Andrea Michaels's Blog - Posts Tagged "sales"
When Under Attack, Fall Back
Recently I read the following article by Douglas Kolker and thought it so fabulous that I wanted to share it with everyone. Douglas graciously agreed, so enjoy his wisdom. -Andrea Michaels
When Under Attack, Fall Back
-By Douglas Kolker
Has this ever happened to you? You're in the middle of a discussion with a prospect, and suddenly you're caught flat-footed by what seems like an attack.
Maybe the prospect says, "You obviously don't know a whole lot about our industry." Or: "This presentation has no relevance to what you and I talked about." Or maybe you pick up a sudden, distinctly negative body language signal, like the prospect shaking his head slowly back and forth.
And then what happens? You fight back. Without much thought, and driven by barely suppressed emotion, you react immediately.
Perhaps you say, "On the contrary, I did a lot of in-depth research on your industry." Or: "Actually, I took very detailed notes during our previous conversation, and this presentation is based exclusively on those notes. Here, I can show you." Or: "What's that supposed to mean?"
These are all emotional reactions. No matter how "right" you may happen to be in your instant rebuttal, it's a good bet that you will lose the sale, and damage the relationship by reacting this way.
So here's the question. What's really happening here?
In order to understand that, you need to understand that people operate out of three Ego States: a nurturing or critical Parent, a detached Adult, and an emotional Child. This is how we are wired. When your prospect made that comment or sent that negative body language signal, he was, in all likelihood, responding from the Child Ego State.
While it's important to avoid triggering negative Child responses from your prospects, it's even more important to suppress your own Child reactions to the things your prospects say or do!
The next time you get this kind of feedback from a prospect, step back and make a conscious effort to leave your own Child out of the discussion. When you are under attack, fall back!
The best way to do this is simply to take a deep breath and remind yourself that, while it is normal to wonder what you did "wrong," or ask yourself "What's wrong with me?" a far more constructive question to ask is, "What's wrong with the prospect?"
By focusing on the prospect, rather than reacting from your own Child Ego State, you can comment or ask questions from an Adult or Nurturing Parent position. This allows you to explore the motivation for the prospect's action. For instance:
"Bill, what is it that I've said that makes you doubt my research?"
"Mary, what is it specifically about my presentation that isn't working for you?'
Or simply: "Tom, I suspect that whatever it is I've presented thus far is not what you were hoping for." (Then stop talking.)
By making a conscious choice to leave your Child out of the discussion, you can re-engage, reassess, and reclaim momentum in the discussion. You'll identify what really triggered the negative response. You'll stand a much better chance of sustaining a positive business relationship with this person... and, eventually, closing the deal.
This article was originally published in SandlerBrief, a monthly e-newsletter provided by the Sandler Training network of trainers. For more information on Sandler Training, contact Douglas Kolker via dkolker@sandler.com or visit www.douglaskolker.sandler.com
©2014 Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be reprinted or used without the express written permission of Sandler Systems, Inc.
To learn more about Extraordinary Events, contact amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net or visit www.extraordinaryevents.net.
When Under Attack, Fall Back
-By Douglas Kolker
Has this ever happened to you? You're in the middle of a discussion with a prospect, and suddenly you're caught flat-footed by what seems like an attack.
Maybe the prospect says, "You obviously don't know a whole lot about our industry." Or: "This presentation has no relevance to what you and I talked about." Or maybe you pick up a sudden, distinctly negative body language signal, like the prospect shaking his head slowly back and forth.
And then what happens? You fight back. Without much thought, and driven by barely suppressed emotion, you react immediately.
Perhaps you say, "On the contrary, I did a lot of in-depth research on your industry." Or: "Actually, I took very detailed notes during our previous conversation, and this presentation is based exclusively on those notes. Here, I can show you." Or: "What's that supposed to mean?"
These are all emotional reactions. No matter how "right" you may happen to be in your instant rebuttal, it's a good bet that you will lose the sale, and damage the relationship by reacting this way.
So here's the question. What's really happening here?
In order to understand that, you need to understand that people operate out of three Ego States: a nurturing or critical Parent, a detached Adult, and an emotional Child. This is how we are wired. When your prospect made that comment or sent that negative body language signal, he was, in all likelihood, responding from the Child Ego State.
While it's important to avoid triggering negative Child responses from your prospects, it's even more important to suppress your own Child reactions to the things your prospects say or do!
