These come from Ted Barrows, a top sales trainer and consultant:  

 1. They get to work early each day. It allows them to plan their day without distraction. Customers usually appreciate salespeople who work hard and don’t give the impression they have all the answers.

   2. They maintain personal touch with their customers. Customers want to do business with salespeople who are interested in them. They like salespeople who listen and learn about them, their problems and their goals.

   3. They prioritize everything. They break things down in order of importance. They don’t waste time on mundane tasks so they can concentrate on the ones that get results. They realize that customers expect quick replies to requests for information, especially when problems arise.

   4. They provide solutions. Customers want salespeople to present solutions to problems. They look for responsiveness and creativity. They want salespeople who know products thoroughly and are able to offer technical support.

   5. They hold themselves completely accountable for everything that happens to them and make no excuses for poor performance. They view themselves as completely in charge of everything that happens to them. If they don’t like what’s going on, they decide it’s up to them to change it or improve it in some way.   

1. Capitalize on how digital technology has changed the sales game: If Marketing was 80% creative and 20% logistics back in the early 90s, it’s the exact opposite now. Social media, email and other resources give marketers access to honest, instant feedback and analytics whenever they want it. That means companies can adjust on the fly, tweaking their sales and marketing processes to reflect changes in buyer behavior, then monitoring the business impact of each adjustment.
2. Fuse Marketing and Sales into one department: Research proves time and again that the more Sales and Marketing work as a unified front, sharing info and ideas, the more successful a company becomes. With that in mind, a lot of successful companies are consolidating their Sales and Marketing under one large umbrella, creating more cohesive value propositions via stronger customer focus.
3. Interview your customers: Make it a priority to schedule face-to-face interviews with loyal customers and ex-customers at least twice a year to gain a one-on-one sense of what they like, don’t like, and what changes they’d like to see.
4. Map out the buying process: Once you’ve gathered and assessed all the feedback from web analytics, social media and one-on-one interviews, determine what adjustments you’ll make to the selling process to reflect buyers’ needs.

Based in part on “4 tactics to create a customer-centric sales and marketing strategy,”  MarketingSherpa.

You can get a good fix on a customer’s cost-benefit by looking at two underutilized metrics:

1. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): From lead source to the selling process to maintaining relationships, how much is it costing you to win (and keep) every customer.
2. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): How much revenue has the company earned as a result of that customer relationship? Or, how much does it stand to earn?

Of course, when it comes to numbers like these, managers generally need to assess results on a case-by-case basis before deciding whether a customer is actually “worth the trouble.”

Some intangibles to consider:

• Does the customer provide valuable word-of-mouth business, referrals, or a certain degree of prestige in the eyes of other prospects?
• Is there a good possibility the customer will increase in value
  over time, as it grows and increases its volume per sale?
• Has the customer’s CLV decreased consistently year after year? If so, what’s changed? How can you reverse that trend?
• Break down CAC by rep to determine whether specific reps spend far too much time and money focusing on customers who don’t provide a significant return.
• Are there specific salespeople who know how to increase CLV over time? If so, how do they do it, and how can you train other reps to do the same?

Source: ““How Sales Process Can Grow Share of Wallet,” by John Kenney, Sales Benchmark Index, 1/12/12.

In a recent survey, customers reported they were faced with a group of salespeople seeking their business whose offerings all looked the same. The only place where customers could find a clear differentiation was in price.

If customers can’t differentiate one product or service from another, they will choose the one with the lowest price. Salespeople who can’t clearly differentiate their products or services from competitors may always face the price issue.

