PPB February 2018

Prepare To Wow Clients. Top salespeople leave nothing to chance. They may look cool and casual in how they deliver information and interact with their clients, but they are relaxed and confident only because they haveworked like crazy to research, practice and plan their approach and presentations. Formost, the preparation begins with knowing asmuch as possible about the client andwhat theywant to accomplish in eachmeeting. “Our company provides us with a great deal of data regarding our clients’ spending habits,” says Rachel Hare, field sales manager for PCNA Trimark Apparel and 2016 Sales Person of the Year. “I always assess our dashboard before I meet with a client to see where their sales are up and where they are down. This information helps me determine areas of focus or possibly where I might be able to dig a little deeper with the client to help grow a particular category. I also run throughmy notes on the client to jog mymemory about the client’s top end users and areas of interest or concern, and follow up.” For Kaufmann, the key is to know his clients’ profile. “How do they do their job? What is their preferredmethod of communication? What do they need fromme to be successful? Where have we been successful together before? Where have we failed and why? Most importantly, who are we selling the product to and how are they using it?” A former writer, Kaufmann also creates a set of questions developed from research about the end user fromwebsites, social media and trade magazines that will lead to a sale, knowing he may not get through all the questions. Finally, he preps for the actual encounter. “Similar to an athlete, I visualize the upcomingmeeting,” he says. “What does the opening look like? After all this preparation, where do I see success? What does that look like?” Cook likes to review her client’s websites and run reports to see how the supplier is trending in comparison to other suppliers. Her colleague, AndyDouthitt, a SAGE supplier account executive recently awarded formost supplier sales growth, says hemay have three meetings in a daywhere each conversation is completely different because of where he is in his relationshipwith the client. “If I amcalling them for the first time, my goal is to just gather information and find out where I can add the most value based onwhat they sell and how they sell it. If I amcalling someone I haveworkedwith for years, my conversation is going to be different because I knowabout their family, their company, their best products, and I am just tweaking a few things tomake thembetter. Nomatter the customer or where I am in the relationship, I always have a very good idea of what they sell and what tactics they currently use to promote their products (website, trade shows, etc.). Proforma’s Haar is also careful to do her homework, including connecting through LinkedIn if it’s a first-timemeeting. “This gives me a chance to review their role and their history and to see if we have any shared contacts or interests in common,” she explains. “Connecting personally in some way always helps me feel more comfortable.” For subsequent meetings, she likes to touch base ahead of time with a brief agenda tomake sure themeeting will cover everything needed. That way, she has time to prepare if her clients have other topics to discuss. And she always takes relevant samples and/or printouts of virtual mockups to themeeting. Bosworth is also a believer in having an agenda for everymeeting that includes items the client wants to talk about, and never letting a customer leave the office empty-handed. To find the right takeaway, Bosworth pulls out what she calls her randombag of ideas— “sample products from25-30 categories of product ideas, with a letter that explains that we have 978,932more ideas if they want them,” she says, with a chuckle. 3 Andy Douthitt Supplier account executive SAGE Rachel Hare Field sales manager PCNA Trimark Apparel “Our company provides us with a great deal of data regarding our clients’ spending habits. I always assess our dashboard before I meet with a client to see where their sales are up and where they are down.” “No matter the customer or where I am in the relationship, I always have a very good idea of what they sell and what tactics they currently use to promote their products (website, trade shows, etc.).” FEATURE | Tips and Techniques of Top Sellers 44 | FEBRUARY 2018 |