Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/1035965
W EEKLY EDITION OCTOBER 3, 2018 Relationship Selling: Our Industry Runs On It RETTERATH CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Even as a short - timer myself, I can see they might be going at things with a sales str ategy that is a mis - match with the culture and temperament of the portable sanitation industry. Let me explain. There are a variety o f sales techniques out there. Some of the more popular include: 1. Selling benefits 2. Selling price point 3. Contrasting against the competition's benefits 4. Marketing to the personality of the decision - maker (the old schmooze and palm press approach) 5. Presenting canned sales presentations via script and/or power point 6. Telling stories 7. The wine and dine In the right environment or busi ne ss these can all be effective. In the wrong environment they can spell failure or even disaster. If you repeatedly sell using price as the most compelling point, you diminish the pe rceived value of your product. You also diminish what the market will pay. If you sell to the personality of the decision - maker, they will always expect those tickets, trips, or freebies. Some will even go so far as to ask for them. Selling against the competition positions you to be considered "negative," and prompts the customer to check the competition to be sure you are right. Back in the day one of the most influential mentors I had, Charlie Hoag — the Vice President of Advertising at the Minneapolis Star Tribune — introduced me to his 3"x 5" card collection in size - a ppropriate flip folders. On these cards he had information on every person he came into contact with. The things he recorded included facts like purchase history, quotes, sales offers and a whole lot of business "stuff." Importantly, the cards also incl uded social and volunteer affiliations, the names of the client's spouse and children, birthdates, college loyalties, and a whole lot of other intelligence that was important to know if you really wanted to know a person and interact with them meaningfully . As time went by, I was fortunate to be mentored by Charlie as he transformed his 3" x 5" cards into a rolodex, and then into two rolodexes. Finally, through one more iteration, I saw him move the lot of it into the CRM world and electronic data storage . This system gave Charlie the ability to interact proactively and meaningfully in the lives of his clients and colleagues. CONTINUED ON PAGE 9 P AGE 6