Four value drivers

The same survey identified four “value drivers” that helped salespeople become trusted advisers and encouraged customers to look beyond price. They are:

1. The salesperson revealed to the buyer an Unrecognized Problem that the customer was experiencing. Help customers understand their problems, issues and opportunities in new and different ways.
2. The salesperson established for the customer an Unanticipated Solution to the problem that customer was experiencing. Help customers arrive at better solutions than they would have arrived as on their own. Sharing knowledge to help customers avoid problems is the key.
3. The salesperson created or revealed Unseen Opportunities for the customer. What’s being sold is more than just the product or service itself – it’s a bundle of values, including service, reliability, continuity and problem solving. Customers want to now what the salesperson will do once the problem is solved. How will the salesperson apply knowledge to help that customer’s business grow?
4. The seller served as more than just a vender of products or services but served as a Broker of Capabilities. Become a broker of services and act as a customer advocate within your own organization. In a 24/7 world, customers demand that you’re there for them.

Precise definition of value

The survey reveals a precise definition of the concept of value. When a salesperson uses these selling tactics, three outcomes may be achieved:

1. Price will become less important to the customer.
2. The customer will erect barriers to the salesperson’s competition creating a long-term relationship.
3. The salesperson will identify areas of opportunity available to them from each customer.

Communication truths

Two important conditions salespeople may want to keep in mind when communicating with customers were also pinpointed in the survey.

1. Customers put a higher value on what they say and what they conclude than they do on what they’re told.
2. Customers place a higher value on what they request than they do on what is freely offered.

Adapted from Rethinking the Sales Force by Neil Rackham and John DeVincentis.

Here are three statements that can be said of most prospects, according to sales consultant John Graham:

• They’re more demanding. Whether it’s the Internet or the competitive economy, prospects are more determined to get the most value for their purchases. Some of them go into a sales presentation with a sense of entitlement that doesn’t end with price, quality and service. They expect salespeople to increase their perceived value of the product or service.
• They’re more analytical and more educated about everything involved with the product or service being sold. The key to selling these prospects is to keep them satisfied – find out what they want and give it to them. You’ll be perceived as a consultant, adviser and problem-solver, not simply a person pushing a product or service.
• They expect the salesperson to be an ally, not an adversary. Prospects used to think of themselves on opposite sides of the desk from a salesperson. This is no longer true. Prospects try to establish a sense of rapport, trust and respect with the salesperson. Their current attitude reflects a sense of partnering with the salesperson.

Meeting the needs

Here are what effective salespeople are doing to meet the changing needs of today’s prospects:

• They recognize that customers have increased knowledge about the products or services they’re buying. Salespeople anticipate these higher expectations and use value-added strategies to meet them.
• They create an atmosphere of trust and openness in sharing information with prospects. They try to provide solutions that will help prospects in the long-term. They are much more open and candid in dealing with prospects and trying to develop long-term solutions.
• They recognize their pivotal role of matching the prospect’s increased demands while maintaining the overall profitability of the companies they represent.
• They understand the importance of earning the prospect’s respect. They gain it by showing prospects their conviction and enthusiasm.
• They recognize that this is the age of the expert. Prospects want to buy from a salesperson who has in-depth knowledge and experience to sell them the right products or services.
• They learn from failure and disappointment. They see problems as opportunities to use their creative energies and they look upon obstacles as challenges to be met and overcome. They are not defeated by rejection. They accept failure as a part of life and know that there’s a lesson to be learned in every setback.
• They set goals. They focus on what they want to achieve, establish priorities, and know what they have to do in order to keep moving forward. Their plans are flexible enough to allow for the unexpected, but they always have a specific destination in mind.

In a recent survey by Sirius Decisions, prospects were asked to evaluate their initial meetings with salespeople. Here are the results:

• 92% said the initial sales call was of little or no value.
• 82% said salespeople had not done their homework in regardss to the buyer’s needs, and
• 71% reported salespeople talked too much about their company and products and not enough about the buyer’s interests and needs.

The typical advice for making a better impression is to step into the shoes of the buyer. Easier said than done, as these four scenarios indicate:

1. The salesperson follows a prepared script,  talking about products or services, not about buyer needs. As a result, the buyer may have to consider solutions that don’t meet his or her needs. Buyers look for fast, clear and simple solutions that are aligned with their needs. When they don’t get them, they usually move on.
2. Buyers are skeptical that the salesperson can deliver as promised. When competition is tough, some salespeople overpromise. It’s much better to make realistic promises, and then keep them. Nothing destroys alignment faster than broken promises.
3. Key buyers in the decision process had little or no contact with the salesperson. As part of due diligence, a seller should try to learn where who the decision makers are.
4. All the vendors look the same, so the buyer bases the decision on price alone. When buyers perceive that all solutions are the same, they tend to base their decision on price alone.

