They give you more money! You may have heard that it costs up to five times as much to replace a customer as it does to keep one. So, keep them happy. Underpromise and overdeliver. m

5. Born-Again Customer. These are previous customers who no longer do business with you. For some reason they have forgotten about you or they are still upset with you. I suggest you dig up their file, give them a call, and settle any outstanding grievance. Put your ego aside and offer restitution to satisfy the customer. Do what it takes to resolve the situation. Make amends. Very frequently they will once again be receptive to doing business with you. They often become loyal customers provided you resolve the problem to their satisfaction.

As you work with your customers, you will find the Sequential Model is applicable to all six types. Remember: Pay particular attention to your internal customers.

6. Bag of Wind. You guessed it, these people have little or no impact on the decision. They are often an easy point of entry into an account but they seldom contribute to the sales process. In fact they do more harm than good by creating a false sense of authority. There is nothing worse than wasting valuable selling hours on people who cannot help advance the sale. However, Im not suggesting to ignore these people but rather exploit their knowledge to deepen your understanding and confidence about the account. They may also provide clarity as to who the allies are and who the bag of money is. Knowing these people can prove to be a huge advantage; knowledge is power.

mCathcart, Jim CPAE. Relationship Selling: The Key to Getting and Keeping Customers. Page 100. 1990 Perigee Books.

Definition of Selling

The sales profession has offered numerous definitions of selling. With each writer (this one included) comes another definition, another viewpoint. However, see what you think.

Its simple. Selling is talking with:

The right person at

The right time with

The right solution for

The right price, recognizing

The right time to confirm (close). I call these the five rights of passage. Your sales call will only be as effective as the weakest right. All five must work in harmony to advance the sale. Imagine the frustration of trying to close the sale by talking to the wrong person at the wrong time with the right solution. Therein lies the challenge of professional selling: earning the right to advance the sale by executing the five rights of passage. You must be in sync with your client throughout the entire Sequential Model or the sale is lost. Worse yet, you may end up forcing the sale and creating buyers remorse. Thats where the sinking feeling of regret creeps into the customers mind. These five rights give new meaning to the rights of a customer.

Another definition of selling is, Selling is the process of disruption. Ultimately, you are there to facilitate change, disrupt your customers current situation, and improve their business by suggesting they buy from you. Dont expect to walk into a prospects office and hear him or her say with enthusiasm, Oh, thank goodness a sales representative showed up! We have done without for so long. We were hoping someone would drop by soon.

It wont happen. If selling were that easy, youd be earning the minimum wage.

Advanced Selling Skills

By this point, you may have wondered if this book addresses advanced selling skills. Legitimate question. Let me answer it this way: I recently worked with a client who was rather insistent on finding an advanced selling skills seminar. During our discussion, I suggested that success in a sales call is directly linked to performing the basics well. We have all heard about professional sports teams recovering from a slump by going back to basics. The basics never fail us. Strive for brilliance at the basics.

I responded to my client by telling her there is no such thing as an advanced customer. In my years of sales experience, I have never heard of anyone referred to as such-tough maybe, but not advanced. I recognize that this is a new concept, but I feel that customers simply represent a variety of positions, some more senior than others. Regardless of their position, all customers have universal agendas, such as why should I buy from you? ... how are you going to help my business? ... whats in it for me? These questions are common denominators to every sales call. Advanced selling is simply a matter of understanding and applying the Sequential Model, coupled with having a positive attitude and the confidence to pursue a dialogue with fellow human beings, regardless of their position or experience. My client accepted the analogy, and I proceeded to design a sales course using basic sales techniques that met her training objectives.

Consider this: The Carnegie Foundation did a study and discovered that only 20% of a persons sales success comes from product knowledge. Its not just what you know about your product but, more importantly, its how you present yourself. This report went on to suggest that up to 80% of success in sales (and life) is determined by a combination of self-management skills and interpersonal skills. m Other organizations also support these findings. Think about it. As a consumer, when was the last time you purchased a product from someone you didnt like? Not very often. You probably took your business and your bag of money elsewhere.

In sales, the common denominator, the one universal constant, is people. People need to like you and trust you, and to feel that you respect them, before they buy from you. It makes no difference what product or service you are selling-corporations may do the deal but it is people who do the relationship. People buy from people.

[2]Cathcart, Jim CPAE. Relationship Selling: The Key to Getting and Keeping Customers. Page 6. 1990 Perigee Books.