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Competitive Advantage E-zine
Formerly Sales and Marketing Strategies & News E-Zine
November 10, 2005   http://www.thecompetitiveadvantage.net
Editor: Lori Smedley, lsmedley@douglaspublications.com
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You have received this newsletter as part of your subscription to Sales and Marketing Strategies & News Magazine. Information on unsubscribing to this e-mail newsletter is located at the bottom of this e-mail.
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Lake Group Media helps companies develop new customers through direct and interactive marketing services. We assist clients interested in creating and executing targeted direct mail efforts, e-mail campaigns, telemarketing and online lead generation programs. Our comprehensive one-stop services including targeted list selection, merge purge, printing, and mailing. Our list management division also helps companies monetize their customer list asset. Clients include Harvard Business Review, American City Business Journals, American Bar Association, The Economist and Crain's NY.

E-mail Ryan at Ryan.Lake@lakegroupmedia.com or call him at 914-925-2434 for more information. http://www.thecompetitiveadvantage.net/2005/11-10-Lakegroup.html
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CONTENTS:

* Ask the Expert: The six best questions you can ask your customers
* Web Marketing: Today’s teenagers will use cybershopping as their primary method of purchasing
* Career Enhancement: Be visible to be seen as a leader
* Sales Tips: Ask prospects ‘Why not?’
* Customer Service: Make a service commitment
* Motivation: Powerful anti-procrastination tools
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Ask the Expert
The six best questions you can ask your customers
By Paul S. Goldner

I always say that selling is like an Olympic sport. Imagine that you were competing in the next Olympic games. How would you prepare?

Top athletes prepare four years or more. In sales, it is crucial that we are prepared in much the same way as our Olympic counterparts.

Asking certain targeted questions maximizes your sales ability. Remember, sales success starts with customer needs, and you can’t succeed without thoughtful preparation.

1. Background question. The first question that I always ask when meeting customers and prospects is: “What are you doing now in the area of (insert your product or service)?” If it’s an account you’re working with or have visited in the past, this is a good question to ask, since a number of months may have gone by since your last visit. If it’s a new account, this question allows you to begin gathering information.
2. Account penetration questions. Next, look for ways to either penetrate the account or expand the relationship: “Given what you’re doing now, are there areas for improvement?” and “What are your future plans?” Why ask these two questions? Because your goal is to give customers or prospects something they need but don’t already have. A positive answer to either or both of those questions will reveal a need that your product can fill.
3. Value management question. Be sure to ask “What’s important to you in a relationship with a company like ours?” I believe that sales is the successful management of customer perceptions. The first step in managing customer perceptions is to understand them. That’s the goal of your value management question. You will learn whether the customer values low price, reliable delivery, quality construction or any of the other variables that affect a sale.
4. Decision-maker question. Most of us have tried to close a sale, only to be rebuffed by a buyer who says your proposal must be taken to “the committee.” It’s very difficult to sell if you don’t have all the decision makers at the table. It’s also tough to negotiate. Save yourself a lot of time and effort by asking the customer one simple question: “Who else will be involved in the decision-making process?”
5. Your last question. We have now asked the customer important questions. And you’ve learned a lot. But don’t stop asking yet. The final question I always ask ensures I’ve covered all of my bases. I conclude every meeting by asking: “Is there anything else I need to know—or you’d like to tell me—to make our relationship as successful as possible?” That gives the customer one last chance to talk about a need that you have yet to uncover with the line of questioning outlined above.

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Web Marketing
Today’s teenagers will use cybershopping as their primary method of purchasing

By 2010, online sales will reach $331 billion, predicts market analysis firm Forrester Research. “The growing population of online shopping households combined with retailer innovations and site improvements will drive e-commerce to account for 13% of total retail sales in 2010, up from 7% in 2004. Between 2004 and 2010, online sales will grow at a 15% compound annual growth rate.”

It may be that Forrester is too conservative in its estimates for a number of reasons. First, more people in every age group are online and increasingly comfortable with online payment methods. Second, more than half the households with Internet access now use broadband. Third, e-stores have matured and have a better understanding of who their customers are and how to serve them.

But most important, online shopping will skyrocket because today’s teenagers are true cybercitizens, and the Internet is an integral part of their lives, from school and entertainment to shopping, communication and relationship building. As that group enters its income-earning years, cybershopping will be its primary method of purchasing goods.

Forrester anticipates growth across industry sectors, predicting that by 2009, 77% of U.S. households will have regular online access and 40% will shop online. Again, that might be conservative, because communities and savvy companies are creating opportunities for low-income and technophobic families to gain Internet access. Once they’re online, new cybercitizens will shop as avidly as early Internet adopters.

As a result, a 20% to 25% compound annual growth rate can be expected. Analysts with Forrester assert that some “late-blooming” retail sectors—including tools, hardware, garden supplies and flowers—will experience sales increases of as much as 37% as more shoppers abandon telephone orders for the Web.

E-tailers can improve their odds of winning a larger share of the online pie. For example, when customers can order online and pick up and return products at a local shop, sales will surge. Enhancing the online shopping experience with graphics and easy-to-use navigation also will do wonders for the bottom line.