Bridging buying with selling

Bridging buying with selling — and making a meaningful first impression — involves four distinct phases:

1. Recognition of needs, so sales aren’t lost because a prospect isn’t aware of them. The prospect’s most important concern in this phase is to identify a need that justifies the cost of solving it. Some salespeople lose perspective in this phase, forgetting that their task is to build awareness of the problem, increasing the prospect’s consciousness of the need. A better approach is to listen for needs. A good question salespeople ask themselves in this phase is, “What is the prospect thinking?”
2. Resolution of concerns, so sales aren’t lost due to customer anxiety. There are two dangers in this phase. One is to ignore or downplay concerns the prospects expresses in the hop they will simply go away. The other is to try to apply pressure. The most dangerous error at this phase is for a salesperson to sit back and hope or trust that those fears will resolve themselves.
3. Evaluation of options, so sales aren’t lost to a competitor. In this phase prospects have recognized a need. Now they’re weighing the pros and cons, the strengths and weaknesses, of each option. A trap here is for salespeople to fail to recognize that the customer has perceived a need and is ready to look at options. A better strategy is for a salesperson to stay focused on the need to and ask questions that make the problems more serious.
4. Implementation, so sales aren’t lost due to after-sales neglect. A buying decision doesn’t necessarily mean that the sale is done. The overriding danger now is for a salesperson to assume the selling job is done. Research shows that many sales are lost in this phase. Good after-sale follow-u[p and support solidifies sales immediately and for the future. The effective salesperson in this phase shifts emphasis onto installation, after-sale support and all other continuing contacts with the customer.

Adapted from Selling for The Long Run, by Wendy Reed.

More often than not, it’s your salespeople. To deliver great service, exceptional salespeople think of it as a separate and distinct product. They start thinking about service from the customer’s perspective. How were they treated? What did they expect and were their expectations met?

To remain focused on the goal of delivering truly outrageous service, they ask themselves: “How would I treat my most profitable customer?”  Then they apply the answer to all of their customers and prospects.

POS Service

Giving a customer “positively outrageous service” (POS) creates a halo effect for your product or service. The customer feels encouraged and wants to reciprocate.

This reciprocity may include the most powerful marketing medium, word-of-mouth, an enthusiastic, immediate, frequently repeated personal testimonial.

From satisfied to loyal

We all know that a satisfied customer is someone who has had a pleasant experience. A loyal customer is someone who has a relationship with you, values it and resists change.

Loyal customers buy more than satisfied customers. The flip side of these benefits is that loyal customers demand more service. They notice small things, such as waiting too long for service or not being acknowledged and get upset.  Here are some tips to help you satisfy a loyal customer’s complaints:

1. Agree with the customer. When customers are angry, agree with them and share your concern about their problems. This is very different from being angry with the customer. If you agree with the customer, it’s almost impossible for the customer to be angry with you. Agreeing doesn’t mean that you’re accepting blame for the situation for you or your company. It simply sets a better tone for resolving the complaint.

2. Ask for the customer’s input on a solution. Simply asking, “What will make you happy?” is a good way to solve a problem. This straightforward question can establish a common ground for finding a reasonable solution.

3. Take responsibility. You can solve the problem, learn something and help your customer all in one process if you take charge. Customers usually ask for less once you offer to help. Once they have a complaint resolved, customers usually move toward the loyalty end of the scale.

Adapted from Why Service Stinks and Exactly What to Do About It, by Scott Gross.

