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99 Can't Miss Sales Tips From The Pros (Part 2)

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6. Focus on fast response to thy customer's questions. With the fast pace in today's I-need-it-now business world, you will be judged by how quickly you get back to customers with information such as pricing, delivery dates and answers to technical questions. It's best to under-promise and over-deliver with your responses. One of the easiest ways to put smiles on the faces of customers is when you tell them you will get back to them with the information they need by noon, and you call back within the hour.

7. Use more than thy gift of gab to seal a deal. Salespeople too often rely on their silver tongues to sell products and don't back up their sales pitches with product samples, customized literature, applications videos and other sales tools. In sales, seeing is believing, and providing sales support materials or product samples makes it easier for customers to visualize the sales solutions a salesperson offers.

Before Dick Noel founded the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA), Tarrytown, N.Y., and Equity Electrical Associates, Bluffton, S.C., he spent many of his 50-plus years in the electrical business selling electrical products as a distributor, rep and manufacturer. As a lifelong salesperson in the electrical industry who enjoys studying the sales dynamics in the manufacturer-rep-distributor-end-user relationship, he says that one of the most effective selling strategies is using product samples. When selling fittings for Gedney Co. (before it became OZ/Gedney and that company's subsequent purchase by Emerson Electric's EGS Electrical Group), Noel always called on distributors and end users with a four-inch fitting in hand because of the impression that the super-sized product made on customers. After all, if his company manufactured oddball fittings of that size, then it would surely offer all of the most common products, too. “I never made a sales call without a product,” he says.

8. Know the difference between a profitable order and a dog. Not all orders are good orders, and salespeople must know when they are making or losing money for their companies. A good salesperson always takes the total cost of a transaction into account before agreeing to a price with customers.

9. Don't underestimate the value of networking. Electrical distributors' salespeople should tap into every available resource that can provide insight into a customer. It's surprising how much you can learn about a company from noncompeting salespeople who sell software, shelving or office supplies to your customer; town officials who deal with the company on business matters; and other contacts in a local community who you meet at civic activities, school or church.

10. Sell thy customer hard as hell. There are no shortcuts to success, and the outside salespeople who can still get by on a smile, joke and a good golf game are few and far between.

EW Contributing Author Bob Finley spent his entire business career in the electrical business with Glasco Electric Co., St. Louis, and was a field salesperson for that company before becoming Glasco's president. He says salespeople can usually be categorized into several tiers, and that the very best salespeople are also usually the hardest workers.

“There is a select group of people who will always be the big hitters, and there is a middle group who will always perform pretty well,” he says. “Then there are those salespeople on the bottom who are always moving around, looking for that great job where they don't have to work too hard. If you are going to be a top producer, you are not going to do it sitting at home on your computer half the day. You have to get out and make contact with people. People want to look you in the face. You have Blackberries and all kinds of things these days, but I don't think anything will replace face-to-face selling.”

The electrical wholesaling industry is full of sales mentors who loved their electrical selling careers “back in the day” and now pass that knowledge and enthusiasm to a new generation of salespeople. Not long after Bob Finley retired as Glasco Electric's president, Electrical Wholesaling “recruited” him as a writer to help teach sales basics to the magazine's readers. You will never meet someone who enjoyed his days as a salesperson more, or who can more clearly communicate the basics of what it takes to sell electrical products. “I loved sales so much,” Finley says. “I am so glad that I had the privilege of spending my entire career in sales. I can't think of anything I would have rather been. Being a salesperson fit me like a glove on my hand.”

11. Don't talk religion or politics with customers. Although the subjects might be fine when chatting with your clone, no one else will agree with you on all issues. Avoid the subjects of religion and politics in business.

12. Do invite a customer to lunch when you end a sales call at noon and are headed to the restaurant across the street. Although many customers will pass on the offer, it's polite to extend the invitation. By not extending the offer, you run the risk of offending a customer who may happen to go to the restaurant that day.

13. Think long-term. One new salesman refused to take back surplus lamps from an industrial account. The new salesman's predecessor had sold the lamps to the customer, and the salesperson thought returning the products would unfairly reduce his commission. Instead of using the return as a chance to build a new relationship, the salesperson lost the account to a competitor.

14. Take a genuine interest in the customer's business. Subscribe to the trade magazines that cover the customer's industry, and occasionally send copies of articles you think may be of interest to the customer — along with a handwritten note.

15. Take initiative in helping customers solve problems. Whether it be bundling products or seeking better pricing from manufacturers, customers will always appreciate steps a salesperson takes to make the job simpler and more cost effective.

16. Be positive. People like to be around positive people. “When you come into your customer's place of business, they don't want to hear your kids are sick or about your aches and pains,” says Finley. “They have plenty of problems themselves. Salespeople should put on a positive front.”

17. Don't underestimate the profit potential of getting an electrical contractor's first call. The electrical distributor who regularly gets the first call from a customer will probably get the bulk of the order, while distributors who get the second or third call usually get the part of the order that the first-call distributor doesn't want. These are usually back-order items that require a lot of care and handling but don't always produce enough profit for the extra trouble.

18. Never disclose confidential information about an account to competitors. Professional salespeople never discuss confidential business outside a customer's office. Your customers know you call on their competitors, and they expect you to keep their business private.

