By Michael R. Nelson
Editor's Note: This new series will feature first-hand accounts from Michael R. Nelson, director of new business development for North Country Snow & Ice Management in Glens Falls, NY. Each column will showcase what Nelson has learned since beginning Sandler sales training with Lorraine Ferguson of Direct Impact Associates in the Albany market and how North Country is using Nelson's experiences to transform how it sells services. More information on Sandler training is available at www.sandler.com.
I know that most of you do not have the problems that I have in sales. Most of you are organized and have a structured sales process. I show up to work and wonder what I am doing that day. You have prices that are always lower than your competitors, so price is never a factor. I am usually higher and struggle to make the prospect understand why they should pay more.
You arrive at a sales meeting and find out whether the prospect has any problems that you might fix. I “show up and throw up” all the reasons they should make the switch, and then wonder why they don’t. You always talk to the decision maker, who gives you a “yes” or a “no” answer. I am lucky to talk to the decision makers’ fifth cousin twice removed, and I always hear “I’ll think it over” or “I’ll get back to you.”
You know why the prospect has asked you for a proposal, which is never so they can beat up his current vendor’s price. I call back after weeks of not hearing from the prospect only to learn that they took my proposal back to the incumbent, who lowered the price to be competitive with mine. You have prospects that always give you their budgetary information. I rarely know how much the prospect is spending or is willing to spend, so I waste time putting proposals together that have no chance of getting accepted.
These are some of the things that happened to me until I discovered that the problem for my lack of sales success wasn’t the prospect … it was me. In the coming issues of Snow Business, I will bring you with me on some sales appointments or highlight some of my day-to-day activities to show you how I changed my approach after discovering that I was my own worst enemy.
You are not going to agree with everything I suggest or write, and that is OK. But if any of this sounds familiar, if even a glimmer of what I write rings a bell, then ask yourself the same question I did: “Am I the real problem?”
Scenario: “It’s all about price”
How do you respond when a potential client says the all-too-familiar: “It’s all about price?” Do you present a proposal anyway, knowing that there’s a better than 90% chance you are not getting the work and are actually just wasting time? Do you sell the work at low margins and risk losing money? Or do you take the appointment and find out whether it really is about price?
Here is how it played out for me on a recent sales call:
I had set up my appointment with a potential client, “Roy,” by phone. I walked into the appointment on time, and Roy looked at me like I had four heads—not only had he forgotten our appointment, he had also forgotten our phone call. This was clearly not a good sign for me since Roy didn’t sound like someone who was unhappy with his current service provider.
Roy let me know that he was happy with the contractor he had been using for years, and if there was a change to be made it would be price driven. That posed a problem for me since we are not usually the lowest-priced contractor, but I pressed on. I asked him to tell me about his scope of work and what the incumbent was doing that he liked so much. He explained the scope and his expectations, but instead of telling me what he liked about the incumbent, Roy spent 15 minutes telling me what he did not like and what was really wrong with the service he was receiving.
I told Roy I understood what he was saying, but my concern was that our company is not known for being the lowest bidder, and then I stopped talking. After a good five seconds of silence, Roy said: “Mike, I would be willing to pay a little more for better service.” I responded, “Well, help me understand, what’s better service?” He went on again for 15 minutes about what he did not like about the service he was receiving. Roy had spent a significant amount of our time together telling me (and himself) what should actually motivate him to make a change. All I did was ask a couple of questions instead of telling him about our service and why it is better.
Then, this exchange occurred:
“OK, Roy, I think I understand. So it sounds like you might make some sort of change this year,” I said. “I am definitely making a change, Mike,” he replied. Despite his willingness to make a change, price was still a concern: “Well, Roy, let’s talk about budget, because I am concerned we are not going to be able to hit your price point,” I said.
Roy tracked down the previous year’s contract, gave me the exact dollar figure, and told me he understood we might not be able to match it, but if we were close we had the contract.
So, what happened? Was Roy lying about it being price driven, or did he just need to hear himself talk about what his service should be and what it actually was? Roy was not actively looking for a solution, because he did not realize he had a problem. Sometimes you just need to get a prospect talking and he will show himself that it is really not all about price.
Michael R. Nelson is director of new business development for North Country Snow & Ice Management in Glens Falls, NY.
