Listen Twice, Speak Once

Here’s a story for you and it actually has a moral or a lesson or something in it.

I’m riding around one afternoon, doing the salesman thing, when my cellphone startles me out of my salesy stupor.

It’s Pete ( name changed to protect the innocent ), owner of a firm that buys products from me. We have 4 competitors in the immediate area, so we each get a piece of Pete’s business.

Pete says his son, Pete Jr. is tied up and won’t be able to join him at a charity golf outing today. Would I be able to step in ? Sure. I’m a pretty fair golfer and am always available to play with a valued ( read as BIG ) customer. When and where ? About 45 minutes from now he says and then tells me where. It’ll take me at least 30-40 minutes to get there.

I’ll be there with 5-10 minutes to spare, I tell him, so pick me up in the parking lot and take me to the registration table.

I drive like a fool and get there with 7 minutes to spare. Pete’s in the parking lot and picks up me and my sticks.
Okay, I say, get me over to the registration table so I can pay for this thing.

No deal, Pete says, it’s on Pete Jr’s company. Really ? Okay, well, let me get the mulligans and all the other junk shots. Nope. We already paid for all of it, you just carry us all day. You hit 14 drives over 275 and we’ll be good.

Well, I won’t bore you with the golfy details, but we played okay and finished 5th. Not too bad for a 65 year old man and a scared sales rep.

We sit down to wait for the door prizes and I find some tickets laying at our table, so I gather ‘em in. By the time the door prizes are over with, Pete and I have won 6 prizes. WE should have only had 2 tickets, but no one seems to mind. The fact that I’m 6’2″ and 245 helps, but mostly it’s out of respect for Pete, who is one of the charity’s ( it’s a private school ) most successful alum’s.

Well, Pete, it’s been a good day, we got a $50 gift certificate for 5th Place, 6 door prizes and we played free golf on a Monday. Only thing that’ll make it better is a steak. Let me buy you one.

It’s a little early for dinner, he says ( what ? It’s 8PM ), but if we take it slow, it’ll be okay.

Allright, where would you like to go ? Let’s go to Outback, he says.

We get there about 8:30 PM and we get seated. I had called my wife along the way to tell her where I was and about when I’d be home.

She couldn’t believe Pete was going to dinner with me. He normally wouldn’t even let me in his office. Made me wait and came out to the waiting area to talk with me when I came by his office. Even when I had an appointment !

We got some tea and placed our steak orders. I made sure to get a different steak than he did, even though he got what I usually ordered. Didn’t want him to think I was brown-nosing.

We started talking about the history of our industry in our area. Pete told me stories that happened way before I came around. He went back about 45-50 years and I learned more about the players in our area in a few hours than I had learned in 3 years.

I asked Pete how he came to use one specific product ( let’s call it Brand A ), over another ( let’s call it Brand B )that his company would not use under any circumstances.

Here’s what he told me and here’s what all this has been leading up to. It’s a great sales lesson that has served me well since I learned it.

Pete told me that 30 years ago his company used Brand B…EXCLUSIVELY. Had used it for 15-20 years at that time.

A couple of reps for Brand A had stopped by and asked him to use their stuff on a project that was going to be built almost across the street from their manufacturing facility. Pleaded their case just for the sake of saving face. Didn’t want all their employee’s…and bosses… to drive by it every day and remember that their competitor was used there.

You don’t have to use us ever again, just be merciful to us on this one project, they pleaded.

Even a soul as mean as Pete, and he was mean to the bone, couldn’t be that heartless, so he said yes.

About 3 months later, as the project began, the Rep for Brand B came by and demanded to see Pete.

I saw that project start up today and you guys are using Brand A. What did they do ? Did they cut my price ? Well, I’ll put a stop to that nonsense, I’ll cut your price by .50 per bag. How’s that ? Can we get your guys to stop and use my stuff ?

He had said all this without giving Pete a chance to tell him about the reason he was using Brand A. Pete had heard him say everything, but all he really heard was…I’ll cut your price .50 per bag.

You mean to tell me you’re going to cut my price .50 per bag ? Pete asked.

Heck, said the Rep for Brand B, I’ll cut it $1.00 ! How’s that ?

Well, said Pete, why haven’t you been giving me that price for your product all along ? Looks to me like I’ve been over-paying $1.00 per bag for a long time !

The Rep was goggle-eyed and speechless all at the same time. He realized that he had just ruined his relationship with Pete.

Pete’s company switched to Brand A immediately and had still not bought another bag of Brand B 30 years later.

Brand A did absolutely nothing to get this business and it was a large, large amount of business. They took good care of Pete for the next 30 some odd years, until he retired.

The Rep for Brand B soon left the industry and was last seen in the same suit, 30 years later, selling booze from a briefcase.

Here’s what you can take from this.

You have 2 ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen to your customers twice as much as you talk to them.

If a customer suddenly switches from your product to one he normally never uses….ASK him why and then listen to the answer. Then, and only then, go back and talk it over with someone else, but don’t cut prices on a whim. ” We’re cheaper ” is a poor marketing strategy.

Sometimes it’s better to let your customer use one of your competitors on occassion. Let them see how bad your competition is. They are worse than you, aren’t they ?

Several times in my sales career, I’ve steered one of my customers towards a competitor, especially if it was in an area that I knew they would be weak in.

Find your competition’s weak points and promote the heck out of them !

Sometime’s you can do more for your company by letting an order go the other way.

Do you have any stories that will enhance this one ?

Can you offer any tips along these lines ?

Thanks for readin’ and let me hear from you.

BTW – Pete paid for dinner and they ran us out of Outback at midnight. Needless to say, my interest in industry history, good golf and ability to listen got me a lot larger share of Pete’s business for years to come.

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