Most dealers believe that it’s the background of their managers, the depth of their sales team, their key personnel and brand that gives them their competitive advantage. That kind thinking is common among equipment distributors. And it’s not that those things aren’t important, they are. But if you do a little research you’ll see that almost every dealer makes pretty much the same claims.
If you want to set yourself apart from the competition we suggest that you talk about the issues that hit home with the customers that use your products and services:
- Begin by asking BIG Questions about your prospects and customer’s needs. What outcomes are they looking for? If they could wave a magic wand over it what would the results look like? Show them how you can deliver that to them. Do that and you’ll see a big difference in your closing ratio.
- Build yourself around your customers’ wants and needs. Your objective ought to be making your customers’ life easier. That’s what your prospects and customers are looking for. Customer service is anticipating what your customers need not waiting for them to tell you what they need.
- Focus on solutions, not on your and your distributorship’s needs. Focus instead on the outcomes your customer is seeking. And be flexible. There’s more than one way to do something. Fashion a process that will best accommodate each customer’s unique set of needs.
- Continuously, ask yourself what you can do to make things better for your customer. You’ll see an uptick in your growth curve if you focus first on your customers’ priorities and needs. Make that a habit and you will turn sales transactions into long-term, loyal customers.
Positioning you and your distributorship isn’t difficult and it doesn’t cost anything. It’s really nothing more than treating others as you’d like to be treated. Think about that idea and then read the four steps again. How would you feel if the guy you bought your last automobile from treated you like that? If he did a reasonable job of following up with you wouldn’t you buy from him again?
If you’d like to know more about how we can help your distributorship grow revenues by increasing sales to your existing customers and taking customers away from your competition, we invite you to contact us here.
