relationships Archives - The Caveman's Guide to Selling

Do People Know, Like, and Trust You?

March 28, 2016 by Bruce Leave a Comment

You’ve heard it before: people do business with those they know, like, and trust.

Do you have all three of these covered?

Chances are you do if you’re authentic and vulnerable.

Knowing people and becoming known is the simplest of the three. It boils down to how involved you are in the community; the more you put yourself out there, the greater the likelihood of making a connection.

But simply putting yourself out there isn’t enough. This is where trust and likability come into play.

One of the best ways to master likability is to treat everyone you interact with as you would a long time friend. By doing this you let your guard down, and people are more likely to view you as approachable. You can take this idea a bit further by regarding others as not only long time friends, but as those you haven’t seen in awhile. From this perspective, you will be more eager to “catch up” with your “friend” and will naturally want to ask questions to learn about what they have been up to. People love to talk about themselves, as studies have shown, and by facilitating this your presence is likely to be positively correlated with their enjoyment.

As an added bonus, when you regard those around you as a friend, the likelihood of doing anything that would violate their trust is reduced. I’m not saying you have to be perfect, but if you’ve developed and deepened the relationship, the odds of recovering from a mistake or error in judgment and maintaining the connection is greatly improved. As a rule of thumb, if you have to stop and think about whether or not you should or shouldn’t do something in terms of behavior, don’t do it. If it’s questionable and you find yourself starting to rationalize and justify doing it, don’t.

At the end of the day, trust comes down to your reputation, which can take years to build and only moments to destroy.

Presenting Proposals

February 29, 2016 by Bruce Leave a Comment

Presenting proposals to outline the costs involved with your products and services is a necessary evil. What’s more important than sending them though, is what you do before and afterwards.

The keys are to:

Understand their needs and price your product or service accordingly. If they like you and trust you, they’ll either pay a little more or let you know where you need to be in order to earn their business.

Always speak with your prospect (ideally in person) when sending the proposal and walk them through it. Otherwise, you are just a number. If meeting in person or over the phone isn’t an option, make sure your delivery email clearly guides your client through the proposal, just as you would in person.

After submitting the proposal, be responsive and elicit any kind of feedback. Even if you lose the business, it’s another chance to build the relationship by deepening your understanding of your client’s perspective. Sometimes “no” can be converted into “not now”, but you’ll never know without feedback.

“But what about price?”, I’m often asked. “Is it better to be the most expensive or the least expensive option?”

My response is always the same. I would take the former all day long. Here’s why:

If you have an actual relationship with the prospect, they will help guide you to where you need to be cost-wise. It’s far easier for them to curb back a few things and keep the quality and service high than it is to take a chance with a lowball offer, especially if quality and service could suffer.

As Benjamin Franklin once said:

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

In the event that your client counters with a price that is less than you had presented, you get to decide whether you’re willing to lower that price, accept less, or just say “no thank you” and walk away.

Always keep in mind that if price is their sole or primary consideration, they’re not a good fit anyway! You are not a number and you never want to be one. You are the difference in any proposal. Believe it and don’t ever forget it.

The Cold-Calling Argument

February 8, 2016 by Bruce Leave a Comment

I’ve noticed a polarization of views in regards to cold-calling (speaking with people you don’t know yet, whether in person or over the phone) recently through various books and articles written on the subject.

Some claim it’s going the way of the dinosaur (or should); that only “old-timers” are using it because they can’t let go of the past.

Others say this way of prospecting is essential; a necessary part of the life of a salesperson. Proponents on this side of the argument insist on taking a proactive approach to prospecting, as opposed to a reactionary one (waiting for clients to come to you).

I hate to be politically correct, but the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

There are all kinds of ways to reach out and connect with people (as there should be). Rather than arguing over the minutiae of the topic, what’s more effective is choosing to engage in whatever it is that you’re comfortable with and that you’ll actually do!

I won’t deny there are efficiencies with marketing and selling via the web, emails, and social media, but this is not the only way to go. While there are other effective ways to reach people and develop relationships, being face-to-face and belly-to-belly with someone and the opportunity for them to become your client is definitely tried and true and serves a purpose: feedback.

The best way to get feedback on your prospect’s position is to interact with them personally. This enables you to not only hear their words, but also to pick up on the subtleties of their message through inflection, tone, or body language. These can all help you better understand their feelings and position. Cold-calling allows this dynamic to take place.

As I mentioned in a previous post, it’s important not to become a victim of analysis paralysis. While there are many ways to reach out and contact people, the means by which you do it doesn’t much matter. just as long as you actually do it! What matters is that you listen and find ways to help them. Only then can you move them in some way.

Follow Up! Otherwise, why even start the process?

February 1, 2016 by Bruce Leave a Comment

One of the most critical parts of the sales process is the follow up. This isn’t just about leaving a voicemail message and updating your call sheet, noting that you’ve “followed up” on such and such date. Following up means actually touching base and re-connecting with the client to find out the next course of action.

It’s truly amazing how many times this doesn’t happen or is handled poorly.

Assuming you have met the client’s need and solved a problem for them, you should always ask for the sale. At the very least, you should establish whether or not the prospect has further interest in your product or service. Many times, they are still uncertain and require further steps, time, or information before determining whether or not to move forward.

Follow up not only propels the sales process forward by keeping the lines of communication open, but it shows your ability (or a lack thereof) to do what you say you’re going to do. It shows you’re going to be around to help and that you’re reliable. This speaks to the area of trust and credibility. Without these two components paired with your ability of being present, the odds of continuing and deepening the relationship are low. In other words, your continued engagement via follow up greatly improves the likelihood of maintaining a relationship, which is really what it’s all about!

Marketing Material

October 21, 2015 by Bruce Leave a Comment

After months of deliberation, I am proud to say, I am now an unencumbered inhabitant of a paperless office.

Although I was pretty efficient in my pre-paperless office, I’m finding that I am even more so now, after reducing the excess noise and clutter. The switch was pretty easy, considering almost every document we use is shared via email or lives in the cloud somewhere (although I’m still not sure where that is exactly). In a future post, I will go into greater detail about what kind of system I use to keep everything organized, but for today, I want to address the stubborn pieces of paper that continue to pester not just me, but my scanner too!

Marketing material.

I can’t tell you how many pieces of marketing material I receive from fellow sales people everyday. From high-gloss brochures to business cards and everything in between; it’s everywhere.

Now, it’s not that marketing material is inherently bad. In fact, when used appropriately, it can serve as an effective storytelling tool, one that conveys a universal message and has the ability to move us visually. Marketing material is not however an effective sales strategy. It can not and should not be used as a salesperson’s main course of action.

People don’t develop relationships with brochures, they develop them with people.

Who you know

October 14, 2015 by Bruce Leave a Comment

Growing up, I remember hearing the phrase “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. I always assumed it meant no matter how hard you worked or how educated you became, success only graced those born into privilege or into a family that yielded advanced social status.

After twenty plus years in business and sales, I’ve learned that my interpretation of the phrase could not have been farther from the truth.

What I’ve learned instead, is that who you know is a direct result of the work and energy put into developing authentic relationships.

Now don’t get me wrong, what you know and the education you’ve attained can obviously serve you well, but ultimately people propel you forward, and the effort it takes to connect with those people will always serve you better.