| Oops! Sale Gone Wrong |
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Sounds like a country and western song... "...and my saaaallll--eee went wrong." Well, that's exactly what happened to the poor fellow who made his sales call to me today. It was an appointment, made after months of his being persistent. You know that I truly respect persistence, and in fact, LIVE by it. So he got some points there. He was also able to book the meeting. All the more reason he should have been far better prepared. So read on to learn more... First strike, he failed to confirm the appointment via voice mail or through any other method. I was there anyway. Next, we agreed to meet at my business club. He was 10 minutes late. Although he had my mobile number, he never called to apologize for running behind. A minor inconvenience to me, but it's beginning to add up, slowly. Strike two. Next, he started his call with "I know all about what your company does, so let me tell you about what we have that you want..." (It happens to be a software product that I may be interested in.) Without asking any questions at all, (mind you, it was OK, I wasn't "training" him as a client), he launched into his differentiators "no bugs in the software", "foolproof", "innovative", etc. After 10 minutes of this, I asked to see the demo. (Strike three, he rambled on too long.) In short, it didn't work. The program wouldn't pull up, he struggled with clicking and dragging awhile until I excused myself to check email while he could get it together. It never happened. So after 40 minutes with this guy, I'll call him "Dwight", he failed to deliver. My time was wasted, and so was his. He came unprepared and apologized. Next, he asked me to book another appointment. What do you think I said in reply? (Email me and let me know your thoughts. If you get the right answer, I'll send you a Starbucks gift card.) What if this had been you, or someone you work with? Let me provide you with a mini-checklist below of how to prepare for your next appointment so that you don't pull a "Dwight" like this guy: 1. Make sure you confirm the appointment using voice mail, not email. With email it's too easy to hit "reply" and say, "sorry, too busy to see you". Call instead and leave an upbeat message without including your phone number. 2. Next, find out where you are going before you hop into the car. Google, Yahoo, Mapquest, and a dozen other mapping options are available to all of us. If all else fails, pick up the phone and call the facility. They are happy to provide directions. Then, leave early to allow plenty of time so that you aren't late. 3. If you are late, and it happens to all of us, make sure you call the customer's mobile phone and tell her you're running behind. We are all busy and this is not only the courteous, respectful approach, it allows your customer to better plan her time and not resent it being wasted watching the clock. 4. When you arrive, don't spout off everything you have done for the past 20 years like Dwight did. I really am not that interested, especially after he was late. I wanted to know, "How will this solution work at SalesPEAK?" Instead, ask the customer questions. 5. Plan your demo and practice it BEFORE you get in front of your customer. Apparently someone in his office had used his computer. Some technical engineer who didn't care that Dwight had a demo with a potential customer the next day. If someone else (or even you) have moved things around, make sure you have practiced and know what you're going to do; avoiding a lot of wasted time and unnecessary embarrassment. 6. If you have a total failure of an appointment, make it up to your customer, NOT by asking for another appointment. He could have said, instead: "I am so sorry I wasted your time. Let me take you to lunch next time at my favorite restaurant." Lastly, it goes back to what I shared with him as the appointment began. I shared with him that most small businesses fail because either the money is mis-spent or the employees can't sell. Case closed. If you want to know more, email me at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and I'll send you a handout on how to run a customer meeting. Happy Selling! (c)Renee Walkup, All Rights Reserved, www.salespeak.com, 678 587-9911 |
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