My folks were down this weekend and they are always great for inspiration for a few blog posts. One that stood out for me was my mum telling me about her dissatisfaction with Sky (digital tv provider in the UK).

My mum rang to cancel her Sky subscription, partly  because it was not getting used, and partly because it then seemed rather expensive for what was being consumed. She had to run the gauntlet of questions for a few minutes to avoid the special deals only available to her if she continued to be a subscriber to get to a point where the contract was going to be terminated.

The You Are Too Expensive conversation

The young guy (YG) on the other end of the phone asked:

“I have to put down a reason for you canceling. What shall I put?”

Mum – “It’s too expensive”

(YG) “OK – I will put down that you can’t afford it”

Mum – “No, I can afford it, it’s just I don’t want to pay for it because in my view it’s too expensive”

(YG) – “OK i will put down you can’t afford it”

This went on for some time untill my mum agreed in exasperation and vowed never to go back!

The point is that you too may be using subtle word changes to change the meanings of your communications. And these might have a powerful impact, both positively or negatively on the way you are communicating to your intended clients.

As a start why not look at your sales process and see how that  might be read, understood, misunderstood and interpreted by your prospective clients and customers.

In that way, we might get to avoid the You Are Too Expensive conversation.

If you sell to the 21 – 39 age group then a recent study by the Zandl Group might give you some interesting perspectives on what you need to focus on.

Do It Yourself Culture:

Consumers are increasingly adopting a do-it-yourself mentality to save money. This can be seen in shifts in:

• Cooking v Eating Out
• Bringing their own lunches to work
• Making coffee at home V Starbucks
• Doing their own home repairs V Bringing experts
• Seeking out cheaper, more underground, original entertainment venues

Online Barter:

Consumers are looking to the following sites for financial relief.

• Craigslist to sell/buy/barter
• Ebay to sell/buy/barter
• Paperbackswap.com to exchange books
• Couchsurfing.com for free accommodation – worldwide

Stay in touch  with the trends if you want your business to be a success for 2010 and beyond……… if you don’t know where to start then try http://www.trendhunter.com/

It’s funny but as a sales trainer and consultant it’s very rare that I wear a tie anymore. And do you know what I don’t miss them one iota!

I was reading through a classic sales ‘text book’ from the early 1990′s recently and was caught by the Way that the advise has dated so much in just ten years. I won’t give the name of the book because it was once regarded as the best sales texts books available and it would not be right.

The suggestions when it came to dress were:

‘Mens suits should be solid blue or gray, pinstripe or chalk stripe or modest gray plaid. Wool or polyester that looks like wool, is preffered. The darker the suit, the more authority it carries, although black is funeral. Men’s shirts and ties are important. Generaly, shirts should be white or pale blue or have mdest stripes………The ages of the salesman and the customer he is facing will affect the choice of dress. For salesman, considerbly younger than his customer, particularly buyers over the age forty eight, it is advisable that the salesman adopt the high – authority pattern of a dark suit along with a white shirt.’

Wow!

What detailed and specific advice. What happens to buyers at the age of 48? Is there some well known  ‘professional buyer menopause’ stage that kicks in?

Do you think that is true in today’s modern business world?

Personally I don’t but I would love to hear your thoughts. Personally I think that you have to dress appropriately for the circumstances. And if you are in a sales situation you should take the time to find out the perspective of the person and company you are going to see.

Thinking like this is still quite prevalent.  I was at an event recently and chatting away to someone who said:

“This event seems to be better than the last one I went to in London. It was full of scruffy gits, who couldn’t dress properly and not one of them was wearing a suit!”

Beware of taking a short sighted attitude like this in todays modern business arena. Some of the most wealthy, dynamic, forward thinking business people I know would never dreamof wearing a tie, never mind  a suit. Some you wouldn’t get out of their flip-flops!  However, if you were selling to this guy (he was a Sales Director) you would never get anywhere without a suit as a minimum. It’s not right because we all like to believe we are judged on the value we bring rather than appearances, but it still happens.

My own personal philosophy was very much moulded in my teens and in particular one instance when I went to buy a car. WhenI was 19, I was fortunate to be in a position to go and buy a brand new Volkswagen Golf through the family business. Although I was technically a University student at the time this was to be a ‘company car’. The problem was I  dressed like a student. And not a very good one at that!

I remember walking through a few showrooms where the salespeople just ignored me as if I was not even there. Yes, I looked scruffy but I as good as had a cheque for £15,000 in my pocket to spend.  I never really found any one to take an interest in me and had to force myself upon a salesperson after I got fed up of looking around garages. I will always remember that lesson.

Be careful who you judge!

If you are in sales then dress appropriately. If in doubt you can’t go wrong with dressing smartly or one way of putting it is  to dress how the people who advise your potential client dress i.e their bank manager and accountant.