Jeff Garrison

Featuring White Rabbit Group

If advertising is so effective, why aren't advertising companies advertising for new clients?  Who knows?  What we do know is that word of mouth is the most powerful advertising around.  These days word of mouth includes electronic media such as e-mail, blogs, texting, and social websites such as MySpace. 

Exactly what are people talking about?  They are talking about their customer experience.  What makes the customer experience?  Many companies say "our people make the difference."  However, great people without great context don't make for a great customer experience on a consistent base.

Great context is achieved when everyone in the company knows and believes in the experience the company is trying to provide both their internal and external customers--Brand Promise.

If you want all of your customers talking in a positive way about your company, you need to visit with Mike Wagner of the White Rabbit Group.  Mike is an inspiring and entertaining speaker and consultant who is great at helping companies develop a unique and powerful brand experience, getting their employees behind it and delivering the experience on a consistent basis.

Let Prospects Know that No is OK

We all love to "buy," but few of us like to be "sold" anything.  In fact, don't we all have that built in defense mechanism that screams, "I am being sold!"  In sales, this is the point where the prospect clams up.  They give short answers to your questions and disengage from any real information exchange.  This is frustrating for those who are truly seeking to help their clients succeed by learning about their exact circumstances and needs in order to propose the best solution.  Without good information, we are likely to fail to serve our clients.

Learn how to tell your clients SINCERELY that it is Ok to say No.  For example, we tell our prospects that we want to work with them to build a solid business case for, or against, the solutions that we build.  If the numbers don't make sense in the end, then we should not move forward.  They should say no deal.

This puts everybody in a collaborative frame of mind.  Information such as objectives, concerns, constraints, and budget begins to flow freely.  Great solutions and the opportunity to help clients succeed follows great information exchange, don't you think? 

I would love to hear about some examples.

Intent is More Important than Technique

I am a person by nature who is uncomfortable not being fully prepared to respond to any objection that a prospect could have whether I am making an initial cold call or a face-to-face sales call.    When I was a rookie, it could take me all day to knock out the calls that should have taken me less than an hour.  After all, I did not want to look like a rookie.  Now I find myself dialing the phone without thinking about what I am going to say and I am going to appointments without having role played all the action in my head 100 times. 

Is it that I am so good that I don't need prepare anymore?  Not at all!  I just see it differently now.

I have always believed in the value of my services, knowledge, and ideas.  And I have always striven to provide my client's with the exact solution that they need or none at all.  As a veteran sales person, now I understand that my SINCERE INTENT to truly understand my client's perspective and my SINCERE INTENT to propose a solution exactly meeting their needs is way more important than sales technique or the ability to handle their objections.  If I have a clever response to everything that a prospect says, do you think they feel like they are truly being heard?  Actually, they probably feel like they are being processed and sold?

By all means, know your product or service!  Know the market!  Know your competition!  Know everything you can!  You will need to know all this to provide the best for your client's.  But, know that if your SINCERE INTENT is to understand and take care of your client, you won't need to have all the clever rebuttals and sales technique.  They will feel your intent and they will trust you.