The Poetry of First-Time Customer Visits
Over the past couple of weeks, I have spoken with several folks about best practices for a
Quoting one of
these conversations, “Years ago my first boss insisted we all carry a line card
and present it to every new customer or new contact at an existing
customer. The line card was his baby;
printed on high-quality (and laminated) card stock. He even made us practice presenting it
through role-play exercises in his office.”
This
gentleman’s comment about his boss’ pride and devotion to the line card caused
me to recall my early days of joint-call prospecting with distributors. Looking back to 1975, boxer “Smoking” Joe
Frazier led with his powerful left hook and distributors led with a line
card. Alas, Smoking Joe is no more, the
line card is punch-drunk and stumbling but still refuses to “take the count.”
This morning
the conversations made me recall a poem I created for my soon-to-be-published
book for new salespeople. Without
further delay or fanfare, here is a sneak peek:
The
Line Card
In the days of old, when sellers were
bold,
before the internet was a passion.
Line cards flew, and customers grew.
but Model Ts were in fashion…
Why
not use a line card on the first meeting?
While there
are a plethora of reasons to wait, let’s start with these three:
1. The first meeting should focus on the
customer. People like to talk about themselves. If you as the seller are listening to the
customer’s background and company details, you will also discover their issues
and get a better idea as to how you might help.
2. The internet.
If the customer has one drop of professionalism percolating through
their blood veins, they have already researched what you sell. If it’s important to them, they also read the
illustrious history of your organization.
3. Everyone distributes line cards.
Why not step outside the box and approach the customer like a person who
cares about more than just selling?
“But I
want to make sure the customer knows what we offer…”
While this
might be a valid point, the question remains, will a line card do the
trick? Before the internet, the line
card was the key selling tool capable of informing the customer of your product
offering. Today is different. Everyone, including the customer across the
conference room table, has been exposed to the endless opportunities presented
by a well-designed webpage. If the
customer sees a product that interests them, they click the mouse and drill
down into greater detail. Hopefully,
your company’s website offers an enticing, informative, and user-friendly
purchasing experience.
If you
believe the potential customer staring at the long list of your products and
suppliers will magically generate business, why not give the customer a
business card with a QR code printed on the back?
This little
QR code can link to the place on your website that outlines a complete list of
both products and services. Further,
once the customer is on your website, they might see your webshop and, lord
help us, buy something.
The QR code
can be used to measure customer interest.
Many distributors can create special landing pages to measure and track
the productivity of salespeople based on the number of customers coming onto
their online product/service page. My
guess is the “old boss” mentioned before would love this. Not only could he constantly tweak the line
card, but he could also see how many customers each seller convinced to look at
it.
Now
back to the poetry stylings of Frank Hurtte
Edgar Allan
Poe was my father’s favorite poet. As I
rode along with him to make sales calls, he would recite every word of Poe’s
poem, “The Raven.”
While only a
few lines of this famous poem remain in my memory, I will always remember how
the words apply to our industry.
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-
Think twice
when considering the use of the line card as the centerpiece of your first
sales call. Are you still not
convinced? Call or email me and I will
talk you out of it!
“Quoth the Raven ‘Nevermore.’”
Frank Hurtte, Founding Partner of River Heights Consulting, shares his personal experiences with 28 years of "in the trenches" training and 17 years as a consultant. He serves as a personal coach to industry leaders across many lines of distribution. He has authored 5.5 books (one is almost done) and has written hundreds of articles for national trade magazines, including Industrial Supply Magazine.
Frank is also a sought-after copywriter of marketing materials for technology companies. His charismatic, yet laid-back, easy-to-follow manner makes him a favorite among public speakers.
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