19. Develop relationships with people from all different departments within a customer's company. Don't put all your eggs in one basket by just calling on your buddy. If or when that person leaves, you will have to scramble to keep the business if you haven't developed other business relationships. For instance, at an electrical contractor, make sure you know the personnel in the estimating and purchasing departments. You must also meet the field supervisors, electricians, credit managers and other people who may have a say on a buying decision.

20. Don't neglect the importance of your inside personnel. An outside salesperson can do a great job landing a new account, but the inside sales folks will help keep the relationship flourishing by ensuring that orders are flowing through the system error-free.

21. Introduce customers to new market niches such as residential structured wiring or lighting retrofits. An electrical contractor might enjoy the opportunity to get away from the rock-bottom pricing of bid work, and they will appreciate learning about a potentially profitable market niche.

22. Use your company's business smarts to help electrical contractors run their own businesses more profitably. Electrical contractors have plenty of technical knowledge, but they often lack basic business skills. Running a profitable business is a lot different than pulling wire, and most electrical contractors will readily admit that they can use some advice on bookkeeping, accounting, personnel management and work flow. Introduce them to the people at your company who can offer this assistance.

23. Keep current on changes in the National Electrical Code (NEC). Changes in the NEC create sales opportunities, and salespeople must know how they affect their products.

24. Be confident. Customers like to be around winners, and salespeople that project an air of confidence are more likely to get an order than gloom-and-doom salespeople who always mope around and gripe.

25. Work closely with independent manufacturers' reps and factory salespeople. Field salespeople may think of themselves as lone cowboys out in the market, but they need support from vendors and reps. Knowledgeable reps or factory salespeople are some of the distributor salesperson's best allies.

One of the most down-to-earth sales books that Electrical Wholesaling's editors have discovered over the past few years is Mike Dandridge's “Thinking Outside the Bulb.” A quick read, the book is loaded with practical sales tips. You can immediately tell it's written by an electrical-industry salesperson, and not by a former Fortune-500-salesperson-turned-business-consultant who wants to make a few bucks passing off old war stories as successful selling strategies. A bargain at $15, the book is available at www.highvoltageperfomance.com <http://www.highvoltageperfomance.com>. Dandridge graciously agreed to share the following tips from his book for this article.

26. Make one more sales call. Commit to see one customer per week beyond what's on your call schedule. Unless it throws you behind schedule, make the call while you're in the area. Keep a record of these calls, but make it simple. Make a check mark in your planner if you get an order, jot down a “P” if the call was productive and write in a “B” if the whole thing was a bust.

27. Don't underestimate the importance of first impressions. People usually decide within the first 15 seconds whether or not they like a new acquaintance.

28. Take a risk on you. Spend some time and money on your education. Highly successful salespeople don't wait for their company to provide training.

29. Be trustworthy. Long-term relationships result from long-term trust. You must produce evidence of your trustworthiness early in a business relationship. That means displaying trustworthy qualities such as dependability, punctuality and accountability. Over time, consistency supports the evidence. Be dependable in the small things as well as the large. Follow through, keep promises and take ownership of every interaction with your customer.

30. Ask the right questions. Always ask for the order. Many salespeople are afraid of being pushy. They think they're asking when they say, “You don't need anything today, do you?” or “Guess I can't talk you into buying something.” This attempt at homespun charm may have worked in Mayberry, but if you use it in the real world, you'll starve to death. Use simple open-ended questions. “What do you need today?”

31. Act enthusiastic, and you'll be enthusiastic. Many skilled salespeople fail because they don't have any spark or excitement in their performance.

32. Go the extra mile. Many salespeople talk about great customer service, but few deliver. The extra mile is about action, not words. Exceeding your customers' expectations is a sure way to earn their loyalty.

33. Make a list of your top 30 customers and contact each one of them every 30 days. Dandridge says the ideas from Mark LeBlanc's book, “Growing Your Business” listed below really work and will cost you less than $5 per customer. That's not bad for a year-long marketing campaign.

January. Make a “Happy New Year” phone call.
February. Send an info sheet about your business.
March. Mail an advertisement.
April. Forward an article from a trade magazine.
May. Send a postcard.
June. E-mail a note.
July. Make a face-to-face visit.
August. Fax a note.
September. Send a company newsletter.
October. Mail an early holiday card.
November. Call again.
December. Your choice from this list.

34. Leave the complacency zone. Aim high, and pursue opportunities that you think are beyond you. Take a risk on the long shot. Even if you reach for something and miss, you have at least begun to stretch and grow. Go outside your business, your circle of friends and your regular contacts to explore new worlds. New friends often lead to new opportunities. One of the best ways is to get ideas from other industries.

35. Ask customers what they want from you. Ask your customer what services they would like to see in a supplier. Is it shorter delivery time, more diverse product line or deeper inventory? Don't assume you know what your customer values.

Jim Lucy
16 Feb 2007

Do you have the 100th Sales Tip? Did we forget any surefire sales strategies? Electrical Wholesaling is offering a $100 American Express check for the best 100th sales tip that's submitted. Send it by e-mail to Jim Lucy, Electrical Wholesaling's chief editor, at jlucy@prismb2b.com. We will publish that sales tip in a future issue. www.ewweb.com