Well what a lovely summer we've enjoyed here in the UK. If any of you missed it, it was last weekend, so I hope you made the most of it.
This week, I want to talk about the benefits of buying from companies who host the majority of their business on line. I'll list them in no particular order:
1. They might be cheaper
That's the end of the list.
Of course these companies are going to be cheaper. The majority of them are based in the back bedrooms of people who are showing a little entrepreneurial spirit. I say good luck to them - for the most part. Whenever I am shopping for a new piece of technical equipment, my first port of call is always eBay - not because I want to necessarily buy something second hand, but because a lot of people run eBay stores using a principle known as dropshipping.
Dropshipping is brilliant. People open stores online offering a fantastic selection of brand new merchandise at competitive prices. The truly brilliant part is that these people are not holding any stock. They will take your order, send it through to the factory where your goods are being held, pay that factory and then keep their own markup for themselves.
The factory send the goods directly and will even handle any complaints or technical faults, so everybody wins.
Fantastic in the 'retail' world, but are the same benefits in play when it comes to corporate sales, more specifically, promotional merchandise? Obviously not, because the benefits of working with someone who might be cheaper are far outweighed by the pitfalls, and let's see if we can list some of those:
1. Less quality control
2. Difficult to find a decent solution when there's a problem with your order]
3. No personal service - you are just a number
4. No creativity - you pick what you want from their site and they supply it to you
5. No long term view - it's all about revenue
6. Limited options - if it's not on the site, you won't get to see it
7. No focus on results
And of course, there are loads more, but you get the point don't you? If price is the only consideration that you have, then you're really taking a short term view. That may actually work for you. If, for example, you've got one charity event per year and you just want to give out some badges, then it makes sense to get them for as little as you can.
However, I'd like to think that the majority of people reading this blog are working within companies that want to excel in the marketplace and make the very most of their marketing budget.
One other point to consider is that I emphasised that these Internet firms might be cheaper. The fact is that larger providers have stronger buying powers and will most likely be in a position to offer you a competitive rate, along with all of the other benefits that I've mentioned.
So by all means shop around, unless you're looking to be successful, in which case just give me a call and let's get down to business.
Have a good week.
Thursday 27 May 2010
Thursday 20 May 2010
Don't call us - we'll call you
In the world of sales, we are, all of us, surrounded by clichés. Trouble is, if you dig a little deeper, it turns out that the majority of these clichés are, in fact, lies.
They’re not malicious lies designed to bring down corporations and fiddle people out of hundreds of thousands of pounds. They’re not massive whoppers, designed to cover up to mistakes of high ranking officials. Some of them would not even classify as “Porkies” (for the non UK readers, this term comes from the Cockney Rhyming Slang, pork pies, which simply means lies. And don’t go thinking that you can work out how people in the East End of London speak by watching a Guy Ritchie film, because you can’t.)
No. These lies are bordering on white lies. Nobody’s getting hurt – in fact it’s quite the opposite – they’re used to spare people’s feelings. Trouble is, real business growth depends upon truth, and we’re so used to telling people what we think they want to hear that the truth has become some weird and diluted version of itself. Think about it, we don’t even really believe some of the stuff we’re told any more. So here, in reverse order, are my top 3 annoying lies:
At number 3 - “He’s in a meeting at the moment”. It seems that there are some people out there who are always in meetings. Whenever you call, they’re in a meeting. Doesn’t matter if it’s first thing in the morning or last thing at night, you know exactly what you’re going to be told when you call. Do you believe they’re in a meeting? Of course you don’t. If anyone spent that much time in meetings they would never get any real work done. There’s only so much crap you can talk about around a conference table before you want to run out of the room screaming.
Anyone working that inefficiently clearly does need help. If your firm specialises in management consultancy and training, you might want to consider sending that prospect a gift, making some joke about the fact that they always seem to be in a meeting and how you’d like to help them manage their time a lot better.
Just missing the top spot at number 2- “We’ll come back to you if we’re interested”. You won’t. Just grow a pair and tell it straight – you won’t. In fact, you won’t even remember me by this time tomorrow. The truth is that the interest in a product or service has a very short shelf life – if your company can offer me something that I need right now, then I’m very pleased to discuss it with you. If I don’t think I’m going to need it for six months, then don’t expect me to call you when I do, because your competitors are already beating a path to my door, and the one who calls me exactly when I need them are more likely to get a chance to bid for the business.
