Money Maker #48: As sellers, we have control of our own beginning. We have a choice. The Closer’s Choice is for a positive start to conversations.

Negative Start

“Hi John, you probably already bought this, and I don’t know if this price will work for you but, …”

I would write the rest of the example, but it doesn’t matter what you say after this kind of negative start.

Positive Start

“Hi, John, I’ve got you taken care of on the truck of 4/4 FAS Red Oak we’ve been looking for. Quick shipment is important to us, and we’ve got the wood ready and the truck is idling in the mill yard, Just give me a purchase order number and we’ll get this shipment moving. Do you want to put on more than one?”

New or weak sellers think this kind of start is impossible. They think, “The customer will never go for that”. In some ways - the wrong ways - they are right. Many customers don’t agree to buy on the initial try, no matter how positive we are. But over time, they will. Sales is an ongoing process. If, over time, we give our customers professional sales calls, we will begin to reap professional results.
What is important is that the initial tone of the call is set. We are going to do business. This is a sales (not a quote) call. You communicate to your customer, “I have thought about your needs in advance and expect to get the business.” This initial, positive, attitude sets the tone for the rest of the call and in most cases leads to a sale.

Want to learn more about this and other Sales Doctor secrets? Click here to buy Selling Lumber: Sales Secrets of a Lumber Broker and tune in each Friday at 4pm PST to the Sales Doctor Radio program. In Portland on 1410 am or around the world online at SalesDoctor.biz.

MoneyMaker #98: 90% of Leadership is Standing Up and Saying, “Follow Me!”

Understanding how to lead our customers with our speech is key to great selling. You are asking your customers to follow your advice. You are asking customers to take risks based on your advice. Don’t shy away from being a leader. The only option is to lead.

The Leadership position is where professional salespeople want to be. This is where the customer trusts you to make the best decision for his business. You have past the tests. You have made him a friend or at least a trusted confidant. You have also proven to him over time that you will do what is right for his business. You have proven that you will be competitive on an ongoing basis, but more importantly, you will bring his company value now and in the future.

Want to learn more about this and other Sales Doctor secrets? Click here to buy Selling Lumber: Sales Secrets of a Lumber Broker and tune in each Friday at 4pm PST to the Sales Doctor Radio program. In Portland on 1410 am or around the world online at SalesDoctor.biz.

While we are building our relationship with our customers’ we will lose some orders to our competition. There is a right way and a wrong way to handle the loss of an order.

If we begin to whine and complain when we lose an order we send the message to our customer, “When you buy from me I care about you, when you don’t, I don’t.” This is not the attitude of a partner. If we make our customers feel poorly when they buy from someone else, they will stop sharing information with us. They know we want their business, we don’t need to punish them for not buying from us.

Child psychologists tell us that if we tear our children apart and overreact every time they do something inappropriate, they will hide things from us and lie to us. The same is true of our customers.

We need to continue to track our customers’ purchases. We need to know what they bought, how much they bought, how much they paid, and when it is going to ship. This is how we build the relationship and get to know their buying patterns. This will enable us to sell them more in the future. We don’t need to win all the battles, just the war!

When playing poker, it’s not a question of how many hands a player wins, but which hands he wins and maximizing them when he does. The same can be said of selling. You are going to miss some orders, but if you whine and complain you will cease to learn about your customer and the market. More importantly, you will send a terrible message to your customer!

Want to learn more about this and other Sales Doctor secrets? Click here to buy Selling Lumber: Sales Secrets of a Lumber Broker and tune in each Friday at 4pm PST to the Sales Doctor Radio program. In Portland on 1410 am or around the world online at SalesDoctor.biz.