May 2001

How To Build Trust By Rejecting The Order
Believe It Or Not, You Can Gain Credibility By Actually Turning Down Business

BY NADJI TEHRANI

Go Right To: Effective Exhibiting Still Not A Reality For Some Exhibitors

I have conducted extensive research on the subject of selling and reinforced it with my personal experience. I have concluded that the most important requirements for effective salesmanship are as follows:

1. Building the element of trust,
2. Having empathy,
3. Possessing a strong ego drive,
4. Being a good listener,
5. Having industry knowledge,
6. Possessing competitive knowledge,
7. Thoroughly understanding your product and the benefits of the product for the customer,
8. Being persistent and having strong follow-through,
9. Being a great relationship builder, and
10. Last but not least, being a great closer.

The Element Of Trust Is The Vital Piece Of Any Business Transaction
By far, the most crucial element of effective selling is the element of trust. It stands to reason that no one, repeat, no one buys anything from someone they don't trust. Everything else is immaterial. You could be selling the finest piece of jewelry, the top-of-the-line Rolls-Royce or whatever else is perceived to be the best in its class, but if the customer does not trust you or your organization, you are wasting your time. If anyone does not understand and agree with this vitally important principle of conducting a business transaction, that person simply will not get anywhere in business. There are salespeople who have the natural ability to actually instill the element of trust in their customers almost instantly, but the rest of us will have to work very hard to earn the trust and respect of the customer. One extremely effective method of earning the customer's trust is by actually turning down business. You might think that Nadji is going crazy again, but before you go too far with that, let me walk you through a couple of true stories.

Case 1 -- The Story Of An Honest Salesperson At Nordstrom's
Nordstrom's reputation for outstanding customer service is legendary. Recently, I decided to verify for myself that customer service at this fine (if not the finest) department store is, in fact, second to none. At Nordstrom's, I went directly to the men's department and gave my specifications for a suit to the salesperson. He quickly presented me with four suits that met the specifications I had given him. He first explained the strengths and weaknesses of every suit. He explained, for example, that manufacturer X produces standard quality suits at a reasonable price, and manufacturer Y produces a nice-looking product, but the product may not stand up to repeated dry cleanings without losing its shape, and so on. I then tried on all four suits. Without getting too specific, the salesperson talked me out of buying any of the four suits by legitimately explaining why none of them would be suitable for me. Even though I was very close to buying one of the suits, he literally talked me out of it by saying, "I don't want to sell you a suit that you will not be happy with. I want you become a repeat customer." (How about that for great CRM?) He then told me he was expecting a new shipment of spring merchandise and suggested I return in the near future to try the new products. Having gained full trust and respect for the salesperson and Nordstrom's, I gave the salesperson my business card and asked him to call me as soon as the new merchandise arrived. I believe I have become a Nordstrom's customer for life.

Case 2 -- Zig Ziglar Buys A Bike
Zig Ziglar, who is reputed to be one of the best, if not the best, salesperson of the last century, offers yet another compelling story about the power of rejecting the order.

Zig and his wife went to a bicycle shop to buy a bicycle for their grandson. While in the bicycle shop, he noticed that a grandmother was trying to do the same for her 5-year-old grandson. She asked the grandson which bike he liked. The boy pointed at a yellow bike and the grandmother asked the shopkeeper, "How much does that bike cost?" The shopkeeper stated, "That bike is too big for your grandson so I cannot sell you that one." The grandmother insisted that regardless, she would only buy that yellow bike. The shopkeeper stated, "If I sell you the yellow bike for your grandson, he will not be able to apply the brakes and stop the bike in case of an emergency. I don't want to be a part of that tragedy." The shopkeeper then continued, "If you are not prepared to buy the right sized bike for your grandson, then you need to go somewhere else because I will not sell you the wrong sized bike."