Can you beat that one? Of course you can. Diarise your next call and then send something to that prospect to let them know that you’re thinking of them and that you will be in touch closer to the time that they need you. And here’s a tip – halve the time. If they tell you they don’t need you for six months, you call them in three. The script is a simple one, “When last we spoke, you told me it would be a good idea to call you in six months. Now I appreciate that that is still three months away, but I wanted to make sure that there had not been any developments on which I may have missed out.”
No respectable business person is going to have a problem with a line like that. You’re being respectful, professional and proactive, without coming on too strong, and that has to count for something.
And the number 1 lie, at least in my book – “More or less”. That probably needs a little more explanation. Think about the last time you asked someone if they had taken care of a specific task and they answered with “More or less”. IT’S ALWAYS LESS.
Think it through – “Have you finished doing the dishes?” “More or less”. Well they haven’t finished have they? It’s not like they’ve finished and then took the time to redecorate the kitchen is it?
“Is that presentation ready for the meeting?” “More or less”. So it isn’t actually ready then is it?
And from a sales perspective, if someone responds with a “more or less” when you ask them if all of their needs are met in relation to your business, then you know that there is an opening there. Remember, more or less just means less, it’s just that people are a little embarrassed that they have not taken care of business. Tell them that you are there to help them, that people aren’t always totally in control of a given situation and then offer them the help that they need.
Ultimately, these little lies are opportunities. They’re a chance to dig a little deeper and ask what the real problems are. Problems that your company may well be able to solve, if only given half the chance.
So go for it. Challenge the excuses, ask just how “less” their “more or less” is. Find out when your prospect is coming out of his meeting and never ever ever wait for someone to get back to you when they’re interested.
Does that all make sense? Well……more or less.
They’re not malicious lies designed to bring down corporations and fiddle people out of hundreds of thousands of pounds. They’re not massive whoppers, designed to cover up to mistakes of high ranking officials. Some of them would not even classify as “Porkies” (for the non UK readers, this term comes from the Cockney Rhyming Slang, pork pies, which simply means lies. And don’t go thinking that you can work out how people in the East End of London speak by watching a Guy Ritchie film, because you can’t.)
No. These lies are bordering on white lies. Nobody’s getting hurt – in fact it’s quite the opposite – they’re used to spare people’s feelings. Trouble is, real business growth depends upon truth, and we’re so used to telling people what we think they want to hear that the truth has become some weird and diluted version of itself. Think about it, we don’t even really believe some of the stuff we’re told any more. So here, in reverse order, are my top 3 annoying lies:
At number 3 - “He’s in a meeting at the moment”. It seems that there are some people out there who are always in meetings. Whenever you call, they’re in a meeting. Doesn’t matter if it’s first thing in the morning or last thing at night, you know exactly what you’re going to be told when you call. Do you believe they’re in a meeting? Of course you don’t. If anyone spent that much time in meetings they would never get any real work done. There’s only so much crap you can talk about around a conference table before you want to run out of the room screaming.
Anyone working that inefficiently clearly does need help. If your firm specialises in management consultancy and training, you might want to consider sending that prospect a gift, making some joke about the fact that they always seem to be in a meeting and how you’d like to help them manage their time a lot better.
Just missing the top spot at number 2- “We’ll come back to you if we’re interested”. You won’t. Just grow a pair and tell it straight – you won’t. In fact, you won’t even remember me by this time tomorrow. The truth is that the interest in a product or service has a very short shelf life – if your company can offer me something that I need right now, then I’m very pleased to discuss it with you. If I don’t think I’m going to need it for six months, then don’t expect me to call you when I do, because your competitors are already beating a path to my door, and the one who calls me exactly when I need them are more likely to get a chance to bid for the business.
Can you beat that one? Of course you can. Diarise your next call and then send something to that prospect to let them know that you’re thinking of them and that you will be in touch closer to the time that they need you. And here’s a tip – halve the time. If they tell you they don’t need you for six months, you call them in three. The script is a simple one, “When last we spoke, you told me it would be a good idea to call you in six months. Now I appreciate that that is still three months away, but I wanted to make sure that there had not been any developments on which I may have missed out.”
