Came across another interesting Facebook post from a friend.  And it reminded of a very simple but hard to execute (on a consistent basis) tactic in marketing.

Now I get paid to help businesses large and small increase their sales through proper strategic implementation of marketing tactics.  Here’s a real low hanging fruit tactic that any business can implement right away….as in today.

No one ever argues with me when I say – the best sales person and/or marketing is a happy and loyal customer that spreads the word about how great your company is to do business with.

Yet, one of the most overlooked aspects of any business is the customer experience.  In the post you see to the left is a customer experience my friend had at a car wash.  I am familiar with this car wash and at $20 a pop….I would say expectations are pretty high for a clean car inside and out.  Her little rant has generated a lot of related feedback…unfortunately for the owner of this car wash none of it is very good.

The customer experience factor often goes unchecked because there are so many things that compete for the owner’s time.  Here are a few take-aways from today’s tip:

1. How are you doing on the customer experience front? Couple of ways to find out: ask your customers and do a mystery shop of your business,

2. Loyalty programs for an existing customer for the most part will cost less than marketing to get a new customer to try you out,

3. I’ve said this before but it’s worth repeating…start listening…social media is a place for people to be heard…good, bad or indifferent…your business is being talked about.  You have a chance to be pro-active and in the worst case scenario be reactive.

Had a couple of interesting experiences this past week.  My first experience was with a lawn company that performed my spring clean up this year.  They had delivered a flyer in the mail which caught my attention.  Yes, flyers and/or direct mail still works if you have a compelling story and you catch the prospect at the right time…but I digress.

This lawn company was offering: power raking, clean up, aeration and fertilizer for the bargain price of $110.  So I call to book, and in the meantime I tell one other friend who tells his neighbour to book as well.  That’s 3 bookings off one flyer…not a bad response rate.

We had a lousy spring and because of this the company could not get out…not their fault but they could have called to advise.  At any rate, they eventually come out and do the work and the job was done to my satisfaction.  Except a couple of weeks later, I notice my lawn is not greening up as it normally should.  So I called to inquire about the type of fertilizer used.  The owner raffles a couple of numbers and has the gall to say we use a lower quality fertilizer in our package deal.  I’m kind of perplexed that he would say this.  I respond by saying: “I don’t really care what type of fertilizer you are using but when you say fertilizer is included with the package the expectation is that you get a green lawn”.  I gave the owner a chance to respond smartly which he did not.

So the lesson here is…you spend good money to get a customer, why blow the chance of keeping him?

My second experience was getting a material package quote to build a deck in my backyard.  Most lumberyards and companies that sell deck packages now have software packages that can spit out quotes fairly quickly.  You plug in the dimensions hit the button and voila out comes a quote that includes all the things required to build a deck.  The problem is, the person that I was dealing with did not know how to work the program.  I waited a half hour for him watching him start over 6 times before I lost patience…I left him with my drawing and asked him to email a quote when he got his challenges worked out.

The moral of this story is…in order to sell you need a few things at your disposal: Time, Tools, Training and Tenacity to sell.

In case you don’t watch TV there’s a show on building decks.  They build the nicest most elaborate decks you’ve ever seen.  This is now the standard that people are looking for in their backyards…nice elaborate decks.   I also know that the lumber business is ultra competitive and margins can be razor thin.  So how can you beef up your bottom line?  Rather than take an order take the time an use the tools available to customize an order.  A proper line of questioning your customer will achieve a few things: demonstrate that you know a lot about deck building, show that you care and increase the sale.

But if you can’t even work the quoting program…you’ve lost the sale right there.

Selling B2B can be easier if you follow this rhyme:

“To sell Jack Jones what Jack Jones buys is to see Jack Jones through Jack’s own eyes.”

A former colleague of mine rambled this one off as we were reminiscing our university days many many moons ago.

How do you become a better B2B seller?  Understand who Jack Jones is and become valuable to him.  What do I mean by this?  If you could imagine Jack Jones’ task list of running a department or running a business….where do you think you would rank on that task list?  I can pretty much guarantee that if you even make the list it’s going to be somewhere near the bottom.  Now, don’t take this as some slight against you because it’s not.  Your challenge is to get on that task list and move up the task list until you become the top 3 for Jack Jones.

How to move up on Jack Jones task list.