1. Be bold. Increase your success in retaining and growing current customers by focusing your efforts on calling on the right people in the right accounts with innovative and unique ideas. Customers are so busy dealing with their own competitive pressures that they don’t have time to discuss tired ideas. What have you learned from others customers with similar issues that can relieve your present customer’s pain immediately. Packaging these insights creatively is key to increasing your business with this customer.
2. Be a true consultant for your customer. Talk business strategy with your customers. Show how your offering advances their strategy. Create solutions that solve your customer’s problems. Customers expect solutions that support and drive their central business strategies.
3. Talk results with customers. Show how your product or service can positively affect customer’s performance. Identify the appropriate needs and create a compelling case for your solution.
4. Be innovative. Increase credibility as a trusted advisor by bringing to the table innovative, highly differentiated solutions that respond to customers’ unique business challenges. Customers view new ideas and insights from your experience with issues like theirs.
5. Do your homework. Focus on both results and the relationship. New conditions demand new strategies. Know more and turn that knowledge into value. Customers want insight. Go beyond asking good questions about the customers’ situation. Before getting in front of the customer, know the answers to questions about the customer’s own customers, competitors, strengths and weaknesses.
6. Resist the pressure to just sell something. Overpromising to customers is a frequent trap that some salespeople fall into. Gaining the sale in the short term may create havoc downstream. The outcome is predictable. Customer trust is eroded, business what should have been won is lost, and entire relationships are jeopardized when needed them most.
7. Focus on results and relationships. Show commitment to your customer by adding value. Conduct periodic account reviews to summarize the value you’re providing and pinpoint areas for improvement.
8. Go to school on your competitors.  They have never been more aggressive or more vulnerable than right now. Develop defensive strategies and points of view. Help your customers develop strategies for dealing with their competitors. Be proactive in providing advice and insight.
9. View each customer’s company as a market. Focus efforts on segmenting and capturing  a share of this market. Leverage successes and relationships.
10. Achieve customer loyalty. Because customers are continually changing, the factors with which they evaluate sales organizations are changing also. Achieving customer loyalty is a job that’s never done. Customers are always evaluating you to see how well you’re meeting their current needs.

1. Integrity: 96% of customers say that the No. 1 thing they look for in salespeople is integrity. People want to do business with those whom they trust.

2. Empathy: This is a salesperson’s ability to view life from the customer’s point of view. There isn’t a problem that aggressiveness will get you into that an equally strong measure of empathy won’t keep you out of.

3. Initiative. This is the habit of being proactive. It’s everything you do without someone telling you that you must do it.

4. Knowledge: Customers report that what they want most in a solution is to deal with salespeople who are knowledgeable. If knowledge is power, then what you don’t know holds great power over you.

5. Courage: This is not the absence  of fear – it’s the management of fear. Value-added salespeople feel the fear and do what they know they m      ust do to overcome it.  

Value and price

Value added salespeople are skilled at directing the conversation towards value, not price. They uncover the customer’s need, analyze the costs associated with that need, and translate features of the product into what it will do for the customer.

Two dimensions of value

Some salespeople assume that all their customers are interested in the same type of relationship. But there are two dimensions of what customers value:

1. Need for relationship. Customers with a high need for relationship place high value on the salesperson’s ability to understand them, their needs, strategy and challenges and their future plans. Buyers who are less experienced with the product they are buying will place a high value on this type of relationship.

2. Need for information. Salespeople who are able to provide easy access to information save their customers time and effort and make it easier to do business with them. These customers are usually sophisticated and sometimes know more about the products and services being offered than the salespeople themselves.

Customer interaction preferences

The first step in value added selling is to understand clearly what your customers value. Each customer has his or her own perspective on value, usually falling into one of the following categories:

1. The transactional buy. Customers here have low needs for a relationship and low needs for information. They just want the right product at the right time at the lowest price.

2. The relationship buy. Customers have high needs for a relationship. They need salespeople who have an in-depth understanding of their situation.

3. The information buy – customers have a high need for information and a low need for a relationship. They know what they want, and want to be informed and educated.

