Visit the Sage

Baker's Dozen

In the Middle Ages, there were severe (as in "off with your head") penalties for any merchant who gave short weight or short count to a customer. Bakers were often uneducated and could hardly count, so to guard against miscounting 12 as 11, they habitually gave 13 whenever they sold a dozen. (What's a free loaf here or there when it literally could save your neck?)

I meet with people all the time -- coaching clients, prospects, casual acquaintances, board members, referral network members, etc. -- and very often these meetings are over coffee. So I find myself in a wide variety of coffeehouses in my area. About a month ago, after one such meeting at a St. Louis Bread Company, I stopped by the counter to grab a dozen bagels to take to my next client meeting.

On the menu board was the following:

Baker's Dozen (13 Bagels) . . . . . . . $7.19

I ordered 13 bagels.

I paid for 13 bagels.

I received 13 bagels.

I left with the feeling that St. Louis Bread Company and I were completely even.

Last week Thursday I stopped by Shop 'n Save to pick up some bananas, some creamer for my morning coffee and a few other items. While cruising through the store, I passed the deli where the salami caught my eye.

I had zero intention of buying salami that day. But with the holiday season in full swing, I was in a rather nostalgic mood and thoughts of childhood flashed. (Mom often made me chicken noodle soup and a salami sandwich on cold winter days.) Overcome with the warm feeling that comfort food can bring, I succumbed to an impulse buy and ordered a half pound. And that's when something rather unusual these days happened.

After carefully weighing a half pound of salami and printing the pricing label, the woman reached back into the pile, grabbed what was easily another quarter pound of salami, plopped it on top of the pile and said, "Happy Holidays from Shop 'n Save."

I ordered a half pound of salami.

I paid for a half pound of salami.

I received 50 percent more salami than I ordered.

I left with the feeling that I would never shop anywhere else.

Clearly the folks at St. Louis Bread Company and Shop 'n Save do not suffer from an inability to count or measure accurately. And they are, of course, not facing beheading if they screw up a measurement. But both are facing a loss of livelihood if they fail to get their customers to return. Yet only one of them truly "gets it" when it comes to making their customers feel special.

The simple fact is, St. Louis Bread Company could change its customers' experience from "breaking even" to "feeling special," if the decision-makers would do two simple things:

• Change their menu board to read: One Dozen Bagels . . . . . . . $7.19
• Put an extra bagel in a separate bag and give it to every person who orders a dozen bagels.

Same number of bagels. Same price. But a huge difference in customer experience.

Are your customers getting only what they pay for, or are they getting that little something extra that turns buying from you or working with you into a special experience they won't get anywhere else?

What will you change in 2006 to make your customers feel special?

--
Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association

Farming The Field

Did you know that with just a swipe, that mouse or keyboard you're using to read this weekly tip can be tested to determine whether you're taking or trafficking drugs? And on top of that, the owner of the business doesn't have to get your consent to do the test, because the mouse or keyboard is his or her property, not yours.

I learned all about this last week while I was shaking hands and trading business cards at a Yellow-Tie Drinks & Handshakes networking function. And while the technology itself has nothing to do with today's tip, the conversation I had with the person who sells that technology does.

The Value Of Opportunity Not Lost

This is, I think, the smartest thing I've ever said about sales: "The wise man builds relationships and lets sales happen. The fool destroys relationships by trying to make sales happen."

This philosophy is the cornerstone of Honest Selling, and often the hardest thing to get through the heads of people who have been taught to "close the sale, no matter what."

They just don't seem to understand what lost opportunity is worth.

Salesman: "Say what? Are you telling me I should walk away from a deal I could close if I learn that the prospect would be better off not buying?"

Gill: "Yep."

Salesman: "You're nuts. "

Thinking of your own interests over your prospects' interests can often get you a sale today, but the lost opportunity cost is huge.

I Had An "Honest Selling" Moment

Adam Kreitman at Integrity Detection Systems sells hassle-free knowledge to business owners and parents. Specifically, you can use his company's testing processes to learn whether your employees or children are taking or selling drugs, without the legal or personal hassles of drawing blood or gathering urine samples, and without the delay of waiting on a lab to process your test.

I've known Adam casually for about two years. We hang out at the same networking functions, and he's read my book and has been to some of the workshops I've conducted. Last week, Adam and I shook hands at the Yellow-Tie event, and with a twinkle in his eye, he said, "I have to tell you about an ‘Honest Selling' moment I had."

Here's what Adam told me:

A few weeks ago, my partner and I were on a sales call with the executive director and president of a private school for adolescents whose needs haven't been met in the traditional classroom setting. We met to discuss DrugWipe -- a pen-sized device that detects the invisible residue of illegal narcotics that drug users and traffickers leave on the surfaces they touch.

