The Revenue Growth Habit


There is 20% Sales Growth In The Final 1% of the Selling


I cannot take credit for the title and subject matter of this column. An outside salesman at a client


company said this. It was towards the end of an all day


workshop I was leading. It was the third of four such workshops, because my client, a large distributor of plumbing and HVAC products, put 220 people through my program. About 90 days into my projects,


after a marketing review, and some staff interviews, and customer interviews, and the creation of a sales growth game plan, we teach the work to the customer- facing staff who will do it. We had already done the mindset


part of the day. We had listened to my interviews with happy customers who were glowing about my client. They now knew how valued they are by customers. And we were coming towards the


end of the techniques portion of the session, where I run through what the sales and customer service people in the audience can do to grow sales. These actions include simple and lightening-fast communications like asking the did you know question; asking the reverse did you know question; making proactive phone calls to customers when nothing is wrong; asking for the business; asking for referrals; and following up on quotes. Around this time, the outside


salesman raised his hand. “It just dawned on me,” he said in


front his peers and colleagues. “This is the last one percent of the work.” I was stunned into silence, because


I’d never thought about it this way before, and it’s my program! I stayed quiet so he could continue.


(A great technique for all of us when speaking to customers.)


44 ❘ December 2018 ®


To implement these simple communi- cations to grow your sales 10-20% an- nually, contact Alex at 847-459-6322. Alex Goldfayn is the author of the Wall Street Journal Best Seller Selling Boldly and the Forbes sales book of the year The Revenue Growth Habit. Visit www.Goldfayn.com for more information.


“We’ve already done 99 percent of


the work,” he added. “This is the last one percent.” I nearly jumped up and down while screaming “YES!” I think I didn’t, but I might have,


because that’s how excited I was to hear this.


It’s a hugely insightful and totally


accurate observation. You’ve established a solid and trusting relationship. You’ve been available and communicated back to the customer in a timely and convenient manner. You’ve serviced the account


incredibly well, and you’ve won the customer’s loyalty. Conversely, you’ve been continuously loyal to the customer. You’ve delivered on time, and have not made the customer wait. When necessary, you’ve taken the


product into your car and brought it to the customer personally. They value this. They appreciate this. You’ve built a friendship. They


depend on you and you depend on them.


Now, they’ve asked you to write a


quote. You do it, because they requested it. You send it. That’s the 99 percent: all that work,


all that excellence, across all those years. The final one percent? That’s where the magic is: Follow up on your quote, and ask the customer where they are at with it! Ask the customer for their business,


tell them you want it, and you are interested in helping them. Call the customer pro-actively and tell them you were thinking about them,


and what are they working on that you can help them with. Ask the customer for a referral:


“Who else do you know who I can help the way that I help you?” Tell the customer about what else


you can help them with: “Did you know we can also help you with x, or y, or z?” Ask the customer what else they buy


elsewhere that you can help them with. This is the final one percent. This is the last step, after all the


other thousands of steps that brought you to this point. Amazingly, most salespeople stop at


this step. Most salespeople allow fear of


rejection to stop them from taking this final step. Here’s the thing: The customer wants more of your


help. They wish that you’d do this final


one percent of the work. They don’t want to buy from four


suppliers. They want to buy it all from you. Nobody wants four purchase orders when they can just have one. Nobody wants to manage four


relationships when they can do it all with you, the easy and excellent supplier. Don’t let fear stop you from doing this final one percent. It’s where the value is for your


customers. And it’s where the money is for you. In fact, you’ll find that there is 20


percent sales growth for you in this final one percent of the work. You’ve done the hard work, the 99


percent. Now do the easy work: the final one


percent.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48