Sales & Marketing

Be a Customer Service Contender: Why Most Customer Service Isn’t as Good as It Could (or Should) Be and What You Can Do About It

March 10, 2017

by Katie Zabriskie, president, Business Training Works, Inc.

Too often, organizations recognize they have a service issue, yet their efforts to address shortcomings fail to solve the problem. In the worst cases, customer service initiatives backfire and motivate people to do less. So, what’s going on? Usually, a few things are to blame.

Typically, there’s an organizational mindset misalignment, a lack of commitment from the top, an absence of recognition for giving great service or a combination of all three. In contrast, legendary service organizations have a service mindset, commitment and reward great performance.

Service mindset

Great service companies eat, sleep and breathe extraordinary service. They don’t pull people off the phones for a few hours and expect magic. They use the following techniques:

They have a service mission, and it does more than sit in a frame on a wall in some conference room. It’s top-of-mind throughout the organization. People know it and live it through their daily interactions with customers and each other.
They design processes with the customer’s best interest in mind. Think about that well-known airline, so full of love for its customers it allows them to cancel flights for full credit on a future trip. Clearly, they believe most of their customers won’t book travel they don’t need, and those who must make a change eventually will choose to fly with them again.
They hire people who genuinely love service and are proud to live the brand.
They constantly retool the customer experience, because they know what worked well in earlier years is long overdue for a makeover.
They educate, educate and then they educate some more. They want to make sure that the people who represent the brand understand what the brand experience is and how to deliver it.

Commitment

Great service companies involve everyone in their service culture and improvement efforts. They invest in their employees and trust them to do what’s right by engaging employees in the following ways:

Their management team models service-centric behavior and holds others accountable for doing the same.
Their leaders participate in education efforts, often introducing workshops, wrapping them up and actively taking part during sessions.
They commit to and believe in their staff. Because they’ve chosen their employees well and trained them appropriately, they treat staff members as the adults they are and give them latitude when solving service problems.

Reward

Great service companies reward service-centric behavior. They don’t ignore great work or punish people for taking initiative. They commit to honoring their employees in the following ways:

They value their employees and recognize that without them there is no customer service.
They reward employees by trusting them to do what’s right.
They encourage people to find new ways of solving problems.
They recognize that a paycheck alone is not enough.

When thinking about everything that the greats do, it’s easy to get discouraged or think your business or department will never achieve true service success. The good news is you’re wrong. While it won’t happen overnight, you can take a page or two from the masters to elevate your approach.

What to do when you realize you’re not great

Start by thinking about your purpose. What is it that your organization does? Articulate your purpose. Everyone needs to understand your core reason for existing and how the actions they take related to service support that mission.

Next, think about your processes and how customers interact with you. Do you have your customers’ best interests at heart? If not, what changes can you make to remedy those shortcomings? This step has an added benefit. When your organization’s and your customers’ goals are in harmony, you will have happier customers. Furthermore, it is less likely your people will find themselves dealing with the unhappy, disappointed or disgruntled.

Model what you want to see. People work for people. If you supervise others, they are watching and learning from you. If you are disengaged, they probably are too. On the other hand, if you embody the spirit of service, you probably see elements of yourself in their performance.

Teach your staff what to do and how to do it. You can’t expect people to deliver great service if they don’t know how. Furthermore, you can’t expect them to care if no one at the top does. Take employee development seriously. This means being a champion for training, participating in education and coaching for new skills after the fact. Eventually, your people will be able to do more, will make better choices and solve problems more imaginatively.

Hire for service skills. The next time you have an opening, think about what makes someone great at service in your organization and seek those attributes. Don’t settle. You’ll be sorry later.

Reward. Even if you have no budget, you can reward employees for giving great service. Start with a sincere “Thank you.” Heartfelt appreciation can work wonders.

Finally, put your continuous improvement hat on. Systematically evaluate where you’ve been, where you are and where you are going.

None of these steps are necessarily difficult. The trick is to take them. In other words, to win the service game, you’ve got to be in it. What will you do better today?

Kate Zabriskie is the president of Business Training Works, Inc., a Maryland-based talent development firm. She and her team help businesses establish customer service strategies and train their people to live up to what’s promised. For more information, visit www.businesstrainingworks.com.

