March Counselor

It is not getting any easier or any less expensive to be different from, better than and stand apart from all of the competition in business. I contend that there is at least one ZERO cost easy way to be obviously better in your customer’s eyes. Check out the attached COUNSELOR. 

CONSULTATIVE SELLING . . .

Is there any other kind of selling? I know that a lot of people consider selling to be answering the phone, saying “yes we have it in stock, yes we have that quantity and yes we have the lowest price, we close at 4:30”. That ain’t selling. That is simply filling demand that already exists, kinda like a COKE machine fills demand. It has the inventory. It is nearby. It has the price. It is always open.

Selling is the creation of demand for a product or service that did not exist when the guy walked in the front door or dialed your phone number.

So, I was just a little (although I should not have been) surprised when I read a “paper” 2021 State of Sales in Distribution: How Consultative Sales Will Differentiate Distributors in the Post Pandemic Normal. This paper is from Distribution Strategy Group by Debbie Paul.            Here is the link…      2021 State of Sales in Distribution (distributionstrategy.com)

If your team is not in the habit of making sure that they are sharing some new information with your customers that they did not already know, I strongly suggest making that a habit. Your customers have learned that they can have demand filled on the Internet, get a price on the Internet and get it in two days on the Internet. Some Internet sites have become quite capable of providing new information to your customers (kind of selling) as well.

Selling your customers on your brand and the services you provide should be the first objective. Then learn what the customer actually needs and could use IF he knew about it, not just what he asked about. Let him know why/how your solution will add value to his business life. Let him know that this is what your brand is all about.

After that, sell the products and brands in your warehouse that have your best interest at heart. Sell those brands that work hard to help you build a long-term profitable relationship with your customer and defend that relationship. Of course, none of this is new nor is it rocket science. It is however a good business practice that will help grow your tomorrow.

The paper mentioned above is 26 pages long. That said it is full of some dern good (pretty easy readin’) information that might remind of us of what we already know, help reinforce why we should be doing this stuff and as important maybe introduce us to some very productive sales practices that we have not already put to good use. There is ZERO cost to you for providing this value add service to your customers. It takes only thinking about an on-purpose approach to customers and… DOING IT. Every time. With every customer who walks in or dials your phone number.

At Your Service,

Ray Windsor