It never ceases to amaze me that there are professional sales people that are about as enthusiastic as a sedated mortician is.
Having a deadbeat attitude in the presence of your prospects and your clients is a poison that will kill your sales.
You know this. Most salespeople know this. Yet, they continue to have an apathetic attitude. And they wonder why their sales suffer.
“Houston , we have problem.” Have you ever felt like this famous movie line applied to you and one of your customers?
If you have been in business any length of time, I am sure you have had to handle situations with the occasional difficult customer. You know the type. They have your contract staring them in the face and swear there is no agreement on detail. They demand that your crew work overtime on weekends and holidays to finish their project for a party they planned just last week. They place a call to your office every hour, on the hour, to find out when the Cable Company is going to connect their HBO. These situations are real and they call for special skills over and above your normal amiable, professional self. Here are seven ways to manage these rare and infrequent circumstances.
I received a call recently from a design/build-remodeling contractor on the East Coast. I detected by the tone in his voice that he was fairly stressed out about his recent lack of sales success. He complained that his closing ratio was way down compared to last year and that prospective customers seemed really tense about the economy and life in general.
The sign on the side door of my doctor’s office says Private Entrance. You have seen this, I’m sure. It is the door for your physician to come and go in a clandestine manner. Is the doctor the only one allowed through that door? Not usually. Employees, family and special guests are allowed through the door marked Private Entrance.
“It is so hard to find good help and to keep good people on staff.” This is the most common challenge I hear from contractors around the country. The unemployment rate is at the lowest levels in decades. As a result, employees and sub-contractors move from one company to the next at gypsy-like pace and contractors remain in a search for quality employees to bring on board. Are their ways to attract quality employees and retain their services for years to come?