Building Trust aka Walking the Talk

   

 As I sit here in our home office watching "Frankenstorm" bear down on us and hearing the wind moaning as it bends the trees in our woods (which I pray do not fall on our house), I am reflecting on how our company has responded to this crisis.
     There is a lot of posturing in our business world about customer's being one's # 1 concern.  Putting money behind that boast is another matter entirely.
     While preparing for the worst but praying for the best, Trinity flew a team of Delaware OPS and Support folks to our Kansas City location to set up shop so we could continue to serve our customers needs.  There were no discount fares for this emergency so the cost is significant but this is part of what TRUST involves.  If you want your customers to TRUST you, you have to be willing to do what it takes to make sure you serve them 24/7. 
     It reminded me of the quote below

     It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.

—Herodotus, Histories (8.98) (trans. A.D. Godley, 1924)

     I am damn proud that I am part of an organization that "walks the talk".  The lesson for all of us is very vividly depicted by this act of concern for our customers.

Sales Whisperer

 
Once upon a time a salesman was looking after his four year old nephew for a few days.  He was a very shy little boy and often had to be encouraged to say the right thing at the right time.  But he was a very fast learner.  One day at lunch, when the salesman's wife had company, her little nephew said, "Auntie, I have to tinkle!"   The salesman's wife took her little nephew aside and said, "Never say stuff like that at the table, sonny.  If you want to tinkle say, 'I want to whisper.' "  And the incident was forgotten.

Later that night when the salesman and his wife were asleep, their little nephew climbed into bed with them.  He tugged at the salesman's shoulder and said, "Uncle, I want to whisper."

The salesman said, "All right, sonny, don't wake Auntie up.  Go ahead, whisper in my ear."

The nephew was sent back t his parents the next day.

Moral of the story.  True sales professionals know that in order to be successful, whispering just doesn't cut it.  You need display confidence when speaking with prospects and customers.  And if it's your prospect who's whispering, encourage them to speak up and engage in open dialogue.   Leave whispering to those failures who take the time to gossip.  Ask yourself if you're one of those people who just sit on the sidelines content to just watch and talk about what happens or, do you have what it takes to throw caution and whispering to the wind and actually engage others and get into the game?

"The two most precious things this side of the grave are our reputation and our life. But it is to be lamented that the most contemptible whisper may deprive us of the one, and the weakest weapon of the other."              -   Charles Caleb Colton

Ditch The Fear

    Let's say that you make 650 well researched and prepared sales calls per month and out of those 650 you receive 455 outright rejections.  How would you rate your performance?
The truth is that if you sustained those numbers for your entire hitting career in major league baseball, you would likely be a candidate for the Hall of Fame.  You see that is a .300 batting average in the big leagues.And in the "big leagues" you are!  Because what you do daily is how you earn a living to support your family just like MOST big league baseball players do!
    Overcoming fear is a part of life.  I remember in my high school playing days facing one of our very own pitchers who was a fast-baller with a wild streak.  He hit me four times in the ribs during that practice last time cracking one. I saw him years later at a reunion and that was the first thing he mentioned after I spoke to him. He was surprised I did!! LOL Was I afraid for a time about stepping in against a lefty who was a little wild? You bet! I loved the game enough to hang in there.
    Sales folks who make their living talking to people on the phone often develop a phobia that causes them not to want to pick up the phone and make that necessary call or as I characterize it that necessary investment on their business which is finding new customers.
    What you need to understand, though, is that you may fear calling because you have probably been exposed to traditional selling approaches, which triggers rejection.  It goes like this: introduce yourself, explain what you do, suggest a benefit to the potential client...and then close your eyes and pray that they won't reply with "Sorry, not interested" or "Sorry, I'm busy." Unfortunately if you use this approach you are likely hearing this many more times than necessary.
  Let go of the traditional and embrace the natural is my advice.  Talk to them in normal language which is precipitated by your thoughts not a scripted litany of boredom.
    How would I do that, Sensei, you say?
    Like this caterpillar:
    Ask your current customers what issues doing business with you has solved for them.  I am betting they are the same issues most of the people shipping and receiving freight have. Now use that as your conversational hub when you are talking to potential customers.  You are now thinking about things from the prospects side of the equation and not your side.  You take the focus off you and put it on who it should be on:  Your potential customer on the other end of the line.
    You change what you think and you change what comes out of your mouth.

GIGO,
Dan

    

Asking for your prayers

Today at 930 EST Kristyn Doughty will give birth to her son Caleb by Caesarian Section.  According to sonograms Caleb has what the doctors say are life threatening problems and will likely not survive much beyond his birth.  Please pray this morning that there will be a Godly outcome to this and that HIS will be done.  Already Caleb has already blessed Mark, daughter Kinley, Kristyn, their entire family, their friends including all of us who have been privileged to share in this story.

From Kristyn’s journal written yesterday

Tonight, Mark and I listened to Caleb's heartbeat on the Doppler for about 7 minutes.  We recorded over minutes of it.  We now have his amazing heartbeat on our computer and hopefully will get it saved somewhere else soon too!  But, the cool thing is that I can listen to his heart whenever I want after he is gone.  And, that is a gift I will always treasure.

Value

A traveler wandering on an island inhabited entirely by cannibals comes upon a butcher shop. The shop specialized in human brains differentiated according to source. The sign in the shop read:

Brains On Sale.

Hi-tech Salespersons' Brains ... $9/lb

Real Estate Salespersons'  Brains ... $12/lb

Life Insurance Salespersons'. Brains ... $15/lb

New Car Salespersons´ Brains ... $33/lb

Used Car Salespersons´ Brains ... $87/lb

Sales Managers´ Brains ... $146/lb

Upon reading the sign, the traveler noted, "My, those sales managers´ brains must be something."

To which the butcher replied, "Are you kidding! Do you have any idea how many of them you have to kill to get a pound of brains?!"

Moral of the story.    Sales professionals know that the true value derived from any sales transaction does not stem from the amount of work the vendor puts into the product.  Rather true value is derived from the net benefit received by those actually utilizing the product or service just purchased.  Often sales reps who use a cost plus price model leave money on the table that a prospect or customer would be willing to pay.  Once you get your head wrapped around the concept of value based pricing, your sales career will soar.   Start today to really think about areas of your business where value-based pricing might apply.  Don't worry about really putting your brain through it's paces on this one.  It's not like your brain is going to melt down into cottage cheese or anything

Testimonials

   

 How many customers do you have who would be totally comfortable in providing you a testimonial that answers the question " Why do I do business with _______________@Trinity Logistics Inc.  (Hint:  Put your name in the blank).
Now " How many customers do you have that YOU would be totally comfortable with asking to provide a testimonial.  (Hint: you would have no concerns that it would make them feel uncomfortable or pressured).
     I submit to you that if the answer to either of these questions is ZERO or close to zero, you have some relationship building work to do.  I know there are instances of exception here nor I am not advocating that you go out and poll your customers but there is a relationship between the comfort level in being able to ask those two questions and the depth of your relationship with your customers.
     The best case scenario is never to have to ask for a testimonial but I believe that to be unrealistic in this day and age.  Not many are going to serve up a report on your unsolicited.  Do I think it improper to ask for one?  Not if you have the kind of relationship that would allow you to do it with no fear or any discomfort on either side of the table.
     This is article is meant for you to access your depth of relationship with your customers and if it is not deep then start digging.  I don't think any of us would be reluctant to ask a friend to do this for us. Right?