The next time you get this kind of feedback from a prospect, step back and make a conscious effort to leave your own Child out of the discussion. When you are under attack, fall back!
The best way to do this is simply to take a deep breath and remind yourself that, while it is normal to wonder what you did "wrong," or ask yourself "What's wrong with me?" a far more constructive question to ask is, "What's wrong with the prospect?"
By focusing on the prospect, rather than reacting from your own Child Ego State, you can comment or ask questions from an Adult or Nurturing Parent position. This allows you to explore the motivation for the prospect's action. For instance:
"Bill, what is it that I've said that makes you doubt my research?"
"Mary, what is it specifically about my presentation that isn't working for you?'
Or simply: "Tom, I suspect that whatever it is I've presented thus far is not what you were hoping for." (Then stop talking.)
By making a conscious choice to leave your Child out of the discussion, you can re-engage, reassess, and reclaim momentum in the discussion. You'll identify what really triggered the negative response. You'll stand a much better chance of sustaining a positive business relationship with this person... and, eventually, closing the deal.
This article was originally published in SandlerBrief, a monthly e-newsletter provided by the Sandler Training network of trainers. For more information on Sandler Training, contact Douglas Kolker via dkolker@sandler.com or visit www.douglaskolker.sandler.com
©2014 Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be reprinted or used without the express written permission of Sandler Systems, Inc.
To learn more about Extraordinary Events, contact amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net or visit www.extraordinaryevents.net.
Keeping Your Customer for a Lifetime and the Effects on Your Bottom Line
I recently read an article by Shep Hyken entitled, "The Lifetime Value of Your Customers." Shep shared that four out of ten senior executives in larger companies don't know the lifetime value of their customers. What does this mean? If leadership doesn't know, Shep explains, then employees won't know either. Yet when employees know and have clarity about the lifetime value of a customer, he continues to write, they can make better customer-focused decisions.
I have had some clients for over 25 years. Is that worth far more than a one off? Certainly! I started thinking of how the true value could be explained and why it mattered so much. Let's say that I go to a great restaurant and I spend $50 for a dinner. And, I like it so much that I go there once a month. That's worth $200. Over a year that's $2,400. And (presuming it doesn't go out of business) in 10 years it is $24,000.
Taking this into account for my industry (meeting and event planning and production), we do a great job for a client for ...oh, let's say $50,000 ... and it's an annual. Over 10 years if you retain that client, and assuming there will be some inflation, it could be worth $750,000.
Well worth taking the time to make that one client very, very happy and earn their loyalty. And worth passing onto your employees the merit of going over and above at all times. It's job security, isn't it?
Many years ago I was contacted by a hotel that had a client who needed a guitarist. (Stop reading if you've heard this story.) And the hotel needed me to drive from the high desert (where I lived) to Laguna Beach to play the client tapes of guitarists. Yes, you guessed it ... before emailing or YouTube. The trip one way was about two hours with no traffic. I did that. They hired me, and on the day of the job I drove back down to Laguna again to make sure they were happy with the guitarist. They were.
Fast forward three months. The client returned and needed a dance band. More "tapes" (remember those?) and ultimately a job which I again drove down for. By the way, they didn't like the band as it was very "California" and they were New Yorkers. But that didn't matter. They liked the service and personal attention they got.
Fast forward again, and they were returning and wanted a major headliner. I once again drove to meet them. The program grew too big for the hotel, so we needed a venue which turned out to be a tent which needed catering, decor, rentals, permitting, staging, audio-visual AND the headliner. For two weeks of programs featuring a major headliner.
I retained the business for years, traveling with this client and doing events, meetings, headliners, etc. All from not being daunted by going out of my way to book a guitarist.
