Sales skills in a paradox

Under the heading, “Two things can be true at once,” there is this:

• Everything about the sales process is different today than it was 10, even five, years ago. 
• The traits of a good salesperson have not changed and will never change. 

The internet changed shopping and e-commerce changed buying and mobile phones continue to change the way we communicate. Knowing all that, how can salespeople do their jobs? We spoke with three sales professionals to discuss this paradox. The sales advice they present can apply to equipment retailers, product distributors, and to professional service providers like landscapers and arborists. 

Help and advise

“I was shopping for an e-bike this summer,” said Chad Guillory. “I went to one of the big bike shops near me, but I got there too early; they weren’t open yet. As I was leaving, I got a text message from the store. They must have been using some geolocation service and noticed my search history. They provided some helpful info, and I thought that was great. Until it wasn’t. The helpful messages turned to digital harassment after a few days.”

Chad Guillory, director of Global Revenue Operations for Donaldson filtration, has years of experience as a sales leader for large and small corporations, advising people on products like consumer goods and professional services like accounting and marketing. “To succeed in sales, be a helpful advisor,” he said. 

Guillory points to the four-step process people follow and says advisory opportunities pop up all along the way. “The four steps are Awareness, Trial, Purchase, Repeat. There are some slightly different versions of this, but salespeople need to consider the entire model.” 

Shoppers today handle the Awareness phase on their own, whether online or through word-of-mouth research. Don’t get stuck on that fact, just accept it and make sure people can find your business. In a basic online search, will your business show up locally? Can curious people find your name, business type, and contact info? 

“The Trial phase may be the biggest opportunity for salespeople today,” said Guillory. This is especially true for power equipment dealers competing against mass retailers like Lowe’s or Ace Hardware. As an advisor, an equipment salesperson can allow a much more personal product-intro experience, all the way to product demos. Landscape care salespeople should visit properties and walk the site with the owner, introducing the tools they use and the crew who would do the work. 

“Answer the shopper’s questions and show the solutions you provide. Then let the people decide,” said Guillory. By always being the helpful advisor, you’ll prove to shoppers that your goal is to build a relationship, not just make a sale. 

When it comes to the Purchase step of the process, retailers today need to make it personal and make it quick, said Guillory. “People today need things today,” he said. Whether the sale is for goods or service, salespeople must be prepared for immediate, or at least fast, delivery. If Amazon can provide same-day delivery for many products, you need to act quickly fast too. If you sell tree services, don’t tell the customer you’ll be there next month. That’s not helpful.  

In the end, your goal is to be part of the customer’s fourth step in the process, the Repeat part. They are going to buy again, and if you’re helpful, their Repeat business will go back to you. “You’re trying to build a community, not just make a sale,” said Guillory. 

Differentiate with expertise

“When brands like Toro and others started selling at Menard’s and Home Depot and Lowe’s, it all changed. They left me, an independent equipment dealer, to explain to shoppers why my Toro was more expensive. The products were different, but not evidently so, and I had to explain to every customer about the price difference,” said Tom Shay. 

Shay learned that he had to be an expert on all the products he sold, and he had to use that expertise to earn people’s business. A fourth-generation business owner and salesperson, Shay now owns Profits Plus, and he trains and advises business owners on best business practices. He’s a speaker and consultant for several businesses in the power equipment industry. 

Several equipment manufacturers sell slightly different, but not visibly different, products to big box stores and to independent dealers. When price-conscious (aka, cheap), shoppers find Lowe’s sells a similar mower cheaper than the local independent guy, that’s a problem. Shay took that problem and turned it into an opportunity to be smarter and provide better information to shoppers. 

“Today, customers study online and they become pretty smart about products and features. All the more reason I need to know my equipment even better,” said Shay. “Years ago, in-store flyers educated people. Today, they do that on their phones. Now, everyone in your store needs to know the product better than any customer might.” 

Once you have all that product knowledge, you need to use it wisely. Shay warns against simply trying to “sell the benefits” of a product’s features. “You can’t tell the customer what the advantage or benefit is to them, that’s different for everyone. The customer is the one to decide if a particular feature is a benefit to their life.” 

“You have to talk to them,” he said, “ask a lot of questions and learn about their needs. My advantage as a salesperson has to be my expertise and my ability to talk to customers about products. I have to earn people’s business, by knowing things they don’t and by doing things the competitors can’t do.” 

What can’t they do? Shay advises business owners, managers, and individual salespeople to “think differently. We have a different style of competition than we had before. We can’t just sit around and lament ‘the good old days.’”

Shay created a customer service school in his equipment dealership, showing customers how to service their own mowers and chain saws. “My technicians disagreed with me on doing this,” he said, “thinking people would not come in for service anymore. But we did it, and people saw that the work we did was difficult, and that they could not duplicate our expertise.” His customers recognized the product-specific expertise, and they appreciated the helpful info. They also kept bringing their mowers and chain saws back for service.  

“How can I paint the picture differently so the customer is going to love us?”

Engaging with humans

Sales success comes through building long-term relationships. And that happens when salespeople engage with customers authentically and consistently. “Yes, you can find engagement from social media metrics or at trade shows or through an email campaign,” said Nate Zoellner. “How are you honestly engaging with people?” 

Zoellner’s title is Chief Sales Homie for a consultancy and fractional sales team called Sales Homie. Engagement, to Zoellner, is both a metric and a methodical practice that needs to happen frequently and honestly. It’s in conversations and questions, sales offers and refinements. 

“The more activity you have,” said Zoellner, “the higher the percentage of making that sale. Engaging will be different for different audiences – homeowner, commercial landscaper, municipal land manager. And by engaging with them all as individuals, you can tell the right story at the right place to the right people.” 

Zoellner said that salespeople fail when they give up too soon. “You give a quote for a sale, and the last thing you should do is sit back and wait for a response,” he said. “If you just call and say, ‘Hey, I’m following up on that quote, are you ready to buy?’ You’ll look like you’re just trying to make your sale and not trying to be helpful. You have to be value driven and resourceful – position yourself as helpful, not just a salesperson.”

Then you have to do it again. And again. “Just because someone bought from you once doesn’t mean they’re going to buy from you again. Build a plan to engage with current customers so they know you’re in this relationship to help them.”