Friday Book Club

It’s Friday Book Club again

I just read The Simple Truths of Service, a new book by Ken Blanchard and Barbara A Glanz. I recommend it.

It’s a concisely written, simple (and short) book with a strong message about how to use the power of great service to transform your relationships with your customers.

Though the book is largely written from the perspective of serving existing customers, the lessons taught apply equally well to using service to inspire new buyers to do business with you.

As a seller, you cannot forget that sales is a service you provide to your buyers.

Buyers need your help to quickly gather the information they need to make a good decision. That’s your service.

How you choose to provide that service will go a long way toward differentiating you in the mind of your buyer.

Studies have found that the service experience the buyer has with you during their buying process (i.e. during your selling process) is a significant factor in their choice of vendor

The service you provide during the sale has to be authentic. It has to come from a place of genuine caring about helping your buyers achieve their desired outcomes.

You have to think outside the box to make yourself memorable. How do you stand out in a crowd?

Blanchard writes in this book about surprising customers with great service.

Those of you who follow me know that I am passionate about the power of responsiveness to both surprise and make you memorable.

Your responsiveness not only creates value by enabling the buyer to progress more quickly through their buying process.

It also shows that you respect the value of the buyer’s time. Which in itself, is a practical demonstration of empathy for your buyer and the time constraints within which s/he operates.

I've found on occasions too numerous to count that a responsive follow up not only surprised buyers. It opened an insurmountable gap between me and all my competitors.

We all compete in crowded frenetic markets.

The perceived and actual differences among the products and services we sell are small. If non-existent in the minds of our buyers.

When it comes time to make their decisions, the tie-breakers for most buyers boil down to the small things that sellers do to set themselves apart.

And, as Blanchard and Glanz show in their new book, these small things are all within the control of a sales person. It’s just a matter of caring, attitude, desire and heart.

Let me ask you. How do you use service in your selling to differentiate yourself to your buyers?

If you're part of The Sales House community, hop over to Slack and let's discuss.

- Andy Paul