4. The partnership buy. Customers have a high relationship need and a high information need. They want a salesperson who understands their company and their needs.

They still take your calls. But over time, they buy less and less. That creates a dilemma. How long do you keep after them? When is it time to move on? Sometimes these customers don’t seem worth the trouble. But there are several good reasons to try reactivating them. Unlike a new prospect, you know who they are – and they know you (or at least your company). They’re qualified prospects – after all, they’ve bought your products or services in the past. And research suggests most would be willing to buy from you again.

Why do customers stop buying?
Most people stop buying for one of four reasons:

1. Something unrelated happened in their life or business that caused them to lose touch with the salesperson or company. They may not have intended to stop buying, but they did.

2. They had a problem or an unsatisfying buying experience. They probably never complained, but stopped buying anyway.

3. Their situation changed so they no longer benefit from the product or service.

4. Lack of contact by the salesperson. Research suggests that the main reason buyers stop buying is lack of contact. The salesperson simply didn’t stay in touch. Once buyers stop dealing regularly with a supplier, they tend to forget about him or her – no matter how good the product or service is. They’re perfectly willing to give their business to whoever’s next in line.

Winning them back
Lapsed buyers won’t come looking for you. Inertia – or even embarrassment – will keep them away. But when you initiate the contact, you greatly increase the chances that they’ll buy again.

The good news: When they do return, they tend to become more frequent, loyal and satisfied buyers. They may need some special handling to get them buying again:

1. Approach them sincerely. One of the most disarming ways to get the ball rolling again is to lay all your cards on the table. There’s little to lose and much to gain by a sincere, nonconfrontational effort to find out why sales have eroded. For example, you can ask, “Is anything wrong? Have we done something wrong?”

2. Accept responsibility. Show the customer that you’re prepared to do what it takes to win them back. That tends to neutralize any anger or hostility the customer is feeling.

3. If there’s a problem, ask how to fix it. Often, customers don’t want all that much. Sometimes it’s simply an apology.

4. Do something now. It’s better to make amends on the spot than to come back later with a solution.

5. Look for a memorable gesture. Follow up by doing something noble and special to show your appreciation for the customer’s frankness and willingness to give you another chance.

It’s worth the effort
These efforts won’t reactivate every lapsed customer, of course. But even so, they’re seldom wasted. Even if you don’t get the buyers back on the active list, they can be a good source of referrals and testimonials. And their feedback can tip you off to problems that your other customers might be facing right now.

Adapted from Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got by Jay Abraham (St. Martin’s Press, NY).

It’s amazing that so many salespeople believe that this 80/20 rule exists, no matter what business they’re in. Whether selling shoes or computers, salespeople seem to accept this old myth.

A false premise

The 80/20 rule presupposes a mathematical relationship based on a false premise. If your sales goal is predicated on 20% of your customers’ business bringing in 80% of your sales, you’re in danger of never making your goal.

Regardless of your industry, business constantly changes. Your best customer may be acquired, merged or go out of business, while your lowest revenue customer might expand.

Being blindsided

You could be blindsided by an unexpected turn of events and you will have absolutely no control of your ability to capitalize on the changes. The 80/20 rule means nothing when you’re rolling out a new product to a new market.

You may have no sales history with that type of customer. Perhaps these new customers will be the ones that will contribute most to your growth.

Future success

Future success should be your focus, not past history of the 80/20 rule. The only meaningful question for you as you prioritize your selling time must be, “What am I going to do now.”

Begin analyzing your accounts to look for future business without presupposing the 80/20 classic rule.

Adapted from Selling to Anyone over the Phone (AMACOM) by Renee Walkup. Ms. Walkup is president of SalesPEAK, Inc., a sales performance company.

The study, conducted by the consulting firm Accenture, found:

• More than a third of customers have had a negative experience with a service company and the majority of them have taken the time to complain.
• One-fifth of customers under 35 now express their negative views online, as opposed to contacting a company directly.
• Only 10% of customers 35-44 express their negative views online (The rest contact the company directly via email or phone).