But teens are the key to future online sales. A 2004 survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 87% of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 use the Internet—about 21 million. Of that group, 87% have access at home and the rest go online at school, community centers and cybercafes. Some 49% of boys and 41% of girls in that group have bought something online, according to marketing consultant Teenage Research Unlimited.

Older teens do more shopping than younger teens, with 54% of 16- and 17-year-olds reporting online purchases. If secure sites with product restrictions and dollar-limit accounts that require parental authorization were established for younger teens, those sales percentages would soar.

As it is, online sales to older teens and twentysomethings will rise at a phenomenal rate during the next few years.

Advice: E-tailers shouldn’t expect to get by with the same content-driven Web sites their parents used. Teens want color, music, graphics, animation and a quick answer to “What’s in it for me?” Making that happen is worth the investment, because if you hook them now, they will be back when they have even more money to spend.
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Career Enhancement
Be visible to be seen as a leader

Visibility—being seen at important meetings, functions and working on important projects—delivers the powerful nonverbal message that you are among the organization’s leaders. Here are some techniques for raising your leadership profile:

• Attend all organization functions. Showing up for meetings and appointments is crucial, but also attend social or informal gatherings, such as birthday luncheons or holiday parties. Management will see that you are an integral part of the organization and its morale, and your staff will appreciate the fact that you care about the team.
• Volunteer for important jobs. Offer your services to a strategic planning group that involves other divisions. Ask your boss how you can help with next year’s budgeting or developing new products or services. These are not only high-visibility tasks, they also teach you valuable skills.
• Contribute to meetings. Never attend a meeting without contributing an idea or at least asking questions. That shows you are engaged in the meeting and your organization’s work. 
• Don’t hide in your office or cubicle. Eat lunch with co-workers and managers of other departments. Get to know the administrative assistants and secretaries as well as the professional staff. Their roles are as important to the organization’s success as anyone’s. By getting out and about, you develop an ability to take the pulse of the organization.
• Expand your circle. Don’t talk to the same people at work every day.  Make a point of greeting and talking to people in other divisions or in industry groups. Ask for their advice on matters. By reaching out to others, you will be seen as more approachable.

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Sales Tips
Ask Prospects ‘Why not?’

The road to sales success has many obstacles, and few are more daunting than the word “No.”  Inexperienced salespeople often think it sounds quite final. Experienced salespeople consider “No” to be a temporary response that means “You haven’t given me a good reason to buy ... to buy now ... or to buy from you. ” Each of these reasons for rejection can be overcome by a salesperson who knows how to ask the right questions. All you need is for the reluctant prospect to tell you how to proceed.

So follow up every “No” with: “Why not?” A simple, direct response to the prospect’s refusal to buy can help you find the real reason behind the refusal. That can lead you to discover the real objections—or perhaps the reason for the stall. Sometimes, “No” does mean “No,” but it’s up to the salesperson to determine if this is one of those times.
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Customer Service
Make a service commitment

Everyone in sales talks about the importance of great customer service, but you need to find ways to go beyond “great” and become truly outstanding. Here are some specific actions you can take to demonstrate your commitment to customers. Remember, the “little things” can add up to a big competitive advantage.

• Don’t charge for “extras.” If a customer needs an extra service call or special help, keep this in mind when you determine how much to charge. If it’s something that a friend would do for a friend, don’t charge. You will more than make up the money in extra business.
• Smile when they take advantage. If you can, give the customer what he or she wants. And give it cheerfully and completely. Don’t argue about the details or make the customer feel bad for asking you to go out of your way. If you’re anything less than delighted to be of service, it will cost you all the good will you were trying to gain.
• Let customers help. Tell them when and how to call on you and what they need to ask. If you have the best customer service system in the world—but don’t explain it to customers—it can’t help them.
• Talk about your mistakes. Mistakes don’t just vanish after they’re fixed. They can linger in your customer’s mind, even if the customer never brings it up. To avoid that, fix the mistake first. Then find out what happened. Without making excuses, tell the customer what you’ve done to make sure it never happens again.

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Motivation
Powerful anti-procrastination tools

Scores of people have found these two tips helpful in dealing with procrastination:

• Use the “five-minute plan.” Every task has a first step. Commit yourself to the five or 10 minutes it takes to take that first step, perhaps writing a paragraph or making a phone call. When that’s completed, consider committing to another five minutes for the next step ... and then another five. Once you start, momentum will keep you going.
• Lighten the pressure. Before you begin, promise yourself that you will work on the project only within the time you have available that day. By being reasonable with yourself and your expectations, you stand a far better chance of starting, and that’s usually the hardest part.

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Competitive Advantage e-zine, formerly Sales and Marketing Strategies & News E-zine, is published by Douglas Publications LLC.
Visit us at http://www.thecompetitiveadvantage.net.
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For information on sponsorships for the Sales and Marketing Strategies & News E-zine, contact Curtis Wharton, (804) 762-9600, ext. 254 or cwharton@douglaspublications.com.
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