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What Happens if your Customer's Cooler is Broken?
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Creativity is the
asset of true sales professionals and I love telling the story of a young beer
guy I met in Minnesota. Ricky told
me a truly inspirational story to answer the question – what is creativity?
First - my
definition of creativity:
Creativity is what
separates the partners from the pretenders. Creativity is always asking yourself – What can I do to make
my customers want to do business
with me. The question Ricky asked
himself when he noticed his customer’s coffin cooler was broken. You see – for weeks on end Ricky’s
customer’s cooler wasn’t operating.
Ricky was losing business and so was his customer.
One night Ricky
spent some time on Craig’s List and found a few coffin coolers that fit the
space requirements of his customer.
He called the sellers and negotiated fair prices for a few of the units
and presented his findings to his customer.
What did the
customer do? No – he didn’t tell
Ricky to buy it for him, as the more cynical would suggest.
The customer bought
the cooler and filled it with Ricky’s beer.
Ricky didn’t just
suggest that Craig’s List might be a good option. That would have been a nice start. Nice and easy; however, he went further. He did the work himself.
Now, I don’t know
about the rest of you but when I think of the overused, generally misunderstood
expression – going the extra mile, I
think of Ricky and his coffin cooler.
This is creativity
to the nth degree. Asking – what
can I do to make my customers want to
do business with me.
Other thoughts for
being more creative:
- Write down your ideas – I know many professionals who carry a
little notebook to capture fleeting thoughts. As French author Emile Chartier once said, “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when
it is the only one you have.”
- Brainstorm with your teammates – to come up with more reasons why a customer
should buy your product. Here’s
what I would do if I were running a sales meeting. I would hold up a new item and we wouldn’t leave the room
until we had 10 solid reasons why a customer should buy the product. In true brainstorming fashion, no
thought could be too stupid. At
the end of the meeting each professional would possess the combined creative
juices of the entire company.
- Follow thru – on your ideas. Don’t let others tell you why it can’t be done. If you think you have an innovative way
to introduce a new product, then give it a whirl.
- Put yourself in your customer’s shoes – by asking yourself “If I was the buyer, what would excite and interest me?”
- Do something different – to see things differently. One sales manager I know told me of the
time he assembled his sales team on a Saturday night to visit the trade. A great way to see your customer’s
business from a different perspective.
- Leave no stone unturned – in your pursuit for ideas. If an idea or approach works in another
industry, perhaps it can work in your industry as well. Recently, a salesperson told me that
when it comes to planning Halloween displays, he goes to several Halloween
stores for ideas. That’s just what
I’m talking about. You’ll never know unless you try.
- Think bar rings, customer counts and average
tickets – so you see the
light at the end of the tunnel.
Sometimes, you have to start with the end in mind. The goal of any product is to create
excitement. To capture the
imagination of consumers. To keep
consumers in the store longer or coming out to a restaurant or bar more
frequently.
While we’re on the
subject of creativity, let’s abolish the phrase – I have a new product to show you. Can you think of eight words that raise the barriers between
you and your customer any higher?
I can’t! We know that on
and off premise retailers are already struggling to keep up with the mountain
of new offerings. Beginning your
presentation in that manner is the antithesis of creativity.
Instead try setting
the bottle down and acting like it’s not even there. If it’s cool enough, the customer will ask about it. Or you could say something like, “I have something exciting to share with
you!” Yes, I know, kind of
lame but much better than the alternative. By the way, I love the word share when it comes to a new product demonstration. Certain words
invoke positive feelings in the selling process and share is one of them.
Whatever you say,
just be original. Have a plan and
share new and fresh ideas – not the same thing over and over or the minimum just to get by. Use your imagination
like Ricky did when he helped his customer with the coffin cooler. He certainly
had the imagination and creativity to determine how he could make his customer want to do business with him.
