Customer and culture

I don’t know if any of these are foreign to you or not, but I’ll run through a few phrases really quickly. This may just be a review for you, but that’s okay.

A suspect is someone you hope might, maybe, could, should do business with you. And in the storage business, we actually don’t talk to very many suspects unless you go out and knock doors in the neighborhood around your storage facility.

The people who call you on the phone and the people who walk into your place are prospects because they’ve identified that they either have a need or think a need is coming up. Prospects have expressed some need or desire for what you have to offer.

Closing rations or conversion ratios tell you how many prospects it takes you to get a customer. These ratios can change dramatically based on where your prospects come from. In self storage you typically get prospects from people who see your location from traveling by it, people who find your ad in the yellow pages, internet users who see your web site, internet users who submit their information to storage locator services, referrals from current customers, repeat customers, mailers, fliers and other marketing efforts. You should know the ratios on all of these so you can better manage your efforts and better judge when you are doing something right or when you are missing the mark.

Learn the vocabulary of selling and then talk about the process of selling. Talk about “qualifying questions” – things like “Do you know how soon you’re going to need a storage unit?” “Do you have an idea of what size you need, or can I help you figure that?” “Do you know where we’re located, and is that a good location for you?” Design and frame your qualifiers intentionally.

Are you familiar with “closing questions”? Is that a term you use in your property? If you use the term, do you actually ask closing questions to your prospects?**“When would you like to move in?” “Is Saturday a good time for you to come in, or is Sunday better?” “Would you like the 10’ x 10’ or would you prefer the 10’ by 15’?” If your people understand what closing questions are, they’ll use them, and your culture will develop. I have heard some people call a closing question “the ask”. This is not a bad concept. When you get to the right point in your conversation with your prospect and you have asked good qualifying questions, it is time for The Ask. You ask the person to make the purchase. I have heard others say that using the term “close” sounds a little crude and adversarial, as if your prospect might get hurt when you “close” them. This is not a bad point either. Maybe we are really asking people to “open” an account with us or to “open” a business relationship with us. I like this way of thinking. It shines a positive light on the way in which you ask someone to be your customer. Do you see what is happening here? By talking about sales issues in the language of selling, we are participating in the culture of sales. Help your people be in the culture of sales by talking about selling. Brought to you by:

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ScriptingSales and Training TopicsLet the prospect do the sellingPeople do their own buyingSorry, I don’t handle thatMore about Sales CultureSales SkillsCreating a Sales CultureMore about CustomersGo for daylight… Tweet This Post Disclamer:** This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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