I love it when companies try to sell me stuff. Especially those companies that I seek out first. Invariably, they end up getting it horribly wrong and I end up buying elsewhere.
In this post I’m going to share with you the list of things that piss-me-off (and a lot of other people – I’m not alone here) about salespeople who don’t know/care enough about their job and, what you can do about it if you happen to be one of these people.
(This is back-to-basics stuff. However, it surprises me how many salespeople either forget it or never think about it. If you have trouble selling, or getting your salespeople to sell, then these few things might help. I sincerely hope so – I’m sick of you guys wasting my time.)
First up: The Customer.
I’m not a difficult customer, but I’m no push-over either. I’ve got the cash to buy whatever it is that you are selling. I’m in your shop (or on your website, or at your office, or on the other end of the phone line - whatever) and I’m ready to pay good money. All you need to do is explain to me “…the reason that I should buy from you.“
You see, I’ve already done my homework about whatever it is that I’m buying. I’ve been to all the websites. I’ve read all the reviews. I’ve scanned all the blogs. I’m informed. Educated. Aware. There’s precious little that you can tell me about your product that I don’t already know. This is especially true if it is a big-ticket item.
The thing is: most of your customers are like me. We know about the internet. We know how to search. We are tuned in. If you forget this, then you are in deep, DEEP trouble.
So, chances are that before I ever meet you I have already decided to spend the money. The rest, dear salesperson, should be simple. All you have to do is convince me that I should spend it with you.
Second up: It’s about service, stupid.
The one thing that you can do to make me feel comfortable about spending my hard earned cash with you is provide me with good service. I don’t necessarily mean being a fawning sycophant, but at least listen to what I want/need. Sometimes I am going to need stuff from you that I can’t do myself. Sometimes I am going to want something from you that I can’t provide for myself. Sometimes all I need is for you to reassure me that everything is going to be alright.
Now hints and clues about what it is that I need from you will come thick and fast – if only you would listen to what I am saying. They might not be obvious, but you should be looking for these hints and clues. Remember, I can get whatever it is that you are selling from lots of other places. What I can’t get is peace-of-mind on whatever the issue is that I want solved. You can provide that. I’ll buy it if you do. In some cases I’ll even pay a premium. All you have to do is identify what it is that I need.
Third up: Is that an unmet need in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?
The good news: if you ask thoughtful, intelligent and sensitive questions, then chances are I’ll tell you exactly what it is that I need from you. But if you ask stupid, inane, irrelevant questions then I’m going to get bored and think: “This person isn’t listening to me – why should I think that they are going to do a good job? I’m off to find someone who will listen to my needs.“
The trick (if you can call it that) is to listen to what I am saying and to let me do most of the talking. Eventually, I’ll run out of things to say, and that’s when you can ask a clarifying question. Keep it relevant and then shut up and listen to the answer. You’ll learn what I really need/want and then you can go about providing that.
Fourth up: Don’t forget to do what it is that you say you will.
I recently went to a high-end audio place to buy a new amplifier (surround sound!) and to get them to come and install it and all the other stuff I had been buying for the past few weeks. This was no small job. It was gong to take a full day. I needed wiring put through my walls, surround speakers installed and my new TV put on the wall. I wanted it neat. Tidy. No wires showing. This was a job for a professional outfit – it was waaaaayyy out of my league.
Now I know that this is no easy job, so I went in to ask if someone could come and give me a quote. (Like I said earlier, I’m no push-over. I know how much this should cost, but that doesn’t stop me from trying to get the best deal that I can.) After a bit of negotiation I am able to convince someone to come to my house and give me a quote. I even offer to drive them there and drive them back again. The guy who comes informs me that he is in charge of the installation team and that he has 10 years experience in this sort of thing. He also tells me that his team are professional and that they have never had a complaint about the quality of their work. So far, so good.
We get back to my house and the installation guy walks around, taps walls, says “hmmmmm…” a lot and then gets down to the task of writing out a quote. No explanation. No clarification. Just one piece of paper with a number on it.
“This covers everything?” I ask.
“Everything” he says.
“Ok“, I say. ”When can we book it in?“.
“How about this Wednesday?” he asks.
“Sure“, I say, thinking that I can work from home that day. ”Cool.“
********
So Wednesday rocks around. I am expecting the installation team to arrive at 8:30am. I’ve got the coffee made and I’m expecting them to walk through the door any minute. Fast forward to 11:00am. Still no installation dudes. Still no phone call from ANYONE letting me know that they will be late or even if they are coming at all. So I make the call: ”Where are they? What’s going on?“
“I‘m not sure – I’ll find out and get back to you.“
I do get a pone call about 15 minutes later: ”They’ll be there at 12noon.“
Fast forward to 12 noon and the guys arrive. No apologies. No excuses.
Time for me to check that they know why they are even here…. So I begin asking questions. It quickly turns out that they don’t know why they are here. They haven’t been told anything about the job. I show them what they need to do and I show them the quote. That’s when it really turns to crap…
“There’s no way we can do that amount of work for that amount of money. I don’t know who gave you the quote, but we can’t o it for that. It’ll cost you about $600 more.“
It’s about then that I lost my tiny, little mind and kicked them out of my house. I’ll get someone else. I’ve wasted too much of my time and these guys are not even in the same galaxy as professional. Sorry. You lose.
Fifth up: Don’t follow up bad service with even worse service.
I thought that would be the end of it. I arranged for someone else to come and do the work, and except for telling everyone I knew the story of the bad service people, the whole episode began to fade from my memory…
…until I got the follow-up phone-call.
The guy who originally gave me the quote rang “…to see why the job hadn’t been closed off.”
“I decided to get someone else” I said. I wasn’t going to elaborate. I wasn’t going to tell them how bad their service was and how they could fix it. Oh no. I wasn’t going to waste my time on THEM. I was going to tell all my friends to tell THEIR friends how bad it was. I was going to get all my friends, colleagues and acquaintances to avoid them like the plague and I was going to get them to add this latest chapter of “The most inappropriate phone call in the world”.
“Oh. Ok. Thanks. Bye.”
That’s it?!? They didn’t even WANT TO KNOW why I chose someone else?!?? They deserve all they get.
Finally: Want to know who they are?
These guys don’t know how to do any of the positive things that I have outlined here in this post. My recommendation: Don’t buy from them.
If you have a similar story, let me know. I’d love to hear it.
