Here is a great article that I thought you would find interesting about increasing the top line — good basics and good approaches that make a difference... Nancy

Four Simple Rules To Double Your Sales
By Geoffrey James | April 12, 2011
All sales professionals think that they’re focused on the customer. However, in many cases, they’re actually focused on something else all together, like communicating product knowledge or convincing the customer to buy. Being customer focused means putting aside all of that and actually being 100 percent present for the customer.
This post, based upon a conversation with Nancy Martini, CEO of the training firm PI Worldwide, describes four key rules for being customer-focused at different stages in the sales cycle. Please note that this is incredibly valuable information that, when mastered, will double or triple your close rate, and set you up for future sales from your current customers.
So please take this post seriously. Bookmark it, and refer to it often.

RULE #1: Use Research as a Platform for Learning
Most sales pros know that they should walk into a customer engagement only after doing research into the customer’s situation. However, the way that you use that knowledge differs greatly depending upon whether or not you are focused on the customer or focused on yourself.
Sales pros who are focused on themselves typically begin a customer engagement by lecturing the customer, in the hopes that the customer will be impressed with the fact that the sales pro has done his research. For example, a sales pro might open a customer conversation like this:
My research reveals that your firm is probably losing money because of poor inventory control. Since your industry is currently under stress due to the weak economy, you may need our product to help you fix this problem. That’s why I’m here to talk with you today.
By contrast, sales pros who are focused on the customer, merely use research as a way to bridge into a meaningful conversation, like so:
It’s my understanding that your industry, in general, has challenges connected with the weak economy and difficulties in controlling inventory. However, I’d like to know how you view the situation and to what extent that influences what’s going on in your own manufacturing facilities.
Can you see the difference? The first approach makes the sales pro sound like a know-it-all who’s going to tell the customer how to run his business. The second approach shows that the sales pro did the appropriate research, but the request to hear about the situation “from the horse’s mouth” shows the customer that the sales pro doesn’t assume he knows more about the situation than the customer himself.

RULE #2: Ask Questions that Create a Broader Context
Most sales pros know that selling involves asking meaningful questions, and many also know the open-ended questions are generally more effective than closed-ended questions. However, there are actually three levels of questioning:
• Level #1. Close-ended questions. These have short, definite answers like “yes” or “no” or a specific bit of information.Close-ended questions can be useful, but they tend to create a lull in the conversation, forcing the sales pro to segue, often awkwardly, into the next line of inquiry. Example: “How many widgets do you use every year?”
• Level #2. Open-ended questions. These are intended to solicit a more detailed response from the customer. However, sales reps often craft open-ended questions to lead the customer into considering a particular product. As such, they typically result in a short answer that echoes the response that the customer assumed (correctly) that the sales pro expected to hear. Example: “What are your needs when it comes to widgets?”
• Level #3. Strategic questions. These are questions that invite the customer to expound upon a situation. They treat the customer as the expert and naturally lead towards a deeper conversation that can lead towards a collaborative sales opportunity. Strategic questions usually begin with one of the following phrases: tell, share, describe, explain, explore, or help me understand. Example: “Tell me about how your company uses widgets.”
In order to be customer-focused, you should always prepare two or three strategic questions for each customer meeting.
These strategic questions will reveal valuable information that will prove useful throughout the sales cycle. More importantly, they will make customers feel as if they are guiding the discussion.

 
RULE #3: Present Solutions in Terms of Customer Value.
It’s amazing how many sales professionals falter on this one. There are three general ways that sales professionals can present a solution:
• Feature/Function. You describe the offering, what it does, and why it’s a quality offering. This is often ineffective, because customers are far more interested in their own business and their own problems and may not be able to understand how or why a given feature or function might be meaningful to them. Example: “Our widgets are manufactured locally.”
• Feature/Benefit. The sales pro describes a feature or function, but ties it to a particular benefit to the customer. While this is better than the feature/function approach, the feature/benefit approach does not put the feature into the context of the customer’s business. Even if the customer recognizes the benefit, it’s not immediately apparent why that benefit is of value to the customer. Example: “Our widgets are manufactured locally, so you can be assured of an immediate supply regardless of demand.”
• Value/Benefit. The sales pro summarizes the value that the customer would like to achieve through the offering, and the ties that value to a specific benefit of that offering. This approach allows the customer to immediately visualize the positive financial impact of buying the solution. Example: “You’ve explained how manufacturing delays have cost your company $10 million over the past year and that those delays are the result of the inability to get widgets in a timely manner. Because our widgets are manufactured locally, we can provide them whenever you need them with less than a day’s notice.”
Can you see the difference? When you present value/benefit you are telling the story from the customer’s perspective, rather than the perspective of your firm and its offerings.

 
RULE #4: Consider Closing the BEGINNING of the Sale.
Most sales pros see closing the deal as the end of the sales process. From their perspective, they’ve worked hard by researching the customer, investigating the customer’s needs, and presenting a viable solution. The sales pro is often a bit worn out by this point, and simply want to know whether or not the customer will buy, so that they can either write up the order or move onto the next prospect.
That’s ironic, because it is at this point that the customer is fully awake and aware. It’s relatively easy for a customer to consider alternatives, discuss possible solutions, and sketch out the basic parameters of what might happen.
However, when it comes to the point of actually making a decision, suddenly the customer’s money and budget is on the line. This fact energizes the customer right at the point when the sales pro is beginning to wind down in expectation of a final decision.
If you want to be customer, focuses, you see closing as a collaborative process that involves working together to ensure that the final deal makes sense.
If the customer surfaces objections, a customer-focused sales pro uses further strategic questions to investigate and clarify the situation. That investigation is then reflected in a new or more detailed expression of the value of the offering to the customer.

