| July 29th, 2009 Campaign Teaches Us a Good Lesson During the last round of elections, you probably recall me ranting about the commonalities between selling and political campaigns. Sales professionals and businesses can learn a lot by paying close attention to the strategies and tactics deployed by politicians and those managing their campaigns. If you live in Manchester, there is a good chance you either received or heard about a survey that was mailed to thousands of Manchester residents by Ted Gatsas, who announced his candidacy for Mayor of New Hampshire’s largest city in early June. The twenty four question survey solicited feedback from Manchester residents on taxes, education, public safety, parks and recreation, economic development and transportation. The survey was noted to be “the first ever city-wide survey”. I find that fact alone very compelling. First ever? Good for Ted but a missed opportunity for many. So where is the sales and business connection? It’s actually sitting on a computer somewhere in the Ted Gatsas campaign headquarters. And the value is in the information that will be uncovered once the results of the survey are compiled and the campaign gets a first hand look at what is most important to the residents of Manchester. The same can be true for every business and sales team if they take the time to effectively gather information and feedback from their customers related to their needs, concerns and intentions. No matter what business you are in and no matter what you sell, there are many advantages and benefits to gathering feedback and using the information to increase the effectiveness of your selling efforts. Here are a few points for businesses to ponder about the value of spending the time and resources to understand the needs of their prospects and customers. The Guessing Game is Over All too often, we as sales people make assumptions. We make assumptions on what we think our customer’s needs are. There are many needs that are obvious, but you will likely be blown away with what you uncover when you proactively solicit feedback. There will be new information and points you likely would have never considered once you dig into the details. Most campaigns are run based on what the team thinks the voters want and the same is often true in the business world. Ted’s campaign has a clear advantage. They now know what is most important to Manchester voters. You Are Listening The one thing the Ted Gatsas campaign said loud and clear when they sent out their survey is that they wanted to hear from the residents of Manchester. That is critical when it comes to the perception voters will have of Ted as a candidate. Voters, like customers, need a voice and most importantly, they need to know their feedback is going to make an impact. Sales Efforts Are More Focused There are differences in the needs and concerns each of your customers have. What’s more important than the differences are the commonalities and trends you uncover. For example, if you learn through gathering feedback from your customers that they decided to do business with your organization mainly because of your company’s reputation for excellent service and support, what do you think should be a main selling point to focus on with new customers? Pretty obvious, right? Competitive Advantage Many companies and sales people claim to “know their customers”. But what does knowing your customers really mean? I suppose that can be debated from many different angles. Regardless, when a company spends the time and resources to effectively gather information and feedback from their customers, they clearly have a competitive advantage. As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. Once you understand what is most important to your customers, your messaging and presentation is tailored specifically to their needs. That alone is often the difference between effective and non-effective selling efforts. There is simply nothing more valuable than gathering feedback and understanding what is most important to your customers. Add that lesson to the book, courtesy of Ted Gatsas and his campaign team. Chris Thompson founded Catch 22 Solutions in Manchester (www.catch22solutions.com) and hosts the Business Advantage Show every Tuesday at 11:00am on WKXL 1450AM (www.wkxl1450.com) Published Sunday, July 19th, 2009 - NH Sunday News Back To News |
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Paid for by Ted Gatsas for Mayor. B. Rivard, Fiscal Agent PO Box 6655, Manchester, NH 03108 603.623.0220
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