Out Of Date Sales Principles

I like myth busting, and five myths I want to bust are those often associated with

low cost training suppliers who still refer to out of date sales strategies and selling principles in their sales training courses and associated training literature. These strategies and principles may once have been successful, but times have changed. To successfully conclude business in todays world you should eliminate these five myths from your repertoire.

Myth 1. Canvassing new clients takes priority over caring for our existing clients. Some companies spend vast amounts of money in order to give priority to extending their client base to incorporate new clients. In the majority of product categories the cost of canvessing new customers is four times as much as the amount spent on existing customer retention. Poor customer care can, in fact, be very expensive.

You should review the amount of money you spend on retaining and developing your relationship with existing clients and compare the degree of effectiveness (costs/turnover) with the last campaign you launched to canvass new clients. You should also focus on re-activating clients whose buying frequency has tended to drop off and/or whose order volumes have declined. This is one of the ways to prevent the establishment of non-active or sleeping clients. A long-standing client is worth just as much to you as a new client - and they are more valuable! Your office and sales support people can be encouraged to help re-activate clients provided they are given some appropriate sales training.

Myth 2. Big customers are the best customers. Large-scale clients often account for more than 50% of turnover. Relations with large-scale clients are usually stable, reliable and long-lasting. But are they also profitable? Discounts, concessions in the period allowed for payment or special delivery conditions can mean that per unit sold, the cover contribution is actually lower than sales to smaller clients. You should compare the profitability of your large-scale clients with that of your smaller clients. Custoemrs who make real losses are not useful to routine business.

Myth 3. Sales people understand all there is to know about their customers. Salespeople know all they need to for concluding business with their clients, because they have specifically found this out. However, they seldom ask about the client's background, challenges or strategies employed. You should encourage your sales people to discover as much background information about their customers. In addition you should support any promising plans the client may have by devising a tailor-made offer from your product range.

Myth 4.Sales Managers dream of 100% customer satisfaction. A by-product of total quality management (TQM) is the dream of 100% client satisfaction. Reality dictates that the expense of increasing 85% to 100% is almost unaffordable. Find out what your clients want and how they want it. Then calculate how much it will cost you to fulfill your clients' wishes. There are likely to be many wishes that are just too expensive. You should, of course, implement the measures that have the best satisfaction/expense ratio. But remember to set a reasonable limit!

Myth 5. The best salespeople are those who have a long-standing relationship with their clients. Of course, salespeople cultivate a personal relationship with their important clients. After many years or even decades, however, the time can come when the depth of the personal relationship can block out financial reality. Selling means convincing, negotiating, launching new products onto the market - all the things that are not practically possible within the confines of a personal relationship. If salespeople know their clients very well, they are not so interested in a particular client's strategies, plans and needs. They think that they know their clients and are then amazed if one day some of their clients find that competitors are in a better position to fulfill their needs. Regular quality refresher sales training can re-focus sales people on being objective about the clients they have before it gets to this situation.

by: Richard Stone

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