Direct Mail: Seven Ways to Save in 2017

December 9, 2016

by Kim Mauch, Satori Software

We’re still waiting for notification of a 2017 price increase, but the USPS already has announced its plans for mailers to save money next year. With postal prices already a big cost center for mailings, any way to cut down on postage spending can make an impact on your company’s bottom line. That’s where the USPS mailing promotions can come in. While the list of promotions hasn’t changed much over the years, the 2017 promotions have had slight tweaks and adjustments. Let’s take a look at the proposals.

Earned value reply mail promotion

This promotion encourages mailers to use Business Reply Mail and Courtesy Reply Mail envelopes and cards. For each BRM or CRM piece returned to you, USPS will apply a credit to your permit. This has been a popular promotion in years past, and the only thing you need to do is sign up. Mailers of all mail classes are eligible. The changes for this year are significant – the promotion will run for six full months (up from three last year), the credit is five cents per piece and now the Alternate Postage program Share Mail also is eligible. Share Mail is a program where mailers can include a piece that the recipient can send to a friend, while the original mailer pays the postage. If you use BRM and CRM, it makes sense to sign up for this promotion, as you won’t need to change your processes or mail piece design to get this credit.

Tactile, sensory and interactive mailpiece engagement promotion

The interesting thing about this promotion is that the technologies required to qualify aren’t very new to the mailing industry. Almost anything that makes the paper itself interactive can qualify – from textured paper and finishing, scented paper or stickers to interactive folds or heat-sensitive ink. Standard Mail letters and flats that include any of these elements can gain a two percent postage discount. Designs do need to be approved in advance, but this is an easy way to save for the interactive elements you’re already using.

Emerging and advanced technology promotion

This program has been popular for users of digital technologies. It goes a bit beyond a standard QR code – to qualify, your mail piece will need to include a way for the recipient to engage with technology. This has meant augmented reality and digital print in years past. In 2017, mailers can use virtual reality or programmatic retargeting technology to qualify. If you really want to be on the cutting edge, you can get a tidy two percent postage discount.

Direct mail starter promotion

As the only new promotion this year, the Direct Mail Starter program is a way for smaller mailers to achieve postal discounts. While the program is specifically targeted to small mailers, anyone can get the five percent discount for their first 10,000 pieces of Standard Mail. To qualify, you’ll need to sign up, use a QR code or other mobile-print technology to point to a mobile-optimized website, and submit your documentation electronically. The promotion will run from May to July, some of the lightest volume mail months.

Personalized color transpromo promotion

If you send First-Class Mail bills or statements, this program promises a two percent postage discount for including dynamic/variable color print for marketing and informational purposes on the statement or bill. For those who have used this promotion in the past, the transpromo area must include personalized messaging, but new participants only need to include the color component. This promotion will run the last six months of 2017, giving mailers plenty of time to design and implement their mail pieces.

Mobile shopping promotion

By far, the Mobile Shopping promotion has been the most popular in previous years. The fall season is already the busiest part of the mailing calendar, and the growth of online shopping, especially on mobile phones, has been staggering. In 2017, mailers have a full six months to include technology that directs to a mobile shopping experience, even through social media platforms. The upfront two percent postage discount, in addition to the increased interest in the mobile site, makes this promotion appealing.

Third ounce free

While this offering isn’t technically a promotion, as no signup will be required, Postmaster General Megan Brennan indicated that with the next price increase, USPS will start offering the third ounce for free for First-Class Mail. USPS started offering the second ounce for free a few years ago, and it has been popular. First-Class mailers have been able to experiment with more flexibility in the envelope, adding marketing messages and the like. With the third ounce free, mailers won’t need to separately measure and account for these pieces in their mailing.

In the best good-news-first fashion, USPS has given us a very early preview of 2017. We’ll likely know the bad news, also known as the price and sortation changes, this fall. Which promotion are you most excited for?

Kim Mauch is a subject matter expert in mailing preparation and submission at Satori Software. This article originally appeared in Mailing Systems Technology. To subscribe, visit www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com/subscribe.

