Does Outside Sales Really Work? - Transmission Digest

Does Outside Sales Really Work?

I know outside sales works and so do most of you. You’ve all tried it from time to time. I built my transmission business almost exclusively on it by hitting the road myself in the beginning and then always having an outside salesperson on the payroll. As the commercial about the lottery says, “You have to be in it to win it.”

Does Outside Sales Really Work?

It’s Your Business

Subject: Creating an effective outside-sales program
Essential Reading: Shop Owner, Center Manager
Author: Terry Greenhut,  Transmission Digest Business Editor

It’s Your Business

  • Subject: Creating an effective outside-sales program
  • Essential Reading: Shop Owner, Center Manager
  • Author: Terry Greenhut, Transmission Digest Business Editor

I know outside sales works and so do most of you. You’ve all tried it from time to time. I built my transmission business almost exclusively on it by hitting the road myself in the beginning and then always having an outside salesperson on the payroll. As the commercial about the lottery says, “You have to be in it to win it.” There’s no way outside sales is going to work for you unless you do the following:

  • 1) Identify your prospects. Who could benefit from your services?
  • 2) Have something better to offer than your competitors.
  • 3) Make your sales calls. Go visit prospects and question the heck out of them until they tell you what you need to do to get their business.
  • 4) Listen carefully. They’ll always tell you what it will take to close the sale.
  • 5) Be persistent. That’s the hardest one. Keep going back until they give you business, and then keep following up to make sure they are always happy.
  • 6) Treat outside sales as an ongoing part of your business, something that is done regularly, not occasionally.

It’s simple. This isn’t rocket science. It’s more a matter of commitment and hard work than anything else. The one who shows up on the customer’s doorstep most often is usually the winner. Think about it. If you visit the same prospect every month, being pleasant and helpful, when the occasion should arise that they aren’t real happy with their present service provider, whom will they most likely turn to? I guess you can call it “top-of-mind awareness” if you have to put a label on it, but it works and lately I’ve been proving it in a different business.

My daughter, as some of you might know, owns two “Home Dog Training” franchises. Because she’s been very busy doing the hands-on training and driving about 30,000 miles a year to get to all her appointments, there was something in her business that was being neglected. It was the face-to-face contact so important in getting others to refer customers to her. When she started three years ago and had nothing but time on her hands and a whole lot of exuberance, she called on every veterinarian in her territories along with all the breeders, shelters and pet stores. All she wanted from any of them was referrals.

After she made several visits and did some free training sessions for the veterinary technicians and conducted clinics to teach them how to avoid being bitten when working with the dogs, the referrals started to come and she did well. She started to book lots of appointments. Each appointment starts a series of lessons, depending upon how quickly the dogs and their owners get the hang of what they’re supposed to be doing. Some dogs take to the training immediately, but others need several revisits before it sticks. On average it takes about three visits before the dog is completely trained. So every time she’d book a lesson it was, in reality, three lessons.

Covering all those lessons left her without the time to perform her outside-sales functions, and the result had become evident. She was still quite busy with all the revisits, but the number of new bookings had dropped significantly.

Realizing her predicament and having a bit of time to spare, I asked what I could do to help. She, of course, asked me to go out and at least call on the vets because they represented the bulk of her referrals. I reluctantly agreed. Why reluctantly? Because I’m just like her – and all of you, for that matter; I don’t care much for knocking on doors trying to sell things to strangers. It’s not the world’s easiest or most-enjoyable profession. Even though I know how to do it successfully and even though I can teach any of you how to do it, it’s not my favorite thing, but we can’t always do our favorite thing, can we? If we could I’d be playing golf on the Senior PGA Tour.

In outside sales you are under the gun. You have to be able to present a good image, promote the product well and, most of all, have the ability to show clients what’s in it for them if they do business with you. You have to be able to handle a lot of lies and rejection without losing your enthusiasm and have the capability to shake it all off before you get to the next stop. You can’t even tell whether you’ve been successful until the work starts to come in, which may not be for a while. So the reward stimulus isn’t there and immediate, either.

In any outside-sales situation you’ll have to be prepared to go back several times before you get a lot of sales – seven on average. Yes, statistically it takes seven visits before there are any good results. That doesn’t mean you won’t get some sales right away, but some clients you’ll have to visit a dozen times before you break through. Why? Because everyone has someone they are already doing business with when you show up. They aren’t usually willing to drop that person or company and give all their business to you, a total stranger. You earn it over time by getting them to know and trust you.

