By Terry Hockenhull
Plenty of industrial salesmen and reps spend their days going from factory to factory or office to office visiting old clients. It’s easy to be critical of these individuals. Too many are content to “do the rounds” of their easy, established clients without making an effort to close business with new ones. Consider, however, that no salesman will waste his time visiting existing clients unless he stands a reasonable chance of walking away with repeat orders.
It should come as no surprise that a salesman who is trying desperately to reach his monthly quota will probably enjoy considerably more success if he sells to an existing customer than if he tries to find a new account. Identifying a customer can be a long, uphill struggle—getting an appointment and then going through the rigorous and difficult process of building trust and introducing his product. Add to this the fact that the prospective customer is probably happy with the products or services he currently gets from another vendor.
Still, every salesman should recognize that it is important to maintain a client base of satisfied and pleased customers to whom he can sell additional products. This doesn't preclude the need to find new customers. But it’s a fact that the existing client base is much easier to deal with and should take up a significant percentage of the salesperson’s monthly goal.
As I have suggested, once a client has bought from a vendor once, he will buy again, providing the following conditions are met:
- First, he must be happy with the product that he bought. It must perform to or exceed his expectations.
- Second, the client must need a replacement (or another item from the salesman’s product range).
- Third, he must be aware that the vendor is still in business and, ideally, the salesman he dealt with at the time of the last purchase still works for the vendor.
- Lastly, in the intervening period between the first purchase and his next purchase requirement, he must have received both service and attention.
Here’s a negative example of the above criteria from my personal experience. Some years back, I bought a Mazda. As it happens, I was very pleased with the car and drove it for three years before I started thinking about a replacement. However, what is notable is that from the day I first drove the car out of the showroom, no one from Mazda bothered to contact me to see if I was interested in looking at new models or indeed, upgrading my old model. Not only that, but each time I had to take the car in for service, I was treated with the most casually lax attitude from the service staff. So, when it finally came time for me to replace the car, I didn't bother to consider another Mazda, even though a new model that I greatly admired appeared on the market.
While teaching sales, I often use the example of car companies whose salesmen hang around the showroom when the customer turns up to pick up his new car. Patting the customer soundly on the back, grinning like a Cheshire cat and offering advice and comments like, “I know you are going to be happy with this car,” and “You really have made the right decision,” the salesman probably thinks he is doing the right thing. Make no mistake about it—the client would be less than pleased if the salesman wasn't there. But let’s be honest, most of us who buy a new car are keen to grab the keys, start the engine and drive home to show it off to our friends and family.
Several months later, perhaps after viewing an unfortunate little dent in the door, our car is due for its first service. We now face the inconvenience of losing the car for a day while it stands in a queue behind numerous other cars awaiting repair or service. Our levels of satisfaction with the car, the dealer, the showroom and the salesman are probably at an all-time low. And particularly so, if the salesman, once he has our money and has delivered the car, seems to want nothing more to do with us!
Many companies recognize the importance of quality customer service and implement procedures and strategies to ensure that a customer is dealt with in an efficient and professional manner should anything go wrong. A few companies take this strategy a stage further by proactively contacting the client to check on their levels of satisfaction. Even fewer still have procedures in place to remain in contact with customers to ensure they are prepared when the customer considers another purchase.
As mentioned earlier, clients who are happy with a purchase are often quite willing to give additional business to the same vendor. However, they also need the confidence of knowing that, after a period of time, they are dealing with the same company. It should perhaps be of no surprise that if the salesman is still with the company and has remained in contact with the client, this will be much easier to accomplish. However, it is also unrealistic to expect all salesmen to stay stuck in one job.
Some years back, I was dealing with one of the major computer companies. They told me that within a year, about 80% of their sales force had left to work with other computer vendors. What was perhaps more disturbing was that many of the departing salesmen also took their clients with them. Simply put, the company had no procedures in place to make sure that as one of their staff left, a new incoming salesman could be introduced to the client and pick up the responsibility for the customer’s account.
The moral? Neglect a client for a couple of years between the first and a subsequent sale and the salesman might as well be visiting a new client. Maintenance calls on clients, providing quality service and regularly assessing existing customer needs will pay off handsomely by enabling the salesman to close sales with considerably less time and effort.
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Author Bio: Terence Hockenhull is president of Charteris Consulting, Inc., a Philippine-based consultancy that conducts seminars throughout South East Asia. In addition to his role as a program designer and accredited training facilitator for American Management Association, he designs, develops and delivers sales training programs for Nissan Motor Company in the Caribbean, Middle East and Asia Pacific. Contact him at terryh@skyinet.net.
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