Conference Postcard Utilizes Raised 3D Coating and Receives Postage Discount

To help promote its 2016 Topical Conference, the SPE Decorating & Assembly Division utilized a special raised and textured digital UV varnish on its promotional postcard to attract attention when potential attendees received it in the mail. The digital spot UV coating was applied over the 4-color printing by PostPress Specialties (Kansas City, Missouri) on a MGI JETvarnish 3D digital press.

With the use of this special process, the division was able to obtain a two-percent postage discount from the USPS under its Tactile, Sensory and Interactive Mailpiece Engagement Promotion. The combination of the visual attraction of the postcard and the postage discount created a very successful campaign for the conference.

Industry Survey Notes Declining Sales and Investments

August 13, 2016

PostPress

Semper International, a Boston, Massachusetts-based supplier of skilled talent in the printing, pre-media and marketing industries, released its Third Quarter Economic Insight Report, which found a stark slowdown in overall industry profits and sales forecasts.

The economy returned to the forefront of industry threats in this survey, with 32 percent of companies indicating this was their main concern. This data finds many firms beginning to drop into survival mode, with hiring forecasts down and diversification rates declining 12 percent over the course of the quarter. While firms have not yet reported these economic pressures have crossed the line into staff reduction mode, this survey finds companies continue to struggling with the same profitability pressures we have seen since the third quarter of 2015.

Since February 2003, Semper International has provided a quarterly survey offering estimates of trends in the printing and graphics industries. Survey participants include a cross section of large, mid-size and small commercial printers, advertising agencies and media companies; both clients and prospects of Semper International. Participants provide data on revenue and hiring as well as estimated outlooks on future trends. Data is requested from a random sample and are not screened. To preserve confidentiality, individual company information is not part of the tabulation.

Additional indicators the Semper Report revealed include:

70 percent of companies logged profits in this cycle, down one percentage point from the prior quarter, and significantly less than the 80 percent-plus levels reported last year at this time.
66 percent of companies say they will not hire new talent this quarter.
While growth expectations stabilized from recent declines, just 42 percent of companies expect sales growth in the next three months.
Across the industry, digital print overtook traditional print as the industrys primary profit center for the first time in the history of the survey.

For more information , visit www.semperllc.com.

Top 5 Ways to Keep Your Customers Happy

November 13, 2015

by Brittany Willes, PostPress

Your customers are the lifeline of your business. Their satisfaction with your products and services determines your revenue stream. Happy, satisfied customers mean a more profitable business. How can you make sure your clients are happy, and remain that way, to boost your bottom line? Here are five ways to show your clients that you value their business.

1. Pay attention

Your customers need to feel that you are listening to them, which involves much more than simply waiting to hear that they are satisfied with your products and services. Paying attention means learning to anticipate your clients’ needs, knowing their expectations and being able to interpret those needs in a way that ensures all parties are satisfied with the end goal. Pay special attention to any concerns your client has expressed. Few things are more frustrating than feeling as though apprehensions are falling upon deaf ears. By paying close attention to your customers, you demonstrate that they are valuable to you, reinforcing their trust and confidence in your business.

2. Multitasking myth

We live in a society where attention deficit is common place – expected even. Multitasking is considered one of the most valuable jobs skills and perceived as a necessary business practice. It’s no surprise then when businesses take on more work than is wise, encouraging employees to multitask projects in the misguided belief that it will save valuable time and resources. As a result, full and complete focus goes out the window. Juggling multiple projects means no one project will receive the concentrated attention it deserves. This can lead to reduced quality and dissatisfied customers. So, slow down. Don’t take on more projects than is reasonable to ensure customers receive the best quality you can offer.

3. Don’t play the blame game

No one likes to admit when they’re wrong. Your first reaction is usually to cringe, deny and look around for the nearest scapegoat. If you make a mistake, don’t try to slough the blame off onto someone else – especially the customer. Acknowledge your error and reassure your customer that you will do everything you can to rectify the situation. Most clients understand that mistakes happen and no one is perfect. Trying to stop looking bad by avoiding responsibility actually makes you look worse in the end. Customers are less likely to trust your word or your professional abilities. As a result, they will be less likely to seek you out in the future.

