New Year's Resolution: First Impressions Matter a LOT

Or not

 

Make a Great First Impression

From Inc. Magazine: "Science has just discovered exactly how long first impressions linger.... To test the durability of quick first impressions, a team of researchers at Cornell University had 55 volunteers view pictures of a woman they had never met before.  In some photos she was smiling, in others she was serious-faced.  After viewing the picture the subjects rated her personality for qualities like extraversion and friendliness.  Then these same volunteers actually met the woman in real life between one and six months later. ... The impression of the woman's personality the subjects received from the photograph still heavily colored their face to face conversation."

So, what can constitute a bad first impression:  not paying attention; having your head buried in your computer or cell phone during the meeting; not smiling; not asking intelligent questions that show your interest in what is being discussed; sitting with a frown on your face and your arms folded.

And what makes a good first impression: smiling; firm handshake; listening deeply to the conversation; asking questions that further the discussion; putting your computer and cell phone away; good posture.

A good first impression is a lasting impression; make your first impression a great one.

Details, Details, Details

We go through our sales day not really thinking about the details--the little things--about the customer's issues and personality, about his business, about little things in his office that display his personality, etc.  Let's take a lesson from Bill Belichick, New England Patriots coach.  This is from an article by Kevin Duffy, published on MassLive.com December 16, 2016  (emphasis is mine):
"Its essence: Entry-level coaching assistants are responsible for weekly breakdowns of the upcoming opponent, handed in to Belichick more than a week in advance of the game so he can use them as reference points as he conceives a strategy. Offensive assistants focus on the opponent's defense. Defensive assistants focus on the offense. Both focus on details so insignificant that you'd think Belichick was playing a prank on these kids. 

Phil Savage, who worked as a coaching assistant in Cleveland under Belichick, remembers logging the direction in which the quarterback turned his head prior to each snap.
Between the identification of scheme and detail, each play could take as long 20 minutes to diagram in full. Each game had 50-70 plays on each side of the ball. Each coaching assistant had three breakdowns per week....
In this job, McDaniels said, 'you learned the most valuable lesson that you keep to this day: everything is important.'"

We love to watch football--without realizing the preparations that these teams make for each game.  If we prepared for sales calls the way coaches prepare for games, we'd get every order.  Keep a pad, make notes on what you see in your customer's office or facility--details are important.  They are the key to understanding your customer's needs and understanding his needs can get you the order! We recently got an order for a product because our color scheme fit in with the customer's requirements.  You just never know, and if you're not attentive to the details, you could lose the order--even with a better price.

Strategy and Tactics in Selling

Hannibal Crossing the Alps into Battle 206 BC

From Wikipedia: "A tactic is a conceptual action aiming at the achievement of a goal. This action can be implemented as one or more specific tasks. The term is commonly used in business, protest and military contexts, as well as in chess, sports or other competitive activities.

Strategy is undertaken before the battle. Tactics are implemented during battle. These two concepts must work in tandem, without doing so, one cannot efficiently achieve goals."

In many ways, sales is, indeed, a battle and your enemies are your competitors. The prize is the order--planting your flag on your customer's desk.

I want to stress strategy in this post.  Your strategy is to bring all your forces to bear in order to win the order.  And what are these forces?
1.  Product knowledge.  This is the absolute foundation for success in sales.  Your customer will see right through you if you don't know your product thoroughly.  I can't stress this enough--know every little detail of your product; understand why every component of the product is used and what its function is. Do not go forth into battle until you do.
2.  Knowledge of your competitors' products.  You need to know your competitors, not in order to belittle them, but in order to address the questions your customer may have regarding those products.  Remember, your competitor is the enemy in this war and you need to know and understand your enemy.
3.  Know your customer.  This is the third leg of the strategy stool.  If you don't understand your customer and his needs, then you don't know how to present your product in such a way that you will win the order--win the battle.  Understanding your customer is more tactical than strategic and we will discuss this in the next post.

If you go into battle with knowledge of your product, knowledge of your competitors' product and knowledge of your customer and his needs, then the battle is yours to win!

Etrategy is undertaken before the battle. Tactics are implemented during battle. These two concepts must work in tandem, without doing so one cannot efficiently achieve goals.^[1]

The Welcome Mat: Getting Customers to Like You

Back in "the day", there was an elderly salesman on our staff.  He used to love to tell stories when he went in to see customers--often the same stories over and over again.  It got so that, when he got out of his car and the customer saw him coming, they would head out the back door.  This is not recipe for success in sales.

What is the trick to being welcomed when you visit customers:  

Always have an agenda--know what you're going to talk about before you get there, and be prepared with the proper information.  OK, that gets you the appointment; what gets you welcomed back:

1.  Know your customer's interests and be prepared to talk about it for a minute or two.  (Sports is always a good way to start.)  Or you may want to bring up a good book that you've just read; or a good movie that you may have seen.  These are conversation openers.  But keep it short; respect your customer's time constraints.

2.  Know your customer's industry.  Understand what's going on in business news that affects your customer.  Have a handle on personnel changes in the business.  LinkedIn is a great source for this kind of information.  Get on LinkedIn and use it.

3.  Bring your customer a lead or an idea that he can use to enhance his business.

Make yourself a valued and welcomed vendor; learn the art of small talk:

whatever your profession, you are in sales.

Thinking Like a Journalist

Salespeople often think they stand alone in their profession.  As I've stated several times in this blog, everyone's a salesperson and, therefore, we need to look at other professions for inspiration.  Today we look at journalism.
Journalists are among the bravest information gatherers on the planet.  They go to dangerous places and ask difficult questions.
What can we learn from this profession?

Ask questions, always and everywhere.  Ask your customers why they like or don't like your product and build a list of product assets; ask your customers about your competitors' products.  Talk to your competitors--don't be afraid.  Just be careful how you ask the questions so that you don't want to appear to be prying.  Ask, ask, ask--only by asking can you learn.

Journalists let the answer to one question lead them down a path to further questions--digging deeper into the issue.  You need to do the same.  Delve deeply into the issue.  And listen deeply. 

What are you trying to learn?  How to sell your product better by knowing what your customers like about your product.  How to answer their objections to the issues with your product.  And how to understand your competitors' strengths and weaknesses.

Salespeople spend too much time talking and not enough time listening and learning and asking questions.  Watch a journalist or TV interviewer next time and learn from their technique.