Having witnessed this, Ziglar gave a signed blank check to the shopkeeper and told him that he would bring his grandson in and he could fit him with the right bike and fill in the blank check as appropriate.

In conclusion, it is apparent that in both of the above cases, the element of trust was established and reinforced by the vendor turning down business for a sound reason. It may surprise you, but if you adopt this method of establishing the element of trust between you, your firm and the customer, you will have many customers for life! Admittedly, this is thinking out of the box, but I don't know a better way to establish excellent CRM.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Sincerely,
Nadji Tehrani
Executive Group Publisher
Editor-in-Chief

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Over the last 20 years, I have addressed the vitally important role that effective exhibiting at trade shows plays in the marketing of products and services.

Savvy marketers know that exhibiting at a targeted and properly selected trade show is one of the most cost-effective ways to generate new business. As indicated in my last month's editorial entitled, "If Business Gets Any Worse...We Probably Should Start Advertising," business literally lives or dies from new business. I explained that in this slowing economy, most, if not all, companies lose more than 50 percent of their existing customers for a variety of reasons. And...if these lost customers are not replaced by new customers, the business's survival will be in jeopardy. It is paramount that every businessperson lives by this cardinal rule of survival to protect their business in a slowing economy.

Having said the above, I am often shocked at the lack of attention many exhibitors pay to effective exhibiting. For instance, I recently attended a major trade show and, as usual, I was trying to remain on time with the myriad business meetings I had scheduled at various exhibits with the principals or senior management of the companies in question. As we all know, it is vitally important that everyone shows up on time because every minute not used effectively at a trade show can represent thousands of dollars in lost business. Obviously, I referred to the show directory frequently to try to locate various exhibitors. Believe it or not, it was practically next to impossible to locate most of these exhibitors! They may have been in the right aisles, but their signage was so poorly placed or practically nonexistent that I literally could not find many of the companies. I was forced to walk back and forth several times in the aisles and still could not find the companies. The problems were numerous. First, many companies had placed the name of their firm 35 to 40 feet above the exhibit itself. And to make matters worse, there was no repetition of the company name at eye level. In other words, if I was looking for XYZ Company, I could never find XYZ Company anywhere in the entire aisle. Suppose some customer or a group of customers actually came to the show specifically to meet with XYZ Company to purchase a product, you can bet they became just as frustrated as I was because they too would have been unable to locate the company. I just don't understand what goes on in the minds of some exhibitors. Indeed, many spend upwards of $20,000 to $50,000 to even $100,000 to exhibit at a given trade show and yet, if the name of the company is not properly displayed in a visible spot, how can they possibly expect to sell something or meet new clients? Believe me, I am not exaggerating anything. I must have wasted an hour and a half just walking up and down the aisles needlessly! As often is the case, during my meandering, someone spotted me in the exhibit hall and said, "My boss is in our booth right now and he would like very much to have a chat with you." I asked the person, "Where is your exhibit?" She replied, "We are just two aisles over." I looked everywhere, walked up and down the aisle four or five times and I still could not find the company. Can you believe this? People spend thousands of dollars to exhibit at a convention and no one can find them!

While it is a very effective form of marketing, it is a given that each exhibitor must compete with several hundred other exhibitors to get the attention of attendees/ potential customers, so how can they justify spending thousands of dollars to exhibit when they make it difficult to be found? It seems to me that making any exhibit easy to locate should be a no-brainer, but unfortunately for many exhibitors, it is not.

Another very prominent problem with exhibitors at the show I recently attended was that many did not have proper booth graphics. Proper booth graphics explain in a few seconds what products and services the company offers. At that particular show, you would literally have to stop and ask, "What do you people do?" Exhibitors that fall into this category will undoubtedly lose 20 to 30 percent of their potential leads because most attendees have a limited time to visit several dozen exhibitors and they simply cannot stop at every exhibit and ask, "What do you people do?" All of this seems very basic, but believe it or not, many exhibitors simply do not pay attention to these vital details.