The findings reveal a major shift, as Marketing and Service pros may now want to monitor online mentions regularly, so they can respond to negative views, salvage relationships and defend the company’s reputation.

In terms of how today’s customers react to a negative experience:

• 23% of buyers have switched to a competitor based on a negative experience, and
• 28% now prefer to “try out” other competitors on a regular basis, even if they consistently do business with one specific service provider.

The study also suggests consumers don’t only rate service providers based on the wealth of services they provide, but also how efficiently they provide those services, as well as how effective they are at resolving major issues ASAP.

Source: “Consumers Want Fast, Friendly Service,” by Ann Carrns, New York Times, 5/12/11.

The 2011 Net Promoter Industry Benchmarking study, conducted by Satmetrix, found that 22% of customers have stopped doing business with a company due to a bad customer experience.

The top three types of negative experiences were:

• an interaction with a rude employee
• unexpected charges or fees, and
• poor quality of products or services.

The study also revealed more than 80% of customers trust recommendations from friends, colleagues or family over brand advertising or direct marketing. More than 20% claimed they research online product reviews and buyer opinions prior to making a buying decision. That, of course, means social media plays a major role in today’s buying decisions.

The bottom line: Reinforce the notion of treating every customer like royalty. There are far too many stories of minor disagreements going viral on the internet. In the digital age, every negative experience has the potential to negatively impact the company.

Source: “Study Reveals: Shift Spend to Improving the Buyer Experience,” by Tony Zambito, The Customer Collective.

• What do you know about my company? The prospect may have a favorable or unfavorable view of your company. If the prospect expresses negative feelings, you can clear up those issues. If he or she has positive feelings, closing the sale may be that much easier.
• Have you ever used our products or services? If not, do you know someone who has? This information may get you a reaction to your product or service. “No” answers to both questions will give you an opportunity to bring up testimonials from your current customers.
• Have you ever considered a need for our products or services? This question is for the prospect who is not currently using the products or services you’re offering. It’s usually not a good idea to ask this question too early in your presentation. It gives your prospect an opportunity to end the meeting abruptly before you get a chance to establish a relationship. Once you’ve established a friendly atmosphere, the answer to this question may allow you to explain the value of your product or service.
• What product or service are you currently using? This is a good question to ask near the end of your first meeting. Prospects won’t usually feel threatened if you ask this question in a friendly tone. The answer may help you estimate the potential of the account and give you the name of your competitor.

Everybody loses customers. A few people know the secrets to getting them back. A recent of survey of former customers by a Fortune 1000 company showed that about a third said they would return to the company they dropped if approached properly. What’s “properly” mean? It involves three steps:

1. Find out why the customer stopped buying. Search records for clues and then call the customer and ask him or her what went wrong. Try to put together a special offer that addresses why you lost the account in the first place.

2. Research the customer’s present situation. The customer’s business may have changed. If you understand what happened, you can create a better offer that will take advantage of those changes.

3. Make the contact. Call the former customer and let him or her know that you want to get the business back.
Chances are you won’t get an immediate appointment. But you will plant the seed. And that will give the former customer an alternative in case he or she runs into some of the problems that cost you the account in the first place.

Don’t give up without a fight
Some salespeople who lose a customer go into various emotional reactions: blaming someone, getting angry or running and hiding. Successful salespeople understand the ebb and flow of business and relationships.

Here are a few suggestions to use when you do lose a customer:
• Find out what your competitor did better than you to get the business.
• Don’t assume it was price, even if that’s what you’re told.
• Don’t let it negatively affect your attitude. Keep at it.
• Don’t wipe former customers off your database. Work some of them into your weekly schedule.
• Continue to send your former customer testimonials, articles, etc.
• Have a specific strategy for dealing with lost business.

Adapted from 91 Mistakes Smart Salespeople Make by Tim Connor (Sourcebooks.)

1. Something unrelated happened in their life or business that caused them to lose touch with the salesperson or company. They may not have intended to stop buying, but they did.

