Yearly Archives: 2007

Getting to the Heart

Last week we talked about moving your key account relationships beyond solution or needs-based selling. We discussed the passion, commitment and investment that you can attract when you begin to appeal to your clients’ hearts instead of their heads.
            Many of you wrote to me and said our “Beyond Solutions Selling” memo was our most valuable memo yet. So, okay, you can see the merit in filling a want versus filling a need, but how do you get there?
            In early-stage selling you generally begin your relationship by asking questions like “What keeps you up at night?” or “Why do some customers deal with your competitors instead of you?”  These questions are designed to help you uncover current problems or needs you can solve.
            Once you have clearly demonstrated your sincerity and ability to solve those problems, you can earn the right to move on to the next level ….. finding the client’s dreams, wants or passions.
            At this stage, your questions will be more future or want-based. You’ll learn to frame questions like;

  • “What was your goal or vision when you started this business? Why”
  • “Where do you want to be five years from now? Why?”
  •  “In a perfect world, what would your life at work and outside of it look like. Why?”
            You can see that this type of questioning will focus more on sending the kids to college, growing a dynamic enterprise or building a retirement nest egg. Entry level questioning on the other hand will generally explore band-aid solutions to short term problems like hitting this month’s sales targets.
            Future vision questions should always be asked outside of the client’s stressful daily environment. Book a meeting room in a conference facility, go on a boat trip, or reserve a quiet and private corner of a quality restaurant, to get the client away from the harsh realities of today, and get them thinking about a brighter future scenario.
CAUTION:  It is absolutely imperative that you sincerely and genuinely care about your client’s future more than you care about making a sale at this juncture. This level of business relationship transcends all of your goals and is strictly about helping someone find and achieve their dreams and goals.
            Ironically, if you do genuinely care about your clients, your sales goals will automatically be achieved.
            When you get as big a kick out of seeing your client’s success as she or he does, you really have grasped what ‘relationship marketing’ is all about!
 

Free Franchise, Part 2

Last week we discussed your sales peoples’ “free franchise”. One of our readers in Florida liked the idea so much that he is using it as the basis for a recruiting ad; “Free franchise available……”
            Did you know that not all franchisees experience the same degree of success? But more importantly, I’ve learned that it is the franchisee who makes the franchise succeed above and beyond expectations, NOT the franchisor!
            Here’s what your free franchisees can learn from the more successful franchisees across North America;
Embrace Change
          When a franchisor introduces new products, ideas or changes, it is because they firmly believe it will improve the results for the franchisee….and the success of the franchisor is directly dependant upon the success of its franchisees.
            Your station’s success is also dependant upon the success of its sales people. When management introduces change, it is because they are convinced it will make their salespeople and themselves, more successful…give change a chance.
Rally Behind the Flag
          In franchising, there is a thing called, The Franchisee Dependency Curve. When the new franchisee comes on board they are always happy and delighted, learning new things every day, managing their own business, and appreciating what the franchisor brings to the table.
            But some franchisees after time, go stale. As their learning curve flattens they begrudge the royalties they are sending the franchisor. These franchisees begin to fail when they say “But my market is different”.
            Your franchise is no different. When you say, “yes, but my account list is different” or, “I know a better way,” you begin to loose the power and benefits of your franchise.
Go Beyond the Call of Duty
          The most successful franchisees actually go beyond what the franchisor expects. If, for example, the franchisor expects them to participate in one local charity for publicity and networking, the most successful franchisees support two or three charities. 
          The most successful franchisees I’ve met actually improve upon and build upon management initiatives and volunteer to sit on franchisee project committees.
          And, when they do find an improvement that works they enthusiastically share it with the franchisor for the benefit of all franchisees. They recognize that a stronger company benefits their individual franchise.

 

 

 

 

The three keys to you making your franchise successful; Embrace Change, Support the Brand and Go Above and Beyond the minimum expectations management sets.

CLIENTS ARE NOT STUPID!

For the past few weeks, I have been responding to our readers’ overwhelming interest in taking customer relationships to the next level through moving beyond CNA’s (customer needs analysis) and getting to the heart of the matter with Customer Wants Analysis.
            In considering this series of relationship-building tips, it must be said that, “clients are not stupid”.
            Promising to “partner” in delivering a dream or vision is a very emotional territory. That’s the good news. Selling to these emotions and wants creates passion, commitment, loyalty and excitement.
            But here’s the bad news…..anger is an emotion as well. Nothing will arouse the anger of a client faster and more permanently than betraying a deep and personal confidence they placed in you.
There are three keys to maintaining that confidence…..
1.) Sincerity,
2.) Competence and
3.) Confidentiality.

