Posts tagged as:

Sales

Your Customers Are Not Morons

by Daria Steigman on January 31, 2012

Customer Service, Empowered Customers are not ClownsThis should be obvious, right?

[Insert BIG SIGH here.]

There’s a lot of talk these days about “empowered consumers” and what this means for companies. It’s an issue for  pricing and sales, and for what consumers want and expect from the brands we interact with.

We have more information than ever a mouse click, search term, or social scroll away.

There’s a big gap between the empowered consumer and many sales and customer service teams.

Case in point. I was shopping around the other day for information on Internet service providers. Mine has been very reliable–but the price has gone up astronomically. So here’s how the conversations went.

1. Existing provider said they felt my pain. Customer service agent put me on hold for a couple of minutes while he (maybe) went off to see if he could give me a different service or a better price point on this one. Came back and spouted a company line about having only one speed of service and that I was paying the standard rate for that. I told him I was going to cancel. Said he would be sorry to see me go.

The rate I was paying was $7 over the highest rate listed on the company’s Web site. The base rate was 40% lower than what I was paying.

2. Prospective company’s sales guy wants to know what I’m paying now. Not relevant, I reply, I want to know what options you offer. Sales guy asked what provider I have now. (Nice try, same answer.) Then he starts talking about bundled new services–which I say is not what I’m asking about either. Finally, he quotes me a price.

The price he quotes me is 25% higher than the rate listed on the company’s Web site. And it’s for completely unbundled service–and I already have one service through this company.

They must think we’re morons.

Clearly, companies have a long way to go in understanding how the Internet–let alone social platforms–impacts the business/customer relationship.

Photo by macinate (Flickr).

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Why Every Deal Is Not a Bargain

by Daria Steigman on December 12, 2011

sales, marketing, value, Independent ThinkingWhat’s up with the “2 for 1″ sales trend these days?

My thinking on pricing,  rates, and value is pretty clear. And I don’t understand why some people think every deal is a bargain:

  • “Buy 1, get 1 free” suggests the item is overpriced.
  • “Buy 1, get the second free (just pay separate shipping)” suggests the product is so cheap that all the profit is built into the shipping cost.
  • “Used to be [a lot more], but really great price today” tells me the product is pretty close to worthless. And no one’s buying it and we desperately want to get rid of our inventory.

I’m all fine with sales–everyone knows that’s a temporary drop in your profit margin. (And “2 for 1,” used judiciously, can serve that aim.) But when your business model is all about discounting, then I start to get worried.

What about you? Seen any deals lately that aren’t bargains?

Photo by Anthony Easton (Flickr).

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6 Sales Questions Every Business Must Know

by Daria Steigman on November 1, 2011

sales, business, value proposition, Independent Thinking, Steigman CommunicationsI’ll be the first to admit that conversations about CRM, lead times, funnels, and sales systems make my eyes glaze over.

Maybe it’s because I’m a small business. Or that I’m a fan of paper, pen, business cards, big red desk calendar.  Or that every time someone starts talking about sales systems all I hear is jargon, jargon, jargon. Or that it really isn’t rocket science.

Mike Schultz broke the elements down nicely during a Webinar last week on The Art of Sales Conversations. The gist of his message was that it’s all about bridging the “conversation gap” between what you deliver and what your prospect wants. And then understanding how to talk the (right) talk.

Which brings me to the six sales questions every business must know.

Can You Answer These Questions?

My big takeaway from Schultz’s presentation is six questions you better be able to answer about your business:

  • Who are your ideal customers?
  • How do you help? (What needs do you address?)
  • What value do your clients gain from working with you? (How do they describe it?)
  • What are your core offerings?
  • What is the proof that you can do what you say you do?
  • What makes you distinct? (How do your customers describe it?)

If you can’t articulate your target clients, the target need, the business value, your offering, your proof points, and what makes you unique–then how do you expect anyone else to buy what you’re selling?

Photo by Holger Zscheyge (Flickr). 

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

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Don’t Write This Sales Pitch

by Daria Steigman on June 21, 2011

sales, marketing, Independent Thinking, Steigman CommunicationsTechnology makes it too easy for stupid people.

Too cheap and easy to find you. To reach out to you. To spam you with their junk.

Take this pitch that I received yesterday (illogical sentence flow and poor punctuation included):

Daria, What makes an association truly world class?

The ability to communicate and educate your members to give them the competitive edge needed.

You can achieve this goal while also reducing your costs and putting your information flow into hyper speed with [company]. We will demolish the barriers of time, distance and cost.

Your Association’s mandate is to inform educate and offer a constructive platform for peer information sharing the only way for you to truly fulfill this mandate is to partner with [company] at NO cost to your Association…

With over 10 years’ experience delivering content through webinars on behalf of the world’s leading organizations [company] is here to assist your Association.

There’s so much wrong with this.

1. I’m not an association. Nor do I work for one.

2. It assumes every organization has the same core mission or objectives.

3. Is says nothing about what my challenge might be–or how this product might help me address it.

4. All this gobbledygook is about Webinars? Seriously?

5. It was signed by a “VP, Business Intelligence.” Need I say more?

Every time I saw the words “your Association” I thought that someone had intended them to be a placeholder for an actual company name. Not that this would have helped.

The bottom line: Be relevant. Be targeted. Be literate. Don’t write this sales pitch.

Photo by Leland Francisco (Flickr).

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How Not to Start a Conversation

by Daria Steigman on September 28, 2010

Talk, Don't Market | Independent Thinking | Steigman Communications, llcI received a two-paragraph e-mail the other day from someone looking to connect with me at an upcoming event. She spelled my name right, told me it’s her second time going to an event put on by this particular group, and said she hoped we’d get to meet.

So far so good.

But then paragraph two, in its entirety, read:

“Advancing organizations and individuals toward clear communication to produce and present best products and services using best practices…”  I’ll look for you Thursday to wrap up my elevator speech.

Why?

Please don’t pitch me. Talk to me instead.

I like networking events because I love to meet new people. Find out what makes them tick. Who they are when they’re not in default work mode. Sure, we’re all selling something. But we’re not all buying the same things.

You can’t sell me if I tune you out. So strike up a conversation instead.

Postscript: When I emailed that I was happy to meet her but to please leave out the elevator speech, I got a mea culpa. She’s going to ditch the speech so we can have a genuine conversation.

See, it’s really not that hard.

Photo by Marcin Wichary (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

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