2. They had a problem or an unsatisfying buying experience. They probably never complained, but stopped buying anyway.

3. Their situation changed so they no longer benefit from the product or service.

The No. 1  reason they leave
But research suggests that the main reason they stop buying is lack of contact.

About half of all lapsed buyers were reasonably satisfied and might have kept buying. But the research found that the sales rep didn’t do enough to keep in touch. Once buyers stop dealing regularly with a company, they tend to forget about it – no matter how good the product or service is. They’re perfectly willing to give their business to whoever’s next in line.

Winning ’em back
Lapsed buyers won’t come looking for you. Inertia – or even embarrassment – will keep them away. But when you initiate the contact, you greatly increase the chances that they’ll buy again.

The good news: When they do return, they tend to become more frequent, loyal and satisfied buyers. They may need some special handling to get them buying again:

1. Approach them sincerely and humbly. One of the most disarming ways to get the ball rolling again is to lay all your cards on the table. There’s little to lose and much to gain by a sincere, nonconfrontational effort to find out why sales have eroded. For example, you can ask, “Is anything wrong? Have we done something wrong?”

2. Accept responsibility. Show the customer that you’re prepared to do what it takes to win them back. That tends to neutralize any anger or hostility the customer is feeling.

3. If there’s a problem, ask how to fix it. Often, customers don’t want all that much. Sometimes it’s simply an apology.

4. Do something now. It’s better to make amends on the spot than to come back later with a solution.

5. Look for a memorable gesture. Follow up by doing something noble and special to show your appreciation for the customer’s frankness and willingness to give you another chance.

These efforts won’t reactivate every lapsed customer, of course. But even so, they’re seldom wasted. Even if you don’t get the buyers back on the active list, they can be a good source of referrals and testimonials. And their feedback can tip you off to problems that your other customers might be facing right now.

Adapted from “Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got” by Joy Abraham.

The key: Treat past customers as new prospects.

Start by trying to find out why customers left you in the first place. Here are some of the leading reasons:
1. They were lured away by a competitor promising better prices, better service or some other benefit.
2. Their organization changed and new management was not aware of the strengths of your services or products because the information was not passed on to them by their predecessors.
3. You or your organization failed to deliver as promised.
4. There was some hidden reason, such as you lost the business to a friend or relative, they lost buying authority or left their organization for another position.

Regaining the business
Here are five steps tohelp you get the business back:
1. Learn the real reason the customer left. Was it a pricing issue, a service issue, a quality issue? Could you have shown a lack of interest in keeping the business or exhibited some other major mistake?
2. Be willing to start selling again as if the customer is now a new prospect.
3. Put as much effort into regaining the business as you did to getting  it.
4. Stay in touch with previous customers by placing them in your active file.
5. Have a specific strategy for dealing with lost business.

Adapted from 91 Mistakes Smart Salespeople Make by Tim Connor (Sourcebook, Inc., Naperville, IL). Tim Connor has been a full-time speaker and trainer for over 30 years.

Here’s a four-step strategy for more successful new product sales:

1. Avoid the features spiel. With new products or services, salespeople often get fixated on the features and veer away from the benefits prospects really care about. It’ s usually a better approach to focus on the customer’s needs and use that information to how  this new product or service fulfills them.

2. Double-check the targets. Salespeople frequently target their biggest customers first when introducing a new product or service. But often the high-volume customers aren’t looking to change, so they may not value the product as much. Tip: Consider starting with smaller customers or a balanced mix of them to hone presentations and get more traction.

3. Quantify the benefits. We all know that customers are more likely to buy when they know exactly what the new product is worth to them. Try to put some hard numbers around the key benefits, like “boosts productivity by 10%,” to enhance credibility.

4. Prepare for battle. It’s a good idea to pretend you’re a competitor and map out how you’d sell against this product. Examining the launch from that perspective may help point out the strengths and weakness in the offer.

