Last week I had the honor of conducting professional development presentations in a speed-dating format at the Ohio Promotional Products Association (OPPA) Sales Safari in Sandusky, OH. While I’ve been speaking at regional association events for years, this was quite different. Normally, I get to stand on a stage in front of 50 – 200 people and take questions I’m finished talking. At this event, however, I held 18-minute small group sessions – anywhere from one to four people – and I did that 26 times. Even for a windbag like me, that’s a lot of talking. I think at some point during the 19th presentation I felt a lot like Teddy Ruxpin, but I digress.
Preparing for the event was also a challenge in that I wanted to individually connect with each person. Frankly, a traditional talk with a power point running behind me wasn’t going to do that for an audience of three in a 12 x 15 room. To achieve this, I decided to take a much more intimate approach and conduct an individual branding exercise to help each salesperson uncover why someone would buy from them instead of their competition. The same competition that sells the same products, from the same suppliers, to the same target audience, and at virtually the same price.
When I asked people to share why they believed someone would buy from them over someone else, I heard a lot of reasons including integrity, ability to build relationships, and client advocacy. The one that was expressed most often shocked me: responsiveness.
On the surface, that seems like a great differentiator. After all, he (or she) who responds the fastest always wins, right? Not so fast my friend. If we dig a little deeper, being responsive from a sales perspective has a much different – and often misinterpreted – meaning. To the vast majority of salespeople, being responsive means they must reply IMMEDIATELY to every inquiry, voicemail, email, text, tweet, or Facebook message from a client. These are the salespeople that struggle to finish quotes and client presentations on time because they have dedicated themselves to being the fastest responsive gun in the industry.
Responsiveness in sales is much more than being fast. If you don’t give relevant information that speaks directly to the needs of the client, your response time has zero value. A salesperson who is responsibly responsive, however, knows that it’s a delicate balance of speed, quality, and control:
- Speed – Stop trying to break the record for fastest response time; instead, define reasonable expectation metrics for how long it should take you (or your team) to respond to emails, voicemails, and leads – and stick to them.
- Quality – In our information at the speed of sound society, velocity over accuracy has led to a dramatic erosion of quality. Think about how foolish media outposts appear as they fall all over themselves to be the first to report a breaking news story only to find out later that many reported details were wrong. Your clients would much rather you take a few extra minutes to provide them relevant and practical information than have you be the quickest to respond.
- Control – Clients who give you multiple projects at a time are notorious for contacting you numerous times a day for updates. A better solution – and one that your client will appreciate – is for you to take control of the communication process. Commit to sending one email at the end of every business day to a provide status update. Coach them to respond to those emails with any questions of clarification. They will welcome you leading the flow of information and you will enjoy the time saved by not responding to 249 emails a day.
Being responsive is much more than a simple exercise in quickness – it’s helping your client move through their purchasing journey by balancing the speed, quality, and control of information. Doing so will help forge stronger and longer lasting relationships with your clients.
Bill is president of PromoCorner, the leading digital marketing service provider to the promotional products industry, and has over 18 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, president of the Regional Association Council (RAC) board, and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, and developing branding that resonates with a target audience. He can be reached at bill@PromoCorner.com.