WHAT TO BRING TO THE TABLE FOR SUCCESSFUL SELLING IN THE GREEN INDUSTRY
There is no shame in being an order taker. I just ordered a book with Barnes & Noble on line and I was grateful that my order was taken in short order and then confirmed. It was done in a few minutes and I can be sure that my book will arrive at my doorstep, delivered by UPS in only a few days.
No one at Barnes & Noble will take credit for making a sale to me. I knew what I wanted, Barnes & Noble sold it to me and UPS will deliver.
I use this example because, if you want to answer the question of what attributes you have to bring to the table for successful selling in the Green Industry, then it is tempting to answer: the exact opposite of what an order taker represents.
What would these attributes be?
- Personality
- Product knowledge
- Business acumen
- Interest in the success of the customer
- Fulfilling a mission rather than a task, much less a chore
- Loyalty to the company that writes the pay-check
- Passion for the job
- Charisma and attractive appearance
The best sales representatives in the Green Industry have learned to sell "solutions" rather than "products". Their customers are all business professionals and they are interested in results. In essence they need help keeping the "grounds" they are responsible for weed-free, insect-free, disease-free and aesthetically pleasing. This help needs to be available, at a predictable (budgetable) and reasonable cost, throughout the year. It means that the sales job is never done and certainly does not end with the shipping of any orders that may have been placed in the process.
If you solve a problem for a customer, if you sell a customer a "solution", he will remember. If you sell him product he will quickly forget.
The best sales representatives in our industry are very respectful of the time demands on their customers. They come, at the appointed place and time, very well prepared and documented and don't waste any time with chit chat (not even when the customer leads them in that direction). They come to the customer with a positive attitude (no bitching, complaining, or finger pointing at or about anything) and fresh and neat in appearance. They demonstrate all the time that they know that their customer's time is more precious than their own. They come in to hear from the customer what issues he is facing in the business and to offer the "solutions" that their company will have in its tool-kit.
They follow up with their customers to make sure that the "solutions" they prescribed have worked out as intended and they immediately address any application - or performance-issues as they arise. They will make sure that the customer is completely satisfied with the "solutions" they provide.
The successful sales representatives will faithfully adhere to the mission of their company, but the customer will never know from the way the sales representative conducts business what that mission exactly is other than completely meeting the customer's needs. A company that is fully dedicated to meeting its customers' needs and is focused on selling "solutions" rather than taking orders for "products" will find that being profitable is a by-product of being the best in the business.
For the successful sales representatives "closing the deal" is really never an issue. As long as they build a track-record with their customers of respecting their time and solving their problems, they will get the order and they will be invited back in as new issues need to be addressed.
(Frans Jager is Principal of Castnet Corp. www.castnetcorp.net a Business Consultant for the Green Industry and an Executive Coach. He frequently writes about matters pertaining to the Green Industry and general public importance. He can be reached at castnetcorp@gmail.com and you can read more on his blog castnetcorp.blogspot.com
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