Masonry Magazine August 1973 Page. 10
SMOOTH SELLING
by George N. Kahn, Marketing Consultant
TREAT OLD CUSTOMERS LIKE PROSPECTS
Many salesmen feel there is nothing to do with an old customer except take his order. Nothing could be more erroneous. There is plenty you can do to improve and solidify your relationship with the buyer. Before you make a call, for example, look over the customer's record. What is he doing with your product? Where is he placing it? What can you do to to bring about more successful applications of the product? These are just some of the questions you can ask yourself. They are bound to suggest ways to help the customer.
Wes Harding, a wall covering salesman, kept a notebook containing information on these questions. He regularly consulted it before making a call. As a result, he could usually produce an idea to improve his customers' sales.
The Competition Waits
The competition is always waiting to snatch away your neglected customers. There are salesmen who are not the least bit impressed by the fact that a prospect is tied to another supplier. They will bide their time, keep making calls, and eventually win over your customer if you are lax in your duties.
Hal Tolson, a sheet metal salesman with a $40,000 a year income, revealed to me that 70 per cent of his customers once belonged to someone else. "What happened?" I asked.
"In each case." Hal replied, "some salesman didn't do his job. He practically handed me his customer on a platter. The buyers simply got fed up with the salesman's indifference. If there's one thing I've learned in this business it's that no customer is ever in the bag."
The Authoritative Air
One way to hold on to customers is to be an authority. Make yourself so authoritative that the buyer will come to depend on you as he would his bank. If you know your job you can make yourself almost indispensable to your customers."
This means also that you must have an encyclopedic knowledge of your product. A customer will think twice before leaving a competent salesman for one who is unknown and untried.
You seldom hear of a buyer who drops a first-rate vendor.
Don't hesitate to stress the benefits and virtues of your product time and again. Some salesmen make a big pitch on their first call and then become automatons after they receive the initial order. They conclude wrongly that the customer is safely in the bag. Instead, they should continue to build on their knowledge and transmit it regularly to the buyer.
Settling Complaints
The promptness and fairness with which a salesman adjusts a claim will figure largely in his future dealings with the customer. Some salesmen move quickly to satisfy complaints of new customers but are inclined to dawdle with those of older buyers. He is afraid of losing the former but feels he can afford to stall the other. This is dangerous and fallacious thinking. If a salesman waits too long to settle a claim he may never have a chance to take care of another one for the customer. A long-term customer is very apt to resent being made to wait for a just handling of his gripe.
When the salesman does resolve the complaint he should make sure the customer knows how and why the settlement was made. He should also be convinced that it was fair.
Dale Parker, a school tablet salesman, had been selling to a variety store for 10 years. The relationship, he thought, was satisfactory.
On one of his calls, Dale was told by the dealer that a shipment of notebook paper was faulty. The salesman noted the complaint but appeared in no rush to do anything about it. In fact three weeks went by before the customer heard from Dale on the matter. And what he heard did not please him one bit. Dale had obtained only a partial settlement of the claim.
The buyer's reaction was swift. "You've not only stalled on this matter but you didn't really go to bat for me," he told Dale. "Don't bother coming around anymore."
"I blew it and I never forgot it," Dale told me years later. "I was just too confident of the customer. I just took him for granted. You can bet I never made that mistake again."
Keep In Touch
It's a good idea to keep in touch with old customers by telephone between calls. This is a friendly gesture that costs you little and will mean much to them. You might call just to say hello or you might give them new information they can use to advantage.
You can also drop customers a note or letter from time to time.
Harry Cross, a pigment and coloring salesman, spent two months in Europe one year and sent cards to his customers almost every day he was gone. They liked getting them as they told Harry when he returned.
The whole idea of regular contact is to keep your name in front of the customer. A lot can happen to an account in only two weeks. A customer will feel obligated to a man who writes or phones him regularly.
Does The Buyer Need Help
Some buyers are almost wholly dependent on the salesman. They are unable to make a decision without some forceful prodding on the salesman's part. When you encounter this type of person, go all out to help him. If he asks a lot of questions, take pains to answer them as best you can. If he is hesitant, probe for the reasons.
There are some customers who will take more of your time than others. Be patient. If a nervous or hesitant customer develops a liking for you, he may become one of your most loyal accounts.
To sum up, treat old buyers like new prospects and you'll never be sorry. Like a pretty girl, the regular customer likes to be wooed all over again.
How is your relationship with your old customers? If you can answer "yes" to seven of the following questions you are probably enjoying fine relations.
1. Do you pay as much attention to old customers as new ones? Yes No
2. Do you look at a customer's record before making a call? Yes No
3. Do you keep in touch with him by phone or letter between calls? Yes No
4. Do you keep stressing product benefits on each call? Yes No
5. Do you take management brass on calls to old customers? Yes No
6. Do you act quickly on complaints? Yes No
7. Do you make sure the customer understands the settlement of a claim? Yes No
8. Do you know your product sufficiently well to impress the buyer? Yes No
9. Are you business like in the office of the old buyer? Yes No
10. Are most of the customers you had five years ago still on your books? Yes No