Winning Your Business With Patience

STARS Podcast

I used to tear up the competition. I used to dog on them and make fun of their technology or their features. I used to try to win because the other guy sucked. I didn't sell very much by doing that. I didn't understand why the customer couldn't see how superior my product was to the comps. Then I started blaming the customers. I started thinking they were stupid or something. How could they not see what I saw in my solutions? ... WORST SALES GUY EVER ... I cannot pin point where I heard the saying from but I remember the saying " If you are helping others make money then you never have to worry about money". This is part of it, but not the full picture. However, this is where I started to have success. I started to slash prices and give discounts to beat the other guys. I would go out of my way to try and save them money. That is how I got my opportunities. I saved bottom line dollars. From there I created relationships by ALWAYS being available, ALWAYS changing my schedule to fit their needs, and ALWAYS being transparent with the customer. Sometimes I was too transparent, but I figured give them the information and they can make the decisions themselves. By being authentic in my interactions with them they started to gain trust in me. I stuck it out for years like this. I didn't make hardly any money the first few years in my career. I made enough to live decent enough, BUT there was something bigger at play here. I was starting to enjoy the pursuit of new business. I welcomed the competition because I started to gain and understanding about my customers NEEDS and DESIRES because I was listening to them more than SELLING them. I was creating bonds with them. I was creating a deeper connection to them. I was not doing it because i was trying to manipulate them. Some of them still never bought from me. A lot of them did, but some still do not buy ANYTHING from me. Granted I do not spend a lot of energy on those accounts, but I sort of know why. The OTHER guy already created those relationships there and they are winning that battle. I stay connected though, in case they retire or they just cant meet one of those needs. Being a SOLID number 2 option is better than nothing at all sometimes. Getting to that level took about 4 years to accomplish. I went to the trade shows and did trainings for the up and coming talent for free for years. I put myself out there not gaining anything except knowledge about the customers I was serving. That knowledge helped me in my delivery and my approach to my customers. You know what i figured out ... they're just normal people with bosses that want certain things out of them. They are NO DIFFERENT than I am. They have goals in their job. Maybe I can meet that, maybe I can't. Maybe my competitor does it better. HOWEVER - By sticking to my plan of learning more about the customers NEEDS I am now able to help them, guide them, protect them, and they trust me more now. The last couple years of my business has been amazing, but I had to be in the business for YEARS before I was comfortable being able to "challenge" the customers and have that be respected. If I would have tried that early on then I would have had NO CLUE what I was talking about. This all came from TIME IN THE TRENCHES! I put the time in because I wanted to succeed at this thing. I wanted it more than I wanted the money. I wanted to be a resource more than a salesman. WHEN THAT transition happened I transitioned into more money somehow! Caring and being a genuine human being matters in the business world. CUT THROAT tactics are short term thinking. I want to have passive income so I can focus on GROWING business than worrying about where the next sale is coming from. In order to do that, I have to care about my business and the people's lives that are effected as a result. This is how I am winning business. I care a whole hell of a lot about people and their lives.