Your Sales Team Needs What Your Customers Want
Doyle Slayton | Aug 09, 2009 | Comments 9
Written by Mark Allen Roberts
[Contributing Author]
Business leaders and owners are battling through similar challenges these days.
“My business is down, we are struggling, the economy is killing us. I have our team doing what we did in ’93, but this time it just isn’t working…”
Your entire team is watching you and they are wondering…
Will I lose my job? Should I work on “plan B” and try to find something else?
Do our leaders know what they are doing? Will they be able to take us out of this storm?
Your team needs a leader who will quiet those inner fears… a leader who will set a course for top performance!
The common problem, regardless of industry, is a lack of current market information to make good decisions.
The market and your buyers have changed. They have changed how they buy and how they shop for solutions to problems. Yet you may be managing a plan based on buyer needs of the past.
I had coffee with the president of a local business this week. I started our meeting by asking…
“When you ran the Northwest, you realized so much growth, how did you come up with such good ideas?”
“Well I just knew what to do…it was easy, my customers told me what we needed to do and I went back to corporate and fought for them.”
And now you are corporate?
Yes,… I guess I am, hadn’t thought of it that way
Is anyone on your team coming to you… fighting for customers… and are you shutting them down?
Well yah…
What are they asking for?
You know sales guys… our prices are too high, our quality sucks, and if we would only change the product by adding one more feature…
When was the last time you were in the market, “belly to belly” with a customer?
It’s been a while, but I get weekly reports, and I talk to my sales guys, I feel I am up to date with what’s going on.
Really? What are they telling you about your customers and the problems they are experiencing?
The usual… business is down, no money to invest in their business, just trying to keep their heads above water… you know.
Anything new they are struggling with they did not struggle with last year?
Not really, just that business is bad, and they want a lower price and extended terms, I think we have a pretty good handle on what’s going on.
When you ran the Northwest, did you think your boss knew the market and your customers as well as you did?
Well… No (he became noticeably uncomfortable)
These conversations seem to have the same solution… “get out from behind your desk and get into your market. After two weeks of meeting with customers and users you will know what to do. You will have first hand current market data, and you will be able to make strategic, market driven decision.”
After making my suggestion, he responded in a way I didn’t expect, he smiled and said, “you know this will be fun, I have not been having much fun lately.”
Do you know what your customers really want?
When was the last time you were “belly to belly” with a customer? What did you learn?
Mark Allen Roberts founded OTB Solutions, LLC (Out Of The Box Solutions) in 2002 in response to companies requesting his advice and experience in sales and marketing leadership. Mark was classically trained in the discipline of sales at Frito -lay. Mark’s passion is growing companies profitably. His ability to refine skills and practical knowledge in entrepreneurial environments consistently results in explosive sales growth. You may read more of his articles on his blog, No Smoke and Mirrors.
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Filed Under: Blog • Guest Authors • Leadership • Sales
Great post! Thanks again, Doyle.
Mark always has some great insights for those looking to grow their business.
Mark:
Great article. Your interviewee said a lot wthout knowing it when he said “I listened to my customers.” Listening to them, or to clients in my case, has allowed me to service them and market to them more than anything else. Sometimes we get many steps removed from this process and lose our way. Your article brings us out of the trees and looking at the forest again…
Mark
Very well written article. Asking open ended questions is a wonderful teaching technique. We need to get “belly to belly” with our commercial accounts. Many of these folks have taken a beating in the economic downturn and are faced with making tough economic decisions. Window cleaning is considered a highly discretionary expense that can be foregone. Many times, our competition is not another window cleaning firm but rather an entry level employee with some extra time in his schedule. To grow in these difficult times, we must discover new services to offer our existing commercial customers and/or new markets with needs to satisfy. Either way, this can not be accomplished from behind a desk.
Thank you to Doyle for the opportunity to share some of my content and thanks to everyone for the feedback.
What I discuss I have done. They are not just theory, but techniques that drive profitable business growth.
I have used this process in a wide variety of businesses and it has always produced profitable growth.I hope to share more content with this community in the future.
thanks again,
Mark Allen Roberts
I have read several of Mark’s blogs over the years, and he has always been dead on. If ever there was a consistant message that Mark conveys is that change is constant, and if you don’t change, your clients and prospects will leaving you behind.
Thanks Steve,
Tnat was the spirit behind my post some time ago Attention leaders: Don’t look now but your lack of market knowledge is showing… http://nosmokeandmirrors.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/attention-leaders-dont-look-now-but-your-lack-of-market-knowledge-is-showing/
those who stay close to their markets, and understand their changing needs and buying process become Market leaders.
Those that don’t…well we know what happens to them.
Thanks again Stev
Thanks Doyle. I find Mark Robert’s article to be right on in trying to survive in this tough business climate today. Mark’s insights have helped me in starting to understand the sales/customer interface towards expanding my business. I will let all my associates in my industry to look for this type of information to assist them with growing their business.
Great article Mark. Very informative and well thought.