4. Remind your customers that you value them – and that they should value you as well

Like you, your customers get busy and may not always remember everything you do, or have done, for them. There’s nothing wrong with a friendly reminder that they have one less thing to worry about because of your customer service. This can take the form of a quick phone call, a friendly email or even a monthly newsletter. Keep your customers happy by reminding them that while you do value their business, they also should value yours in return.

5. Don’t forget the personal touch

Technology has made it easier and more convenient to communicate with anyone, anywhere, at practically any time. Yet, how often do we become frustrated when reaching a voicemail or automated recording instead of an actual person? Or while waiting for a response to an email sent a week ago? Keep your customers happy by keeping it personal. When possible, arrange to talk to your customers in person. Make use of emerging video messaging technologies so that your customers always have a face to put with your name/voice. While it may seem old fashioned, don’t discount the value of a handwritten note or thank you card sent to your most valued customers. Let them know how much you continue to appreciate their business by adding a personal touch to your business relationship.

Some items on this list may seem obvious, but that doesn’t make them any less valuable or mean that you’ve been practicing them effectively. The best time to determine if you’re keeping your customers happy is now. So, take stock. Have you established a personal connection with your clients? Do you devote your full focus to each project you undertake? Are you hearing clients when they express their concerns, as well as their satisfaction? If not, it’s time to devote more of your efforts to keeping your customers happy to keep your company growing.

Top 5 Reasons to Fire a Customer

May 13, 2015

by Brittany Willes, PostPress

The customer is always right. We’re all familiar with the old adage and rarely think to question its authenticity. Sometimes customers are wrong, and some even create more problems than profit. When customer relationships no longer are mutually beneficial, it’s time to let those customers go. So, how do you determine if a customer needs firing? Below are some of the more common themes in bad customer relationships.

1. Unreasonable demands

Customers are demanding. Some will be more difficult to please than others. This doesn’t automatically make them bad customers; in time, they may become easier to work with once a sense of trust and respect has been established. There also are customers determined to be unhappy regardless of your efforts. You may find yourself defending the quality of your work or performing extra work outside of the original service agreement in an attempt to soothe perpetually ruffled feathers. Often, these are high-profile clients whom businesses are reluctant to lose for fear of lost revenue. However, given the extra time, effort and handholding they usually require, these customers are less profitable than imagined. If a client habitually costs you time and resources better spent on more appreciative customers, it’s time to let that client go.

2. Chasing payment

When businesses expand and develop, naturally the cost of doing business also rises, leading companies to increase their prices. Most customers understand this and happily will comply with the adjusted price as long as quality continues to be good. Bad customers will argue and refuse to pay the higher prices. Fear of losing customers, and therefore revenue, may prompt business owners to allow outdated payments. By not enforcing price increases for all clients, businesses ultimately will lose money as they struggle to satisfy unreasonable customers rather than focus on clients willing to pay the current rates. There’s no harm in negotiating prices. Everyone wants the best deal for the best value, including good customers. When negotiation turns into unreasonable demands and undervaluing your work, it’s time to draw the line.

3. Monopolizing time

Spending the majority of your time and resources appealing to a single customer means taking away from others. If you allow one client to dominate your time and attention, the customer will come to expect it. And, those clients who already value your work without making unreasonable demands on your time? They are the ones most likely to suffer and, therefore, to look elsewhere for service. This goes hand in hand with chasing payments. If you’re having to send multiple invoices and payment reminders, spending valuable time haggling with clients, this also detracts from time you should be focusing on good customers.

4. Compromising quality

Life happens, things go wrong and last-minute emergencies demand last-minute problem-solving. However, these times should be few and far between. If your clients routinely demand services within time frames that require you to lower the professional standards of your work, you compromise more than just your time. Performing rushed, low-quality work undermines the reputation of your products and services. This reflects badly on you and your client. The customer is right only so long as both of your needs and goals are being met.

5. Trust

Good customer relationships require a great deal of trust from both sides. Customers need to be able to trust their service providers to conduct themselves in a legal and ethical manner. Business owners need to be able to trust their clients to behave the same. If a client behaves unethically and asks the same of their service providers, the client needs to be fired. It may seem like an obvious sign of a bad customer relationship, but it warrants mentioning. When customers lack integrity, everyone suffers.

