Confidence is for Closers

Have you ever had “butterflies in your stomach” prior to speaking with a customer?  That nervousness can be caused by uncertainty or lack of confidence. 

As was typical in the industry when I started out, I spent many days traveling with a senior salesman or sales manager until they felt confident that I was ready to represent the company on my own.  One day, I was making calls with my sales manager and I was having severe troubles.  I would stumble over my words, lose focus and have to start my memorized presentation over, and sheepishly hand brochures to the customers in the hopes that they would simply place an order and I could leave quickly.  I could tell my boss was getting frustrated with me, and I honestly thought this would be my last day due to my lack of confidence.  It was late in the afternoon, and getting close to quitting time when we called on a customer, and that experience would forever change my life.  As we walked into his office, I noticed that he had a guitar leaning up against the wall.  As a guitarist myself, and knowing that I was probably fired anyway, I asked him about it.  This sparked a very natural conversation between two guitarists that ranged from various amplifiers and accessory equipment to the many bands we had both played in, to the groupies that followed the bands and some of the things we had seen and experienced with them.  After about 40 minutes of this, I realized that my boss was fidgeting a bit behind me and started to panic a little bit.  I did the best I could to bring the conversation back to the product that we were selling and to my surprise, he actually bought some!  I almost lost it!  The most unprofessional sales pitch I had ever delivered had worked and I was walking away with an order.  To say I was confused about what had just happened would not have even begun to convey what I was feeling.

As we walked out of the office and got back into the car, my sales manager was smiling, almost laughing, at what he had just experienced.  I started up the car and started to drive away when he turned to me and said, “If you can do that at every call, you will be my best salesman”  He then went on to explain to me that what I had unwittingly done was taught in sales training courses the world over.  The confidence I had when I noticed his guitar (and realized I could talk to him one on one) had allowed me to develop a relationship almost instantaneously.  That relationship led to closing the sale.  

From that point on, whenever I go to see a new customer, I am scanning the office for something I know a little bit about, just to develop that commonality.  The boost of confidence that will create a bond that opens the door for me to make the sale.  It gets easier as I get older and my experience grows, more experiences = more things to talk about and more confidence because I have had successful experiences.

BE PERSISTENT

Have you ever had a customer that has a very difficult reputation? Early in my sales career, I was working for an international wholesale distribution company that was in a major expansion mode. People were being hired there at a very rapid pace, and the opportunity for advancement was everywhere. This was a place where I needed to make a big splash in order to move up the ladder. After I had gone through their training period, I was assigned a sales territory and hit the road with a recently promoted salesman who was tasked with getting me “up to speed” with his former customers. We were on our way to see a guy named “Joe Bob”, who was an imposing figure at 6’ 2” and 300 lbs. and was notorious because he had literally thrown salesmen out of his office by their collars. The stories I was being told were definitely making an impression and creating a bit of apprehension.

Upon arriving at “Joe Bob’s widgets”, we went inside and asked for “Joe Bob” and were promptly told he was out. I have to say that I was a bit relieved to hear this at first, I didn’t want to be thrown out by my collar! As we were leaving, the other salesman tells me that “Joe Bob” was actually standing behind the guy that said he was out! Amazed, I asked why we left when clearly he was “in”. The response astonished me, he said “Everyone knows that “Joe Bob” doesn't like a salesman and he is just mean!” All of a sudden, I had an epiphany, our competitors product was all over “Joe Bob’s” shop, so he was obviously dealing with a “salesman” from our competitor. At that point I made it my mission to take that business away from my competitor and let them know that there was a “new sheriff in town”.

I called on “Joe Bob” once a week for the next two months, each time meeting with a similar response to the one I had received during the first call. I was beginning to lose confidence that I could make the change. I had tried all of the usual salesman tricks, bringing doughnuts for breakfast, pizza for lunch and providing information about new products and trends that might affect his business. Nothing seemed to be working, the only response I ever got from “Joe Bob” was “no, not interested”. (Which had increased from “no”)

Finally, on the tenth week of calling on “Joe Bob”, I got a break. He was just closing up shop for the day when I arrived when he asked me why I kept coming by. Finally, more than three words from “Joe Bob”, this was a major breakthrough! I told him my plan, and that I wanted to earn his business. I explained that I was not going to give up until “Joe Bob’s Widgets” became one of my best customers. Suddenly, laughter roared throughout the office, he smiled and said, “Well, I believe you. No one has shown the persistence that you have in my whole career. I will give you a shot”. He placed a small order with me that night and I had it delivered to him first thing in the morning. (Remember, under-promise, over-deliver)

“Joe Bob’s Widgets” became a good customer of mine. I never completely displaced my competitor, but I never gave up trying, and that persistence paid off. I did become the vendor of choice for “Joe Bob’s Widgets”, always getting the first call when something was needed. I also became known within my company as the kid who “tamed” “Joe Bob”! While he never got any easier to deal with, “Joe Bob” and I did business together for many years until I moved to another company, and we remained in contact with each other until he passed away many years later. If I had given up after three, five or even nine no’s, I would never have had the opportunity to get to know “Joe Bob” or benefit from his vast knowledge of the business.