No respectable business person is going to have a problem with a line like that. You’re being respectful, professional and proactive, without coming on too strong, and that has to count for something.
And the number 1 lie, at least in my book – “More or less”. That probably needs a little more explanation. Think about the last time you asked someone if they had taken care of a specific task and they answered with “More or less”. IT’S ALWAYS LESS.
Think it through – “Have you finished doing the dishes?” “More or less”. Well they haven’t finished have they? It’s not like they’ve finished and then took the time to redecorate the kitchen is it?
“Is that presentation ready for the meeting?” “More or less”. So it isn’t actually ready then is it?
And from a sales perspective, if someone responds with a “more or less” when you ask them if all of their needs are met in relation to your business, then you know that there is an opening there. Remember, more or less just means less, it’s just that people are a little embarrassed that they have not taken care of business. Tell them that you are there to help them, that people aren’t always totally in control of a given situation and then offer them the help that they need.
Ultimately, these little lies are opportunities. They’re a chance to dig a little deeper and ask what the real problems are. Problems that your company may well be able to solve, if only given half the chance.
So go for it. Challenge the excuses, ask just how “less” their “more or less” is. Find out when your prospect is coming out of his meeting and never ever ever wait for someone to get back to you when they’re interested.
Does that all make sense? Well……more or less.
Thursday 13 May 2010
GO AWAY!!!!
No – not you, you can stay. In fact, make yourself comfortable. Can I get you something to drink? Perhaps a biscuit or light snack? Comfortable? Good.
No, my instruction to go away is addressed to all those people offering me services for which I did not ask. Now I have to tread carefully here, because in the past I have spoken of the value of a good cold call, and I don’t want to start bashing cold calling here because I do believe in it.
It’s just that some cold calling is so cold it’s positively icy. You see, if you are in the business of canvassing for new business by telephone, you should at least have some helpers to turn any call from cold into slightly warm. Allow me to demonstrate, using my own industry as an example:
The Cold Call
“Hello, my name is Paul Rose and I work for Merchandise Mania. I was just calling to find out if you were looking for any promotional items right now.”
Now we’ve all received calls like that and frankly, that sales person is going to need a combination of luck and massive call rates to have any hope of getting a positive result.
The call is stone cold – no research what so ever and chances are, the person on the other end would have switched off almost instantly. So why don’t we try this:
The Warm Call
“Hello, my name is Paul Rose and I’m with Merchandise Mania. I was on your website recently, learning a little more about how you market your company and I’ve a product here which I think could do wonders for your business. Who do you think it would be best to talk to about this?”
Much more powerful. Now bear in mind that the caller had no special access to any information, had no contact names within the company and, most importantly, had no way of knowing whether or not his call would get passed reception. But how much more likely is it that he will?
Customers like to feel that the people they are buying from understand their needs. They may not need you to know their life story, but if they’re made to feel like more than just another customer, then they will be so much more inclined to deal with you.
More importantly, there’s a strong chance that the majority of people you call for the first time will not have an immediate need for your goods or services, but if you keep talking to them, building rapport and helping them, even if there’s nothing in it immediately for you, then eventually the business will come.
Now of course, a gift can go a long way toward building on that relationship. You may not think you need it now, but chances are that within the next 3 months you’re going to have a really great conversation with a new potential client and you’re going to wish you could just reach into a nearby cupboard, pull out a nice, branded gift and have it sent along to thank them for their time and interest.
Don’t wait until that call happens! You’ll be left looking for stuff that can be turned around in 24 hours and when you find out that there’s nothing decent, you’ll end up going to the high street and grabbing the nearest thing you can find. Those gifts DON’T WORK – they look and feel like bribery, which could seriously backfire on you.
Remember – the right gift, given the right way, really can do wonders for your business.
Have a good week, and feel free to make life really difficult for the next call centre based monkey who rings you at dinner time to sell you a new kitchen. Trust me, it’s fun.
