It’s The Little Things That Count
You can lose a deal on
something as simple as getting someone’s name wrong.
I recently received a message from someone with whom I’ve
been a LinkedIn contact for about a year.
We knew each other when I was working in a different country and he was
asking me to look at a new service his company offers which provides profiles
of individuals whom I might meet.
He started off by addressing me by my family name (no “Mr”
in front). To be fair, my family name could be a first name, but if he can’t
get my name right when selling me a service to profile individuals, how
accurate is the profile likely to be? With
no more than two words (Dear and the wrong name), this contact has just blown
his credibility.
Surely it doesn't matter, right? We all make mistakes and we’re all
human. True, but what impression do you
think you're giving someone whose business you want? If you can’t even get their name right,
they’re likely to assume that you’ll be equally as careless with their business. Remember, there are others out there who are
asking for their business as well - and they might get the name right! You never get a second chance to make a first
impression, as they say…
All-too often, we give people an excuse to discard our proposal
with our opening statement or salutation.
It’s easy to avoid this however through one simple process: research.
Research your target.
Everyone is busy and has lots of salesmen/women calling them to pitch
their product or service. All of them
will look and sound the same (and a few will also get names wrong). How will you stand out? You need to know:
- Who’s the “person with the problem”? They may not be the person you think you should contact.
- What is their real problem? Make sure you understand it perfectly. It may involve a preliminary meeting or more.
- What steps (if any) have they taken to solve it in the past? Have they gone to another provider, for example? If so, what was the result?
- How does your product service respond to their actual need/problem in a way that no other does (i.e. is it cheaper/safer/faster/more convenient/more reliable, etc)?
- How valuable is that solution to the target? You may have the best solution ever, but if the target perceives no value in it, you need to restate it in terms of values that they do understand.
- Do they have a budget to pay for your solution? Does your solution meet it? Can you and/or they negotiate?
- Is the person to whom you're speaking the one who can commit to buying the solution, or do they have to seek higher approval?
- If so, what do they need to get it?
- How long will it take? You may also need to meet the “decision -maker”.
- Is anyone else involved in the “buying process”?
- How will they pay (cheque, bank transfer) and when?
- What “after sales” support will they need?
A friend of mine says that you should never think of your
product/service in terms of features and benefits, but in terms of “what
problem does this solve for my customer?”
People are most flattered by what appeals to their needs.
Your research will tell you what their problem is, what they
have done about it in the past, how much they’ll pay for a quality solution and
what you need to do to show that you can solve it better than anyone else.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Customer Care, Leadership, Productivity, Selling, Strategy, Teamwork
posted by William Martin @ 09:03
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