Source: “Pack a Punch With Your New Product,” www.peerspectives.org

No matter how hard you try, mistakes will occasionally happen, deliveries will be late, quality problems will develop or customers won’t feel they’re getting the benefits they deserve from the relationship.

The worst case scenario

The worst case scenarios are when the customer refuses to discuss the problem and simply find another supplier. Salespeople aren’t even given a chance to listen to the facts behind the problem or try to resolve it.

Let them vent

The best way to keep customers from simply walking is to let them vent. Unhappy customers want the salesperson to listen to their injuries and sympathize with their problems. It’s difficult to come up with solutions until the customer’s emotions are vented and acknowledge by the salesperson.

Three responses to guard again during the venting stage:

1. Becoming defensive. Salespeople who become defensive usually escalate the conflict and reduce their ability to come up with satisfactory solutions.
2. Retaliating by implying the customer was at least partially at fault. While this may be self-satisfying, it doesn’t do anything to defuse the anger the customer is feeling.
3. Downplaying the customer’s anger or the seriousness of the problem. Making customers feel that their problem is minor or easily fixed may be a blow to their self-esteem. It may lead customers to wonder what they have to do to get their feelings understood.

Listening techniques to avoid

Here are three listening techniques to avoid when customer are venting:

1. Passive listening. The customers’ words are little more than a buzz in a salesperson’s ears. They hear a few words and phrases but miss the bulk of the message.
2. Pretend listening. This is the same as passive listening, with the addition of an occasional “uh-huh” or “I see.” These responses aren’t usually coupled with actual attention.
3. Selective listening. Salespeople listen for key words or phrases that support their point. Instead of listening to the customer, they’re planning their response. The danger of selective listening is that salespeople never learn about the customer’s wants or needs because their responses are based only on their needs.

Three levels of listening that work

Here are three levels of listening that may turn around an angry customer:

1. Attentive listening. Salespeople listen for key points, but don’t interrupt. They show they’re listening with silence and eye contact. They ask leading questions to guide the information the customer is providing. Attentive listening concentrates on facts and data, not emotional content.
2. Active listening. Salespeople try to understand the meaning behind the message by noting gestures, facial expressions, posture and demeanor. They allow the customer to control the conversation.
3. Empathic listening. Salespeople listen with their ears, eyes and mind to become aware of why the customer is upset and what can be done to resolve the problem.

Work on solutions

After customers are allowed to vent, they usually calm down, giving you a chance to work on solutions. You will want to make sure you agree on the problem and have some basic ideas on how to resolve it.The key, then, is to implement a solution and follow-up to make sure it’s carried out.

Adapted from How to Manage Conflict (Career Press) by Peg Pickering.

Companies big and small occasionally undertake the traditional customer survey — sometimes doing it online — to learn more about the people who buy, or might buy, their products. That’s a great idea. Then why do so many customer surveys fail? Usually for three  reasons:

1. Not ready to act on the data. Too many companies focus on collecting the data but have no plan for acting on the data. If you ask customers what changes they want to your widget, and their overwhelming answer is “five wheels instead of four,” are you prepared and willing to add a fifth wheel? If not, why bother asking or, for that matter, collecting the data at all.  The lesson: Don’t make data collection the goal.
   
2. Relying on one collection tool. The advent of free and easy online-survey services, such as SurveyMonkey.com, has led a lot of companies to rely on those types of surveys to make decisions about customers and products or services. Problem: Even the best surveys have gaps that must be filled by other means, such as face-to-face talks or phone conversations. The lesson: If you rely on one tool, you’re probably missing a lot of valuable information. Or worse, you’re getting bad information.
   
3. Gathering known information. Doing a customer pulse check isn’t a bad idea. For instance, you might think you know the age of your typical customer, but it doesn’t hurt to gather some data to make sure. Be careful, however, of wasting time and resources to obtain information you already know. In other words, if you sell hammers, don’t bother asking if any of your customers are carpenters. But you could ask questions to learn what proportion of customers are do-it-yourselfers or buy the items as gifts. The lesson: Set a goal of learning something new about customers.