Tuesday, July 2, 2013

WHY BUY FROM YOU?

I had the privilege this past weekend to conduct a workshop entitled "Effective Selling in Today's Economy". I really enjoyed the experience and hopefully the participants went away with knowledge they can use immediately in their businesses.

One of the exercises we did that I thought was a great learning experience was one where I asked the participants why a prospect should buy from them. We wrote the answers on the board and got some really excellent responses. Had a smart group there.

What about you? Have you answered the question of why people should buy from you? When I do on sight consulting, that is one of the first questions I usually ask and almost always get answers like,

WE'VE BEEN IN BUSINESS FOR 20 YEARS

WE ARE THE BEST IN TOWN

WE HAVE A GREAT TRAINING PROGRAM

OUR QUALITY IS BEST

WE HAVE A GREAT QUALITY INSPECTION PROGRAM

These traits may all be true but do they really distinquish you from your competition? Have you been in business 20 years or 1 year 19 times over? Some companies NEVER seek out any continuing education on how to do things better. Have you attended a BSCAI convention or an ISSA trade show recently to find out whats new"?

How do you know you are the best in town--because you said so? Hardly a strong endorsement.

How does you training differ from your competitors? You see, nearly every BSC I know claims they have a great training program. The reality is many of them haven't held a training session for anyone in their organization since Noah parked the ark.

If your quality is best how do you know? Have you been doing inspections of your competitors work? What's the benchmark?

If you have a quality inspection program, what is it and how does it benefit the customer?

You see, in today's business climate, prospects want to know what makes your company REALLY unique. How does it stand out from the rest? What value do you bring that will relieve the prospect of some of the headaches they endue every day. Do you offer them a real partnership or are you just reminding them that you react fast if THEY find a problem with your service. Shouldn't you find the problem first and correct it before they even know there is a problem. That is a contractor of value to the prospect.

Let me suggest that you conduct a work session with your key staff and ask that question---Why should anyone buy from us? This could be some of the most valuable time you will ever spend with your people. It's important to your future survival. Make sure you have  real and meaningful answers. If you come up with the same ones I listed above in capital letters, you have some work to do. Customers don't want "me too" companies. They want companies that inovate, relieve headaches, and are proactive in their endeavors.

So...why should anyone buy from you? Give them several REAL reasons. If you don't have any now, let's get to work and become the most valuable BSC in the territory you cover.

A quick note to let you know that this month we are releasing our two newest DVDs entitled,

How to Conduct an Effective Building Walk Through
and
Getting the New Account Startup Right

They'll be available on our web site within a couple of weeks. Both will have details of procedures and processes we used in our 43+years in the business and should be extremely helpful in your business. If you want to order early, you can call us at 573.374.1111, place your order and we'll ship free on any early phone orders.

Till next time.


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