Eric Johnson is a Strategic Business Consultant, Private Equity Investor, and has started 7 companies on his own.  For more information, go to www.JohnsonCapital.solutions 

Listen Proportionately for Sales Success

      You have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth, using them in that proportion will be very beneficial in all business transactions.

Maybe it’s a new customer that has the potential to be “the big deal” you’ve always wanted.  Once when I had recently changed companies I was faced with a previously successful sales territory that had been trending downward in revenue for the previous 5+ years.  No one within the organization could come up with a reason why it seemed as though the business had just “vanished”.  The first thing I did was to get a printout of all of the open accounts in the territory (This was back in the stone ages) along with their corresponding credit limits.  The goal was to see who was buying from us, in what volume and frequency, and who still had room to grow.  I was trying to gain some perspective and look for any trends that may exist.  The thing that jumped out at me the most was that there was a handful of accounts that had very large credit lines that were going unused or underused.  Again, no one in the organization could explain this to me.  It was becoming clear that to get answers I was going to have to go to the source, directly to the customer.  I picked up the phone and started to schedule appointments.  I was able to secure an appointment with the president of a large, multi-store operation, for the purpose of this story, let’s call him “Jimmy” and the company “XYZ co”.  XYZ co. had a credit line that would if fully utilized monthly, increase my sales by 1000%.  This was a big deal, and I wanted to make a great impression.  I gathered as much information about Jimmy and XYZ co. as I could from the other salesmen in my organization.  It seemed as though he was a low-key, down to earth kind of guy, so I decided to forego bringing in doughnuts for the first meeting (the industry standard at the time), not wanting to distract from my mission, to solve whatever issue was keeping XYZ co. from buying from us.

After the usual pleasantries, I simply asked Jimmy why XYZ co. wasn’t doing business with us when there are so many reasons that they should.  Then I sat back and actively listened.  If you are not familiar with the term “active listening” here is a brief description.  Active listening occurs when you hear what is being conveyed and ask related questions to make sure you understand it the way it was intended to be heard.  It is a very effective tool in dispute resolution, but should also be used in sales situations.  Actively listening will reduce the canceled or returned orders and as an unexpected consequence, it will also increase sales.  The more a customer feels you understand what they want or need, the more business they will send your way because you “get it” and they know it will be done right!  

During our conversation, it came out that roughly 5 years previous, there had been a salesperson with my company that had made a mistake with one of their orders.  It just so happened that the order was for one of XYZ co’s largest clients, and it was a critical order.  The mistake had cost XYZ co. thousands of dollars in missed business when their client “punished” them.  XYZ co., in turn, “punished” my company by withholding orders.  Rather than going back in and trying to make things right again, the salesperson from my company “assumed” that XYZ co. would never do business with him again, and avoided them altogether.  This damaged the relationship even further, almost assuring the perceived scenario.  XYZ co. assumed that their business was not important to my company, as no one bothered to contact them and turn things around, so they went out and found new suppliers.  

This cycle went on for years until I came knocking on their door.  Needless to say, Jimmy was a bit skeptical of my ability to perform when my organization had shown no desire to do so for over 5 years.  I assured him that my desire was genuine and that I was willing to earn the right to do business with XYZ co. again.  He reluctantly agreed to allow me to speak with one specific salesman and take only “non-critical” orders from him, on a trial basis.  

I went back to my manager and told him what had transpired and gained his support for my plan of under-promising and over-delivering to this customer on a trial basis.  Over the next few months, word got around to other salespeople in XYZ co. and finally to the main purchasing agent that we were exceeding expectations in product quality, pricing, and delivery, so naturally our business together grew.  In twelve months XYZ co. alone effected a 1200% growth in revenue for my sales territory.  There were others in the geography with similar stories and results, which helped me to become a highly regarded salesperson in that company, winning many sales awards and earning significant bonuses.

Active listening had created an opportunity for me that had paid off in spades both financially and from a personal perspective.  Even though I am no longer with that company or even in that industry, I still have friends and mentors because of that opportunity. 

If you want to know more about me, you can go to my website at www.JohnsonCapital.solutions