Go The Extra Mile
Jeb Blount teaches you how to increase your sales by standing out from your competitors.
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Go The Extra Mile
This week we received an email question from a Sales Professional who asked about an area of sales that I am extremely passionate about.
Joseph sent us this email:
I personally find it important to serve my prospective clients beyond the call of duty – and not just sell them my product. How do you feel today’s buyer responds to that? Does it fend them off, reel them in, or have no impact on their decision making?
At my company SalesGravy.com our mission statement says that, “We will always go the extra mile.” It is ingrained in our DNA and culture to give every prospect and client more than we have to and more than they have paid for. I not only believe this is the right thing to do but it also demonstrates with action our commitment to excellence. This leads to loyalty and long-term relationships; and, most importantly, generates referrals and word of mouth marketing that grows our pipeline and our business almost effortlessly.
Going the Extra Mile Makes You Stand Out from Competitors
Joseph, going the extra mile, or in your words, “beyond the call of duty” will set you apart from 80 to 90 percent of your competitors. It will lift you up in your prospect’s eyes, build trust, and give you the winning edge. Going the extra mile and demonstrating your commitment to excellence has a huge impact on decision making both consciously and subconsciously with buyers. You see, most sales are lost because the buyer is afraid that they may make a poor decision. But when you consistently demonstrate excellence you counteract their fear and create feelings of well-being about you and the decision to buy your products or services.
This is a critical point to remember in tough economic times. Buyers, who often have their own jobs on the line, are going to do everything possible to minimize risk. In almost every case, the status quo is a lower risk than buying something from you. So your imperative is to reduce the fear your buyer feels by demonstrating with your actions (what they see you do) that buying from you will solve their problem and be a low risk decision. Another way to think about this is people (that means all of us) buy with emotion, but back those buying decisions up with logic. The beauty of going the extra mile is you check the emotional and the logical boxes at the same time.
Going the extra mile is powerful in a world where mediocrity is the norm. Just think about your recent buying or service experiences. It is highly probable that these experiences were at best average and at worst made you angry and resentful towards the salesperson you dealt with and their company.
What is Going the Extra Mile?
In a world where mediocrity is the rule it doesn’t take much to stand out. In fact, going the extra mile often means just doing a little bit more than your competitors. Things like showing up early for meetings, returning phone calls, keeping your samples and sales materials in pristine condition, checking spelling and grammar on your emails and written documents, being prepared for every meeting, and being polite and considerate, all seem very small, but in today’s world the majority of your competition fails in these obvious areas.
Going the extra mile means always doing what you say you are going to do. It means really listening to your prospect and looking for ways to solve their problems – regardless of the impact on your commission check. It means taking personal responsibility to ensure that your support team follows through on their obligations. It means telling the truth when you’ve made a mistake or cannot come through on a promise. It means constantly looking for ways to add value and do more.
Avoid the Attitude of Average
Why do so few people go the extra mile? Most people just want to get by in life. They only do what they have to do to survive another day. They take the easy way out of everything. This attitude of average shows up in their pay check; and in a recessionary economy these are going to be the first people put out on the street.
One of my favorite sayings is, “There are no traffic jams on the extra mile.” This is true and great news because, as I said earlier, going the extra mile will help you stand out with your prospects and customers (By the way, your boss will notice too). It is important to understand that going the extra mile is an attitude, driven by your internal belief system. It is a commitment to excellence in everything you do – even when no one is looking. It is realizing that most contests are won by small margins, and that the winner is almost always the competitor who maintained the self-discipline to give more in the face of adversity and exhaustion. Going the extra mile is something that happens on the inside first and then manifests itself in your external actions. It is the stone cold belief that by always giving and doing more than you have to, over time, you will grow your business, earn the respect of your prospects, build your bank account, and become the champion you are destined to be.
This is Jeb Blount, the Sales Guy.
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