So I agreed to help, partially because I have a considerable amount invested in the business that I would love to see returned at a speedy rate, but mostly because she works so hard at it and is so good at what she does that I think she deserves to be a great success at it. Of course, we all know that what you deserve in business and what you get are many times two totally different things. I’ve known lots of great transmission rebuilders who couldn’t make a go of their own businesses because they just weren’t able to master all the other aspects of running a good business. Many couldn’t identify their shortcomings, or could but did little or nothing to fix them.

Anyway, I headed out with a book of all the potential referral accounts that my daughter had compiled. She had them divided by towns with maps to each location and placed in order of how to visit them so as not to run back and forth or go in circles. Very well organized! I put all the addresses into my GPS as favorite locations, making it even easier to follow the route.

Before I went out I asked myself, “Who am I going to be dealing with and how can I get their attention?” The answer was receptionists, mostly, and I wasn’t real sure what would get their attention but I knew I had to do something different or special as soon as I walked through the door to get them to listen. I thought about the old Irish expression, “Never walk into anyone’s home with one arm as long as the other,” and I knew I had to have something to give them as I entered.

We decided on candy. Not expensive candy. More the kind you eat at the movies like miniature Snickers and Three Musketeers bars, Hershey’s Kisses, Tootsie Rolls, red licorice sticks, Butterfinger and the like. We filled company-logo coffee mugs with them.

Every stop I made, I walked up to the counter and said the same thing: “Hi, I’m with (and I would name the company). I thought you might like something to sweeten up your day.” They would see the mug with the candy and would smile. Who wouldn’t smile at candy? I guess I was lucky not to run into any diabetics, or maybe I did but they were gracious enough not to say anything.

The point is that the candy gave me the opening I needed. Once I got their attention not one of them was unwilling to give me a few minutes to tell my story. The candy was a bribe, plain and simple, but it worked. It got them to listen, which was about the best I could hope for.

Some said: “I know who you are. We used to have your brochures up on the shelf. Hey, they’re all gone. I didn’t even realize it. Guess you’d better put some more up there.” Some said they would give my folder of information to the vet to look at and if he or she liked it they might recommend us.

One thing I liked was that everyone was nice and courteous and no one threw me out. That’s what you’re likely to find when you go out there: nice people who aren’t looking to bite your head off. If you have something good to offer they will probably at least listen.

I made the first circuit working about 1_ days a week, in about 4 weeks. Business began to pick up, slowly at first, but it picked up. I decided to go around again, this time with a different bribe; boxes of high-end cookies that we put together and added company stickers and business cards to. I walked in presenting them to the same receptionists or vet techs, whoever happened to be behind the counter, with the same opening line: “Just thought I’d bring something to sweeten up your day.
Wanted to make sure you had enough of our brochures.”

Some said it was good I stopped by because they were running low on brochures. Some had put them out after talking with the vets or after having a demo lesson performed for them. Many looked at me as I came through the door, smiled and said, “Hey, the candy man is here,” to which I smiled and replied, “This time I’m the cookie man,” to which they smiled and gave me an opening to again pitch our services.

What will we do next time? My daughter just ordered a few cases of pen- and pencil-holder cups. You know those are going to get filled with candy.

One of the happiest lessons I’ve learned from this outside-sales experience is that after you make the rounds a couple of times those strangers you were so worried about facing aren’t strangers anymore. They are friendly (most of them). They strike up conversations with you. Many actually help you work your way into the company and put you in front of the person who has the authority to make decisions about outside vendors. They mention clients they’ve recommended and ask about the outcomes. Sometimes they pass along compliments that really make you feel good.

Another important lesson is that bribes work – little insignificant ones like food or goodies that just make people’s days. Giving something they like gets and keeps their attention and commits them to at least listen. Perseverance is one of the few tools you need, but you need it desperately. Going back to see them over and over again creates a working relationship. Even after they become customers you need to keep the relationship strong, provide them with materials and handle any problems that may have arisen before they get out of control.

Although performing outside sales may not be your favorite part of being in business, it is one of the most-important functions. There is still nothing that works better than “belly-to-belly selling.”

Visit www.TerryGreenhut.com.

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