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VIEWPOINT No such thing as a free ride
BY MARY JO MARTIN Editorial director
Y
ears ago, there was a musical called How to Suc- ceed in Business Without Really Trying. Anyone in business today likely would laugh out loud at that
notion. For as we all know, it’s pretty rare that success just falls into our laps. Most of us have to work hard and sacrifice as we attempt to grow our businesses — and occassionally challenges knock us down a peg or two along the way. The poor economic climate we’ve faced the last few years has forced us all to do more with less and hone our skills
even further to survive. As we emerge into this slow recovery, it’s critical that we look at avenues to make us stand out in the marketplace and position our businesses for growth. One of the key areas to focus on for many is sales. While attending HARDI’s Annual Fall Conference last fall in Houston, I was tremendously impressed with the presentation given by Jeffrey Gitomer, whose ex- pertise lies in sales, customer loyalty and personal development. In what I can only describe as one of the more unique — and highly entertaining — presentations I’ve witnessed, Gitomer poked, prodded and flat-out told attendees what they needed to do to increase sales, boost customer loyalty and be memorable in the marketplace. He challenged the long-standing traditions of many marketing departments, saying
simply that “Brochures don’t work.” Rather, Gitomer said, ask yourself whether your customers will do business with you again, and whether they will refer others to you. “That’s loyalty,” Gitomer said. “It’s more important to keep your existing customers and salespeople loyal than satisfied.” Taking it a step further, he asked, “Are your cus- tomers as loyal to you as you are to your favorite sports teams?” Gitomer went on to outline what he calls the “imperatives” of doing business today. Following are excerpts (visit the “On the Road” section of
www.thewholesaler.com to view video highlights of Gitomer addressing the HARDI meeting): • Thinking you can and thinking you will is based on your personal self confidence.
Advertisers Index
Activant Solutions ........................34
www.activant.com American Hometec.......................47
www.americanhometec.com American Water Heater ................17
www.americanwaterheater.com Anderson Metals.............................6
www.andersonmetals.com
A.Y. McDonald...........................100
www.aymcdonald.com Backstop .......................................71
www.backstop.net Bradford White .............................41
www.bradfordwhite.com Bradley..........................................12
www.bradleycorp.com
C & C Valve..................................43
www.candcvalve.com
Cash Acme....................................77
www.sharkbitepro.com CBM Sales....................................51
www.cbmsales.com CD Sales .......................................83
www.centraldistributionsales.com Century Brass................................46
www.centurysalesmfg.com
Clear Water Enviro Technologies..................68
www.scaleblaster.com Control Supply..............................81
www.controlsupplycorp.com Core Pipe ........................................9
www.corepipe.com
Crane Pumps.................................89
www.cranepumps.com
Dahl .......................................62, 63
www.dahlvalve.com DDI System ..................................23
www.ddisys.com Dormont........................................32
www.dormont.com
ECR...............................................65
www.ecr97gb.com Eternal Hybrid Water Heater ........67
www.eternalwaterheater.com
Forgings, Flanges & Fittings ........52
www.onestoppvf.com Floodmaster ..................................10
www.floodmaster.com Foremost Faucets..........................49
www.foremostgroups.com General Pipe Cleaners, a div. of General Wire Spring..........2, 70
www.drainbrain.com Global Stainless Supply................53
www.onestoppvf.com Grundfos .................................44, 45
www.grundfos.us HeatingHelp.com..........................36
www.heatinghelp.com Holyoke Fittings ...........................40
www.holyokefittings.com
JMF...............................................16
www.jmfcompany.com John Guest ....................................61
www.johnguest.com
Think about the passion behind your purpose of serving people in need. Think about your ability to create and keep loyal customers without sacrificing price. Think about what you will focus on that is important to you. Think about what you still don’t know about local market dominance. • When you go to visit a customer, be prepared with ideas and questions, and seek immediate engagement with them. Make it real. The more real it is, the easier it will be for people to connect with you. If you love what you do and you’re prepared, you’ll be relaxed. • You’ve got to believe in these three things: that you work for the greatest company
in the world, that you offer the best products and services in the world, and that you’re a great person. • If you are losing sales on price, it’s because you don’t have everything else in
place. That is why you have to really focus on what are you doing beyond the sale. If I asked you to write down 10 things you are doing to build loyalty after the sale, how many could you really come up with? Don’t just add value — add passion and cre- ativity and earn trust. • Make it easy for your customers to do business with you. Make sure they can
order any time of day or night on your website. Your customers are often working into the evening out of their trucks, and many would like to be able to go to your website and place orders later at night after they’ve spent some time with their families. And still get those orders the next day. Too many wholesalers have a mid-afternoon cut-off time for delivery the next day. Think about it. That really isn’t customer friendly. • Ask customers why they believe in your company and your products, and video
their responses. Then ask them why they buy from you. This will help you deepen your belief system to a point that it becomes impenetrable. You can also use these videos as a sales pitch with other customers. • Consider a “three-way lunch” — take one of your customers out to lunch and bring along a customer for them. • If I were hiring a salesperson, here are the attributes I’d look for: smart, self-
starter, great attitude, excellent communications skills, physically and mentally fit, (Turn ahead to Mary Jo, pg. 95.)
Kessler ..........................................35
www.ksdusa.com
LAARS Heating System...............50
www.laars.com Legend Hyrdonics.........................11
www.legendhydronics.com Marathon.......................................55
www.wallhungboilers.com Matco-Norca...................................3
www.matco-norca.com Metropac.......................................42
www.metropac.com Midland Metal ..............................37
www.midlandmetal.com
Miro ..............................................54
www.miroind.com
Navien.....................................29, 85
www.navienamerica.com Neuco Inc......................................39
www.neucoinc.com Panasonic ......................................33
www.panasonic.com/wholesaler Pipe Prop.......................................64
www.pipeprop.com Quietside.......................................73
www.quietside.com
Saf-T-Kut ......................................48
www.saf-t-kut.com
Saniflo...........................................14
www.saniflo.com Service Metal Products.................31
www.servicemetal.net A. O. Smith...................................91
www.hotwater.com
Smith Cooper..................................5
www.smithcooper.com Stiebel Eltron ................................38
www.stiebel-eltron-usa.com
Ta Chen.........................................99
www.tachen.com
Taco...............................................69
ww.taco-hvac.com
Tapco...........................74, 75, 86, 87
www.tapcogenuinepartscenter.com
Taylor Forge Stainless ..................15
www.taylorforgestainless.com United Pipe & Steel ......................13
www.united-pipe.com
Val-Fit ...........................................24
www.valfit.com
Valvelinked.com .....................78, 79
www.valvelinked.com
Victaulic..................................58, 59
www.victaulic.com
Walworth.......................................66
www.twcousa.com
Ward Mfg. ....................................57
www.wardmfg.com
Warren Alloy...................................7
www.warrenalloy.com
Webstone.......................................21
www.webstonevalves.com
Weldbend ................................26, 27
www.weldbend.com
WOI ..............................................25
www.woihouston.com
Your Other Warehouse..................19
www.yourotherwarehouse.com
•THE WHOLESALER® — JANUARY 2011
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