In my editorial in June of 2000 entitled, "A New Paradigm For Successful Trade Show Marketing," I pointed out a number of critical issues that I urge all marketing executives to refer to and use as necessary. In that editorial, I mentioned that a very effective way to market high-tech products is marketing through education. I pointed out that given the level of competition for the attention of each and every attendee, a successful exhibit marketer should consider conducting inside-the-booth seminars. If you observe at the next trade show you attend, you will find that, by and large, the companies that attract the maximum number of people to their booths (and thereby generate considerably more sales leads) are the ones that conduct an inside-the-booth seminar. If you employ this method, you will have a captive audience who welcomes sitting on a comfortable chair (after walking the floor for several hours) to learn something new about your products and services. Provided you do a great job of presenting the concepts while teaching the basic principle to the attendees, and by positioning your product or service as the solution to the attendees' problems, you will be using one of the most effective sales tools known to business. Obviously, you cannot position your product or service as a solution to customers' needs if you don't already know what their needs are. Consequently, it is highly advisable to ask all attendees questions to qualify and understand their needs. If you haven't already used this outstanding and powerful method of exhibit marketing, I urge you to do so at your next trade show.

Differentiation Is Key
Another problem that I observe as I walk the floor at many trade shows is that many exhibits look alike. Given that many competitive companies are generally in the same neighborhood within the exhibit hall, it would be wise for them to try to differentiate themselves from each other. Always remember that you and 200 or 400 other companies are competing for the attendees' attention. If you don't give the attendees a reason to enter your booth as opposed to entering your competition's booth, you can bet that they will walk on and pass by your booth. Chances are, they will stop at your competition's booth. It may seem too much to expect such a simple thing from some exhibitors who don't even have the name of their company at eye level, but it may explain why so many exhibitors are often disappointed at many shows.

Pre-Show Marketing Continues To Play A Vital Role
As indicated in my June 2000 editorial, pre-show marketing plays a crucial role in successfully attracting qualified visitors to your booth. Once again, you must always think that you and 200 or 400 other people are looking for the attendees' attention. If you don't give attendees a reason to come see you in advance of the show, you will probably never see those attendees in your booth. In other words, pre-show marketing information (which you should mail two weeks prior to the convention to the pre-registered attendees) should be written in a benefit-driven manner to encourage attendees to stop by your booth and check out the new product, for example, that you have described in your pre-show marketing material. Let us always remember that successful trade show marketing is a two-way street. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Obviously, if you just show up in an exhibit hall with no pre-marketing and inappropriate booth graphics where no one can find you, you will definitely be disappointed. In plain English, there are no shortcuts to effective exhibiting. May I suggest that you read my previous editorials on the subject as follows: "The Best Kept Secret In Trade Show Marketing," January 1989; "Successful Marketing At A Trade Show Is A Two-Way Street" Part I, June 1991; Part II, August 1991.

And speaking of trade shows, we have two remarkable events coming up: Communications Solutions EXPO (May 23-25 at the Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.) and Customer Inter@ction Solutions Conference & EXPO (July 18-20 at the Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, Georgia). We designed Communications Solutions EXPO to be a show where you will not only find the whole world of the latest communications technologies in one place, but also where you'll find ways to use today's technologies to be more efficient, more productive and more profitable. The conference program will present tracks focusing on enterprise solutions, contact center solutions and developers/systems integrators as well as special sessions on FedCom, Service Provider Week, e-Sales/e-Service Week and Comm Trends.

The Customer Inter@ction Solutions Conference & EXPO was designed by the most experienced team in the industry to provide you with a venue where you can learn all you need to know to take your contact center to the next level. The exhibit hall will highlight products and services for CRM, eCRM and Web-enabling contact center technologies, and the comprehensive conference program will feature tracks covering human resources solutions, innovative management solutions, contact center technology and e-sales/e-service solutions. I look forward to seeing you at both events.

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