In the end, good customer relationships are built on mutual respect. If you feel that a client is not respectful of you, your employees or your business, it is time to let that client go.

Using the P.L.U.S.H. Sales Process Methodology

November 26, 2014

by Chuck Reaves

In the history of recorded time, no customer has ever said, “The price is too high,” and meant it.

Even though it is the most frequent objection that salespeople hear, the price objection is never valid. So, when the customer mouths the words, “The price is too high,” what are they really trying to say? It can be one of a number of things, such as:

“I don’t perceive the value to be higher than the cost.”
“I don’t see any difference in your offering and your competitor’s offerings.”
“I don’t think my problem is as expensive as your solution.”

Notice that the word “price” does not appear in any of these responses.

There are two ways to sell: value-added selling and commodity selling. With commodity selling, the customer assumes all offerings are the same and the sale defaults to the vendor with the lowest price. In value-added selling, the customer perceives there is a difference between the offerings and makes the buying decision on cost, not price. The customer will perceive this differentiation when the sales professional has done his or her job.

The only relationship that exists between cost and price is an inverse relationship. The item with the lowest price tag typically costs the most. As an example, you can purchase a shirt for $40 or for $8 – which costs the most? The price difference is obvious, but which one will last longer, look better, feel better, etc.?

Sales is a science, not an art. As such, successful selling follows a process. In quality terminology, this is known as standard work. Even though every salesperson is different and every customer is different, there still are measurable steps salespeople can follow that will drive the sales process away from price and toward value.

There are five principles behind a successful value-added sale. As a memory aid, these steps follow the letters in the word PLUSH. When used effectively, salespeople can overcome or even eliminate the price objection. What would it be worth to never hear the price objection again?

POSITIONING

Begin by talking to the right person. Many purchasing agents use price as the primary differentiation, so who else could you sell to in the client’s organization? Identify the person or department that will benefit most from what you are selling, and sell to them. The purchasing agent may have been given the buying criteria from someone in another department. In that case, the buyer may not understand what they are buying well enough to alter the criteria – even if what you bring to the table is better.

Find the right person and then ask the right questions.

LISTEN

It is amazing what people will tell you. It also is amazing what people will give if you just ask. The secret to successful selling is the ability to ask the right questions the right way in order to determine the customer’s real buying criteria.

Most customers do not know what they want. They will buy something that is not the best solution for them, and they do so based on their limited understanding of what they are buying. Can you keep up with all of the changes that are happening in your market, industry, competitor’s organization or technology? What makes you think the customer is keeping up?

It’s virtually impossible for the human mind to ignore a question. When you use questions, you will engage your customer’s subconscious mind and make an impression. Stop talking, ask questions and listen.

UNIQUE

What really makes the product, service or organization unique? If someone asked what made your product or service different, what would you say? If you were to use words like quality, service, people, etc., you would actually be commoditizing yourself. How many of your competitors are using those same words? Even though your service or quality levels are measurably higher than those of your competitors, using the same words they are using dilutes the value of the differentiation.

What really makes you different? Ask your existing customers.

SOLUTION

Every trained salesperson has learned some aspect of solution selling. It is the backbone of most sales processes.

In value-added selling, sales professionals take it to the next level. They begin by asking some version of a common question: “What are the top three problems facing your business right now?” Seasoned salespeople have learned that the customer rarely will tell them what the problems are, even when they try. They will answer, with something like, “Our sales are down,” “Our attrition is too high,” “Our manufacturing costs are up.” None of those are problems.

They are all symptoms. Something is driving sales down and attrition and costs up. The value-added sales professional understands this. Rather than arguing with the customer – “Isn’t that really a symptom, Mr. Customer?” – and rather than offering a solution, the professional takes two more steps.

The next step is to qualify the problem by asking the customer how and when the problem manifested itself. Then, the sales professional asks what the cost is for each manifestation. By the time this line of interest (not inquiry!) is complete, the salesperson and the customer will have a clear understanding of what the real problem is and what it is costing. When the salesperson quotes his price, it is in comparison with the real cost of the problem it will solve.

HELP

Helping means doing everything the customer asks, and then some – and getting credit for it. Known as the “extra mile”, it probably is something your organization is already doing. Your customer may not appreciate your extra efforts because the customer does not know you are taking those extra steps. Brag about yourself.