 
NOTE: The rules in this post are based upon a conversation with Nancy Martini, CEO of the training firm PI Worldwide. I’m a huge fan of her work and am, in fact, working with her on a book project. I’ll write more on this as the project moves forward!

The rational response is a resounding “no.”  Customers expect value and expect service.  Clearly, the “fit for use” argument comes into play.  The service I expect from Burger King is clearly different than what I expect from a 5-Star restaurant.  Yet, those businesses that astound me with unexpected, great service lock me in for life; and, those that don’t commit me to a life of sharing their horror stories of bad service and annoying automated phone prompts.  I share one of each with you here.

Three or four laptops ago, I purchased an IBM (Lenovo) ThinkPad.  After a year or so of brutal usage, my monitor expired.   It was a quick painless death, but a major tragedy since my business life is in my computer.  Naturally, I was on the road and stranded.  I called IBM and told them my problem (customer service lesson #1 – I got to speak with a real person).  I explained my situation.  The customer service representative told me they would have a box shipped to my house the next day (Saturday) and that the courier would wait while I packed my laptop for shipment to an IBM repair depot (customer service lesson #2 – recognize and acknowledge the customer’s urgency).   The box actually did arrive on Saturday (customer service lesson #3 – follow through on your promises), but I decided to have my IT person backup the hard drive before I shipped it.  So, instead, I called the courier and shipped the faceless laptop on Monday.  With a lump in my throat, I waved good bye to my laptop and my business, not knowing when or if we would ever be reunited.

What occurred next was astounding to me.  On the following day, I received a voicemail requesting my signature for delivery of my repaired computer.  Unfortunately, I was not home and wisely they would not leave the computer on the doorstep.  So, on Wednesday morning they delivered it – 100% healed and ready for more abuse.   To this day, I cannot fathom how they received, repaired and reshipped my laptop in less than 24 hours (customer service lesson #4 –exceed your customer’s wildest expectations).  Because of IBM’s (Lenovo) outstanding customer service, I am a customer for life (or for as long as they meet my expectations).

Now, fast forward to the present.  I recently upgraded to a new ThinkPad and started installing upgraded software.  I could not find my security software information and was getting quite frustrated.  I tried to talk with a representative of Panda Security Software – I now believe they do not exist.  After wasting too much time trying to find a phone number, I gave up and decided to just purchase new on the website.  With great difficulty, I eventually was able to install the newest, greatest, globalist security software they had to offer.

Within two weeks of using the software, I was hit with a virus that corrupted my Windows 7 profile.  All my execute files were freaking out and my laptop was rendered unusable.  My IT guru checked it out and discovered that this virus was several years old.  How could that be?  My security software was new and improved.  So I started my attempt to contact Panda.  I reviewed my sales receipt, their website, everything.  No phone numbers for support, only a sales number.  Maybe they could put me in contact?   Optimistically, I called the number.  I answered the annoying IVR questions, pressed the various numbers and waited, and waited, and waited.  Doing other work, I kept the line open.  After 90+ minutes on hold, I gave up.  And, this was for sales!?  How silly of me to think I would ever get a real person for customer service.

Not willing to gamble my business on security software that didn’t keep my laptop secure even against the old stuff or to gamble on a company that provides no customer service, my IT guru removed Panda and replaced it with NOD 32.  I then started the process to request a refund from Panda for “returned” software.  Now, all of a sudden, I am receiving an abundance of email – answer this survey, no we can’t refund, here is the refund form, etc., etc.  Panda once was my security software of choice.  Now, with no service, no customer.

Have our customer service expectations dropped as a result of the Internet?  Is it just too costly to service the products sold?  Or, are engineers and accountants running the businesses and cannot comprehend human contact?   Maybe they need to understand that technology is not the consumer, humans are.

Even in these economic times, employees are quitting their jobs and it may be costing more than you know!

At a recent cocktail party, I was pleased to hear a change in the buzz.  Finally, the conversations were taking a break from all the political campaigning.  Instead, the chatter was focused on the economy.  Several debated whether we were headed for major inflation or deflation.  Others underscored the need to create more jobs.   Many nodded in agreement to the various comments:  “People are lucky just to have a job.”  “Employees should just hunker down and ride out the storm.”  “We sure don’t need to worry about turnover right now – no one is going to leave in this bad economy.”

Really?  As usual, I had to chime in … people are changing jobs at high levels and I predict it will get worse.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that across all sectors, annual voluntary turnover is tracking at a bit over 20%. That is pretty significant and pretty costly–the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) estimates that it costs a company $370K to replace one employee with a base salary of $90K per year.  This “replacement cost” number is much larger for: (1) top-performers, or (2) more senior positions.

Based upon the research, consider a company with 100 employees and an average $90K base salary:

Replacement cost/person=                             $370,000

20% of 100 employees=                                    x       20

Total replacement cost for one year=           $7,400,000

That seems astronomical to me.  So even if the DOL is off by 50%, that number is still significant.  For a 100 employee firm, that could well wipe out the net profit for that year.  How much do you think it is costing your organization?

A key basic for companies is to hire the right people for the right positions and then treat them right so that they perform and stay.  Leaders need to realize that employees leave managers first and companies second.  Although they claim money or opportunity as a cause when asked in an exit interview, the real cause is their manager.  The real reason is captured through post interviews six months later – not feeling appreciated by my manager.

By providing human capital analytics and training for leaders and managers, companies can minimize the turnover and save those expensive replacement costs.  To me, there is nothing more rewarding then creating positive and high-performing organizations.