AUGUST 2012

HOW PERSONAL ARE YOU WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS?

What's that? You've been at the job a long time? You really know your customers? OK, let's do a little quiz. AND, let's choose those customers that buy infrequently, but "can buy more from you". Do you know who the real decision-maker is? Do you know what he or she does for a hobby? How's about something...anything about their family? Or how's about whether they drink coffee and like a donut once in a while.

If you're a beginner salesperson, or a pro who needs a refresher, read the following story I read in a dealer publication recently.

"Russ my company rep and I, on the way from New York to Rhode Island, stopped along the way. He went into a bakery and purchased a big box of pastries. When we got to the customer's office, Russ entered and greeted each person by name. He had in the box the exact pastry that each person in that room loved. They greeted him like a favorite uncle. I learned years later that Russ kept a handwritten map of every office he had ever visited, the name of each person at each desk, along with all sorts of personal details including his or her pastry preference. He told me once.... "I can't remember everything, so I commit it to paper and refer to it before each meeting." So, let's go back to my initial thought... how much about your customers do you know? Oh I almost forgot to mention. Russ lived in a home that was more like a palace on a 25 acre park-like, well groomed estate. NO! He didn't inherit it all. He instinctively was a people-to-people guy who developed a tie with his customers that obviously couldn't be broken.

By the way.... we've had a nice response to the advertising we're doing to promote the Global Dealer Summit co-Sponsored With Graph Expo /// Chicago. Register for no-charge seminars HERE. ...AND don't forget to grab your free passes to the Graph Expo show HERE.