To overcome or eliminate the price objection, make sure you are talking to the right person and asking the right questions in order to show which of your specific differentiations are most viable for them. Then, justify the higher price by quantifying your value. Keep your customer and earn referrals by going the extra mile.

Chuck Reaves, CSP, CPAE, CSO helps companies raise their prices and volumes simultaneously through innovative processes, tools and training. With his innovative presentations on sales and motivation, he has inspired hundreds of people to pursue and achieve their impossible dreams. For more information, visit www.chuckreaves.com.

Get the Most Out of Chargeable Extras

July 13, 2014

by Mark Porter, Dienamic MIS Software Inc.

When was the last time you produced a job without any changes? Are you capturing the revenues for these legitimate extra charges, or are they falling through the cracks? If you’re not gaining more revenue, then you should at least be avoiding costs. If a job is changed during production and you did not collect the extra revenue for the change, then you probably incurred more cost.

Finishers/binderies provide quotes for customers and customers submit orders. The normal process is to ensure that the job submitted and the quote provided are similar enough that you can approve the production of the job. Once that approval has been given, any customer-driven changes to the order should be chargeable. How do you track these changes and bill your customer so that they feel compelled to pay? And, more importantly, allow yourself to collect the charges without damaging your relationship with that customer?

You must follow a procedure to record all changes to jobs, chargeable and non-chargeable, to ensure that nothing falls between the cracks and is forgotten. But just recording changes will not allow you to collect your legitimate extra charges. The changes must be documented as to date, time, employee and reason the changes were made to provide the maximum support for your claims.

Documentation is not enough. The changes must be communicated to the customer at the time they are requested. The changes must be recorded as having been submited in writing to the customer, warned that they were chargeable and that a price was quoted.

When the job is completed a full listing of all changes should be supplied to your employee in charge of invoicing. They can then decide which charges should be accepted, changed or deleted. The invoicing decisions are determined and the invoice is submitted to your customer. If the customer questions these extra charges you can support your claims by providing the customer with the who, what, where, why and costs details.

Hopefully your customer will start to provide you with better information when the jobs are first submitted. Either way, your company is in a better position because you are either collecting legitimate extra charges or avoiding the additional costs of providing those changes without charging for them.

Mark Porter is the president of Dienamic MIS Software, Inc. Dienamic offers a wide variety of software products and services designed specifically for trade binderies and print finishers. For more information, call 800.461.8114 or visit www.dienamicmis.com.

Make the Sales Pipeline a Priority

September 13, 2013

by Leslie Groene, Groene Consulting

Every prospect, no matter the stage of the sales cycle, is part of the sales pipeline. A salesperson’s ability to juggle these prospects, often in differing points of the sales cycle, is referred to as “pipeline management.” Balance is the key to maintaining a continuous flow of opportunities.

The sales pipeline consists of all prospects at all stages in the sales cycle – whether you are in the beginning phase of introducing your company, discussing the product or service, qualifying a prospect, conducting a webinar or product demonstration or formally presenting a pricing proposal.

The phrase “pipeline management” refers to the salesperson’s ability to juggle all of their prospects in differing points in the sales cycle. “Balancing” the sales pipeline refers to their ability to cold call, follow-up on existing leads and close sales simultaneously so that they have a continuous flow of opportunities and will not have huge period-to-period swings in closed sales.

Though all future sales begin as leads from one source (cold calling, referrals, tradeshows, etc.) or another, only qualified or contacted leads should be in the sales pipeline. All unclosed sales, however, belong in the sales pipeline as well.

Professional selling has many stages, which have been the same throughout history and effect your personal income. They include prospecting, presenting, following up and closing. I coach my clients that there are many steps in between these crucial steps of the sales cycle depending on the type of prospect, how long the sales cycle is and your personal selling style. If your sales and income are down, it is because you are not prospecting enough, presenting enough or following up and closing enough. The way to increase your sales usually is for you to increase the quality or quantity of your activities in one or more of these areas.

Imagine Your Sales Pipeline

Imagine the basic sales model as a funnel. At the top of the funnel, you put in prospects. You have to call on a certain number of people to get a certain number of prospects. This number varies depending on the market, your product or service, your individual skills in prospecting, advertising and many other factors.