No, my instruction to go away is addressed to all those people offering me services for which I did not ask. Now I have to tread carefully here, because in the past I have spoken of the value of a good cold call, and I don’t want to start bashing cold calling here because I do believe in it.
It’s just that some cold calling is so cold it’s positively icy. You see, if you are in the business of canvassing for new business by telephone, you should at least have some helpers to turn any call from cold into slightly warm. Allow me to demonstrate, using my own industry as an example:
The Cold Call
“Hello, my name is Paul Rose and I work for Merchandise Mania. I was just calling to find out if you were looking for any promotional items right now.”
Now we’ve all received calls like that and frankly, that sales person is going to need a combination of luck and massive call rates to have any hope of getting a positive result.
The call is stone cold – no research what so ever and chances are, the person on the other end would have switched off almost instantly. So why don’t we try this:
The Warm Call
“Hello, my name is Paul Rose and I’m with Merchandise Mania. I was on your website recently, learning a little more about how you market your company and I’ve a product here which I think could do wonders for your business. Who do you think it would be best to talk to about this?”
Much more powerful. Now bear in mind that the caller had no special access to any information, had no contact names within the company and, most importantly, had no way of knowing whether or not his call would get passed reception. But how much more likely is it that he will?
Customers like to feel that the people they are buying from understand their needs. They may not need you to know their life story, but if they’re made to feel like more than just another customer, then they will be so much more inclined to deal with you.
More importantly, there’s a strong chance that the majority of people you call for the first time will not have an immediate need for your goods or services, but if you keep talking to them, building rapport and helping them, even if there’s nothing in it immediately for you, then eventually the business will come.
Now of course, a gift can go a long way toward building on that relationship. You may not think you need it now, but chances are that within the next 3 months you’re going to have a really great conversation with a new potential client and you’re going to wish you could just reach into a nearby cupboard, pull out a nice, branded gift and have it sent along to thank them for their time and interest.
Don’t wait until that call happens! You’ll be left looking for stuff that can be turned around in 24 hours and when you find out that there’s nothing decent, you’ll end up going to the high street and grabbing the nearest thing you can find. Those gifts DON’T WORK – they look and feel like bribery, which could seriously backfire on you.
Remember – the right gift, given the right way, really can do wonders for your business.
Have a good week, and feel free to make life really difficult for the next call centre based monkey who rings you at dinner time to sell you a new kitchen. Trust me, it’s fun.
Thursday 6 May 2010
I write a blog - so what?
I find myself asking a very simple question of people these days. It’s my way of responding to sales pitches, junk emails and pretty much any form of presentation that comes my way. You probably ask it yourself – some of you on a sub conscious level and others (if you’re anything like me) in ten foot tall letters, posted to the side of your building.
That question is – so what?
As simple as it is, this question can prove to be incredibly powerful when it comes to your next sales promotion. To put it to good use, make a list of all the things that you want to say to your customer in your next promotion.
Don’t hold back – no matter how mundane you think the point is, write it down. It’s much better to have a long list that you can edit right down, rather than desperately trying to think of new things just to make up the numbers.
Got the list? No? OK, I’ll wait a bit……………..
Right, time’s up. OK, so what you need to do next is to put yourself in the mindset of one of your customers. Just to make things interesting, picture yourself as one of the more disagreeable ones. You know the sort – your eyes always roll into the back of your head when you hear they’re on the phone but you still cannot afford to ignore them. Oh don’t act like you don’t have a customer like that, everybody has one and you never know, you may very well be that very customer to someone from whom you buy. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, but we all need to accept that sometimes there are just people that rub us up the wrong way.
OK, so now you are in the mind of Mr or Mrs Pita (that’s an acronym for Pain in the Arse), take a look at point number 1 on your list and then ask the magical question – SO WHAT?
And pay very close attention to the answer, because once you’ve made a note of it, I want you to put that new point to Mr Pita again, and once again, ask the magical question – SO WHAT?
Keep doing this until you can really get to the point of why your customer would care about what it is you’re trying to tell them. In the traditional days of sales training, we were taught to look at Features – Advantages – Benefits. That’s still a powerful way to work, but using the SO WHAT method can cut through a lot of the crap that you’re about to share with your clients.
