Peady’s Selling Engagement sponsored by IRD Prospector
Welcome to this week’s post on sales and selling success.
I’ve been using Uber and Go Catch for a while now and I love what they do. Both services are simple to use, inexpensive and transparent. But there’s more to it than that.
I feel there’s a secret to Uber’s success that’s hidden in plain sight. The secret is one that taxi bosses need to discover and implant into the brains of their drivers. Equally, it’s a lesson that applies to anyone in business and particularly those of us in sales.
Look past the hype and the pricing and the app and what you discover is a fascinating story about what happens when a business puts people first – one of the most significant demonstrations of this occurs at the end of a trip when both driver and passenger rate each other.
How would you go if this happened after every client or customer interaction?
Selling today
Selling media shouldn’t be a “gotcha moment” with only one right answer. Fact is, effective selling is about uncovering and then solving customer problems or assisting them in taking
advantage of an opportunity.
Building a loyal customer base requires trust, expertise and passion for you and your product or service. To do that, you’re going to have to treat them well so when its “rating” time you get the vital 4 or 5 stars.
Different industries have various ways of measuring customer or client loyalty, but the most basic way is to look at the number of purchases. Repeat buyers are your most valuable customers – they may not be biggest purchasers but over time the revenue from them will beat revenue from the large one-time buyers.
But how do I build loyalty?
We all know that finding a new customer is a lot more expensive than retaining and growing a current one – one piece of research says it costs five times as much. So, what tactics are required to deliver loyal customers? What are the five steps?
- Extraordinary, over-the-top account management – especially when you’re competing in a saturated market. Find ways to really stand out from the others.
- Hold regular events that focus on “value-add” training and education – a great way for companies to gain and gather performance feedback too.
- Provide priority or exclusive access to new products, special services or “money can’t buy” activities.
- Giving discounts to regular customers is a simple way to show your appreciation for their business – particularly if it wasn’t asked for and applies to top-tier offerings or longer-term commitments.
- Random acts of appreciation, where you delight, surprise, and wow your customers with benefits and rewards that are not advertised and are completely unexpected.
The bottom line: Driving and building customer loyalty is all about communicating smartly and efficiently while delivering more than was promised. Probably best summarised by the late Steve Jobs who said: “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves”
Until next week, good selling!
About the author
Stephen Pead is a media industry veteran of 30 years with significant experience in direct sales, sales management and general management. He is based in Sydney and specialises in helping SME’s market their businesses more effectively and providing training for salespeople and sales managers.
He can be contacted at [email protected]