Presenting

An important part of the sales funnel is presenting. There is a direct ratio between the number of people you call on initially and the number of people who will agree to meet with you. Let’s say, for example, that you have to call on 20 prospects to get five presentations or meetings. This would give you a ratio of 20-to-5 for your prospecting activities. Selling is very much a numbers game.

Follow Up and Close

Another necessary part of the sales funnel is that you have to follow up and close. Let’s say that you have to follow up with two prospects to get one sale. What this means is that you have to put 20 prospects in the top of the funnel to get one sale out of the bottom of the funnel, a ratio of 20 to 1. The rule, therefore, is this: “Keep your funnel full.”

Leslie Groene is a corporate sales and business consultant, helping clients focus on revenue generation and profit growth. She authored the business strategy book “Picture Yourself & the Life You Want” and is a nationally-renowned motivational speaker. In 1997, she established Groene Consulting and has consulting engagements with leading Fortune 500 companies and other major companies across the country in many different industries such as manufacturing, professional services, distribution and real estate. For more information, visit www.GroeneConsulting.com.

How to Close Sales That Are Over the Budget

August 21, 2012

by: Landy Chase, MBA, CSP

It never ceases to amaze me how many business people assume that a budget dictates what the buyer can spend. In my experience, this almost is never the case. The truth is that in most cases, budgets are guidelines and nothing more than that. Additionally, they are sometimes based on a flawed or limited understanding on the part of the buying party of what actually is required.

Of course, most salespeople fall into the trap of selling to the budget. They build their entire proposal around this number. They assume that their recommendation must conform strictly to, or be below, the budget threshold. They ignore the issue of value. They dont take the time to find out what the customer actually is trying to accomplish, and they miss opportunities to both increase sales and better serve their customers.

It also is worth noting that budgets often are the domain of people who do not have final approval authority. In other words, when a prospect tells the salesperson, “my budget is $,” this statement usually means “I have been given permission to spend no more than $.” This tells the salesperson that the person is not a decision-maker. The real question here is this: who gave the permission? The person who approved the budget is the one who buys based on value – and isn’t limited to the budget number.

Influencers spend based on what they are allowed to buy. Decision-makers get whatever they want. Put another way, if the decision-maker decides that they need what the salesperson is recommending, they will purchase it. This is an important point. Before assuming that quote is constrained by a budget, first determine if the person being quoted is the “right” person.

Assuming that they are, this doesn’t mean that the salesperson should ignore a budget number. Instead, look at it as a guideline. However, remember that when proposals are put together that meet a pre-determined amount, what is proposed is typically something that is less than what the client would be best served by purchasing. For this reason, budgets are an obstacle to both the buyer and the seller. The seller is constrained by a ceiling of expenditure, but more importantly, the purchaser is limited to getting a solution that is probably less than ideal.

How to get around this issue? The key skill here is to execute a thorough needs analysis. The more that the salesperson knows about the needs of the client, the better prepared the salesperson is to deal with the budget issue. Get on the buyer’s side of the table and look at the decision from his/her point of view.

Once the salesperson has completed this key step and is ready to prepare a proposal, the following method is a highly effective way to sell around budget constraints:

Prepare two options:
- Option A is based on the client’s budget.
- Option B is based solely on addressing the client’s specific needs and, therefore, disregards the budget.
At the proposal meeting, begin with Option A. Say, “Here is what we can do for you, based on what you want to spend.” Review this with the buyer first.
Next, present Option B. Say, “Now, here is the best possible solution for what you want, but this option ignores your budget.” Since the price issue is being ignored here, this option should contain a much higher level of value than the budget-based one.
Option B should stand out on its merit. This option needs to maximize perceived value. It must be a perfect fit for what the buyer needs.

If this process is followed consistently, the salesperson will consistently close sales that exceed budget numbers. This happens because the buyer realizes, after reviewing both options, that what they need and what they initially planned to spend are not in sync with one another. They will immediately discard Option A and will focus their negotiation discussion on Option B, which fulfills their requirements.

