![\"sales\"](\"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/sales.jpg\" "\\"sales\\"")
<\/a>using.\u00a0Tom explained that they were selected pricing was lower than Federal Express.<\/p>\n“But FedEx delivers on time. Your current provider doesn’t.” I said. [This isn’t meant to be a FedEx commercial.]<\/p>\n
Funny you should mention that, because on Friday morning, my office manager got another call from Sue, the FedEx sales<\/a> rep, who has been calling on us for the past six months. After our most recent shipping problems, we decided to move our account over to them.<\/p>\n “For how long have you been getting such poor service from your current overnight service?” I asked.<\/p>\n “Quite a while. In fact you’re not the first person who hasn’t received one of my packages in a timely manner.” Tom said. He continued.<\/p>\n “A couple of weeks ago we almost had a terrible experience. I was speaking with John, a prospect who was about to make a sales decision to purchase some equipment for his plant.<\/p>\n I asked if I could overnight him some additional sales information before he made his final decision. He said sure.<\/p>\n “We scheduled a call to talk at 11:30am the following morning. I got off the phone. Dropped everything, and spent the next two hours updating our proposal. Put the package together. Called the delivery service, and had it picked up that evening.<\/p>\n “At 11:30am the next morning I called John and asked his thoughts about our updated proposal. There was a long pause. Finally he said ‘I haven’t received anything from you yet. Did you send it out?’<\/p>\n “Fumbling for words, I told him that I had spent two hours reworking the proposal and that I had personally handed the envelope to the driver. As panic was setting in I asked if I could fax him a copy him and talk about it after lunch.<\/p>\n “John sighed, and I could tell by the tone in his voice that he wasn’t happy, but he said that would be fine. When we spoke in the afternoon – I’m proud to say – I closed the deal. But it could have been disastrous.”<\/p>\n “When did the package arrive?” I asked.<\/p>\n “The following day.” Tom replied.<\/p>\n Which brings us back to Sue, the FedEx sales rep.<\/p>\n “When Sue called on your company, what questions did she ask you?” I asked.<\/p>\n “The only thing she ever talked about was price. She asked us how many packages we shipped on a daily or weekly basis and then pulled out her rate card. It always came up higher than our present carrier.”<\/p>\n We told her that her sales rates were too high. She thanked us for our time. And the conversation ended.<\/p>\n “Did she ever ask you any questions about the quality of service you were getting?”<\/p>\n “Not once.” Tom replied.<\/p>\n “How would the conversation have gone if she had asked you this question: ‘On a scale of 1 – 10, how would you rate the quality of the service you’re receiving from your present overnight carrier?’ ” I asked.<\/p>\n Tom didn’t hesitate for a second. “I would have told her about the numerous times that packages were picked up late and delivered late.<\/p>\n About the number of times we had to call to find out the status of a late shipment – Talk about wasting time! About how fed up we were with their poor service.”<\/p>\n And what would you have done if Sue had asked, “Which is more important to you, saving a few dollars on the cost of each order, or knowing that it will be delivered on time?”<\/p>\n “I would have signed up in a minute.”<\/p>\n But Sue didn’t ask the right questions, and Tom and his customers didn’t get the service they needed.<\/p>\n And that’s the message I want to impart to you today: STOP TALKING ABOUT PRICE. <\/strong><\/p>\n Start talking about <\/strong><\/p>\n * Service, Going back to Tom and John for a moment. What if John had said, “Tom, I appreciate your interest, but I’ve got to make a decision this morning and your package of information hasn’t arrived yet. I’m just going to have to place the order with someone else.”<\/p>\n Because Tom was trying to save a couple of bucks on an overnight service, he could have lost a $46,528 order.<\/p>\n In today’s highly competitive world, we’re too focused on price, and not focused on the customer’s needs.<\/p>\n When you’re talking with a prospect on the phone, don’t assume that the current vendor\/supplier is doing a great job. If you do you’re sabotaging yourself.<\/p>\n I cringe when I hear sales people say things like this when speaking with a sales prospect: “I know you’re already working with a supplier, but I want to come by and introduce myself to you because you may need competitive pricing or a second supplier at some future time, and then you’ll be familiar with me and my company.”<\/p>\n What a waste of everybody’s time. You’re not in the business of introducing yourself and building relationships.<\/p>\n You’re in the business of asking great questions so you can identify problems and offer a solution that will add value to your customer’s business or life.<\/p>\n One day I was with a sales rep who said with a great deal of pride, “It took me ten years to get my biggest customer.”<\/p>\n I said to myself, why did it take him so long? He just kept on calling until the previous vendor left the business, retired, or messed up big-time. He certainly didn’t take the time to discover the prospects’ problems.<\/p>\n Furthermore, whose got the patience to call on a prospect for ten years. That’s an awful lot of rejection. You should be looking for people who want to say YES. Not calling on the same people over-and-over again who continue to say NO.<\/p>\n – Jeffrey<\/em><\/p>\n
\n* Quality,
\n* Dependability,
\n* Value,
\n* Experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n