Take the little times and make them big times.....

Every once in a while something hits me right between the eyes and I am compelled to share it. Back in the day there was a very hip poet and song writer named Rod McKuen who said some pretty off the wall stuff but also some profound things as well. This quote is kind of a mantra I have embraced in my life and it has held me in pretty good stead much the way it is stated:
"I've been going a long time now, and along the way I've learned a few things. You have to make the good times yourself. Take the little times and make them big times, and save the times that are alright for those that aren't so good."
It is kind of that way with the world in which we live. If one sits around waiting for the good times to find their way to one, it usually ends up in a huge amount of wasted life.


My Very Best Regards,
Dan

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost

HOW TO CRAFT A SALES SCRIPT

1/ Your calls to your regular customers must have a grabbing opener!!! Every time you call, without exception, have a point to discuss that will add value to their relationship with you. It is anything that allows them to feel they’ve gained something by talking to you. It can be good news, useful information about their industry, ideas you have, personal things in which they have an interest, anything they will perceive as useful. If they like cooking, you might offer them a new recipe you have tried. Don’t ever be afraid to put yourself out there on a personal level. In my 40 years of selling, I feel this is the biggest shortcoming of many or most unsuccessful sales people. Being way too business-like and sacrificing their humanity and good humor and fun for fear of what I have never figured out.

“Bob, this is Dan with Trinity Logistics. I have been reviewing the lanes we are currently doing with you and noticed that we are hauling out of Charlotte for you almost everyday but only to the northeast. Do you have a moment to discuss with me to what other points you ship out of Charlotte?

OR

“Bob, Dan with Trinity. I heard some neat tips on fly fishing, and you came to mind as some one who might be interested in it”

The real test is to put yourself in the position of the person hearing what you are saying. Ask yourself if you would want to hear more if you were in their shoes. Be sure your opener says as much as possible, with as few words as possible. Only by appealing to their desire to gain or fear of losing, will you cause them to spend productive time with you and eventually open up more business to you!!

2/ Map out your questioning strategy BEFORE you call. Take all of your benefits that apply to this call and write them down one below the other on the left of the page. Then to the right of that make two columns, label the first column “Needs Filled” and write out what need your benefit fills after or as you make the call. The other column is “Questions To Ask”. Write out a question to ask to determine if that need really exists.

Benefit Need Filled Question to Ask

Same Day Pickup How quickly do you need pickup?

Here are some other related questions:

Do you ever need same day pickup late in the day?

What do you do in situations like that now?

What happens when you need it same day and have to wait a day or even two?

You need to have a comprehensive list of questions in front of you to be effective and keep the call going.

3/ Dealing with Objections can largely be done by having a well-planned questioning strategy BUT they will arise and I like to deal with them by saying the following: “ I understand” or “I see, let’s discuss “ or “let’s talk about that”. Then begin questioning them as to why they raised that as an objection.

To achieve continuity let’s continue from the questioning above:

Customer: “I have heard that Trinity does not do any better than my current carrier with same day pickup”

You: Let’s talk about that. Could you tell me from whom or where you heard that?

Customer: Driver’s have come in here and told me that.

You: In what context did they bring that up? (You are really asking who started that conversation)

Customer: Since you have asked me about this issue before, I thought I would investigate by asking.

You: I would like to get you a couple of customer references from the people like yourself who really have a vested interest and are most affected by same day pickups. (You are inferring that the driver info is unreliable without saying it).

Customer: I would think a driver would be honest about that.

You: I am not questing their honesty at all. As you know we are brokers and we use outside trucks so it is hard to pinpoint accuracy on the driver’s part as they deal with so many different brokers it is very easy for them to get confused. Let me get you some names and numbers to call to check our service levels in that regard. I will get those to you by 1600 tomorrow.

I think you will find this a friendly, non-adversarial way to deal with objections. Get to the bottom of them and don’t be afraid to get back to them with an answer rather than spewing out whatever pops into your head. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into talking too much or answering questions you are not sure how to answer.

4/ Getting a commitment is the probably the thing that requires the least amount of skill but presents the most difficulty for most sales people. Do this: start practicing this in your personal life by doing the following: Start asking for discounts from store clerks, ask for a better table in a restaurant, don’t settle for second rate service by asking politely for a waiter “to step up the pace”. All these things will help prepare you to start asking for the business.

On the phone, ask for the business more often. When someone is “going to talk it over” ask if they are going to recommend it? (“It” would be you and/or Trinity)

If they try to put you off by saying “ I will think it over” ask them what the chances are that they will reach a favorable decision. You are going to get “No’s” but the positive answers you get will save you time and result in more business and also help you build a “closing behavior”. I worked for a guy many years ago who told me if you lose it all in a sales call and cannot remember anything (blank screen), you can at least ask for the business!!!!! There is no secret here!!! There are no special lines that will ever insure you get a “Yes”. We are dealing with human behavior and if that were anywhere like predictable we would have lived in peace since the time of Adam. It is very simple stuff. If you want the same results, keep doing the same things you have been doing. If you want different results, you might try different behavior. Someone said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. I am no psychologist but I do know that if you want different results in sales than you are getting now, you have to be willing to try different behavior.

5/ Make sure you are training yourself to really listen. Remember this: the more you talk, the more opportunity you give your customers to raise objections. Let them talk and they will certainly not be raising objections to their own points. If they do, hang up immediately and run like hell!!! They ARE insane!!!