Of course, the salesperson must be selling to a decision-maker for this method to be effective. The decision-maker often will select the recommendation that is the best fit for their needs, which is the higher-priced option. And if they don’t, so what? Plan “A” – the proposal that matches the budget – becomes the fall-back option. The salesperson has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Landy Chase, MBA, CSP, is an expert who specializes in speaking to corporations and associations on professional selling and sales management topics. His latest book, Competitive Selling, was named an Editor’s Choice Best Books of 2010 selection and is available on www.amazon.com. To book Chase for your next sales meeting, visit his website at www.sellingrevolution.com or call 800.370.8026.

Following Up: Use Voicemail to Your Advantage

May 1, 2012

by: TJ Tedesco, Grow Sales, Inc.

If you’re like most salespeople, you regard voicemail as your biggest enemy, the toughest of all barriers to making a sale. That doesn’t have to be the case! Don’t view voicemail as a quick trip to a dead end. Instead, use it to create a new path to a successful partnership.

Use your information

One key element of a successful voicemail message is probably right in front of you whenever you make a sales call. If you’ve talked with your prospect before, you should have extensive notes detailing these conversations. Use this information as your message’s focus: “Hi Joe, this is Bob from ABC Bindery. I’m interested to see how that Anderson project turned out. As I said when we met last week, I have a few ideas on how we can help you with similar opportunities.”

Using detailed information in your messages indicates to your prospects that you’re interested in their business and their success, and that you have ideas that may help them. It also does wonders to differentiate you and your company from the many canned messages your prospect receives.

Your information may go beyond what you and the prospect discussed. Did you spot a lure collection in your prospect’s office? If you share their interest in fishing, work it into your message: “I noticed you’re interested in fishing. I know a great spot on the bay.” Keep in mind that a mutual interest should be genuine. If you know nothing about fishing, don’t fabricate a connection. Simply expressing interest in your prospect’s hobby may be enough to differentiate yourself and earn a return phone call.

Strategic messages

Anyone who spends a lot of time calling prospects and customers will encounter voicemail. Making voicemail work for you depends not only on what you say, but how you say it and how you follow up afterwards. Here are a few more tips:

Don’t ask for callbacks – unsolicited calls are seldom returned, and follow-up calls are often tabled while prospects address other issues. Why bother asking them to call you back in the first place? Instead of concluding a voicemail message with some variant of “Please call me back,” say, “We can help your company. I’ll call you Tuesday afternoon to discuss the details.” Then – and most importantly – keep the appointment. Before long, you will differentiate yourself as a sales rep that makes and keeps promises.

Keep messages short – The only thing worse than wading through 10 voicemails is 10 voicemails that ramble and don’t seem to end. Keep messages brief and to the point – 20 seconds is a good rule-of-thumb. It may sound silly, but drafting a message beforehand and rehearsing it a few times can prepare you for either a strong conversation or voicemail.

Use negative check-offs – When you’ve been held at bay by a gatekeeper, consider setting an appointment via voicemail “negative checkoff.” Here’s how: “Hi, Ms. Prospect, this is Bob at XYZ Bindery calling. Hopefully, you’ve received my previous messages as well as the materials I’ve sent you. I think we have a great solution for your specific binding and finishing needs. Unless I hear from you, I’ll stop by on Tuesday morning to talk further. If this time doesn’t work, please call me at 555-1212.”

If the prospect doesn’t call back, on Tuesday, you can credibly tell the gatekeeper that you said you’d drop by, increasing the likelihood of a face-to-face meeting. On the other hand, if you get a call to cancel, at least you’re on the phone with the decision-maker. What you do with that opportunity is up to you!

Voicemail often may seem like the road to nowhere, but it can become your golden path to sales success. Use it properly, and it can help differentiate you and your company, reinforcing to your prospect that you have ideas that can help solve a problem. Prospects may get to know you only by your messages. It’s your job to use that opportunity to build the partnership path directly to their door.

T.J. Tedesco is team leader of Grow Sales, Inc, a company that has served the marketing, public relations and sales growth needs of post press companies since 1996. He is the author of eight books, including Binding, Finishing & Mailing: The Final Word and the newly-released Direct Mail Pal 2012. T.J. can be reached at 301.294.9900 or tj@growsales.com. Grow Sales, Inc.’s website is www.growsales.com.

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