Karr Associates, Inc.
Titan Principle Sales E-Report
Helping Organizations and Individuals Sell More in Less Time!!!

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To our subscribers: Welcome to Weekly Titan Principle E Series, an electronic newsletter dedicated to building high performing sales cultures. To see prior entries, please go to http://ronkarr.com/titanreport

In This Issue:

*Profit by Talking to Satisfied Customers!

*Stop Giving In Too Fast!!!

*Start Your Free Titan E Course Today!!!

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Profit by Talking to Satisfied Customers!

Did you ever notice that most of the time you are making sales calls, your customers are not in a hurry to switch vendors? They are basically satisfied and are not in a rush to do anything new. Many sales people find this to be a problem, yet these sales calls tend to provide the most profitable opportunities.

Marc Miller, in his book “Selling is Dead”, does a good job in explaining this. While his thesis is geared towards key account selling, I would suggest the same holds true for all sales relationships including customers who purchase items over a period of time.

Why are satisfied customers your best opportunities? To begin with, this is where you can get into conversations about the results they are after and the gaps that prevent them from getting there. By being the catalyst to uncovering new possibilities, you now gain the high ground as the trusted advisor who is bringing new ideas and solutions to the table.

When the customer buys into your proposal with a conceptual agreement, they now more than likely will skip the shopping phase and move into a conversation with you on implementation. At this point, you have the high ground and little or no competition. If for some reason the customer slips back into the shopping mode, then at least the specs of the customer purchase are designed around your solutions, which again puts you in the driver’s seat.

Marc explains the shopping phase as the ground where most of the dead deals reside. Everyone is competing over the same thing and in most cases, the differentiating issue revolves around price. In Bill Brooks book, “You Are Working Too Hard to Make the Sale”, they interviewed over 6,000 buyers and asked why they always beat salespeople up on price. The answer was simple. Put yourselves in our shoes. We see on average 6 sales people a day. They all try to impress us with their “unique” features. Yet, at the end of the day, it all sounds the same. Thinking we can get the same solution elsewhere, the only thing left to differentiate themselves is through price.

According to my two colleagues, you have a choice. Compete with everyone else and lose quite a few deals and gain little profit, or find opportunities where you can truly differentiate yourself with new ideas and solutions for problems the customer has not even thought about. True, most of us have to create a delicate balance here. However, if your sales calls do not include a good mix of customers who are currently satisfied yet do have challenges that require attention, then you are always going to be in a cat fight with price being a major issue most of the time.

Karr Associates, Inc. celebrates its 18th year in business this coming November. All of our client’s results have focused around changing their conversations and creating a value proposition that is considered second to none. These results include a 10 year $200 million negotiated supply agreement, as well hundreds of other outcomes sales people have achieved by simply changing their mindset and conversation. Even though many of these customers were ready to make a buying decision, my clients successfully changed the way they thought about the decision. They broke through their “satisfaction” mindsets and identified new opportunities and reasons for doing things differently.

A mindset shift for you to consider this week: When a customer says no thank you, we have everything we need, your mindset should be, great, but that is not what I am here about. I am here to discuss your goals and how we can fill any gaps you may have in reaching those goals. Or, if the customer says this is the way we always buy these products, your mindset should be, great, but that is not what I am here about. I am here to discuss strategies that are powerful enough to support your growth goals.

Remember, customers don’t perceive it as valuable talking to us about what they have already achieved. The value comes in discussing what they are trying to achieve now and in the future.

Satisfied Customers!!! Bring them on! There’s gold in those opportunities!!! Just ask the right questions!

Start Your Free Titan E Course Today and Learn How to Sell Satisfied Customers!!! Just send a blank e-mail to ron10-166621@autocontactor.com

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If you want to make a dramatic impact on your next meeting, bring Ron Karr in to address the troops on sales, negotiation, customer service and leadership. His programs are insightful, energetic and inspirational. They generate results. Call us now at 800.423.5277 or click here http://www.ronkarr.com/contact.html to schedule your date.
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Stop Giving In Too Fast!!!

Over and over again, I see sales executives wanting the deal so bad that they immediately give into requests and wind up giving away money and/or terms that they really did not have to part with in order to get the deal. They have become victimized by the various tactics and strategies buyers use to get gain compromises from sales executives (read more about this in our Special Report on Successful Negotiations by clicking here http://ronkarr.com/trainingtools/details/whitepaper.htm ).

There is one step you only have to use to help ensure you don’t give in too easily. It is called Grounding Yourself in Your Points of Power. What are Points of Power? These are areas where you bring strength to a negotiation where the customer needs you as much if not more than you need them. Here are some Points of Power you may bring to the negotiation table:

1. Demand exceeds supply
2. Time - customer needs solution yesterday
3. Knowledge - you have information your customer needs
4. Ability to take risk - you can afford to leave the deal if it does not make sense
5. Strategic relationship - customer needs a relationship with you for strategic positioning
6. Menu of alternatives - customer has options and power to decide on how to work with you
7. Expert - customer values your expertise
8. Perception - perception is reality. If customer perceives you to be the best and wants the best, why give concessions?
9. Inducements- example: Buy one now, get second one for free.

The above 9 Points of Power are examples of the power you may bring to a negotiation. You may even have a few more we did not add to the list. The bottom line is this: If you don’t ground yourself in all of the power and strength you bring to a negotiation before you start the meeting, then you will be susceptible to making concessions when the other side strong arms you into thinking are about to lose the deal. When you are grounded in your Points of Power, then you will likely respond in these situations with a renewed strength and spirit that will result in closing more deals with fewer concessions.

How long does it take ground yourself? It depends upon the negotiation. If it is really a big deal, you may spend a few hours and even days with colleagues preparing yourself. If it is an average deal, you may only spend a few moments as you are driving up to the customer’s location. However long you spend, just doing it can ensure you are not leaving money on the table that deserves to be in your pocket.

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Want all the answers on how to succeed in Win/Win Negotiations and how to respond to the most common negotiation tactics used by buyers today? Order your copy of our Special Report on Successful Negotiations Now by clicking here http://ronkarr.com/trainingtools/details/whitepaper.htm

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Never read the Titan Principle Book or listened to the Titan Principle CD Learning system? Get both of these long selling products for the price of one—today only. Click here http://ronkarr.com/trainingtools/special.htm

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Start Your Free Titan E Course Today!!! Sign up for Ron Karr’s Seven Master Secrets
of the Titan Principle® e Mini-Course. It is absolutely Free!!! Click here http://ronkarr.com/bootcamp/promo.html

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Want quick ideas to easily review before walking into a customer’s office? Order your ten pack of Titan
Memory Cards now by clicking here http://ronkarr.com/repturl/memcards-ql.htm

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Next TITAN SALES BOOT CAMP AT Newark Airport Marriott Oct 17/18, 2006. Sign up today http://ronkarr.com/bootcamp.

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