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When I was a salesperson I had a handful of best accounts where I felt like one of their employees. They loved me so much they bought everything from me, said they always would and considered me one of the family.

I specifically remember one of my favorite and best customers. I didn’t need a security badge to walk through their building. They trusted me so much they literally let me determine what their product needs were and write up the order myself. They just signed the order without looking at it and gave me a PO. They loved me. I needed no sales help.

Unfortunately, I soon learned that things aren’t always as we’d like them to be.

One day they told me, “Everyone here loves you and your service but competitor XYZ has been visiting with us over the last few months. They offer the same products and can provide us the custom packaging and labeling we need. We’re going to start using them from now on. If we need something special we’ll call you. This doesn’t mean we’re not friends anymore Scott. Come by and see us often. Have a great day.”

This good customer of mine was highly visible to all of my competitors; of course they were calling on them. How had I not seen that? The reason I got this great account in the first place was through my own prospecting. I had to steal it from another salesperson. My sales manager had even provided additional sales help to close the first deal. I thought since I was so entrenched at the account that my competitors wouldn’t call on them, nor would this loving customer even consider talking to my competitors.

If my competitors called on and took an account away from me where I felt so secure, then it made sense that they were calling on all of my customers. They all were vulnerable. Wake up call.

I learned the following from that experience:

1. My competitors are calling on all of my accounts and getting through to the decision makers.
2. I must always be adding new value to my existing customers, especially my best ones.
3. I can’t solely rely on personal relationships to keep me in an account.
4. I need to always keep prospecting; no account is guaranteed forever.
5. I have to accept that I am going to have some customer turnover, even from my best accounts.
6. I should never be too proud to accept sales help even on accounts where I’m completely confident.

By continually adding value to my customers and focusing on prospecting I not only replaced that lost customer but added enough so that my sales grew even bigger. My new philosophy was, “Enjoy the revenue you’re getting from the customer today, but plan to lose them at any time.” Customer turnover is a fact of life in sales.

Please tell your business associates about Scott R. Sheaffer’s Sales Tips Blog with sales advice for sales representatives and sales management. To receive by email <click here> to receive by RSS feed <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

[Note: Watch for upcoming posts where I'll be interviewing some CEO's of companies that are changing the tools we use as sales professionals.]

If you’re selling a product that is virtually, if not exactly, the same as all of your competitors, then you are selling a commodity. Many salespeople mistakenly resort to discounting as their only selling strategy in order to get business when selling commodities.

You don’t always have to resort to this. There is a way to deal effectively with commodity selling that I’ll share below.

When selling a commodity you are also selling your personal capital too.

What is personal capital? It’s the attitude, knowledge and skills that you bring, as a sales professional, to the customer that are independent of the products you sell.

What are some examples? There are a million of them: product knowledge, knowledge of how the customer needs to be invoiced/shipped/packaged, good people skills with the employees at the customer, ability to run customer meetings with productive outcomes, anticipation of customer needs before they are expressed, etc.

Here’s the best part about all of this. Customers are willing to pay you more for the same product they can buy from your competitors because of the personal capital that you bring to the table. This is exactly why order takers make such poor commodity salespeople.

“This sounds great Scott, but my customers don’t even appreciate that I do these things for them. All they talk about is price.”

The problem is that you haven’t communicated to them the extra value that you bring. Customer surveys have consistently shown that most customers don’t know the added value that you provide to them. Furthermore, these same surveys also show that if they were aware of the added value they wouldn’t be as price sensitive.

So, how do we communicate this extra value?

Every six months show them a formal report that tells them what they are buying from you and include a section labeled “Additional Services.” List all the added value services you provide (such as the examples listed above) in the Additional Services section and put a big N/C next to each item. You can deliver this report to them at a scheduled meeting that you advertise as your semi-annual customer satisfaction/update meeting. This information will open their eyes to all of the added value that you bring that goes unnoticed. You’ll probably get some good feedback too.

If you’re selling a commodity, be sure to sell yourself first and your product second.

Please tell your business associates about Sales Vitamins™. To subscribe: <click here> to receive Sales Vitamins™ by email or <click here> for the RSS feed. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Running up against competitors is a green light, not a red light. Here’s why.

Several years ago I was working with a salesperson and we made a planned call on a prospect. The prospect told us that she was buying from competitor X and there probably wasn’t a reason to talk further. What did this salesperson do in the face of competition? He put his tail between his legs, meekly said “okay” and ducked out of the prospect’s office.

Why did this salesperson run for cover when he was up against the competition? He had no good answers, but I think I do. I have observed that this kind of reaction to competition is common.

Do you feel you or your company aren’t capable of taking on the competition? Do you feel uncomfortable in assertively making your case with a prospect in the face of competition? Very few prospects are going to roll out the red carpet for you if they perceive they are happy with their current supplier. You’ll have to fight for the business. We have to be confident in ourselves and our company. We also have to be able to assertively persuade prospects of our value if we realistically hope to steal business away from the competition.

When we find a prospect that is buying from a competitor we instantly move from home plate to first base. Why? If a company is buying from one of our direct competitors we are virtually assured that we have a qualified prospect on our hands. How convenient.

We’ve all heard this before, “But we don’t stand a chance against X at that prospect because we can’t match their prices.” Virtually every study that has ever been done on why decision makers buy from a particular vendor places price as the fifth or sixth most important criteria. People buy primarily because of quality, service and limited risk. Simply stated, if you can demonstrate to the prospect that you’re stronger in those areas, you’ll get the business.

When you know who your competition is (and therefore their strengths and weaknesses) you know exactly where and how to strike. Competitors lead you to qualified prospects. People buy on quality, service and limited risk, not just price. Now get that tail out from between your legs.

If you’re not already a subscriber, <click here> to receive Sales Vitamins™ by email or <click here> to subscribe to the RSS feed. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer