustrated by not being able to reach her, or a live person or even a voicemail box.

Here was the receptionists' response:

"Oh yeh, that happens all the time, but none of those phones are answered in the evening."

WHAT?

None of those phones are answered in the evening, yet when a caller calls in the evening, the automated phone attendant doesn't explain that fact? REALLY? Is that how you show a customer's call is important to you? Besides, isn't a nursing home "open" 24/7?

All of us in business who serve customers and who attempt to attract new customers would be well-served to repeatedly put ourselves in our customers' collective shoes. If the shoes don't fit, something has got to change.

It's simple to say "Your call is important to us" on an automated telephone answering message; but it's quite another thing to design your business, your systems, and your human interaction around a true belief that your customer's call is truly important to you.

Seth Godin had a similarly frustrating experienced when trying to reach KitchenAid about his melted teapot. Read his post How to Answer the Phone; then, rush to your own phone system and make sure it doesn't act the same way.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Hiring a New Employee?

As a business manager, when I hire a new employee, I have two minimum requirements that absolutely must be met, or it's a deal-breaker (this principle applies to sales people and non-sales positions). Here they are:

1. They must work feverishly to identify problems / mistakes / waste / incorrect thinking; and then...

2. They must work passionately to fix problems / mistakes / waste / incorrect thinking.

A team that is chock full of individuals who possess these two traits can help prevent business problems of all sorts:

- Unnecessary spending

- Wasted sales opportunities

- Harmful politics in the workplace

- Low sales performance

- Inefficient use of resources

- Lack of systems to handle most day-to-day events

- Not learning from mistakes

- Poor teamwork

- Lost time

- Lack of direction

- Poor customer service

- Stale innovation

- Failed marketing initiatives

- Low employee productivity

- Poor morale

- Prima donnas

- Low profitability

Of course, I have other requirements for job candidates, too, depending upon the job description of the position, but I always look for these two traits first and foremost.

Happy hiring!

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.