"Selling Skills"

I recently read an article in Entrepreneur blog called, Building a Business Partnership That Lasts, by Toddi Gutner . The article once again verified my belief that two important components of any successful relationship, or in this instance business partnership, is trust and effective (open) communication.

Gutner lists other factors as well but the common theme of trust & communication is evident. My belief is that trust is indeed the most important factor of any successful relationship and the pathway to it is effective communication. My belief follows a simple 5 step communication process that leads to establishing trust:

• You must “connect” with someone before you can “engage” them
• You must “engage” someone before you can “build rapport” with them
• You must “build rapport” before you can “be credible”
• You must “be credible” before you can “be trusted”
• You must “be trusted” before you can have a successful relationship

The pathway is based on a person’s ability to effectively connect, communicate and interact with others. If someone can’t first “connect” with someone how can they “engage”, let alone “build rapport” and be viewed as “credible.” Without that first step of “connecting” the other steps will not follow and in turn, trust will not be developed.

I’ve listed below, the four key components from the article on “building a business partnership that lasts” and as you can see trust & open communication is on the list. The author also lists mutual respect as well as shared vision and values. I’d say, however, that those two will not exist without trust and open communication.

• Trust
• Mutual respect
• Shared vision and values
• Honest and open communication

I’ve attached a link to the article for your review and your thoughts and comments are more than welcome and appreciated. Enjoy!

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220115

I simply walk into the restaurant and I’m greeted by one of the bartenders with an enthusiastic “STEVE!” The bartender greets me with a big smile, a cold drink and quickly informs me of the next seat opening up at the bar.

That’s the initial experience I have upon entering Charley’s Steak House in Tampa. What follows next is an evening of mastery in creating the ultimate customer experience and the creation of the long-term loyal customer. Whether it’s the initial greeting, great food, family atmosphere or outstanding service, Charley’s is the best and that’s why I keep going back…and I’m not the only one.

Creating customer loyalty is a key differentiating point and is crucial, especially in hard economic times. When most people are “watching their wallets”, those businesses that create loyal customers are somewhat insulated. They’re insulated because they’ve created an atmosphere that transcends solely price. Customers may spend less, but they are still spending something, and it will be with those institutions or individuals where they have strong loyal relationships. Whether you’re in sales or in a business, customer loyalty is indispensable as it will sustain you in tough times.

The folks at Charley’s do a wonderful job of knowing their customers – what they like to eat, drink. But it doesn’t stop there as they get to know them personally as well. A night at Charley’s is like a night with family and it actually begins with the management. Manager, Chelley greets customers with a huge hug and warm smile and her goal is to ensure customer satisfaction. And that attitude flows down to the bar staff which is outstanding. Whether it is Kat, Jordan, Jimmy, Kristian, Lauren or Kate, they are personable, attentive and customer conscious. Each and every one of them effectively connects, communicates and engages with their customers.  They “walk the walk” in customer service and that keeps me coming back week in and week out.

Yes, the steaks are outstanding, but I can make a pretty mean steak myself. It’s the atmosphere, and customer service that keeps me loyal. And by the way, they serve many other outstanding food items aside from steak!

If you’re a business owner, or a sales person, or in any role for that matter that involves customer service, are YOU creating the atmosphere that keeps your customers coming back? If not, you’re not creating a value add and not building customer loyalty. And then you’ll be viewed solely on price and not the value you provide – that’s not where you want to be, especially in tough economic times.

So if you’re interested in creating customer loyalty for your clients, just stop by Charley’s to observe and enjoy the experience…and oh, enjoy a great steak while doing it!

Throughout the years, there have been many books written, techniques developed, and debates conducted about the art of “closing the sale.” I’ve read these books and attended conferences of the same vein, and have found most of them useless, repetitive, old, unrealistic, and full of platitudes. Most of these programs don’t resonate with me because I’ve discovered that the fundamentals of successful selling skills I learned nearly 25 years ago have survived the test of time. They are just as relevant now as they were then.

In my first job as a sales representative for a consumer packaged goods company I was taught the three fundamentals of successful selling: Learn, Penetrate, Sell. These three simple and effective steps were instilled in me from day one and on every sales call with my managers, who had successfully sold using this model throughout their careers. 

