Independent Thinking » Sales

Your Customers Are Not Morons

Daria Steigman — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:02:29 +0000

This 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

Daria Steigman — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:45:26 +0000

What’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).

6 Sales Questions Every Business Must Know

Daria Steigman — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:04:51 +0000

I’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).

Don’t Write This Sales Pitch

Daria Steigman — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:05:07 +0000

Technology 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).

How Not to Start a Conversation

Daria Steigman — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:50:24 +0000

I 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).

Estee Lauder’s Folly

Daria Steigman — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:52:53 +0000

Estee Lauder has raised the bar on its purchase “giveaway” from $1.00 below the price of not-so-cheap-to-begin-with moisturizer to $1.00 above. Which means you either leave without the extras or spend money on something you don’t want. Or option 3: change brands. There’s a lot of competition out there.

Let’s be clear: Although cosmetics companies put a dollar value on their giveaways, it doesn’t cost them that much. The aim of the promotions is to generate sales and customer loyalty.

So why would a company risk alienating customers, especially during a recession?

Blogging for Business

Daria Steigman — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:23:58 +0000

Check out this piece from the Jacksonville Business Journal on why small businesses should consider establishing a blog. The article offers several compelling reasons to blog:

add new content to your Web site
become recognized as an expert
identify potental business
leverage sales
draw traffic to your Web site

Read the article here.

Of course, you need to have something to say. Does your business have a blog? Why or why not?

Sales v. Consulting

Daria Steigman — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:04:59 +0000

Sales people are always trying to sell something. That’s what they do. I know one terrific salesperson who could sell you the Brooklyn Bridge and convince you that you could move it into your back yard. Great, until you find out the promise and the reality don’t mesh.

Too many consultancies operate like sales operations: they close the deal and then try to figure out how to do the job. But consulting isn’t transactional; it’s about adding value.

Are you willing to tell a potential client their premise is flawed or what they want to do won’t work? I’d rather lose a job upfront than set everyone up for problems later.