To add another story (I can keep 'em coming, folks!) let's go back almost 26 years to my first meeting with Bob Abbott of Mueller Company. I'll start at the end. I am doing their annual incentive program, not just parties, but travel, hotel, registration, tours, gifts ... I am their full-service incentive company. And have been for the past 10 years. Anyway, let's go back 16 years when Bob Called me based upon a referral and asked if I could show him venues around Los Angeles for a small event for his company's best customers. We drove around for two days because Bob likes to see everything, and I mean everything. After Day One I realized that we had really hit it off so I took him to Tony & Tina's Wedding (gee Bob, one of my staff is getting married, and I have to make an appearance); we went shopping for a wedding gift, etc. Obviously part way into the evening, he figured out this was a fully-staged show, and we had a great time. EE did his event that year, and every year thereafter as part of AWWA. And each year was a party, always more and more challenging to me to be inventive and out of the box. Fortunately, with Bob, there is no box. We grew from these more intimate events to eventually larger hospitality events and then finally to the full-scale deluxe incentive. All from "Can you show me a few places in Los Angeles?" Now we travel the world with Mueller. At the very onset, it was a huge investment of time. Was it worth it? Judge for yourself.
What's the lifetime value of a customer? What is good service worth? Is any job really too small if it has potential? I don't think so, do you?
Andrea Michaels is the founder and president of Extraordinary Events, a multiple award-winning international meeting and event planning and production firm based in Los Angeles. To learn more about EE, visit http://www.extraordinaryevents.net. Contact Andrea via amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net.
I have had some clients for over 25 years. Is that worth far more than a one off? Certainly! I started thinking of how the true value could be explained and why it mattered so much. Let's say that I go to a great restaurant and I spend $50 for a dinner. And, I like it so much that I go there once a month. That's worth $200. Over a year that's $2,400. And (presuming it doesn't go out of business) in 10 years it is $24,000.
Taking this into account for my industry (meeting and event planning and production), we do a great job for a client for ...oh, let's say $50,000 ... and it's an annual. Over 10 years if you retain that client, and assuming there will be some inflation, it could be worth $750,000.
Well worth taking the time to make that one client very, very happy and earn their loyalty. And worth passing onto your employees the merit of going over and above at all times. It's job security, isn't it?
Many years ago I was contacted by a hotel that had a client who needed a guitarist. (Stop reading if you've heard this story.) And the hotel needed me to drive from the high desert (where I lived) to Laguna Beach to play the client tapes of guitarists. Yes, you guessed it ... before emailing or YouTube. The trip one way was about two hours with no traffic. I did that. They hired me, and on the day of the job I drove back down to Laguna again to make sure they were happy with the guitarist. They were.
Fast forward three months. The client returned and needed a dance band. More "tapes" (remember those?) and ultimately a job which I again drove down for. By the way, they didn't like the band as it was very "California" and they were New Yorkers. But that didn't matter. They liked the service and personal attention they got.
Fast forward again, and they were returning and wanted a major headliner. I once again drove to meet them. The program grew too big for the hotel, so we needed a venue which turned out to be a tent which needed catering, decor, rentals, permitting, staging, audio-visual AND the headliner. For two weeks of programs featuring a major headliner.
I retained the business for years, traveling with this client and doing events, meetings, headliners, etc. All from not being daunted by going out of my way to book a guitarist.
To add another story (I can keep 'em coming, folks!) let's go back almost 26 years to my first meeting with Bob Abbott of Mueller Company. I'll start at the end. I am doing their annual incentive program, not just parties, but travel, hotel, registration, tours, gifts ... I am their full-service incentive company. And have been for the past 10 years. Anyway, let's go back 16 years when Bob Called me based upon a referral and asked if I could show him venues around Los Angeles for a small event for his company's best customers. We drove around for two days because Bob likes to see everything, and I mean everything. After Day One I realized that we had really hit it off so I took him to Tony & Tina's Wedding (gee Bob, one of my staff is getting married, and I have to make an appearance); we went shopping for a wedding gift, etc. Obviously part way into the evening, he figured out this was a fully-staged show, and we had a great time. EE did his event that year, and every year thereafter as part of AWWA. And each year was a party, always more and more challenging to me to be inventive and out of the box. Fortunately, with Bob, there is no box. We grew from these more intimate events to eventually larger hospitality events and then finally to the full-scale deluxe incentive. All from "Can you show me a few places in Los Angeles?" Now we travel the world with Mueller. At the very onset, it was a huge investment of time. Was it worth it? Judge for yourself.
What's the lifetime value of a customer? What is good service worth? Is any job really too small if it has potential? I don't think so, do you?
Andrea Michaels is the founder and president of Extraordinary Events, a multiple award-winning international meeting and event planning and production firm based in Los Angeles. To learn more about EE, visit http://www.extraordinaryevents.net. Contact Andrea via amichaels@extraordinaryevents.net.