They wanted to use DrugWipe to test for drug residue, but during the sales appointment we found the reason DrugWipe would not work for them. We can identify drug residue on any hard surface, but unless you can attribute the residue to a single person, the data is basically useless. And all of the surfaces in their school, such as lockers, are shared by several students.

After we shocked and surprised them by explaining why DrugWipe wouldn't work for their school (instead of trying to get them to buy it anyway), they asked about other options. So we examined things a bit further then offered PreScreen as a way to gain the knowledge they wanted. [PreScreen tests individuals for drug use by sampling sweat collected directly from their skin.]

Both executives loved the idea of having a portable, noninvasive test that would give them results in just a few minutes. They especially liked not having to send their samples to a lab for processing. And they quickly got excited about the technology and began talking about how and when they'd be using it.

Talk about closing the conceptual sale. Those two were describing their vision of success as though it were in the past, instead of a decision they had yet to make!

But as I listened to them discuss using PreScreen it hit me -- drugs are detectable in sweat for only about 12 hours after entering the body. That's useful for an employer who wants to find employees who are impaired on the job. But they wanted to know whether the students had been using drugs on the weekends, on vacation and that sort of thing, and wanted this knowledge for all students.

Sure, a Monday morning PreScreen would have identified the frequent users -- those who took drugs late on Sunday before school the next day -- but they wanted accurate testing for everyone, not just the worst offenders.

So I made that leap of faith you recommended: I told them why PreScreen would not work for them, and I cost myself a really nice sale.

And that's when I had my "Honest Selling" moment.

The director of the school thanked us for being completely upfront and honest. Then he did two things that made me realize what you mean by "the value of opportunity not lost":

• He told us to bring them a stack of a few hundred flyers about our home-testing products, so they could pass them out to the parents of all their students.
• In an even more generous offer, he invited us to share the school's table at the Hooked on Health Expo at America's Center in January [the conference draws about 35,000 people] for free.

Needless to say, the director didn't have to ask twice!

Adam could have closed a sale and earned a commission by keeping his mouth shut about the deficiencies of PreScreen as it applied to this prospect's situation. Instead, he sowed honesty, trust and respect, and he reaped huge opportunity as a result.

You have a field of relationships to farm.

What seed will you sow today?

What crop will you reap tomorrow?

--
Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association

Book Review: The "I Hate Selling" Book

The "I Hate Selling" Book, by Allan S. Boress -- review by Gill E. Wagner

Prologue

I first read Boress' book shortly after starting my third company -- a computer technology project management firm. (I read it because Ifound the title particularly intriguing.)

Except for a few notable slipups, he has nothing manipulative in the book, which I found refreshing, since I have always believed manipulation in any form destroys trust and hurts sales.

While this is not really a how-to book, the concepts Boress discusses and the ideas he conveys can be used very effectively if you sell professional services. Product salespeople who sell to professional buyers, however, will most likely find High Probability Selling to be a better fit.

Enjoy,

Gill

Philosophy

Diagnosis is the key to sales –- that's the fundamental idea conveyed throughout The "I Hate Selling" Book. Boress advises that anyone selling professional services should act like a doctor –- diagnose the problem, prescribe a solution and learn whether the patient is committed to solving the problem you diagnosed.

Boress calls this a "Sales Examination," and it's this concept that not only gives Boress' book its value but also makes it easy to understand and to apply the concepts discussed. (Attorneys, accountants and consultants get paid to diagnose issues and offer solutions, so doing this in a sales call is second nature for most.)

Opinion: Allan Boress has the right idea, and anyone who sells professional services and then performs the service itself can benefit from what Boress has to say.

The Process

The "I Hate Selling" Book focuses almost exclusively on the sales call. There is one chapter on telephone prospecting at the end of the book, but in that chapter Boress makes it abundantly clear that he hates telephone prospecting. And if you've ever prospected by telephone, I'm sure you'll find that what he says is some of the worst advice you've ever seen on cold-calling.

Opinion: The majority of the book is excellent, but Boress made a huge mistake adding the chapter on telephone prospecting, because it's clear he is neither experienced in, nor an advocate for, telephone prospecting. (I'll bet big bucks his publisher made him add this chapter.)

The Sales Examination

Read the book, and you'll learn Boress' six-step approach to a sales examination:

1. Test for Personal Chemistry
2. Test for Emotional Needs, Wants, Desires or Musts
3. Test for Commitment to Action
4. Test for Ability and Desire to Pay
5. Test for Knowledge of the Decision Making Process and the Ability to Influence That Process
6. Test to See If a Presentation or a Proposal Is Necessary, and Determine What It Should Look Like

Almost all of what Boress proposes is good advice. So, rather than giving you details, I'll just recommend you buy and read his book (all but the chapter on telephone prospecting, that is).

--
Gill E. Wagner, Sage of Selling
President of Honest Selling
Founder of the Yellow-Tie International Business Development Association