I love this time of year. Not for the sunshine, singing birds and the warmth of the summer months coming, but rather, for the lie that everyone tells themselves about sales for this time of year.
The lie that says: “No one buys during the summer.” or: “Everyone is either on holidays or thinking about their holidays and not the business.”
If only those were true. However, how many of us fall for the great summer lie? This time of year could be the most productive time of the year for you if you change certain behaviors which will take you from salesperson to sales professional.
I was reminded in the book by Michael LeBoeuf, Ph.D.; “How to Win Customers & Keep Them For Life.” of a management course that I took many years ago and a fable with a very important lesson for all of us.
You have an incredible product/service. You have a phenomenal presentation showing the features and benefits of your product/service. However, you are not making any headway. Why?
There are some of us that still recall the days before any technology hit the business world and that one of the selling points was that we would be able to increase the speed that business is done and further, we would become a paperless society.
The fundamental rule of business is to retain customers. It has also been proven by numerous studies it cost five times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one.
Recently, I was asked if I would shadow an individual while making calls and report back to the Sales Manager as to how our program could make them more productive. This was an unusual request, as I do the shadowing after the program for a day to make sure implementation of the program has happened. However, I knew the manager quite well and, therefore, agreed.