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Posts Tagged ‘Sales Performance’

By: Stephen Novak

I was heading home after a late meeting and didn’t feel like cooking.  On my way was an Italian restaurant that I’d heard had great food – being a sucker for Italian, I thought I’d give it a try.  When I entered the building I walked to the front counter. I approached the employee behind the register who was seated on a bar stool leaning back against the wall while staring off into space.  I explained that this was my first visit, I had heard good things, and would like to order some dinner to-go.  The employee leaned forward…popped out his ear buds…and said, “Hugh”.   I took a step back and then repeated what I had just said.  He had a puzzled look on his face as he said, “You can’t order to-go food up here.” 

Of course I asked, “Well, where can I order food to-go?”  He pointed to an area towards the back of the restaurant…put his ear buds back in…and leaned back.  I walked to the area that he designated and waited…and waited.  Two servers walked by at least twice before I flagged one of them down.  I immediately recognized the why-are-you-bothering-me look on her face.  I’d go on, but the rest of my visit wasn’t any better.  This experience enlightened me to the fact that although good customer service may be hard to define, poor customer service stands out like fingernails scraping along a chalkboard.  Let me explain:

You could pull a hundred different people off the street and ask them the question, “What is good customer service?”  And you would probably get a hundred different responses.  What’s OK for one person may not be good for another, but there are some fundamentals that must be present in any customer interaction.

Some typical “good customer service” elements that we all look for are:

1. We want to feel welcomed when we enter a business.
2. We want to be treated with respect.
3. We want to be listened to.
4. We want to get what we were promised and treated fairly.
5. We want to be thanked for our business.

Any business that is serious about providing good customer service must have these elements at the core of their customer service process.  Keep in mind that these elements are just a starting point.  If your goal is to provide excellent customer service, then you must notch up the intensity of the above elements while monitoring their effectiveness.  Tweak when necessary and eliminate any obstacle that prevents your customers from having such a positive experience that they honor you with their business time and time again.

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2011 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

By: Stephen Novak

 Everything we do requires some form of a process.  From brushing our teeth to planning a trip, there is always a chain of events.  Merriam-Webster defines a process as:

1 a : progress, advance <in the process of time>

   b : something going on : proceeding

2 a (1) : a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result <the process of growth> (2) : a continuing natural or biological activity or function <such life processes as breathing> b : a series of actions or operations conducing to an end; especially : a continuous operation or treatment especially in manufacture.

We learned as a child how to brush our teeth, walk, and eventually ride a bike.  These processes took practice and determination to perfect.  A novice salesperson should constantly read new books, continually train with knowledgeable teachers, and diligently practice with the same resolve as a strong-minded child.  Come to think of it – experienced salespeople should do the same thing!!!   

 As an exercise, let’s look at a basic step-by-step approach to sales – The ever enduring 5 Steps To A (Anything) Sale:

1) Friendly greeting.

2) Assess needs.

3) Make recommendation.

4) Explain benefits and features.

5) Ask for the sale.

 If we left out step 2, we wouldn’t have any idea which product or service was right for the customer.  It would not help to push the two-car garage if the buyer’s main concern is the age of the roof.  Your job as a salesperson is to seek out what the customer wants.

 If we did not explain the benefits and features in Step 4, it would be impossible for the customer to differentiate our product or service from our competitor.  

 If we did not even ask the customer for the pleasure of his or her business…well, we probably should be doing something else for a living.

 Just as if we had forgotten to use a toothbrush while brushing our teeth, we could not be as effective as we should have been.

 BEWARE:  Do not allow yourselves to become slaves to any process just for the sake of the process.  If what you are doing ain’t working, you MUST try something else.  If the process gets in the way of customer communication, scrap it…amend it…modernize it (Read, train, practice).  Every sales process should enhance customer interaction, and keep a salesperson on track.  A process should NOT be there just to hook customers into buying something that will later regret.   

“We must first identify, before we can satisfy the customer’s proclivity…profitably”.

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2011 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

By: Stephen Novak

Consider the following situations:

A child is eating watermelon in the blistering dog day’s heat – The smile reverberates the true joy that only a simple summer treat can provide.

A man’s feet stammer in the aisle of a church at the beginning of the best decision he will ever make – His prospective spouse’s soul sings as she steers toward the aisle.