Help Jack Jones understand that you are more valuable in his life than out of it.  So if you’re selling to Jack Jones try to see his world from his eyes.  Running a business is about risk management.   A decision to buy from you will rest on primarily 2 things:

1. How will buying from you impact the organization.  How does it affect their quality, reliability, execution.  If they do business with you how deep is their commitment?

2. How does making the decision to buy from you affect the decision maker?  This is where emotions often come into play.  The biggest emotion that a seller needs to overcome is FEAR.  Is the buyer making the right decision?  How does the decision they are about to make impact the organizations resources of time and money?

Overcome points 1 and 2 and you will sell more.

Ever get that deal where everything seemed to go perfectly and the deal actually closes itself?  Wonderful aren’t they?  They are the product of simple steps working in harmony and it all begins with listening to your customer.

One of my favourite sales gurus is Jeffrey Gitomer.  He’s coined the phrase “People hate being sold but they love to buy”.  And if you take the time to think about it in terms of your own buying habits you would agree.  When you walk into an electronics store, furniture store or clothing store you are often greeted by a sales person.  And the greeting typically starts with “Hi, welcome to our store…can I help you find something today?”  Ask a closed ended question and get a closed ended answer.  My typical answer is always…  “No, just browsing around.”  But the truth is I could probably be persuaded to part with my hard earned dollars in any of the stores I walk into.

The trick is to ask an open ended question that almost requires a longer response than – “NO”.  And the funny thing is…9 out of 10 times they’ll tell you the answer.  Asking a series of open ended questions will get you to the close quicker.

Another interesting dude that I read from time to time is Scott Ginsberg…the Name Tag Guy.  He wrote an interesting post the other day titled 8 Ways to Help Customers Close You.

Getting people to buy is not as difficult as selling especially if you consider the following 8 points to help the customer close YOU:

1. Create a significant emotional event
2. Disarm the immediate preoccupation
3. Flip the pitch
4. Consider your pre-sale position
5. Make them ask what’s next
6. Deliver an ongoing value message
7. Allow your customers to have their fingerprint on the solution
8. Help customers verbalize their hopes

For a more in depth breakdown of each point head on over to Scott’s post.

The challenge is to change the way you sell.  Most of us have been taught the old school style of selling…my product is this, my product is that etc.  And the fact of the matter is that your customer doesn’t really give a rats ass about your product.  All they really care about is how it affects them.  Offer significant value and the close is yours.

Let’s face it who likes to do cold calls?  They’re intrusive, low percentage and add steps to your sales cycle.  Below you will find 10 ways to warm up your leads and get you closer to the close.

1. A Valid Business Reason – one of the best lead ins to a call is to have a valid business reason.  Hint: it’s about them not you.  It could be something that’s topical in the news that’s related to your prospect’s industry.

2. Third Party Introduction – remember for the most part, friends like to do business with friends.  Getting in the door is half the battle.  Who do you know that’s close to your prospect?  Think vendor, friend, colleague.  This is why LinkedIn has become such a powerful tool for networking.

3. Personal Branding Campaign – this is a campaign that helps you become a trusted advisor.  Periodic touches that involve mailing or emailing articles or news relevant to your prospect’s industry or business help position you as more than just a sales guy.

4. Audio or Video email – this will help you stand out of the crowd.  Do a 2 minute pitch that is tailored specifically to your prospect.  Audio is good, and can be done very easily on most computers and smartphones.  Videos are even better, you may want to check out this leading provider of video email.

5. A Light-Bulb Idea – research your prospect’s business find out some of the problems they may be having in their business or industry.  Then find an idea to their solution.  Incorporate with ideas 1,2,3, or 4.

6. Find an inside Champion or Ally – similar to idea number 2.  If you can find someone on the inside to Champion an idea of yours…it could lead you to the decision maker.  Hint: the inside champion needs to look good.

7. Case Studies – everyone likes to read case studies.  They like new ideas and solutions but for the most part do not like being the pioneer.  Use ideas: 1,2,3,4,5 to deliver success stories.  Follow this format for a POWERFUL case study: identify the problem, walk them through the process, shown them the plan, and highlight the performance or results,

8. Neutral Turf – get networked and connected to your prospects on neutral grounds.  Common interests often help you gain credibility with your prospect.  Think, golf games with a 3rd party connector, charity golf tournaments, networking mixers, Chamber meeting, volunteer boards etc.,

9. Send them a business referral.  Connect with them using ideas 1,4 tell them that you’ve been researching their company and that you are sending them a referral.  If you help them with their business first…they are more keen to help you in return…this is called the law of reciprocity.