Manufacturer Offers Insight

There were no real surprises in the conversations that took place at a recent MANA in-house manufacturer seminar. What did come out of this one-day event, however, was some candid views concerning what reps do, what they should do, and what they might consider doing better — at least in one manufacturer’s eyes.

Typically the sales personnel from the manufacturer voiced the typical expectations of reps in that their outsourced salespeople should possess the qualities of being trustworthy, educated, personable, organized, etc.

Things got a little more interesting when the conversation turned to what the manufacturer expected from his reps on a daily basis. Included in those expectations were that reps should:

• Possess the talent to be able to direct the customer. In other words, “focus the customer in the direction of choosing the best product to meet their needs.”
• Exhibit a willingness to always communicate the status of a project during the entire production process.
• Show no reluctance in making themselves available whenever and wherever they are needed.

And if there were any practices that the rep might want to concentrate on for improving his performance, they were in the following areas:

• Increase knowledge of the manufacturer’s product offering.
• Don’t oversell or over-commit for the manufacturer.
• There’s no such thing as over-communication. If a customer calls or otherwise leaves a message, get back to them as quickly as possible — and when you get back to them, communicate with them fully and honestly.

Typical Mistakes Reps Make and How to Fix Them

Consultant Nicki Weiss, who has been working with MANA, recently offered her views on a couple of mistakes that can plague a rep. But, she doesn’t leave it at that — she goes on to offer some fixes for these mistakes.

Sometimes I wish sales success was a simple matter of following the right formula.

Make the right phone calls, have your value proposition down tight, and figure out how to counter resistance. But the formula theory leaves out one important part of the equation: salespeople are dealing with individual buyers who each have separate needs, opinions and business challenges. Catch-all formulas don’t address this uniqueness.

Below are two classic mistakes that all of us make. If you see yourself in these, take heart, because they are fixable. A tweak in behavior or attitude can go a long way toward creating better relationships with your customers that will feed your bank account as well as your soul.

Mistake #1: Not showing up to serve, but showing up to be self-serving (aka “The Pitch”).

The typical sales pitch rests on the assumption that the buyer will purchase your product if you position it correctly. The conversation between a manufacturers’ rep and prospect usually goes something like this:

• After hello, the rep talks about all the latest and greatest products his company has.
• Then he asks one or two questions, using the buyer’s remarks as a launching pad for the pitch.

Unfortunately, this method can backfire because it embodies seller-based and product-focused selling. It assumes the prospect is a blank slate, waiting to listen to the information the salesperson is offering, and ready, willing and able to buy.

Think of sitting in a restaurant where the waiter says: I’m not taking your order; I know what’s good on the menu and I’m going to tell you what to eat.” The buyer, as you would with this waiter, ends up feeling hostile and defensive.

The Fix: Assume your buyers are creative, resourceful and wise. They have the answers; manufacturers’ reps simply pose questions.

Selling is about helping your customers achieve their goals and objectives. It’s about helping them solve their problems. It’s not about what you sell. So keep your focus where it belongs — on your customer.

Be the stone dropped into still water. Slowly and intentionally go deeper into their world; have them consider the ripple effects; get to the bottom of things.

You can do this by asking questions about their challenges, their industry, and their vision for how they want to grow their business. Then closely listen to their answers, using what they say as another opportunity to be curious.

Authentic curiosity, with a light touch, makes people comfortable and willing to open up.

Research shows that buyers appreciate manufacturers’ reps who come with insightful questions that made them think about problems and solutions at a deeper level. Buyers also report that most reps do not ask good questions on sales calls, and they are poor listeners.

Other studies show that super-successful reps ask six times as many questions as mediocre reps. Let me repeat: six times as many questions!

Good selling is about creating conversations with decision makers, actively listening to their answers, and not pitching. Remember, your offering is only a tool to help them achieve their desired business outcomes.

So zip it and let them talk…and talk…and talk.

Mistake #2: Not planning the next step you will ask the customer to take at the end of a sales call.

Whenever you meet with a customer, each of you has a reason for getting together.

For your part, you may want to introduce yourself and your line; develop an understanding of your customer’s needs; deliver and discuss a proposal; close a sale, or several of the above.

On the buying end, your customer may want to learn about your rep firm’s capabilities; discuss his or her needs; respond to a proposal, or fulfill an organizational requirement to talk with several suppliers before making a purchase decision.

Buyers these days rarely make snap decisions. It typically takes multiple meetings and phone conversations to solidify your contract, project, or order, even if your offering grows their sales and saves them time and money.

Yet when I ask many manufacturers’ reps what their main objective is for the meeting, they tell me, “Get the business.” Going into a meeting with this goal is a setup for failure, especially if you use the lame closing techniques promoted by many so-called ‘sales gurus.’

When selling, particularly to big companies and distributors, you need to move forward in steps. To figure out those steps, analyze the process your customers go through to make a decision. For example, a typical sales process could look like:

• Initial conversation with one person.
• Talk with others in their organization.
• Review a proposal.
• Do a month-long trial.
• Place an order.

As a seller, you can’t short-circuit their decision cycle. You need to align with it, making sure you’re doing whatever you can to advance it to the logical next step.

The Fix: Your job, before you pick up the phone to call your customer, or before you walk in their door, is to plan the logical next step that you’ll propose.

This next step should be something you’re asking the customer to do. We all usually leave a sales call with a long list of to-do’s, such as write a proposal, get back to them with specific info, or talk to others in their organization.

The customer doesn’t have to do a thing. A question: How committed is that customer?

Based on my experience in working with business-to-business sales organizations, some next steps for the customer could include:

• Introducing you to others, including end-users, influencers, technical evaluators, financial people, or decision-makers. Leverage your contacts — a decision often affects many people.
• Participating in a demonstration to see your products in action.
• Conducting a trial. Before you agree to that, you’ll need to set criteria for what a successful trial looks like, get their commitment for providing enough people and energy to conduct a fair trial, and the guarantee of a sale if your products meet the criteria.
• Calling a reference you have supplied.
• Working on a proposal with you. You do the first draft, and they agree to make changes with you to fashion it into a proposal they’ll buy. This is a very collaborative and respectful practice that will yield positive results!

The key is to be very specific about the next steps. But you already knew that.

Nicki Weiss can be contacted at 283 Danforth Ave., Suite 327, Toronto, Ontario M4K 1N2. Phone: 416·778· 4145; e-mail: info@saleswise.ca.

Words to Live By

A rep who was retiring after nearly four decades in the profession called to thank us for all the work MANA has done for reps over the years. Before the conversation ended, however, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to pass along what he maintained was his most lasting impression of his years on the job. “While I was wallowing in the misery that followed in the wake of my poor sales performance during my first couple of years on the job, it dawned on me that no one was really all that interested in the specific product(s) that I was trying to sell them. Instead, whenever I was fortunate enough to make a good sale, it wasn’t because of the product itself, it was the solution to the problem that the product and I offered to the customer. That realization changed my sales career.

“I no longer entered the customer’s office with the goal of trying to sell them something. Instead, I made every effort I could to learn about the customer and his problems and concerns. Once I got a handle on what his needs were, it was only then that he and I could speak the same language and I could offer him some resolution to his problem. And, that resolution didn’t always reside in the product I sold. I can remember any number of occasions when if what I offered wouldn’t fit the bill, I’d recommend he look elsewhere. I know this sounds a little like heresy to the sales profession, but what it did for me was to solidify relationships that I had worked hard at establishing, I’m proud to say that I never lost a customer for lack of trying. Some of the people I started out with years ago have stayed with me throughout my career.”