"Spending money to show people how much money you have is
the fastest way to have less money." - Morgan Housel
In the 15 years I was with VWR International before retiring in 2013, I attended
numerous sales training seminars such as Customer Centric Selling(tm). Every
couple of years, a new program would be introduced.
The expense of purchasing these training courses (in some cases, multiple
millions of dollars), on top of feeding and lodging hundreds of field sales and
marketing people for up to a week in fancy hotels, was enormous. Take into
account the sales lost by removing all of the reps from their territories for that
period of time, and you have a huge revenue hole to fill.
One had to ask why, if you had done this multiple times with multiple programs
in the past where you got little or no benefit in increased sales or profit would you
expect a newer “different approach” to work any better?
What is Programmed Selling?
Programmed selling techniques, also known as sales methodologies, are
structured, repeatable approaches to selling that help salespeople achieve
consistent results. These methods focus on understanding customer needs,
presenting solutions, and managing the sales process effectively. Key aspects
include understanding customer needs, aligning with those needs, building
relationships, and using effective communication techniques.
Why Would a CEO Want to Invest in Programmed
Selling?
Here is the sales pitch the author of CustomerCentric Selling offers:
“CEOs would pay anything to replicate their best salespeople; CustomerCentric
Selling(TM) explains instead how to replicate their skills. It details a repeatable,
scalable, and transferable sales process that formats the questions that superior
salespeople ask, and then uses the results to influence and enhance the words and
behaviors of their colleagues.”
So why can’t you replicate your best salespeoples'
skills?
If you have ever been called on by a sales rep who has just attended one of these
courses, I’m sure you remember the encounter. You felt sorry for them. You saw
right through what they were trying to do. You were uncomfortable. Most
importantly, you didn’t buy from them and your mind did not change.
You can’t replicate your best salespeople for the same reason you can’t play
basketball like LeBron James by watching him on ESPN. Talented salespeople
make selling look effortless because they make you feel comfortable dealing with
them. You trust them. Theirs is a conversation with a trusted friend rather than a
canned (or programmed) sales pitch.
Other sales cycles that are a waste of money
“We are undergoing a reorganization.” Large organizations make this
announcement. Typically this means that senior management retains the 20% of
their sales force who manage key accounts and fire the other 80%. They replace
these with recruits that were provided by very highly paid recruiters and who
have withstood an intense and lengthy screening process.
What this process accomplishes is to buy time for management. A newly hired sales force
will take at least two years to “come up to speed”, require copious amounts of
expensive training and no doubt to sit through multiple programmed selling
courses.
At the end of two years, the board of directors starts to get antsy when sales still
lag. By the third year, senior management has, once again, come up with a “new”
plan: reorganize the sales force. If you have hundreds of millions in profits,
perhaps this may make sense.
Now you have a better idea why products cost so much when purchased from big
companies.
War Story - #1
One of my customers was in the process of renovating his lab. Prior experience
with this customer told me he was extremely price-conscious so my suspicions
were up from the start.
VWR’s Furniture division was willing to do the architectural design for free. We
believed that if we made all the measurements, drew up the plans, and stayed in
close contact with the customer, that he would feel ethically bound not take our
work and purchase elsewhere. Unfortunately, that is exactly what he did. He went
shopping on eBay, knowing just what cabinets he needed. He bought everything
that was specified in the drawings and hired a local contractor to repaint them and
set it all up. The only thing he could not buy used was the epoxy countertops.
I had another customer, roughly 100 miles away, who just so happened to have
extra epoxy countertops that he bought but didn’t use. I put the two in contact
with each other and they settled on a price for which I would earn 10%
commission. Customer #2 had volunteered to rent a truck and deliver the very
heavy countertops to customer #1’s facility. I volunteered to help load and deliver
them.
When we arrived and opened the truck, customer #1 said: “That’s not exactly
what I had in mind. I’ll only take them if you knock 50% off the price. You guys
rented a truck, hefted these countertops onto it and drove it here. I’m betting you
won’t turn around and go home with these on your truck.”
After hearing his demand these things happened:
1. I pointed out to him verbally how incredibly unethical it was to pull a stunt
like this. He was not bothered, and responded that this was his final offer.
2. Customer #1 and I looked at each other, pulled down the door on the truck
and began to leave.
3. Customer #2 said “Hey, wait a minute! We are negotiating here!”
4. I replied “Our best and final offer was the agreed-upon price. Take it or we
go home.”
5. He wrote out a check and handed it to me. He laughed and said, “Hey, it
was worth a try!”
6. I thanked him for the order, and stated that this was the last transaction we
would ever engage in.
I made good on that pledge.
The Sales Pitch
What are LPS’s greatest strengths?
Our people. Experience matters a lot. Our team has over a century of combined
experience in the lab supply industry.
Our IT expertise. LPS was the second business I established with my son and cofounder Aaron Tyrrell. Our first business, Scanstore, is now a software
development company incorporating SimpleOCR and SimpleIndex. We have
nearly 25 years of experience in business automation. Our website, powered by
Magento2, is a shining example of this expertise, and is among the best in this
industry. We use SimpleIndex daily to automate our business processes. The
result is a highly efficient business with fewer mistakes and lower overhead.
Our commitment to customer service. From our cost-plus pricing model to the
ease in getting prompt, accurate answers to your questions, LPS is committed to
excel in customer satisfaction.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, I would encourage you to visit our site and see
how far we have come. Contact us or schedule an appointment to learn more.
