Thoughtful Thursdays - If you don't mean it, then don't say it.

You have probably shopped at one of the large chain stores and while checking out been politely asked: "Did you find everything you were looking for?"

Last week in that very situation my answer was "No I did not."

My expectations were running high that day and I eagerly awaited a response... "That will be $10.10 please"

We know what happened to the first question. They have to ask because it is company policy and if they get caught not asking, a disciplinary meeting may result. It is company policy because the ones in the know feel it serves their customers better by asking this question, and it most certainly will if the person asking the question really cares and is able to do something about it. Does anyone even measure the responses to the question?

What would happen if they responded by asking me what it was I couldn't find? May I take you contact information and let you know when we do have it? What would happen is the check out line would get longer and sales throughput might suffer, not to mention the number of disgruntled customers would increase due to the slow check out line.  Also not good, so what is the answer to this dilemma?

I do realize that it is impossible to please everyone and that all good business owners do their best to have as many happy customers as possible. If you are not measuring the results of your business activities, whatever they may be, that may be a good reason to stop doing it.

In the case of "Did you find everything you were looking for?" if you are not able to act, or if it might be perceived insincere as a result of inaction, then don't do it. It may cause more damage to your business than the good intent it was born from.

Do not promise what you can not deliver.

Good selling,
Richard

Thoughtful Thursdays - Can you function in isolation?

A previous post titled "Honey, can you pick up the kids", talked about the pros and cons of setting up shop in a home office. We talked about keeping personal and business activities separate and ways that might be accomplished.

We did not talk about how working from home can sometimes be a lonely job, especially for those who have not had the opportunity to work on their own.

The water cooler conversations just aren't as much fun when there is no one to exchange stories with.

Here are a few activities that may help avoid the feeling of being alone in your business.

• Plan your activities at least a week in advance. Remember that time in the office is time you are not in front of your prospects and customers.
• For days that you must work in the office, go out for lunch and take your regular breaks.
• Meet with a business advisor, mentor, colleague, peer or friend on a regular basis to talk about how things are going.
• Join a relevant business association or entrepreneurial group and attend the regular meetings. You may want to consider working on a committee.
• Start your own group.

Launching or running a business on your own can be overwhelming at times, but there is little reason to do it all on your own.

Good selling,
Richard

Thoughtful Thursdays - So you want to sell value?

Last week in "Music to my ears", I mentioned value selling and the fact that you will be challenged to do it once a competitive situation is identified. This week's thought talks about the value selling.

Value selling has been around as long as there has been competition. In order to be successful, one must be able to quantify the value that is being talked about. That means coming up with a concrete number - dollars or units of time are examples. This is what will ultimately contribute to your competitive advantage.

In order to come up with this number, you must do the math.

In order to do the math accurately, you must know how your customer operates. What are the costs of providing their products and/or services. The number need not be exact, but it does need to be believable and more importantly, quantifiable.

As you are probably figuring out, this takes time and a significant amount of effort.

Continue to develop your business relationship. Demonstrate to your customer that you care about their business - show an interest in what they do. You may be surprised at what information begins to come your way. All other things being equal, people buy from people they trust.

When you have enough information, calculate how much time they will save or how profits will increase by working with your company. If the numbers are correct, they will listen.

Good selling,
Richard

Thoughtful Thursdays - Music to my ears

"We already have a supplier that we are happy with for insert your product/service here."

While some may interpret this as a negative response, I see the gauntlet being thrown down, lying there waiting for someone to rise to the challenge and pick it up. Game on is how I see it.

All things being equal, it will only be a matter of time before this prospect is buying from me. The key is to make sure that all things are indeed equal and if they are not, to make them so. Then make those things that are measurable once again unequal, but in my favour.

It can be a lengthy process depending on the sales cycle, but extremely rewarding as well. I learned value selling with a Fortune 500 company many years ago. The tools have changed, but the process remains the same.

Rest assured your competition is using similar relationship building tools to establish credibility and trust. You must do the same and be relentless. That is the first step in making things equal. The prospect must buy you first, the sale of your product/service comes later.

Credibility and trust are built on factors including, but obviously not limited to:

• Meeting commitments that are made
• Consistent calling patterns
• Industry knowledge
• Honesty and clarity
• Humility

As the door of opportunity opens wider you learn more about your prospects needs and the real competitive situation - the playing field will start to level out. The more you learn the easier it will be to establish the reasons this prospect will become your customer. The value of dealing with you will become clearer and easier to articulate. After all it is all about value, isn't it?

It is now that all your value selling skills will be put to the test. But don't fool yourself into thinking it will be easy. In many cases you will be given a opportunity to work on a problem that has been around for years. This is the one that no on has yet solved. Take pride in making it this far, they now have sufficient confidence in your company  to test your problem solving skills.

Next week some tips on value selling.

Finding out that my prospect has a need that is currently being fulfilled by my worthy competition is music to my ears.

Good selling,
Richard

Thoughtful Thursdays - It's not in the crystal ball

This was oringally posted on June 3, 2010. After delivering a workshop this week on sales forecasting, I thought it was worth re-posting.

If you are stuck on how to begin developing your sales forecast, start with how much you would like to be paid by your business in a year, and add all business costs. This will give you an idea of what sales the business needs to generate on an annual basis.

Break the annual figure into monthly targets using your knowledge about seasonality, length of your sales cycles and economic conditions. Also use the tips below in the orginal post.

Good selling,
Richard

June 3, 2010
"I hate making predictions, especially about the future."
Yogi Berra

Forecasting sales can be an onerous task, especially for those who have not had the pleasure of coming up with one previously.

Here are a few suggestions that might make your job of sales forecasting a bit easier.

• Block off enough time to get the job done
• Do your research, pulling numbers out of the air doesn't work
• Be realistic and but don't sand bag - this is your business after all
• Run the numbers from the top down (market potential) as well a bottom up (capacity)
• Try different scenarios (best case, worst case, most likely)
• Compare your planned sales forecasts with sales and promotional activities and make sure the activities make sense - are you forecasting high sales at the same time you plan to be heavily engaged in promotion? Is this a reasonable expectation?
• If you have historical data, use it
• Have detailed forecasts for the top 20% of your customers - by product or specific service
• Plan to measure your actual results versus forecast on a monthly basis, preferably before the end of the month so you can determine where you are heading

An accurate sales forecast will help facilitate the rest of your business budgeting process.

Good selling,
Richard