with Jeff Kettler
1. Be honest, period. Always take the high road. You’re going to be put in difficult situations, in business situations, and if you always take the high road, I’ve found, you will always end up on the right side of the equation. So be honest and take the high road.
2. Always remember this, people do business with people first. The company always comes secondary. When you’re talking with a potential prospect, realize they’re determining whether they’re going to do commercial landscaping or tree trimming business with you, and if you pass the test, then they’re going to look at the company that you work for.
3. Be the first to the call and the first to propose. What I mean by that is if you get a lead or you have an interest from an interested party in tree trimming, be the first one to call them back and then the first one to give them their proposal or the solution to whatever they’re looking to do business with you.
4. Never let the customer think you’re in it for the commercial landscape sale. As soon as you think, or the customer feels that you’re there for yourself or for some other reason, other than to help them with what they’re trying to find a solution to, you’re going to lose some of the integrity in the sale, and you’re going to lose some of the confidence from the customer.
5. When you think you have communicated enough, communicate it again. I can tell you this is one of the biggest downfalls in any business-to-business situation is lack of communication, so you can never communicate enough.
6. Always, always push for the face-to-face presentation. Don’t be lazy. You put the time in to meet with the customer, prepare the proposal. Now don’t throw your time away at the finish line. I see so many new business-to-business sales reps, new to the landscaping industry, or the tree trimming industry, go through all the steps leading up to the finish line and decide they’re going to email the presentation over instead of trying to present it in person. I understand with COVID that can be a challenge during these times but always try to get the face-to-face meeting.
7. Always be prospecting even when your pipeline is producing solid results. Don’t get comfortable. When you realize that you’ve got a very robust pipeline and you’re hitting your objectives for the month and for the year, you should always be prospecting, keeping that funnel full so that it never runs dry.
8. 20% of the sales force sells 80% of the revenue. Decide at the start of your venture with whatever company you’re working for what side of the equation you’re going to fall on. Are you going to be part of the 20% of the sales force that sells 80% of the revenue? Or you’re going to be on the opposite side of that equation and then make it happen.
9. Make sure your prospect understands that not only is their time valuable, but so is yours. There’s a right way to do this and a wrong way to do this. You have to realize that one of your most valuable things that you have as a professional salesperson is time. Your prospect or your customer also values their time. The professional thing to do is to make sure that you’re both there for the right reasons and that there is a legitimate interest, not only from your prospect but also a legitimate interest from yourself.
10. Most importantly, be a winner. If you see yourself as a winner, you will take the proper preparations to make sure that you are a winner. Keep that in mind and follow these steps every day that you go to market and every week you will produce the results that you’re looking for, and you will be that winner.