| Ask the Sales Doctor |
 |
|
| This is a weekly column transcribed from my Radio Show. "Ask the Sales Doctor" is the segment of the show in which I answer questions sent in by listeners. Send in your questions by mail, email, fax or phone. If I pick yours to be "Question of the Week", you'll win an autographed copy of my best-selling book, The Six Steps to Excellence in Selling. |
|
|
|
|
|
Robert writes:
"About a year ago, one of my major accounts decided to try another supplier for a small amount business. I guess I over-reacted, telling the account that I was upset. I felt that I had earned his loyalty; and I said some unkind things about the competitor too. The end result was that I lost all the business. Now a year has gone by and I hear from other sources in the company that the competitor is not doing the job, and there might be an opportunity to get back in the door. How should I approach my ex-client?"
|
Warren answers:
 Well, Robert, I have a number of questions. How did you keep your job after you did that? You violated all the rules. (I'm abusing Robert, but I talked to him on the phone, and he's actually a nice person. For being so brave and telling us all his foibles, he gets an autographed copy of my book The Six Steps to Excellence in Selling.)
I am known as the Sales Doctor on my website, but today I feel that I should be a grief counselor because this is very upsetting to you, I'm sure, and your company. Like I said, you violated a cardinal rule or two or three. Let me review what happened that went wrong.
When you over-reacted, you did something that happens a lot in sales, you took it personally. Now just because the client said they were going to try another vendor for a small amount of the business, who knows, maybe they were being required by their own business. What happens if your company ran into financial troubles or got way too busy or decided to change direction? Your potential risk if you're putting all your business in one vendor is pretty huge. So I understand maybe why somebody might want to try somebody for fill in. So I think, A, you over-reacted. You took it way too personally.
The other cardinal rule that you violated is that you didn't earn anything. We earn the right to our customer's business every day. So what you did for me last week or last year, yes, it was nice. You did it because there was something in it for you and for the customer. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to do business with you forever and ever just because I've done business with you in the past. So I think loyalty is way overplayed as a card, especially from the sales company's, from the vendor's perspective. We tend to get fat and happy, thinking that our customers are so loyal that they'll never change. That's the second cardinal rule. If it's a cardinal rule there's only one, right? So there will have to be another rule. Cardinal means the penultimate rule.
Anyway, the third rule you violated is that we never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never slam our competitors. If someone says, "I'm thinking about going with ABC Company", we say, "Hey, that's a great company." Pause. And then go right back to talking about ourselves again. You never slam your competition.
OK, so now that I've told you all the things you did wrong, how can you make it right? Well, Robert, I hope you're not a vegetarian because you're going to have to eat a lot of crow with this particular account. The first thing I would do is call the person on the phone and say, "I, Robert, am so sorry about the way that I mishandled the situation that we found ourselves in last year." In other words, don't tell him you were having a bad day, don't tell him you were having a fight with your spouse, or your car was having a problem, or the warehouse wasn't doing its job. You accept responsibility. You say, "Look, I am so sorry for my actions a year ago. I accept responsibility for having our relationship come to a sudden and thudding halt. It's my fault. It's my responsibility, and I accept that responsibility." So those are two things. I'm sorry. I accept responsibility.
And the third part is "Hey, I appreciated your business in the past. And I would love to appreciate your business in the future. And you know what, I'd like to rebuild the bridge the back to you." And again, I wouldn't say, "I've heard through the grapevine that that competitor is not doing a good job." You're back to violating the other rule we talked about before. In a very innocent way you say, "Look, Phil," let's say his name is Phil, "can we get together? Can I buy you lunch or breakfast? Can we get together offsite? I just want to get some things on the table. I want to show you by my mannerisms and my demeanor that I really am sorry, that I do accept responsibility. And just as a way of saying thank you for all the business that you gave me in the past, I just want to get out and do something fun, just get together and start rebuilding the bridge."
I think it would be great, Robert, if you could meet him on neutral turf. If it has to be at his office, that's great. But if you could take him out someplace that's fun in a very neutral, non-threatening environment, that would be the great way to do it. And then, when you get there, don't talk. Tell him only that you're there to accept responsibility, to apologize.
Then just start getting him talking about himself. "What's been going on for the past year? I haven't seen you in awhile? What's new at work? What's new at home? What's new in your personal life? What's new in your professional life?" All those things, just get him talking about himself. What will happen is slowly that rapport will build up.
I would not ask him if I could earn the right back to the business at that meeting. I would wait for him to say, "Here are the next steps." If he doesn't recommend any next steps, the only thing I would suggest you do is say, "Phil, what should I do from here? What should my next step be?" So you don't be overly aggressive; you don't be overly assertive; you just test the waters. If Phil makes the statement saying what the next step is, great. If he doesn't, you ask in a very innocent, non-assertive way, "Where do we go from here?"
It might be nowhere. But from what you're telling me, if they're not doing the job, there's a chance that you might be able to work your way back in slowly into the account. Robert, thanks for being brave and sending us that question. I hope I wasn't too hard on you, and I hope you enjoy reading the book and don't draw little mustaches on the picture of me on the cover.
 |
|
| Warren's Favorite's |
Maximize Your Networking Skills
What do you recommend to do after you've attended a network party where you've met new potential customers?
|
Getting Nosy
As a financial advisor I have to ask people some pretty nosy questions. This is easy to do after I've developed...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I
provide these valuable resources free of
charge for you to train your sales staff. However,
there are some restrictions on the use of
materials found on this site. Please see my Use Policy.
If you have questions or comments, please
contact me. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
– Warren
Wechsler |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
