As we all know, Sales Training needs to be supported and leveraged to yield the results we want. We also know that for this type of Training to be effective, our Sellers’ activities are going to have to change – and therein lies the rub. It can be extremely difficult to make this happen. So, what can we do about it?
In mid-June, I presented SLH for Inside/Counter Sellers for W.A. Roosevelt (now part of the Dakota Supply Group), an Electrical/HVAC/Refrigeration/Plumbing Wholesaler based in Wisconsin. Todd Eber is WAR’s incredibly capable President and he chose to be very proactive in leveraging his Training investment, especially as WAR is moving into ESOP mode.
Below is Todd’s follow-up plan (“RULES OF ENGAGEMENT FOR INSIDE SELLERS”) to the SLH Training sessions. Wasting no time, he began communicating in writing exactly what is expected of Managers and Sellers and then stuck with it. He is relentless.
Todd can be reached at 608.781.8369 ex. 234 and ebetod@waroosevelt.com.
Good Selling to you!
BLOG – http://selllikehellsales.blogspot.com
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Overview:
Since our Sell Like Hell Inside Sales training on June 19-20, we have gained a great deal of traction on taking some of the key points of learning and putting those into action. We’ve done that through daily e-mail to Managers with recaps on add-ons, quote follow-ups, and post-delivery follow-ups. The daily e-mails were intended as a short-term step to help develop long-term behaviors, knowing we would implement wider reaching permanent expectations for those working in inside sales, counter sales, and in project quotations & design roles. The following is the outline of those expectations:
Phone Greeting:
Use a minimum of a three part greeting 100% of the time when answering the phone.
Example: “Thanks for calling WA Roosevelt, this is Todd, how can I help you?”
Setting the tone with a positive and friendly greeting gets you off to a great start. From there you need to find out the customer’s needems to match with our gottems, while matching the customer’s urgency (timeframe and mood).
Quotes: 100% follow-up on quotes of $2,500 or higher.
Customer Benefit: Following up on quotes tells the customer you care about the business they do with us, and that you’re organized. The follow-up needs to be completed within an appropriate time-frame based on customer feedback. Example question after providing quote to customer: “When can I get this to the job-site?” If customer says it’s not time yet, they haven’t chosen a supplier, they haven’t been awarded the job yet…then get the specific timetable and follow with something like, “OK, I’ll give you a call on Tuesday July 17th to check in…how’s that sound?”
E-mail appropriate Mgr & TSM with notification of customer quote more than $2,500.00.
Ask for the order 100% of the time on ALL quotes. This can be done with one simple question like this, “When would you like me to send this your way?”
Add-ons: Ask for a minimum of two “gottem” items. 100% of the time, with phone or counter orders.
Customer Benefit: Many customers have been thanking us for asking about these add-on products because they had forgotten about them! Think of this as a great W.A. Roosevelt service you’re providing so they don’t get to their job and have to run back to pick up something they forgot.
Ask a simple question something like, “What are you doing for a pad, line-set, and whip to go along with the condensing unit?” Remember,”What else do you need” DOES NOT qualify for a good, specific, gottem add-on question! Creating “cheat sheets” for products you’re typically involved with will be a big help.
Remember, add-ons can go in two different directions; larger products or equipment that leads to smaller accessory and support items as add-ons, or smaller accessory items that lead to larger products or equipment as add-ons.
Post Delivery Call: Make 1 post delivery call per day.
Customer Benefit: Gives the customer a chance to share performance feedback, plus it differentiates by “saying” we care about our performance. Example: “Hi John, just wanted to find out how yesterday’s delivery of X,Y,Z went?” If it didn’t go well, apologize and fix it. If it went well this is an opportunity to ask a renewal question with something like, “Great to hear! What more is going on with either that project or something else that we can help with?”
We don’t want to be a pest to any one particular customers with repetitive calls within a short time. This shouldn’t really be a problem since we make many deliveries to many customers, but it also will take some coordination to make sure we’re not “overlapping” calls.
Dormant Account Call: Make 1 dormant account call per week.
Definition: A dormant account is a business that hasn’t bought anything from us in three months, AND it’s not due to payment status. Example: “Hi John, this is Todd from W.A. Roosevelt and as I was looking through an older file it led me to realize we haven’t heard from you in quite awhile. I wanted to see what types of things you have going on that we might be able to help with.” This should get the conversation to the point where you can listen for needems that we can provide our gottems.
100% of all dormant account calls need to be followed up with a confirming e-mail. Example: “John, it was great reconnecting with you today. Glad to hear things are going well for you and XYZ Company! Regarding that “XYZ” we discussed, I’ll be checking on price and availability with our vendor partner and will send you an update e-mail before close of business tomorrow…how’s that sound?”
Price Objections: Handle “Your price is too high” customer objections with SLH strategy 100% of the time.
Example: [Customer] “Hmmm….your price seems pretty high.” [WAR SLH Expert] “When you say pretty high, what do you mean?” [Customer] “I mean I can get it cheaper down the street.” [WAR SLH Expert] What and who are you comparing against…what delivery put away, warranty support, Roosevelt Rewards, etc. does that come with? [Customer] Look, it’s apples to apples…how much lower can you go?” [WAR SLH Expert] “How much lower do we have to be?”
These questions are all with the purpose of NEVER, EVER , EVER being the one to present the second number…that’s the customer’s job! If they still won’t give a number say, “Look, I don’t mind negotiating with you, but I can’t negotiate without you.” If they ultimately won’t give you another price simply state, “Sam, without knowing anything else about where we need to be the price I’ve given you is the best I can do.”
Feel liberated yet!?!