Now contrast with the following:

A single mom is leaving work; she notices her tire is low.  She’s knows that she’ll be late picking up her child from daycare (They penalize by the minute if you’re late) as she limps towards her favorite car repair shop.  She’s relieved that the shop doors are just now coming down, someone is still there, she thinks.  The person behind the glass doors waves their hands and yells, “We’re closed”, and steals away into the back room.

Now the reason for the rant:

I went into a convenience store a few days ago.  After checking out, the clerk stuffed my purchases into the bag and said, “Thanks, young man”.  During my sales training courses, I’ve heard similar statements from inexperienced salespeople for years.  When confronted they usually say that they’ve been told to always compliment the customer…to make them feel good.  And while that statement is true, they forgot the most important part of a compliment – IT MUST BE SINCERE.  Today’s customers are a lot savvier than they have ever been – They can spot a sales pitch a mile away.  After being assaulted by such a line, most customers will just smile back while thinking to themselves, what a schmuck. 

For anyone that works with people, commit to this: if you give anyone a compliment, IT MUST BE SINCERE.  People know how old they are, if they’ve lost weight, or if they’ve been working out.  Trite or dishonest statements will shore up any preconceived barriers that the customer may have.  Always remember: it’s our job to break down ANY barriers that get in the way of building strong relationships with our customers.

As for being there for your customers…we’ll cover that later.

Copyright © Stephen Novak 2011 Rising Moon Publications. All rights reserved.

There is a world of difference between a sales person and a sales manager. What makes a good or even great sales person doesn’t necessarily make a good sales manager. Why? Because sales people, good sales people are all about personality. They have it, they know how to use it and therefore they make the sales!

When you are promoted from sales person to sales manager things change. No longer is your glowing personality front and center, now it’s all about using what you know as a sales person to build up your team and encourage them to sell as well as or better than you did.

It no longer comes down to selling the product but more about teaching your sales staff HOW to sell the product. It’s easy for someone to tell someone else how to do something that they have done successfully for years, it’s much harder for the other person to grasp and duplicate the same.

The leader can’t expect their staff to ‘just do it’ they have to understand that they have years of experience under their belt, they have done it time and time again, they started from the bottom and worked their way up. They know the ins and outs and the pitfalls. They know how to deal with hard headed customers.

You can’t expect a newbie to know all of these things and so you have to take yourself off of the sales floor and learn how to TEACH. Once you have that down, once you can teach properly and you staff actually gets, and understands what you are saying and can utilize what you have taught, then you become a leader.

So remember when going from a sales person to a sales leader, you need to learn to be patient, know how to teach, understand you are no longer selling but are teaching others to do so, you can become a great sales leader and lead your staff into selling as good as you did, or maybe even better!

When you go to an interview one of the most asked questions by the interviewer is “what are your strength and weaknesses”? Could you name at least one? What about two or three? If I were to ask this of your company could you do the same?

Most people know what their companies strengths are, but it’s hard to come up with weaknesses, why? Because it is something that most business owners don’t want to admit to. Do you have a weak sales staff? Are your books a mess? Do your employees take advantage of you?

Knowing what your businesses strengths and weaknesses are will help you in building a self-management sales system, but you have to be honest with yourself and about your business! If you don’t spend enough time on the books admit it!

Take out a sheet of paper and put a line down the middle of it. On one side write strengths on the other weaknesses. Now start to write them down as they come to you. Which side has more listed? What things could you start working on today and which ones will take a little time?

Could you tell me in 1 minute or less what it is you do and what your business could provide me with? Most business owners can’t. This is important, it’s a way of selling your business quickly and effortlessly.

Know your business inside and out, know all of the inner workings, what is working and what isn’t. Is there a weak link or several? What can you do to change this so that your business is a well oiled machine that can run without you sitting there pushing the buttons.

If you can leave your business for a week and not have a care in the world and know that those that you employ will be able to manage and run things without you great! If you can’t, then you need to do some thinking, make some changes so that it will be possible for you to do this in the near future.

Nobody, not business owners nor their managers like to make the hard decisions, the hard choices, change things or let people go. The bottom line is, this is YOUR business, your living, you need to do what works, and if it’s not working fix it!