How To Steal Customers From Your Fiercest Competitor With Better Follow-up and Improve Sales by 10% Instantly; With These Four Easy Steps.

If your closing ratio is somewhere between 15 and 30% that relates to over seven people out of ten who shop and do not purchase.  We all know that 3-4 of these hot prospects are going to continue to shop and will make their purchase quickly.  Probably within the next few days.

 

You must develop a plan or most of these customers will never come back.

 

·     How Do You Insure The Best Chance For A Follow-Up Opportunity?

Here is the problem.  You may not believe this but I can prove that the typical below average salespersons closing ratio is less than 10% for first time customers.  Here’s the good news…If that same below average salesperson can bring that same customer back on the same project their closing ratio goes to over 70%.

You can’t get em all, but I can give you names of companies who have an excellent first time closing ratio and also get over 60% of the customers who do not purchase into their follow-up database.  Then they bring back 40% of those opportunities. 

How Can Some Salespeople Not realize this activity could double their personal sales???

What is amazing to me is how poorly many salespeople do when they know that a customer can not purchase today.  If the customer says something like; we are out looking today and can’t buy anything until we...(there are many excuses, some are even legitimate).  Many times you can see the salespersons shoulders droop and sometimes they will drop this customer like a hot rock even when there are no other customers in the store.

Granted when you are in overflow, you go where the money is, but if you have the time, this is a phenomenal opportunity.

If you can’t close the sale today, you must get these customers personal information so you can follow-up.  Many salespeople immediately feel that it’s not worth the effort.  Some on the sales floor honestly say to themselves…If I can’t sell them right now (on the spot) then no-one can sell them and they are not worth the effort.  This attitude is just plain dumb…

Let me say again…If you can get that same customer back in on the same project, the closing ratio percentage goes over 70%.

So why don’t more salespeople do a good job building a hot prospect list.  Here is why, because it’s hard work.  But it can be easy if you have a plan. 

The reality is that, if the first time customer does not like you, trust you, or feels that your product is not going to meet their needs, you have a snowballs chance of getting quality follow-up information.

It is also quite possible that if you are talking to the same customer who just told you that they can’t buy today, if you do a great job in your demonstration and satisfy this customers needs, that they might just write you a check on the spot.  You don't know until you try...  Most salespeople could increase their sales by a huge margin if they did not pre-qualify and gave it an honest effort every time.  (To thine own self be true)

Let’s face it, the customer could have gone out for a meal or a movie, but instead, they are standing there talking with you.. My friend Joe Capillo tells me it costs seven times more to bring in a new customer, compared to every dollar spent selling an existing customer.

Joe is a well respected expert regarding sales management and he has told me that 40% of all customers who purchase, DO NOT make the purchase in the same year they first begin to shop.

We all know that hot prospects are shopping and finding something that will meet their needs but not purchasing.  They are walking out and never coming back because the average salesperson doesn’t do their job and won’t create an opportunity for follow-up.  Most below average salespeople believe the customer when they say…Oh, don’t worry, we will definitely be back.  But we all know that most do not, and those that come back at the same time on “The Be Back Bus”   (between 1:00 and 3:00) on Saturday afternoon, when you are so busy you can’t talk to everyone.

So How Do You Insure The Best Chance For A Follow-Up Opportunity and Steal those Customers Back From Your Fiercest Competitors?

I believe it requires a four step plan to insure the highest level of performance.

Before we get too carried away lets establish that the reason we are here is to create satisfied customers and make sales.  Everything that follows below is based on the fact that we know you are going to do everything in your power to close the sale today if possible.  So if you know you can’t close the sale…

#1. Give the customer the incentive to want to leave their personal information.

·        When the customer is leaving offer that they enter into your monthly or quarterly drawing for a Free $_____ (very worthwhile) Gift Certificate and they will also receive a free informative 4-7 step article on how to shop without getting ripped off.  Or how the customer can purchase from someone with confidence and what potential problems or pitfalls should they watch out for.  This should be written by you.  It should describe the pitfalls of what to watch out for, the benefits of being an intelligent consumer and if written correctly should point them back to your company and the benefits of your services, (without being too obvious).  Here is the cool fact about this Helpful Hint fact sheet.  It clearly outlines that you do not do any of the problems that are outlined and if done well they immediately know they can trust you to provide the excellent customer service they desperately want and need.  If this is done right sometimes a customer will go out to their car, read your white paper and come back and purchase on the spot.

·        Create a Wishing Well drawing where they have a chance to win a worthwhile contest.  The better the drawing, the better your overall results.  Keep in mind these unsold customers will buy from you if you can bring them back and you will not bring most back if you can’t follow-up.  Don’t be cheap.  Have an exciting monthly or quarterly drawing and it will pay for itself many times over.  Take photos of your winners and make it fun...

·        You should also try and separate these entries into your drawing by sold and unsold prospects.  This is easily done if you give each salesperson their own pad of entry forms (these can be printed anywhere), or just create your own by printing a form that can be cut into four sections.  A trick is to color code each salespersons pads by taking different color markers and putting a line on the edge so when you pull them out of the (Wishing Well box you know which salesperson worked with which customer even if the salespersons name was not written down on the entry form.

·        The ideal is that the sales consultant has developed a good relationship with the customer and can fill out the form for the customer and enter them into the contest. 

#2.  Create an atmosphere of trust and quality care so that the customer will have no hesitation when you ask for their address and phone number. 

