Buzz and Pester

I live in the woods, and every summer I endure a number of mosquitoes. This summer, however, the mosquitoes have been the worst I have ever known. Every time that I walk my dogs, I encounter hundreds of them. They are so prevalent that I have cut back on my summer gardening. Frustratingly, they have been around since early April, and, until the frost, they will continue to multiply.

As I was contemplating my Insight for this week, these mosquitoes came to mind. I thought about how similar mosquitoes are to the sales efforts of some companies. They mercilessly pester, irritatingly buzz, and offer nothing that’s in it for me. While I greatly admire persistence, this meaningless, not-in-it-for-me persistence is purely annoying.

Does that remind you of some sales people?

Have you had sales people contact you who had no knowledge of your company? Have they “pitched” you a special, a package, or an idea without knowing how it would fit into your company’s objectives? Have they come back or called over and over and over again to get you to buy?

If so, you have encountered a mosquito-type sales person, one that pesters, buzzes, and offers nothing that’s in it for you. This person’s only focus is what’s in it for him. He wants to sell you something. So what if you get something out of it? His goal is his own pocketbook.

He could make three changes and lose his mosquito-like properties. First, he could prepare before contacting you by getting to know your company and discovering how his product or service could help you solve a problem. With this information, he would be able to show what’s in it for you during his presentation. Finally, after making a presentation which demonstrates that he did his homework, he could set his next contact with you. Doing so would be courteous and put you, the buyer, in control. Buyers love to be in control, and that makes this gesture very well received.

Taking the time to understand a customer increases the likelihood of a sale. Rather than buzzing around customers who may not buy, the salesperson applies his time toward those who would benefit by the purchase. Instead of pestering a customer to buy, the salesperson shows the customer how the product or service solves the customer’s problem. In an effort to close the sale, the salesperson explains what’s in it for the customer to make the purchase. He focuses on the correct “me,” the customer, rather than the wrong “me,” himself.

Both the customer’s time and the salesperson’s time are used productively. Both win.

Best of all, buzz and pester selling end.

Traits of Profitable Selling

This time of year there are growers selling fresh ears of candy corn on every corner out of the back of their pickup trucks. After passing by several, a couple of days ago I couldn’t resist any longer and stopped at one. Husked ears of corn were propped up on all sides of the truck, displaying the shiny yellow and white kernels. A few seedless watermelons, plump cantaloupes, unblemished tomatoes, and large yellow onions were spread around the truck, too. Scribbled on a sign was this offer: “Corn $5 a bag or 5 bags for $20.”

As I walked up to the truck, a very friendly grower approached me. “Fresh candy corn just picked today.”

“How does it taste?” I wondered.

“Oh, it’s delicious,” he replied as he grabbed an ear and bit into it. “I eat it raw everyday, and it tastes good even that way.”

I had never witnessed a demonstration of someone biting into a raw ear of corn before, and I admit that he got my attention. Actually, he somewhat diverted my attention because I wondered how good raw corn would taste.

“Everyday I eat some of what I grow,” he continued. “It’s delicious. I believe in my products. They are all locally grown, too.”

I bought some corn. In fact, it looked so good that I spent $20 and the rest of the day freezing corn. As I indulged in some corn later, I agreed with the grower. He had raised good corn.

While I was freezing the corn, I thought about how displays of great salesmanship can be found in unlikely places, such as on street corners with growers selling produce. What made his selling effective?

First, he was very enthusiastic about his product. Enthusiasm is contagious. When you believe in and love your product, it shows. Customers have difficulty not being drawn in and buying from your infectious belief. That trait alone was making many, many sales for this grower.

Second, he gave a stunning demonstration. Have you ever seen someone bite into a raw ear of corn, chew it with a satisfaction, and exclaim, “Mmmm, that is good!” Well, if you haven’t, that is a powerful demonstration. It makes you want to bite into the corn yourself, and I am not an eater of raw corn. His demonstration made the corn mouth-watering.

Third, he encouraged a larger sale. Rather than just say so many ears for a price, this grower offered a bag for $5, which sells fourteen ears at once. That was significantly more ears than most growers sell in one transaction. Then he took this a step further and gave a bonus of a bag free with the purchase of four bags. Get five bags for the price of four. That is a five dollar savings. Although only grabbed by a few, his second offer sold even more ears of corn at once. Making a larger sale to every customer is one of the ways to profitably grow your business. He was definitely making profitable sales.

Good salespeople are enthusiastic, believe in what they sell, demonstrate it well, and look for the larger sale.

Does this describe you and your salespeople?

The Key to Success

This week I had the opportunity to tour First Choice Computer Recycling. Greg, Bobbie, and Shane, the owners, took time from their busy schedules to show their facility and explain what contributes to their success. Last year they moved from their cramped location to a building which seemed almost too big. Ten months later, they have outgrown the building and have planned a 23,000 square foot addition with a basement.

The three began the business eight years ago when recycling computers in the United States was virtually nonexistent. Greg related that they were told, “You can’t recycle computers in this country.”

That attitude did not deter them. They saw a future in computer recycling and discovered storage units and garages full of pent-up computers to recycle. They invested long hours in starting the business, runnning it, and, as the sole employees, dismantling all the computers, too.

Although their initial “sweat equity” helped launch the business, it is not responsible for their success. With thirteen employees, the three rarely tear down computers today. Now each focuses on his or her area: Shane oversees the plant; Greg deals with the buying and selling; and Bobbie manages the office. The key to their success is their expertise in each of these areas.

Greg stays on top of the commodities markets and decides when to sell the metals which are stripped from the items. His knowledge of scrap metal, commodities, and the buy-sell process makes the difference between profit and loss. Shane works to keep the plant running effectively. His knowledge of how to tear items apart efficiently with maximum preservation of the parts determines their value and their labor expense. Bobbie runs the office and oversees the marketing and accounting. Her knowledge keeps the firm compliant with required paperwork and balances revenues and expenses.

Their knowledge as well as their entrepreneurial spirit are the basis of their success. What sets them apart is their drive to continue learning so that they may grow their business. This fits right in with researchers’ findings that what matters most in the economy of a country is not the availability of land, labor, and capital. No, it’s the other two factors of production that determine a vibrant economy. They are entrepreneurship and knowledge.

I think these also determine the success or failure of a business.

Successful entrepreneurs risk, but they manage their risk. Successful entrepreneurs also seek knowledge. They don’t just seek it before they open a business; they continually want information that will help them run their businesses more profitably. They acquire knowledge wherever they can find it: from others, the Internet, workshops, reading, and classes.

I know that in the daily routine of doing business, taking time to increase your knowledge may seem to be a low priority. That’s not so. Successful business people such as Bobbie, Greg, and Shane will tell you that knowledge makes the difference between success and failure, profit and loss.

What have you done lately to expand your knowledge?