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Sales in a recession - selling in a recession - surviving a recession
There is no hiding it. We are in the middle of a tough time for the UK economy. Consumers and Businesses are cutting back due to the credit crunch and uncertainty within the UK Economy.
One of the ways that we help businesses with our sales consulting is to show them ways to structure their sales process so that they can not only survive the recession but flourish through it.
I was reminded of a simple way to make more sales and develop a long term relationship with prospective clients via an email I received a few days ago from Virgin Wines.
They have me on an email list from a few months ago when I purchased a one off set of wine as a present. I declined the subsequent offer of joining their wine club and I have to say I am glad I did as the follow up emails I have received from them are great examples of relationship marketing.
A resource that I keep near my desk to help me find just the right words for my sales letters and emails is ‘Words That Sell’ By Richard Bayan.
One of the areas that I think we all make the most mistakes is what Richard calls ‘”Puffspeak”. That is - inflated words and phrases that have made their way into our every day language without real need.
Check to see if you use these in your sales letters and copywriting:
Puffspeak and The Translation
At this point in time = Now
conceptualize = think
cost-effective = profitable or money saving
counterproductive = futile
effectuate = bring about
ramifications = consequences
state-of-the-art = latest
transpired = happened
My wife (Jo) was looking recently for a new gate for our house and had decided on the exact style that she wanted. Jo had seen a set of gates that she liked on a house and had taken some photos so that we could get quotes.
Jo went about scouring the local suppliers and the Internet and came across three blacksmiths/gate manufacturers who seemed to be capable of making the gates. We exchanged a few emails with our potential suppliers as well as pictures of how we wanted the gates to look.
Supplier 1: They came back with a price of around £1,200
This clip was recently emailed to me. It might not seem relevant to Sales Meetings and Sales Calls to you yet. Watch it closely - really closely and I will explain later!!
Did You see it?
I very often encounter this phonomenom when providing sales training and sales consultancy. Very often sales people are blind to what is happening around them.
This is a great little sketch that I found on the BBC web site.
Cold Callers can be annoying, especially when they call you at the wrong time, say the wrong things and read from a script with no room for manouvering.
I love the Apprentice. It has so much potential for filling hundreds of blog posts. Amongst the many things that really stood out for me last night night was the sales meeting of the female team and the hotel manager. I have seen some bad meetings in my time (and have to admit to running some of them), but this was a great example of how not to do it.
The challenge entailed setting up an overnight laundry and winning and completing as much business as possible in less than one day. ‘SrrrrAlan’ had arranged for the team to meet with two potential clients; firstly a hotel and secondly a fish mongers.
The female team made a complete hash of their meetings as I have disected below:
Lack Of Research — Both teams had little or no prior knowledge of the Industry. Whilst the male team did some research and rang around some existing providers on the way to the meeting, the female team picked a price from thin air without doing any research. This lack of preparation showed when they quoted a figure of £4900 to do the job. The Hotel manager was obviously taken aback as his existing contractor charges around £200. I know this is an extreme example but the moral of the story is - do your research and understand the market pricing and the value you offer. The female team clearly did not understand this. I am forever encouraging my clients to increase their prices based on the value they bring but I don’t think I could have trained anyone to sell at over 20 times the market rate in a highly competetive, commodatised marketplace - without adding any value!
Sell on Value to the potential Client — Having lost all credibility from the outset the female team then tryed to substantiate their offering with their added value services. “We will provide you with 2 Account Managers, and you will have our direct dial mobile numbers”. Perhaps if you were setting up a business bank account this would be something of value (although i would argue not as service should be a standard - not an option!). However when dealing with washing and ironing hotel sheets with a turn around of a few hours this had no value whatsover. How many sales meetings do you hold where you are offering your prospect something that has no value to him whatsoever? Unless you understand and professionally question the prospect, never assume that you know what will be of value to them.
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