Are You Selling Your Business?
By Richard F. Libin, President, Automotive Profit Builders and author of just released book “Who Knew?”
APB.cc, rlibin@apb.cc
If you work in sales and believe your only job is to sell the product your company makes, think again. Before you can ever sell a product, you must sell the customer on why they should buy from your business.
Today, there are more competitors in more forms than ever before - brick and mortar stores, online stores, pop-up stores, and more. This gives consumers the power and the ability to decide how and where they wish to do business.
So, why would they pick your business?
Unless a customer has done business with you before, the only thing they’ve decided when they arrive at your business is what kind of product they are considering. Coming to your location has nothing to do with their decision to work with your business. And, at this point, they don’t have a reason to do so.
Customers come to a business for a variety reasons. They may have seen an ad or found the business on the Internet. They may have heard about you from a friend. You may be convenient because you are on the route of their daily commute. They may know that you have a product they are interested in. None of this has anything to do with their decision to work with your business.
It should be clear that salespeople must answer the question, “Why should I buy here?” They must sell the business before they can sell a product. In a way, it is like a job interview.
In a job interview, you do everything you can to make a good impression, from the way you dress, to how you listen, and answer questions honestly, thoroughly, and correctly. You work to sell the interviewer and prove that you are the right choice, that you have the skills, commitment, and passion that will benefit the employer now and in the future.
The same applies when customers interview you. They need to know why they should buy at your business. They look for a professional who is committed to listening and understanding their needs. The key word here is listening. This is the only way to completely understand their needs. It is imperative that you listen before you try to answer questions. They want to feel confident that the business is a solid member of the community that will be here in the long run to meet their future needs.
This is what sells customers on the business. Salespeople must show customers every possible reason to purchase here, from the business and its people to its commitment to the community.
What’s at stake?
Giving customers a reason to buy from your business has immediate and long-time benefits. In the short-term, customers will be delighted with their experience and tell their friends. This has the potential to broaden awareness and generate referrals. In the long-run, it means that customers will be back.
On the other hand, if you don’t develop a relationship built on trust and confidence, you will always end up selling on price, just like everyone else. Even if a customer purchases a product, they may never be back, and, they will warn others to steer clear of your business.
What’s involved?
Businesses must cultivate, train, and educate their people into the best professionals they can be, who embrace work as a profession, not as just another job. These professionals choose to work at the business because of its values, its commitment to leading-edge technology and processes, and to their customers and employees. In these cultures, everyone knows their job is important, regardless of their job. If they don’t, then they are misemployed. Developing relationships is most important.
In this type of culture, management has confidence in the people they hire and trusts them to do their jobs. Simultaneously, they continually provide ongoing training, coaching, education, and mentoring.
Here is what happens in this type of culture:
Professionals answer questions truthfully and completely. If they don’t know the answer, they find out. They know that nothing can replace honesty and integrity in business.
Every customer is treated equally and without judgement.
Everyone in the business is thoroughly trained on every aspect of the business. Salespeople understand how the service department works and the benefits it offers. Service professionals understand financing and sales. Greeters and administrative personnel can clearly communicate the value offered by their business.
The business is clean, inviting, and professional. Every opportunity is taken to showcase technology and equipment and communicate the investment being made in the business and the community.
Customers feel that working with you helps them support their community. The business proudly features its involvement and commitment to local schools, youth leagues, and charities. By showcasing its employees, the business demonstrates its contribution to the economic well-being of the community through job creation.
Customer loyalty isn’t what it used to be. People don’t return to a business simply because it’s where they went previously. They return because salespeople took the time to build a relationship. They gave the customer a reason to buy from their business. When you have a relationship with a customer, everything is easier. But remember, even one mistake can cause a loyal customer to leave. It is up to you to sell them on your business and then, to keep them sold through simple, consistent communication.
 
Richard F. Libin has written two acclaimed books that help people of all walks of life improve their sales skills, because as he says, “Everyone is a selling something.” His most recent book, Who Knew?, and his first book, “Who Stopped the Sale?” (www.whostoppedthesale.com), is now in its second edition. As president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 49 years experience working with both sales and service professionals, he helps his clientele, through personnel development and technology, to build customer satisfaction and maximize gross profits in their businesses. Mr. Libin can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc.