Are You Living…Your Potential Mission

By Sid Chadwick

“Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can….in every place you can, at all the times you can, every time you can.”…….John Wesley

INTRODUCTION:

Smart Buyers don’t …waste their time.

If your Reps can’t get repeat appointments with important Buyers, there are legitimate reasons for that.

The Reps who always bring new and valuable information…get repeat appointments.

You might want to ask yourself…. the following questions:

• Do we - as a Business Development Team - review dynamic and interesting Samples – and Quote Letters…in detail…so that Reps, Estimators, and CSRs can review them – competently – with Buyers, Designers, and especially Prospects…?  
• Would written SOPs improve our “consistency of execution”…? (Are our historical SOPs organized and up-to-date  – especially for new Reps, CSRs, and Supervisors…?)
• How many of our important Buyers have NOT visited our Plant, Toured our manufacturing areas, or been introduced to support personnel…especially since the Pandemic?
• Do we have an important DRILL - for when a “Change in Buyers” occurs, for both re-educating our customer’s New Personnel re. our company, and following up with the Buyer who left…?
• What are we working to “Continuously Improve”…that’s important…? Is it being regularly measured and reported…?
• How do we alert customers and prospects re. “What’s New”…? Are Samples mailed…? “Alert Email” notices sent…?
• What do we Celebrate that’s important…?
• If all customers are not of equal value, “How do we select who to pursue and develop?”
• If we acknowledge that “Joint Sales Calls” are more productive, why aren’t more key personnel introduced to Buyers – at their locations…?
• Do all of our positions with customer contact - have a long list of examples for creating “Perceived Customer Value”…? Do Supervisors ask to review recent examples…?
• How often are “Written Notes of Appreciation” sent to deserving Buyers – and Suppliers…? (Are we tracking this…?)
• How often are “Written Notes of Appreciation” sent from one Associate – to another Associate…? (Are we tracking this…?)
   

SUMMARY:

Buyers can detect which suppliers have a caring culture and which do not.

A caring company president sent one of his “fading” best Reps…back…for a 4-Day (Refresher) Program – focused on Business Development.

That Rep’s End-of-Week Testimonial:

“I couldn’t believe how much I’d stopped doing….no wonder my Sales were slipping…I wasn’t helping my Buyers…I wasn’t taking them fresh ideas…my Buyers and my Support Team saw my lack of enthusiasm…and creativity.”

Smart Buyers don’t …waste their time.

If your Reps can’t get repeat appointments with important Buyers, there are legitimate reasons for that.

The Reps who always bring new and useful information…get repeat appointments.

“Technology is nothing….What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them….”…….Steve Jobs