-
Don’t be fooled by
perceptions; what you see isn’t always what you get.
-
It almost makes sense to look
for negative situations, because you can take advantage of a negative
customer situation and turn that into a positive customer experience.
-
Management checks and balances
on marketing are essential and quite often these can be done best by the
company’s peer staff.
-
Challenge creates
opportunity-stretch for it when necessary.
-
You better believe that the
real reason companies exist is to serve the customer.
-
Don’t mistake opportunity for
a business. Opportunities need to be handled differently, and shouldn’t be
treated with the same vigor and energy.
-
Acknowledgment must not be
mistaken for approval. Listen well and make sure people are not just
acknowledging statements rather than approving them.
-
Some of the best deals are the
ones you walk away from.
-
The end of the product life
can be a very profitable situation if you plan it carefully.
-
You can win by losing. Don’t
let obsession for winning cloud good business decisions. One deal gone bad
can kill a company more than all the good deals put together.
-
When negotiating, avoid trying
to be all things to all people.
-
When putting a plan together,
make sure the assumptions are correct and then expend even more energy
verifying them.
-
Use titles for your
salespeople to your advantage, as long as it sits well with the customers
you are dealing with in the field.
-
Keep your frustrations with
customers from the employees.
-
In negotiations if you can’t
get “my price and my terms,” push for “your price and my terms;” or “your
terms and my price.” Of course, the first is best, but rare.
-
Use step pricing for large
quantities. When your volume pricing strategy isn’t well thought out,
there are many times when you can buy l00 quantity for less than 98.
-
Constantly be aware of how
customers use your products and what alternatives they might have so that,
when necessary, you can work against the competition.
-
Customers like to deal with
number one; therefore, if appropriate, let them deal with the highest
person in the organization.
-
Avoid letting your ego enter
into product decisions. In large companies, giving up on a program is
usually political, but in small companies it’s generally ego or reluctance
to change that gets in the way.
-
Don’t let too many layers of
management build up between you and the customer.
-
If you are the leader of the
company, make a habit of visiting customers-particularly major
customers-frequently.
-
Sell to the highest level
personnel possible in a customer’s company. Good salespeople should be
willing and able to stand in front of the board of directors and make
their pitch. Many salespeople break down because they only want to deal
with purchasing people.
-
Treat manufacturing reps as
direct sales personnel. I’m always appalled when company presidents tell
me that their manufacturer’s reps aren’t worthy when, in reality, they
seldom talk to the reps. They don’t realize that those reps have other
principals that are vying for their time, and manufacturing reps spend
their time supporting the manufacturer that supports them the most. It is
a very basic equation: support me and I’ll support you.
-
When you want to you can drive
a customer away gracefully by raising prices. It can be dangerous just to
cut off a customer. If it is a bad situation and you’re losing money,
continue to increase their prices and eventually they’ll decide to buy
from somewhere else.
-
Too much backlog can keep you
from making competitive deliveries. An 18-month backlog is not so
impressive as it is dangerous. If the competition has an eight-week
turnaround, and that’s what the market requires, then you must be sure to
have the capacity to fill any orders within that time. If you have to say
“no” to a customer, they can easily find someone else. When they do, they
seldom come back.
-
Only one person should be
responsible for setting pricing and delivery schedules. It is very
dangerous to have too many people setting priorities in a company.
