The Domino Effect

Current and future business depends on building relationships with clients and customers who expect good service from their supplier so they in turn can service their customers. The chain of events from the failure to deliver can be wide spread and if plans are not in place to handle these situations organisations can go out of business. Today a large amount of manufacturing is done using the “just in time” method of delivery of parts and component’s. In recent times for example, natural disasters in Japan have highlighted with one industry (vehicle production) that throughout the world orders have not been able to be met and sales have suffered. The domino effect is unavoidable so it is imperative management and particularly sales managers have plans in place to address any disruption to supply.

Avoid Damage

It has to be appreciated that on the shop or showroom floor as well as out in the field salespeople are contacting clients and customers, making their presentations and taking orders. All markets are competitive and if a company is going to be out of stock there needs to be systems and procedures in place to ensure as little damage as possible is caused to the organisation and their brand. Companies can’t afford to let the failure to deliver jeopardise  customer relations.  At all levels in any business the importance of the sales effort has to be understood and appreciated by all staff. There is no future in seeing it as just bad luck and things will be back to normal once stock is replenished. The responsibility for the handling of “out of stock” situations ultimately are with management and sales managers as those in the field and on the showroom floor need their support at all times. Building relationships in business is vital if a company is looking to be around for years to come.

“If you make a sale, you make a living. If you make an investment of time and good service, you can make a fortune”

Mutual Respect.

Making the sale is only the start of the process of delivering your product or service to the buyer. The steps from contact to closure are steps that will involve others. The sales professional understands these dynamics and treats their colleagues with the same respect as their clients. It is only through working as a team that the buyer will receive the level of service promised by the salesperson. The support of others to deliver the services and products sold ensures customer satisfaction. Confidence and trust can be destroyed by the most simple of mistakes or oversights such as lack of attention to detail and failure to deliver. Even the most successful salesperson will have complaints from unsatisfied, unhappy and disgruntled clients. The professional understands these things can happen and has learnt to respond and get the situation resolved. The simplest task not done properly can soon develop into a major issue and destroy all the good work done in first getting the business, then building relationships for the future.

The Blame Game

Professionalism shows and it needs to be remembered that for the salesperson it can’t only be reserved for the clients and customers. We all know our reputation is based on how others see us and how we treat all those we come in contact with, not only in our business life but also outside work. It is too easy to blame others when things go wrong, but the professional will respond rather than react and solve the problems with others and plan to minimise the situation happening again. It is only through teamwork will long term relationships and contacts be maintained in the business of selling.

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people”. Theodore Roosevelt.

You Can’t Live in a Bubble

Today, with so much of our life being influenced by the media, it is vital, to be a true sales professional you need to know what is going on in the world around you with particular attention to how events affect the field in which you are working. Although the media mostly reports the negative side of life because bad news sells, the experienced sales professional has learned to remain positive. You cannot live in a bubble, insulated from the world and its events and still be able to understand and interpret situations that are affecting the economy and your market. It is these events that your clients and customers are also concerned about as it can and does affect their business.

Get the Knowledge

As a professional your clients, customers and prospects will be looking to you as someone knowledgeable about their industry and this gives you the opportunity to put a more positive interpretation on events that may be affecting them. To build a relationship and establish report with contacts your knowledge of what is happening around you and your industry will greatly help in your conversations with prospects. It will also help you in handling the questions and objections that can be used as excuses to delay or put off making a commitment to buy.  As with all aspects of life today there is no reason not to be able to seek out the information and have a more positive outlook, through better knowledge, to equip you to be a successful salesperson.

Keep Up

With the boom in twenty four hour news, social media, the internet and all other forms of communication it is easy to become complacent.  Salespeople can become so involved in their own world they fail to filter all this information and it is easy to turn off. It takes some effort to seek out and get a better appreciation of events and the reasons behind them to be able to talk with some authority and understanding. It will be the salesperson who can demonstrate the ability to be interesting who will gain the trust and respect from their clients and customers and build a relationship.

The sales professional understands these dynamics and treats their colleagues with the same respect as their clients because it is only through working as a team that the buyer will receive the level of service promised by the salesperson. The support of others to deliver the services and products sold ensures customer satisfaction and future business and referrals. Confidence and trust can be destroyed by the most simple of mistakes or oversights such as lack of attention to detail and failure to deliver.

Even the most successful salesperson will have complaints from unsatisfied, unhappy and disgruntled clients. The professional understands these things can happen and has learnt to respond and get the situation resolved. The simplest task not done properly can soon develop into a major issue and destroy all the good work done in first getting the business, then building relationships for the future. It’s common for salespeople to over-promise and under-deliver, not communicate effectively, avoid problems, put off unpleasant jobs, and not return calls (emails & text) and so on.

The experienced salesperson appreciates the importance of customer satisfaction, building good relationships with clients, creating repeat and referral business. This is far more cost effective than to be continually looking for new customers. A professional approach by the salesperson to all those involved in delivering goods or services to the client will ensure satisfaction from the buyer and create the opportunity for future sales.

Selling is not a solo activity and will always require the involvement of others. It is for this reason all salespeople have to be sure they conduct themselves professionally at all times and earn the support they need to deliver on the commitments they have made. Without team work all will suffer as it is only through continued sales will a business have the cash flow needed to survive.

All successful sales people have developed repeat business from this important skill that enables them to compete with their competition and win sales.

The importance of knowing all about your clients will put you ahead however it needs to be understood it will take time and effort to establish a sound reliable system to record their details.

Any number of data base programs is now available and information on clients and customers from their purchasing profile, business history, staff details, important follow up dates and call frequency to name a view are available at the click of a computer mouse.

Satisfied clients and customers are the source of repeat and referral business and it is important to recognise that maintaining good relationships with existing clients is far more cost effective than always looking for new ones.

In today’s market place it is the successful sales person who takes the time to develop their plans and systems to ensure that sound relationships are built with their clients and customers.

Relationship selling needs to be understood and appreciated and by developing the “4 Qualities of the Successful Sales Professional” you will build your career on a sound footing which will lead to the repeat business and many satisfied clients and customers.