"Shocked and Horrified!"
"Hard work spotlights the character of people:
some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses
and some don't turn up at all."
Sam Ewing (1920-2001)American writer & humorist
Unlike a large number of those poor naive, innocent and gormless politicians and county councillors, I am not at all easily “shocked and horrified”….the poor lambs….why do we cause them such distress on a regular basis?
But at the minute I am rather gob smacked after a recent encounter with a potential client sales force……
The company owns a very sophisticated database system. It tracks any details they wish to know on customers. The sales force members say, almost universally, “it is great , but it is not being used properly”. Then I discover that they are only obtaining the details of those customers who actually do business with them!….Hello?????????
Nobody is hoovering the details of those who visit but don’t buy.
Nobody sees that although they don’t buy from them, those callers buy somewhere. Nobody sees that if we can’t get them this time, we can influence them greatly before their next purchase.
Nobody sees that “tyre kickers” today are buyers for the future!
Even where some details are collected, a name and a phone number is typically all the information sought.
Management or Seller problem?
A problem for the management or for the sellers? Both. Management needs to focus on developing valuable information for future promotion and marketing. And they own the information. Common sense should tell the sellers that information is power in relation to future purchases….”nah, too much trouble to deal with tyre kickers”
Let me tell you a story. A woman of my acquaintance owns a “posh frock” shop in a wealthy Dublin suburb. High rents, high prices, high affluence in her customers. She never gathered any information on her customers, assuming they came from the immediate five- ten mile area around her outlet, and that word of mouth was building her business.
Eventually, I persuaded her to start collecting information on her customers to develop a database.
The results left her feeling like a stunned mullet…”shocked and horrified” doesn’t begin to describe it!
Over 60 % of her clients were coming from 25 – 40 miles away and were middle class rather than posh! They shopped her outlet because they believed it was where the fashionable people went to get their clothes.
By targeting direct mail campaigns based on her new information she tripled her business in eight months.
How well do you know your Customers?
OK, Virginia, the point is obvious. How well do you know your customers and clients?
· How many untested assumptions are you making about them?
· Have you asked them…….anything?
· Have they things in common that you do not know about?
· Is there information available to you about your customers that you are not using?
Napoleon Hill, (Think and Grow Rich) says that accurate thinking is one of the key characteristics shared by top business people.. You cannot think accurately without accurate information
If your information is accurate, you can target promotions, new services, and new products very precisely pin pointed at your customer’s interests.
For any one of these reasons it is worth collecting information from every contact you make. But for all three reasons it is essential…….and is one of the most profitable things you can do.
I continue to recommend “The Brain Audit”. A tour- de –force to wake up your sales thinking.
Check it out here
Keep Selling with Integrity!
Health & Blessings until next time.
Maitiu
More great content for those interested in improving their selling skills:
Great Expectations Coaching Home Page
CHANGING THE WORLD ONE MIND AT A TIME
Sam Ewing (1920-2001)American writer & humorist
Unlike a large number of those poor naive, innocent and gormless politicians and county councillors, I am not at all easily “shocked and horrified”….the poor lambs….why do we cause them such distress on a regular basis?
But at the minute I am rather gob smacked after a recent encounter with a potential client sales force……
The company owns a very sophisticated database system. It tracks any details they wish to know on customers. The sales force members say, almost universally, “it is great , but it is not being used properly”. Then I discover that they are only obtaining the details of those customers who actually do business with them!….Hello?????????
Nobody is hoovering the details of those who visit but don’t buy.
Nobody sees that although they don’t buy from them, those callers buy somewhere. Nobody sees that if we can’t get them this time, we can influence them greatly before their next purchase.
Nobody sees that “tyre kickers” today are buyers for the future!
Even where some details are collected, a name and a phone number is typically all the information sought.
Management or Seller problem?
A problem for the management or for the sellers? Both. Management needs to focus on developing valuable information for future promotion and marketing. And they own the information. Common sense should tell the sellers that information is power in relation to future purchases….”nah, too much trouble to deal with tyre kickers”
Let me tell you a story. A woman of my acquaintance owns a “posh frock” shop in a wealthy Dublin suburb. High rents, high prices, high affluence in her customers. She never gathered any information on her customers, assuming they came from the immediate five- ten mile area around her outlet, and that word of mouth was building her business.
Eventually, I persuaded her to start collecting information on her customers to develop a database.
The results left her feeling like a stunned mullet…”shocked and horrified” doesn’t begin to describe it!
Over 60 % of her clients were coming from 25 – 40 miles away and were middle class rather than posh! They shopped her outlet because they believed it was where the fashionable people went to get their clothes.
By targeting direct mail campaigns based on her new information she tripled her business in eight months.
How well do you know your Customers?
OK, Virginia, the point is obvious. How well do you know your customers and clients?
· How many untested assumptions are you making about them?
· Have you asked them…….anything?
· Have they things in common that you do not know about?
· Is there information available to you about your customers that you are not using?
Napoleon Hill, (Think and Grow Rich) says that accurate thinking is one of the key characteristics shared by top business people.. You cannot think accurately without accurate information
If your information is accurate, you can target promotions, new services, and new products very precisely pin pointed at your customer’s interests.
For any one of these reasons it is worth collecting information from every contact you make. But for all three reasons it is essential…….and is one of the most profitable things you can do.
I continue to recommend “The Brain Audit”. A tour- de –force to wake up your sales thinking.
Check it out here
Keep Selling with Integrity!
Health & Blessings until next time.
Maitiu
More great content for those interested in improving their selling skills:
Great Expectations Coaching Home Page
CHANGING THE WORLD ONE MIND AT A TIME
posted by Maitiu @ 12:44 p.m.
1 comments
1 Comments:
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