 
Sincerity. There is a chemistry or aura which surrounds account executives who sincerely and genuinely put their client’s needs first….and your clients can detect this invisible aura.
     Everything from your body language to the recommendations you make will contribute to the confidence your clients place in you.
 
DREAM-WEAVING RULE NUMBER ONE:  Clients are not stupid. If you don’t care more about your client’s success than you do your own, your intentions will read all over you like ugly on ape.
    
Competence.  Media fragmentation, new technologies, increased competition, changing economies and consumer trends make marketing one of the fastest changing and most exciting fields in business today.
      If you are to become a trusted advisor and dream facilitator it is absolutely imperative that you can offer cutting-edge marketing ideas.
      Read every day. Keep up with trade journals and business books.
     Keep on the lookout for seminars and courses which will make you the clients’ C.K.O., Chief Knowledge Officer.
      And continue to do post-campaign analysis to learn how to make each campaign better than the last.
 
DREAM-WEAVING RULE NUMBER TWO:  Clients still are not stupid. If you have not kept pace with what works in today’s competitive marketing environment through reading, training and experience, clients will recognize the folly in your proposals.

Asking ‘Why’

When you are partnering in your client’s success through filling wants versus needs, there is one revealing question which should follow every question you ask….. “Why?”
           Even when you think the “why” is obvious, it is the answer to this powerful three letter word which will unveil what truly motivates your clients and prospects. It is this base motivation which will secure passionate long-term commitment.
            For example, a client may tell you her goal is to double her sales over the next five years. You may, in turn, may presume they simply want to make more money. But after asking “Why?” you may discover she really wants to create a more saleable entity so that she can sell the business and retire to Tahiti.
            Helping your prospect keep her eye on the ‘Tahiti ball’ will ensure more long term thinking and help you to avoid the desire for instant gratification.
            Often the initial answers to your traditional what, where, when and how, will only tell you the client’s proposed means to and end…..not their end or dream.
            By focusing on their vision instead of the means or methods, you are assured more buy-in, commitment and follow-through from your client. And more importantly, you may even be able to offer a better means to their end than the method they originally proposed.
            In that case, you will take your relationship to yet another enhanced level.
            You will notice that asking “why?” will always provoke more thought and more passion than the simple what, where, when and how traditionally asked in needs or solution-based selling.
            Don’t be afraid of the silence that follows “why?”…..it means you are really getting to the heart of the matter. In fact, even after you’ve gotten the deeper more meaningful answers to your prospects inner motivation, you might want to dig even deeper by asking, “Are you sure?”
            Remember, these are deep partnering discussions….discussions your client probably had with themselves in the past, but in the day-to-day realities of running a business they often loose sight of their original dream or vision.
            As the facilitator to re-visiting their dreams, your meetings will be like a breath of fresh air to your new-found “partner”.

 

Your Free Franchise!

Does your sales staff fully appreciate their FREE franchise…that’s right, they have a free franchise!
Think about it, what do you get when you pay for a franchise;

A recognized name and trade mark…..like your call letters

  • A protected territory….like an account list
  • Continuous product or service improvement…like your format and your audience
  • Training…..like the training you offer your sales people
  • Proven systems and procedures….like your traffic, ordering and billing systems
  • Advertising and Promotion….like the on-air listener contests you run
  • Market Research …..like Arbitron, TOMA and other research you pay for.
I have had the privilege of consulting several national franchise organizations and their franchisees, and can tell you that many franchisees pay $50,000 to $100,000 or more just to buy the franchise, then pay for real-estate, equipment, support staff and ongoing royalties for life, often to earn LESS than the top biller at your station!
One of the main selling benefits franchisors promote is, “You get to be in business for yourself but not by yourself.” ……don’t we offer the same benefits?
In most organizations, productive sales people are given the latitude to manage their own time, their own accounts and account strategies, but they have good management supporting them every step of the way.    

WOW! A free franchise with all of the benefits, none of the upfront costs or ongoing royalties, and an income potential that is greater than the average small business or franchise……makes the commissioned sales person feel a whole lot better about prospecting and developing new business for THEIR franchise, doesn’t it?