On Mother’s Day, my nephew, who is the top salesperson at his company, and I were talking about golf. He said that he doesn’t play much golf because he is an awful player. So he plays “speed golf”. That’s where he keeps an extra ball in his pocket, so as not to slow down the customer’s game. Do his customers care that Andy is a poor golfer? No, they probably love it, because they don’t have to worry about his ever beating them! In the meantime, business is being conducted, they socialize a bit, and business is conducted on the course. It’s a win/win. 

Tip #1. What are your customers doing in their spare time? Find out, and get involved. When was the last time you invited your customer to an event? A ball game, concert, or even a networking evening can provide an excellent opportunity for you to deepen your relationship with your customer. Recently, one of my clients told me he gives his customers tickets to the Braves’ games. I asked why didn’t he go with them. He said, “I don’t like to go out during the week.” This is a missed opportunity to connect with a customer. After we talked about it, he changed his position and is now downing hot dogs and beer with his customers at games. 

Tip #2. “Gift” event tickets for your customers and go with them. How well are you connecting with your clients in a sales call? The old school method encouraged sales people to look around a customer’s office and find a picture or memento to begin a conversation. That doesn’t work these days. First of all, when was the last time you were really in the customer’s inner office? In my business, 99% of my face-to-face calls take place in a conference room, or neutral area. There isn’t room for making idle chitchat about Rover and Meow-Meow. Your customer’s often don’t want you in their office. Also, these days, customers are busier than ever, so the 10-minute schmooze doesn’t work. So what DOES work? Listen carefully to what the client is saying and you’ll learn more to figure out new ways of connecting. For example, I was trying to line up an appointment with a prospect yesterday and he pushed back on a 10:00 meeting time because he had to attend his kindergartner’s graduation that day. I said, “Oh, you have a kindergartner? Where does she go to school?” We talked about that a bit, and since we have a kindergartner too, we made a deeper connection. (By the way, we are going to meet in the afternoon…so the appointment was still secured!) 

Tip #3. LISTEN to your customers. What are they really telling you? See if you can connect to what they are sharing. How about connecting through courtesy. Are you using the customer’s sir name, adding salutations to your mails, asking permission to move forward in an interaction, listening to the customer’s tone on the phone for distress signals, and more? Just remember what your parents taught you when you were in kindergarten! It still works. (Hey, didn’t someone write a book on that subject?) 

Tip #4. Be courteous. It may separate you from your competition. Give up easily? Feel like you’re being a pest? Well get over it. The more professionally persistent you are with your customer’s time, the more business you’ll close. Call, email, write, fax, and use snail-mail to keep in contact and connect with your customers. They’re not sitting around thinking of us. Customers have business pressures, demands, office politics, personal lives, and more…just like you! So, cut them a break. If the proposal wasn’t read when the customer said it would be read, get over it. Give her time and ask when she WILL be ready to discuss it. Your customers will appreciate this. 

Tip #5. Be professionally persistent. Pretend you are a modern-day cockroach. (Remember, they outlived the dinosaurs!)

(c) Renee Walkup, SalesPEAK, 678 587-9911 www.salespeak.com