August 10th, 2009
This blog was supposed to be titled “Who wants to be around you anyway” but I came across a great analogy that I wanted to pass on before I lost it.
Life and business can be almost exactly compared to the changing seasons that we experience in our climate. They come with great regularity, and there is no stopping or changing the process. With every winter comes a spring and with every summer comes a fall. There’s no changing it. There are winters in life, whether it be a personal relationship that deteriorates or a tragedy that sets you back about 20 paces. There are winters in business, a winter where you lose your biggest customer, a winter where you can’t close a deal no matter what you bring to the table.. But remember that without fail every winter is followed by a spring, every expansion is followed by a retraction, every boom followed by a bust, its been this way for thousands of years. And with every spring there is opportunity and growth if you grab hold of it. Some of us may only experience a few springs in our life, so its important to take action early in spring and grab hold of the opportunities we’re given. I think that we’re in the beginnings of a spring right now. We’ve been in a cold winter for some time and many have felt the chill down to their very bones, but its time to open the windows, get out of our house of comfort, and venture out into the world of possibility! There are great fortunes to be had if we seize the moment, the day, the opportunity. And just as important as it is to plant the seeds of success in the spring, we must tend to our garden ALL summer long, because sure enough just as soon as our seeds have sprouted into plants with the promise of a bountiful harvest, the weeds and bugs begin to creep into the garden. You must tend your garden all summer diligently or the weeds and bugs will soon take over. Bad habits, negligence, ignorance, laziness and complacency all take root in ourselves and our customers if they aren’t carefully groomed. Remember, every garden will be attacked and invaded, to not think so is naive. Prepare for attack, expect it, welcome it, outline its potential weapons early and devise your plan to conquer them. Plant early in the spring, tend your garden all summer long, and take responsibility for the harvest you’ve accumulated in the fall. If its bountiful, don’t feel bad about your prosperity, if its barren, accept that it is you who sewed the seed and tended the garden, the result rests solely on your shoulders.
BD
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July 20th, 2009
The most common approach that most sales people take in ours or any industry is to attempt to communicate the “great value” that their products and services have. “We can give you the same product, only it will be 20% cheaper than what your currently using!” or “Our prices are in line with Wynn’s and our product quality is higher” While it might seem lucrative to be in the position to claim the best prices in the business, it turns out to be the last thing you want to be in an industry that craves creative thinkers rather than yes men salesmen with authorization to lower price in order to bribe the business of a company. In the PPRS Clinics we pressed the fact that if our customers have built their business around having the lowest price, they should fully expect that when someone else offers an even lower price, the customers will quickly disperse to the better “perceived value”. Being a broker of strengths is the only way to ensure that you will retain the business of the companies that you have struck a deal with, and it may be the only way to get the deal closed in the first place. As a shop owner, or even service manager, I don’t care that you can bring me product on a regular schedule. Its not that I don’t need it, its that I’m perfectly capable of comfortably sitting at my computer and getting a great wholesale price on shitty preventative maintenance products off of the internet, along with a confirmation number and guaranteed delivery date. (Fedex and UPS have built a delivery empire just by employing extremely reliable delivery guys, unlike some BG guys that have come and gone and were a little less than perfect) So if you want to increase your business, you’ve got to bring more to the table than on time delivered product and a friendly attitude. A Broker of Strengths is an individual who is an important asset to the business he partners with. He finds creative ways to increase the effectiveness of his partners business, and goes above and beyond the expectations of his position. What can you do to increase the revenue, retention, and CSI of your customers? Can you help them with creative marketing? Do a Car Care Clinic for their sales costumers? Host a customer appreciation day that offers free vital checks of vehicle fluids and systems on a saturday? Find and implement improvements to the service departments process? Speak at a managers meeting? Show a new advisor how to use Reynolds/ADP? If you can teach the people you do business with something that they find valuable, you will forever have their respect and gratitude, and that goes a long way in retaining their business.
Next time on BD’s blog:
Who wants to be around you anyway?
Stay tuned
BD
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July 13th, 2009
Remember in High School how there were always some people that were the most popular and had the most friends? They usually had some great characteristics, like they were the star of the football team, or knew how to play guitar really well and had a cool band, or they were the class clown. The popular people loved high school, the outcasts loathed it, but whether you miss it or can’t believe you had to suffer through it, there’s something to be learned from that time in our lives. The people that were popular had “proven assets” that is they brought something to the “party” you could say. They had strengths that everyone believed in and were confident in. Being popular comes natural to some, but with the right approach, you can make yourself popular in any environment. What types of things would people in our industry, (especially the decision makers) find to be an asset in a business partner? What is it about certain people that just seems to attract popularity and attention?
Next time we’ll talk about becoming a “Broker of Strengths”. The most important quality that your customers are looking for in a partner!
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July 10th, 2009
This marks the first ever post in BD’s Blog. I started this blog to help provide some insight into how to be as successful as possible in the ever changing world of a BG salesman. I am a long way from being as successful as I would like to be, so I’m on a never ending search for knowledge that will help me along the way. I’ll be posting content that I’ve found value in from various sources as well as personal reflections and beliefs I have on how to influence our effectiveness. Take a moment and check up here once in awhile, maybe you’ll like it and maybe you wont, but the more you read, the more you know….. Stay tuned
BD
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