Business >
Sales
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedDo salesmen sell or do customers buy?
Results so far:
| Buy | 47% | 256 votes | Total: 541 votes | |
| Sell | 53% | 285 votes |
Buy
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesNo doubt about it, customers buy. What every good salesperson needs to know, however, are the three key things that customers want.
Customers are the lifeblood of every business. Without paying customers, there is no commerce. The grocer on the corner relies on the neighborhood residents to drop in and purchase milk, cereal and bread. The gas station just off the freeway relies on motorists to stop by and fill up their gas tanks and maybe purchase a cup of coffee and some snacks. The attorney needs clients; the physician needs patients; the actor needs an audience. All businesses need and rely on customers.
Businesses come in all sizes: from a one-person, home-based business to a huge global conglomerate. Regardless of size, each business has to have customers who buy what they sell. All businesses have something to sell, something that the customer receives in exchange for currency [for the most part] - that "something" could be a product, a service, information or influence [an argument can be made that politicians sell their influence in exchange for votes]. Even in a barter-type of commerce, each is a customer of the other.
And, in all cases, customers are looking for 3 key things.
1. Quality. Regardless of price, people want quality. Granted, some people will begin with price [could be low or very high] and then find the highest quality they can for that price. One example might be the $5 hamburger...a low price, but people will search for the best quality $5 burger. Other people will assume quality based on price. An example of this would be jewelry...often if a diamond bracelet retails for $5,000 it is assumed to be of high quality because of the price. Whichever it is, the customer wants quality for their money. The definition of "quality" can be subjective. Quality could be in the product's fabrication or production. Quality could be in the promptness and timeliness of service; or of meeting all conditions of a contract within an acceptable framework...it depends upon what the customer is looking for.
2. Value. How does "value" differ from "quality?" People say, "The cost was a bit high, but it was a good value." Or, conversely, "I can't believe the value for such a low cost item." Value is a subjective measurement of a product or service. The example of a fast food $5 hamburger is a good one as both a good quality product and a good value product. Now, there are fast food franchises that have low cost, good value [as compared to cost], but the quality is not high. Maybe you get two burgers for the price of one. That might be a good value for the price, but the overall quality of the food is low. Regardless, your customer is also looking for value as well as quality...however he or she defines value.
3. A reason to return. Many people, when they find a product or service they like [the quality is what they want and the value is what they expect] will return again. Once a customer finds a good place for a quality, low cost burger that he values, he'll want to return there for more. That way the customer is not always searching for a good place to have lunch when he only wants to spend a few dollars but doesn't want to compromise quality.
How do you get people to return? You offer "added value." One key reason a customer might return to the $5 hamburger place is for its friendly service; for the clean interior and exterior; for the clean restrooms. These are all "added values" that can keep customers returning.
What happens when you give your customers the 3 key things they want? They give you referrals. They give you more of their business. People love to tell other people about great products and services they've used and people love to share their stories of "added value." [A warning: people also will share their negative experiences and not only will you lose that person as a customer, you lose all those they told.]
Give your customers quality, value and reason to return and - although nothing in life is a guarantee - you'll greatly increase the chances of a favorable bottom line.
Learn more about this author, Linda Smith.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Sell
Selling is a talent and a skill. The world is populated with people who profess to be salesmen. In actuality they are employed as "order takers." They wait on customers and collect payment in exchange for purchased goods.
True salesmen are an almost extinct breed. These are the individuals who know their business, believe in their product and convey that confidence to the customer in the form of education about the item being purchased.
A real salesman will not accept rationalizations such as "business is slow." He creates business by taking every opportunity to converse with customers and draw their attention to his product. Once he has their attention, he demonstrates what the product will do for the customers and why they cannot afford to be without the item. In order to succeed in converting this conversational exchange into a sale, the professional salesman will exude honesty and confidence. He actually sells himself as a prerequisite to selling his product.
My husband has been a salesman for fifty years. He started out selling sewing machines for Singer Company. For fifteen years he demonstrated sewing machines to potential customers and accumulated awards and trophies for his outstanding selling performance.
He learned to sew and demonstrated the sewing machine with so much skill that customers and coworkers were in awe of his talent. He could take a sewing machine apart and repair, clean, oil and adjust with more proficiency than the Singer service department technicians. More often than not a customer who was "just looking" walked away the proud owner of the latest and greatest product available.
When Singer Co. closed their retail stores, my husband took his talent and training to Sears Roebuck Company and became equally knowledgeable about the vacuum cleaner as he was the sewing machine. Soon he became the top salesman of small appliances in the Western Division. His explanation of his success was, "If you know your product, you can sell anything to anyone." He also believes there is no such thing as "just looking," for if an individual were truly not interested he would be elsewhere.
Sears is famous for offering maintenance contracts on their products. My spouse claimed his own fame by leading product sales and maintenance agreement sales nationwide for some years. He continued to accrue awards, trophies, monetary prizes and accolades.
He has taught many an educational seminar on the benefits of the maintenance agreement. Sears customers are often reluctant to spend the additional amount to insure products renowned for their durablility and performance. My spouse will point out the pricelss virtue of insurance against the unexpected and the fact that what they are really purchasing for a bargain price is peace of mind. Seldom does a customer walk away from this salesman without the best product for their situation and adequate peace of mind about the wisdom of their purchase.
In 1990 my better half hung up his name tag and vacuum hose and retired. He had accumulated myriad stories of his selling experiences and his stories were superbly entertaining. Beginning with carrying a sewing machine cabinet up eight flights in a New York city tenement in the fifties, to selling sewing machines on the Indian reservation in Arizona in the sixties and supporting a family of seven in style with commission from his selling prowess in the seventies and eighties.
Exactly one year later, he tired of retirement and telling his stories and went back to Sears to accumulate more adventures. That was eighteen years ago and his is still working at Sears today and continues to be a leader in sales of floor care products and maintenance contracts. He swears he will never retire again and we are beginning to believe him. He is now selling vacuum cleaners to the adult grandchildren of his original customers.
This super salesman has gimmicks to dress up his selling performance. I met him when he worked at Singer Company and I worked there as the bookkeeper. I still remember holding my breath each time he stood up and with a flourish whipped the belt out of his pants and ran stitches through it to demonstrate the durablility of his product.
Another example of showmanship he uses to this day is to pull a dollar bill out of his pocket, crumple it and throw it on the floor to illustrate the money being wasted if his customer does not take advantage of the fine product he is offering at a great price.
Gimmicks aside, this veteran salesman will be the first to say that what makes a great salesman is knowledge of the product and winning the trust of the customer through behaving honestly and sincerely.
With a good presentation consisting of the two components of knowledge and honesty, I believe the customer buys because the salesman sells.
Learn more about this author, Carol Gioia.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