You need to interject notes on your checklist/script in red letters. All over the page, you need to write reminders about listening. “Why should I listen to this person?” The answer to this question needs to be in red letters right after the question. “Because what this person says will tell me exactly what I need to say to help them make a decision favorable to me thereby enriching my income/life”

Have this purpose in mind every time you talk to anyone about anything!!!

The other persons desire to listen to you is in inverse proportion to the amount of talking you do. The more you talk the more easily bored they become. Your primary job is to get them to talk to you!!!

6/ Make sure your checklist includes a post call assessment. It is absolutely essential that you take the time to rate your call and make an honest assessment of what you accomplished during that call and what you need to do as far as follow up is concerned. Learning about what you have done does not take place during the call. It takes place afterwards and must be a deliberate step in a successful call. You learn when you reflect on what you have done!!

These two simple questions need to finish your call script/checklist.

What did I like about this call?

What would I have done differently during this call?

You say you don’t have the time for this exercise!!! I say you cannot afford not to make time for it, as it is essential to your growth and success in sales and in life!!!!

Lesson Number IV

CHECKLIST FOR MINING ACCOUNTS

(Or Stuff I Really Need to Know But for some reason I have not asked)

In order to use this checklist effectively you must have mastered the above three lessons. Don’t waste your time going any further until you 1/Have a Relationship, 2/ Know Our Business and 3/ Know Their Business

Checklist

Before I get into the checklist, I think some basic information might be more helpful. Formal Check List will come tomorrow.

Open-ended questions allow us to gather information about our customer’s needs without making it sound like an interrogation. The customer’s responses also deliver new information on which to base our next question. Never answer your own question. (What do you think about that? Wasn’t it a good idea?) This sends a message to your customer that you are more interested in you than them. Also, get in the habit of pausing after you ask an open-ended question and wait for your customer to reply. Force yourself to be quiet and wait for them to answer fully without interruption. Also, a great technique to use is to repeat the last few words of their answers in the form of a question. “Who do you use now for this lane?” “ I use CH Robinson” “CH Robinson?” This will ordinarily get them to justify to you or expand upon why they use them without you having to ask them a direct, interrogative type question. Practice this technique in your social conversations at home. This is a skill that will benefit you greatly once you are comfortable with it. This technique is to be used sparely as it can come off as if “there is an echo in the room” LOL. You should be very careful of manipulative or direct questions like “If I can show you that we can save you money and time, that would interest you, wouldn’t it?” This question only solicits a brief yes or no answer and that is not what we are looking for. If you feel you must ask a question like this drop the “wouldn’t it”. It softens a direct question into a feel-finding question but it is still close-ended and you still end up with pretty much a yes or no answer. Remember your job is to keep them talking so you get them to open up to you. As you read below you will notice that the very basic words in questioning keep popping up: WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHO and HOW. These are the words that you should always use when asking questions. They are easy to remember and they are the essentials in good questions.

1/ Ask open ended opening questions.

Open-Ended Opening Questions:

Customer, we have been working together for some time now and I am always looking to improve my service to you. What recommendations would you have that could help me improve my service to you?

How or in what way have you ever felt that I have let you down in any way during our business relationship?

How do you feel I have responded to you in difficult situations?

In what area are there any communication problems between the two of us?

If there are no issues here, you can move on. If there are issues, you need to either address them on the spot or get back to them before proceeding to ask for more business.

2/ Ask Open-Ended Fact Finding Questions

Open-Ended Fact Finding Questions:

What are some of the lanes in which we are not currently serving you?

Why have you not considered Trinity for those lanes (that lane)?

Who are you using to serve you in that lane? (A good time to use the repeater technique—their answer: CH Robinson your reply: CH Robinson? -then be quiet)

How long have they been your “go-to on that lane?

What do you like most about them?

If you could change one aspect of your current relationship with them, what would that be?

What are the most important issues in your job for you?

Who is your primary customer?

What do they do and

How demanding are they?

Who are the other people in your organization who are involved in transportation decisions?

How do you decide on whom you will call to do what lane?

Where are your shipping facilities located?

3/ Ask open-Ended Feel-Finding Questions

Open-Ended Feel-Finding Questions:

How do you feel about that?

Why is it important to you?

What is your opinion about that policy or change in policy?

When did you come to that decision?

I am not sure where you are coming from with that answer? Can you explain further?

Lesson Number III

YOU MUST BECOME KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMER’S BUSINESS

It is always amazing to find out most of us don’t even know what we are hauling out of our customer’s shipping facilities. It is hard to have a meaningful relationship with anyone if you don’t even know what your contact (or their company) does everyday when they are at work. There is some basic information you should find out and the guideline for some of it can be found in the preferences page of the customer file (screen 2). This would be a good place to start but don’t stop there. Finding out about the industry you are serving will not only help you become indispensable to your customer, it will help you figure out to what industry they are selling their wares, thereby giving you a whole new list of potential customers. Most every business today has web page and conversing with your contact coupled with having looked at their web page in some detail will allow you to make the most of every call. It will give you a platform from which to ask questions. People like to feel they are helping by providing information to others. This is a basic human emotion and a basic human need. You need to allow them to satisfy that need by making yourself a sponge, soaking up all the information you can possibly hold. Again, you need to put this somewhere accessible. Store what is appropriate in the customer file then save copies of emails or email yourself with notes if it is a phone call. We can later incorporate this into a folder accessible to everyone. For right now, getting the information and using same in your effort to grow your accounts is our goal. We need to take baby steps to get to where we need to be!!!

I will be crafting a checklist of what you need to know and some suggestions on how to ask for it.