You see, any sales point without the benefits to back it up is no sales point at all, it’s just needless fluff, and it’s actually more damaging than you realise. I’ll give you an example; each week I get an email through telling me the name of someone who has won some sales incentive. Here’s the thing – I don’t care. That information is utterly pointless to me but what’s worse, the people sending the mail don’t give me the option to unsubscribe, so once a week I get mildly annoyed at someone or, more specifically, some company.
The result? Just how much do you think I want to do business with that company? Precisely – I don’t. The information they are sharing with me is of no benefit to me whatsoever. I ask SO WHAT? and there is no answer.
Are you guilty of the same? Are you telling people facts and figures that aren’t really all that interesting? Are you telling them why they need to know this stuff and, perhaps most importantly, do they really need to know in the first place?
We are all of us told that Knowledge is Power. Well knowledge of pointless crap is only useful when you’re on a game show, so just stop putting it out there.
On a parting note, please sponsor me in the Royal Parks Half Marathon by visiting www.justgiving.com/paulyrunsagain I have not actually ran at all since last year's London Marathon and in starting to train again last night, I figured I could pick up where I left off. WRONG!!! I need to go back to square one and develop my skills all over again. SO WHAT? you say, well the point is that any of you who think that an ex Marathon runner will not struggle is wrong - I am going to have to work very hard, so all of your support will mean a great deal to me.
That question is – so what?
As simple as it is, this question can prove to be incredibly powerful when it comes to your next sales promotion. To put it to good use, make a list of all the things that you want to say to your customer in your next promotion.
Don’t hold back – no matter how mundane you think the point is, write it down. It’s much better to have a long list that you can edit right down, rather than desperately trying to think of new things just to make up the numbers.
Got the list? No? OK, I’ll wait a bit……………..
Right, time’s up. OK, so what you need to do next is to put yourself in the mindset of one of your customers. Just to make things interesting, picture yourself as one of the more disagreeable ones. You know the sort – your eyes always roll into the back of your head when you hear they’re on the phone but you still cannot afford to ignore them. Oh don’t act like you don’t have a customer like that, everybody has one and you never know, you may very well be that very customer to someone from whom you buy. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, but we all need to accept that sometimes there are just people that rub us up the wrong way.
OK, so now you are in the mind of Mr or Mrs Pita (that’s an acronym for Pain in the Arse), take a look at point number 1 on your list and then ask the magical question – SO WHAT?
And pay very close attention to the answer, because once you’ve made a note of it, I want you to put that new point to Mr Pita again, and once again, ask the magical question – SO WHAT?
Keep doing this until you can really get to the point of why your customer would care about what it is you’re trying to tell them. In the traditional days of sales training, we were taught to look at Features – Advantages – Benefits. That’s still a powerful way to work, but using the SO WHAT method can cut through a lot of the crap that you’re about to share with your clients.
You see, any sales point without the benefits to back it up is no sales point at all, it’s just needless fluff, and it’s actually more damaging than you realise. I’ll give you an example; each week I get an email through telling me the name of someone who has won some sales incentive. Here’s the thing – I don’t care. That information is utterly pointless to me but what’s worse, the people sending the mail don’t give me the option to unsubscribe, so once a week I get mildly annoyed at someone or, more specifically, some company.
The result? Just how much do you think I want to do business with that company? Precisely – I don’t. The information they are sharing with me is of no benefit to me whatsoever. I ask SO WHAT? and there is no answer.
Are you guilty of the same? Are you telling people facts and figures that aren’t really all that interesting? Are you telling them why they need to know this stuff and, perhaps most importantly, do they really need to know in the first place?
We are all of us told that Knowledge is Power. Well knowledge of pointless crap is only useful when you’re on a game show, so just stop putting it out there.
On a parting note, please sponsor me in the Royal Parks Half Marathon by visiting www.justgiving.com/paulyrunsagain I have not actually ran at all since last year's London Marathon and in starting to train again last night, I figured I could pick up where I left off. WRONG!!! I need to go back to square one and develop my skills all over again. SO WHAT? you say, well the point is that any of you who think that an ex Marathon runner will not struggle is wrong - I am going to have to work very hard, so all of your support will mean a great deal to me.
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