The overarching objective of Learn, Penetrate, Sell is first and foremost to close the sale. But it’s also about building long-lasting relationships by earning a reputation as a valued partner and trusted business advisor who is genuinely invested in your clients’ successes, which differentiates you from your competition. This enables you to become more than just a vendor selfishly selling a product or service with no real customer benefit. 

In addition, Learn, Penetrate, Sell shows customers the value you bring to their business, which minimizes the chance you’ll be “beaten up” on price. In other words, you’re selling solutions and value versus just another commodity. I want to be clear about price: I’m not saying price will never be an issue, but it will be less of one when taken into consideration with the perceived value you bring. 

Let’s look at these three simple yet powerful steps in detail. 

• Learn – Simply put, the first step of successfully closing a sale is to learn as much about your customer as possible. Understand everything you can about your customer’s needs and what keeps them up at night. Is it internal factors like cash flow, sales, profit, or customer or patient loyalty? Is it external factors such as competition, market environment, or changing dynamics? Most likely it will cover several areas, but it is your job to discover the issues that are most important to them.
• Penetrate – Secondly, it is crucial that you reach the key decision maker within your customer’s organization. Too often sales personnel are content simply calling on any buyer or someone lower on the totem pole, when the key decision-maker is several levels up. Penetrating to the key decision-maker also ensures that you’ll know what truly matters to your customer. Again, clearly understanding what keeps the decision maker up at night is the key to building a successful sales plan – and those concerns may be very different for lower-level contacts than they are for the true decision makers.
•  Sell – Obviously the key is to sell, right? Yes – but the question to ask is, “What are you selling?” If what you are selling doesn’t solve the problem of what keeps your customer up at night or isn’t geared to the key decision maker, then what you are selling is meaningless. Unfortunately, what most sales people do is sell everything including the kitchen sink, or what they want to sell or what they think their customer needs. The result is at best short-term minimized success and at worst a lost sale. The key to the Sell step is to match your customer’s needs are (based on what keeps them up at night) with what you have for solving that problem. Once this intersection is identified, met, and solved your sales success will grow exponentially. In addition, you’ve built the foundation of trust, which leads to long-term loyal customers. 

This is what makes the previous two steps, Learn and Penetrate, so vital. Your hard work in learning about your customer’s needs and penetrating to the key decision maker gives you the input you need to build a tailored and relevant plan. It shows your customer that you not only did your homework, but you heard them, understood them, and built a program that meets their needs by solving their problem. 

Good sales people solve problems for their customers; they don’t create or ignore them. Most sales people that fail do so because they have not identified their customer’s true problem, and therefore can’t supply the right solution the customer is seeking. It doesn’t matter if you are selling a consumer good, a car, a pharmaceutical product, a service, or a concept; if you can effectively marry your capabilities with your customers most pressing needs you will close the sale and develop long-term loyalty. 

I am a believer that all great truths and successes are built on simple, time-tested principles. In the sales realm, Learn, Penetrate, Sell are those principles.

Throughout the years, there have been many books written, techniques developed, and debates conducted about the art of “closing the sale.”

I have read those books and attended many conferences and have found most of them useless, repetitive, old, unrealistic, and full of platitudes. Most of these programs don’t resonate with me because I’ve discovered that the fundamentals of successful selling skills I learned nearly 25 years ago in my first job out of college have survived the test of time. They are just as relevant now as they were then. 

In my first job as a sales representative selling for a consumer packaged goods company, I was taught the three fundamentals of successful selling: Learn, Penetrate, Sell. 

These three simple and effective steps were instilled in me from day one and on every sales call with my managers, who had successfully sold using this model throughout their careers. The key objective of Learn, Penetrate, Sell is to help differentiate yourself from your competition by earning the reputation in the eyes of your customers as valued partners and trusted business advisers with skin in the game when it comes to their success. This enables sales teams to be considered more than just another vendor selfishly selling a product or service with no benefit to the valued customer. In addition, Learn, Penetrate, Sell will show your customers the value you bring to the table and will minimize your chance of getting beaten up on price. In other words, you’re selling ideas and value vs. simply selling a commodity. Let’s look at these three simple, yet powerful, steps. 

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