·        The key ingredient here is to have a quality relationship developed in the first few moments and if you must ask for the customers name as they are leaving you are dead.  If you can’t say something like…Bob, let me have your phone number so I can check on whether I can get that XYZ in the size/color/finish/time frame you want.  This question requires planning and some insight.  I was a master at getting a customers name early.  After I went through a friendly qualifying phase (if it was possible to add some levity I would always do this, then I would stick my hand out and say…By the way, my names Dave.  I would get their name 99% of the time, because my smile was sincere and they were having fun and would never want to spoil it.

·        If I know that the customer I am working with can not buy today because they are closing on their home in three weeks or need to bring in their designer or husband, Fred.  I will during the course of my presentation try to find a topic that I can not get the answer for immediately and must check for them.  Use your imagination for this and it will make getting follow-up information easy.  Can I get this with ???, or delivery on Saturday…if you say I will check on it.  Then ask for the phone number.  Once you have the phone number it is so easy to get the address and email you won’t believe it.  Also tell her that you are going to enter her into your wishing well drawing.  The main strength is that the customer knows you are going to be calling and following up...  There is a huge difference here that guarantees success.

·        I will also work my rear end off for a customer and try to obligate them to me because I am busting my butt.  If I heard the husband or wife say something like, I wonder what this would look like with that specific accessory?  Then I would say excuse me for one minute and I would hustle over to that original and grab that accessory and would hustle back and swap them out.  I would be huffing a little (even though I was always in great shape).  But the customer has no doubt that I am making sure they know I am doing everything in my power to insure they are making the best decision possible.  John Lawhon gives an example similar to this in his book, The Selling Bible, but I was doing this in 1980 before he wrote his masterpiece.  I highly recommend this book.  It’s the best ever written on the subject of selling with integrity.  I would also make sure that I immediately put the accessories back so I would not screw up the sales floor and many times the customers would help me make sure everything is back in place properly.  If I took pride in my products then they would too and sometimes even help me put it all back.  When they did it was easy to write it up.

#3. Give the sales team the incentives and training to professionally acquire the customer’s personal info.

·        I know a very successful dealer who pays each salesperson an additional dollar for every unsold customer entered into the unsold customer database.  His return on this investment is huge because it puts focus where it needs to be every time a customer is not going to purchase that day.  Sometimes the only sale you can make today is selling yourself and your company.

·        I also strongly recommend a three week spiff contest and that you recognize and reward the top salespeople when it comes to the highest percentage of unsold customers for follow-up.  Rewarding the highest IGE “Information Gathering Efficiency” is the most valuable thing you can do to improve sales performance immediately on your sales floor.  Don't be frugal or cheap.  This will increase sales by over 10% almost instantly without increasing advertising costs.  What is that worth to you???  I suggest that you invest at least $1000 towards this contest, but set performance percentage benchmarks that must be hit to get the bonus.  The goal is 50% but the minimum should be 30%.  If they do not hit 30% then they do not get the bonus.  You should pay the top salesperson $250, the second place person gets $150 and third place gets $100.  You should also pay the manager and assistant manager $250 each if 50% is hit.  They get the full bonus if the company average is 50% and 1/2 of their bonus if the company exceeds 30% IGE.  Again the IGE report tracks the percentage of times your company gets quality follow-up information if a sale was not made...

#4.  Insure everyone does quality Follow-up and create a foolproof daily plan.

When a salesperson makes a promise to do anything for a customer or this is the best time to remind a customer to come back in because of a special occasion you must have a computerized reminder system that removes all doubt.  A good program will also automatically print beautiful thank you letters for your unsold customers that should be sent out the next day after they are personalized by the salesperson with a friendly PS.  (not product related) like I really enjoyed talking with you about the schools our kids are going to attend or (something in common that came up in the conversation).  The question is...How many times have you received a nice letter from a company with a personal touch where you had not purchased yet?  This is where the TRAX IGE Report helps you get control.  It makes tracking very easy and insures the best results possible.  Your goal should be that 50% of the customers who do not purchase are entered into TRAX.  This report makes it happen.  Please see the first item on this document to learn the power of IGE.  Click here >>>  Five Basics That Insure Success

I made a small mistake.

For the last 12 years I have always said the best time to have a private sale is during the slowest day of the month on a Tuesday or Wednesday.  I honestly had many dealers tell me that they did more business during this event than they did on an average weekend.  Like the second Wednesday of each month.  This has been a mistake on my part.  I have spoken with several dealers and have realized that the best time to promote to the unsold customers in your eTRAXsales database is for both this slow weekday and also that weekend.  The reason is that many customers just can’t make it during the week because of kids in school and work related conflicts.  I would suggest that you determine when you are having a low impact weekend and do this event at that time.  If you do it right you should have overflow and you do not want to have an event when you also have high impact advertising hitting as well.  I admit that it takes effort but it truly is worth it. 

Just to clarify, you should take all of your unsold customers from your database and invite them in for a special event and special additional discount or premium gift as an incentive for them to come back in.

Recap

It is imperative that every sales associate fight like crazy to get quality follow-up info every time, if they know that a sale is not going to be made today.  It’s the fastest way to immediately improve sales.

We have many other ideas that help dealers do a better job in this area and if you want to share your thoughts or discuss some of these ideas with us we would love to talk with you.

Dave Mink is the CEO of www.TRAXsales.com and his company has been manufacturing Front Door Customer Traffic Counters Upboard Systems and Follow-up software for 12 years.  Prior to this he owned an eight store chain in Texas.

Please visit www.TRAXsales.com or call 888-646-5462 or 713-466-7177

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