Based on a true story or two…
“We don’t want to put up a website beyond the free-local-listings kind of things.”
“I know the photo’s not of our current location, but we like it.”
“We chose the new employee because she asked for the least in salary.”
“A sign that matches our current name and logo would cost us money we’re not willing to spend. The one we have says enough.”
“Well, the hours aren’t convenient for everyone, but our old customers like it.”
“We never ask the customer how they enjoyed it. Who wants to hear a bunch of complaining?”
“We don’t do email. It’s too hard to pay attention to.”
“Can you help us?”
Hm. I don’t know if I can.
What’s it all boil down to?
“People will figure us out, if they want to do business with us.”
And yes, I have actually heard that exact phrase when pointing out the sometimes-enormous barriers to sales that folks are putting in front of their customers. People will figure us out, if they want to do business with us.
How often do you put that kind of effort into buying something? Not bloody often, unless it’s darned rare and even harder to find any other way. So…
unless what you’re selling is darned rare and even harder to buy from anyone but you…
and maybe, even if that’s the case, if you’d like to increase your sales…
it’s time to think about which barriers to success you’re willing to tear down…
and which ones you simply WILL NOT give up.
(Not as simple as it looks. Some barriers to success may seem quite legitimate to you, unless you’re willing to stare long and hard at how you’re doing business, and how you want your company to grow in the future. And even then—it’s completely fair to decide that there are some parts of the sales process that are barriers, yet you aren’t willing to give those up. To do it consciously is a lot better than to wonder what’s going wrong!)
An exercise in company-wide introspection: How many steps are there in the process of finding out about you and buying from you? How many barriers are you putting in your customer’s way?
Ready to give some of them up?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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16 November 2010, 8:03 am
There’s a TD/Canada Trust commercial here (that’s the full name, BTW, of TD — wonder why they dropped “Canada Trust” from the name in the States?) about their hours. Canada Trust, the company TD took over, has always been famous for long hours before anyone else – 8am to 8pm on the weekdays and (gasp!) open on Saturdays too.
Anyway, there’s a series of commercials with two old stodgy guys complaining about the “new” bank and change, etc. etc. Here’s a paraphrased script from one:
Old Guy #1 – Bah, people today. “I want to bank on the evenings.” “I want to bank on the weekends.”
Old Guy #2 (agreeing) – “I want to bank when it’s convenient.”
Old Guy #1 – What was wrong with the old days? You get to the bank, it was closed!
Your post kind of reminds me of that…
Also: “People will figure us out, if they want to do business with us.” Isn’t that the mantra of the consumer? Isn’t the business the one who’s supposed to be the one doing the figuring? The only thing the consumer is required to do in any business situation is pay.
IMHO,
~Graham
Graham Strong´s latest blog… Day 70 – The Ides of November
16 November 2010, 10:10 pm
Graham,
(Aside: Down here, TD used to be called TD BankNorth. Because they were only… up north, y’know. New York, Vermont, etc. But then they ate my mid-Atlantic area bank and had to rename to just TD Bank. Unlike Canada Trust, my bank didn’t get even a nod in the new name—but they did get to stay open 7 days, just as they used to. I hardly ever get to the bank and find it’s closed!)
What was wrong with the old days, indeed! That’s what folks have to figure out. Now if you’re thriving, maybe nothing was wrong with the old days… though even standing still can look a lot like moving backwards, depending on the industry.
I like how you turned that last bit around. Absolutely. In the end, smart businesses will figure the customer out, if they want to do business with them.
Regards,
Kelly
1 December 2010, 2:03 pm
Holy moley! I’m a GREENIE entrepreneur, and I’m FLABBERGASTED that there are peopel in business who actually think and behave this way. It seriously blows my mind!
I try to remain accessible and flexible for my customers. My email is always turned one. I check in on my various web sites several times a day. I can’t imagine NOT responding right away to a customer! (All of this, with a day job to boot. Thank goodness for lunch breaks!)
Jennifer Moore´s latest blog… Quick update