Selling Tips from Barbados - February 2010

I just got back from the Caribbean from a two and half week trip to paradise. Absolutely beautiful in so many ways, especially the experiences created at the hands of caring and considerate people. Here are a few observations that may translate to your business.

Give them choice (but no more than two!) In Barbados we stayed on the West Coast at the Tamarind Hotel, right on the beach. We were greeted at the open air front desk. Whenever I travel, I like to ask to see the room before we check-in. This is often a European custom so many hoteliers outside of North America do not take offence to such a request. Mona escorted us up to the second level in this three level resort, and showed us a beach front suite over looking the restaurant and bar. No, this would not do. No problem! Downstairs we went and into a ground floor suite with an unobstructed view of the beach and a private garden deck. We stood there thinking about it until Mona stated, “These are the only two rooms available right now or else you have to go up another grade.” Well, that settled that. We took the beach front ground floor suite right then and there.

Be on a first name basis. Everyone in the service and retail industries wore name tags, from the hotel staff to the gas jockeys. The emotion it created for me was very surprising. I genuinely cared what their name was because they were so considerate towards me. Seeing their name also provided for me a strange sense of comfort, because knowing who they were, may have enabled me to relax.

Set the agenda right from the start. Every place we went for dinner, even on the sailing cruise, we were greeted with a warm welcome, an introduction of themselves and the words, “I hope you enjoy your experience here today.” That was their agenda: To ensure that we enjoyed ourselves. No, “and if you don’t, come and see me” afterwards, just “period”. Their statement suitably implied that we would have a good time no matter what. And guess what, we did.

Make them feel welcome – immediately! When we arrived at Bequia, an island that measures just 7 square miles south east of Barbados, we were greeted by the resort owner’s personal driver, Julius. Just like in the movie The Thomas Crown Affair with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo, we were quickly loaded into an open jeep with a red crash bar and whisked off into the hills in search of our hotel. When we arrived, Alex, a handsome young man, was awaiting us at the steps. He took us directly to our room. It was beautiful, completely decked out in brand new Casablanca style furnishings and top of the line finishings. He watched us as we sighed with relief and dropped our hand luggage. It was there, at the bamboo inspired desk, he had us check-in. No hassles at a reception desk, just a private, civilized ceremony to commemorate our arrival.

It’s not the customer’s fault. In each of the hotels that we stayed at, breakfast was included, which is pretty standard there. However, at the Bequia Beach Hotel we discovered almost at the end of our breakfast, that we were actually in the wrong restaurant. Without making a fuss, they ran up five flights of stairs, across the property, to fetch us our fruit plates from the restaurant that was serving breakfast to their guests. Did they say anything to us when we originally walked into the restaurant? No. They happily greeted us, served us our tea, coffee and toast and went out of their way to accommodate us even when we realized that we had made the mistake. Nice.

Create a destination. On Bequia, the Moskito Bar & Grill has “famous” swinging chairs at their open air bar. We had seen this advertised in the weekly event’s calendar but it didn’t really sink in. It wasn’t until we overheard a gentleman tell another couple of tourists about this bar and how cool the chairs were, that we started to consider visiting this place. Then we heard it mentioned again the next day by another tourist. So, we walked 200 yards down the beach from our hotel and swung away at the bar happily sipping our Mount Gay Rum. We had such a great time, we decided to dined there the next night, and of course, we sat in the swinging chairs for a pre-dinner cocktail.

Never estimate the net worth of your customers. Diamonds International have four retail stores strategically placed around the island; in hotels, shopping malls, and every where the tourists go. (It seems like they have more because of all of their clever marketing, but that’s another tip.) We walked into their rather large “west coast” store and Maria very nicely greeted us. Shortly afterwards she asked if we would like to “see” something. We were not decked out in our Yves St. Laurent summer gear, but rather wearing no name shorts and tees and obviously looking like tourists. But, Maria knows better, as she has facilitated many interesting shopping experiences. Nothing in the store is below $1000. It is the same high-end, name brand, jewelry and watches you see advertised in Vogue magazine. I see the diamond Piaget watch of my dreams in the cabinet. Maria, without hesitation, opens the drawer and lets me put it on my own wrist. (None of this, “let me hold it until you buy it” stuff.) It is beautiful. It is also $45,000. I try another. Thirty thousand dollars. Nice. We look around some more. I see another case. We try on another, and we come to the conclusion that the expenditure right now would not be the best. Maria’s demeanor has not changed in the least. Why? Because she was patiently waiting to see what was actually going to occur, not assume what she thought would occur. Plus she knows that we are going to tell our friends to pop in and take a look.

Just because your client speaks English differently than you, don’t assume they don’t understand. The official language of Barbados is English, but we loved hearing the local Bajan, which is an English-based Barbadian Creole language. Bajan uses English words with African syntax, and the locals have an accent which can be described as a combination of African and British. In addition to the accent being different, Barbadians also have many colorful expressions. For example, "Pompasettin'" means that someone is showing off, and "Wukkin' up" is a gyrating, energetic dance. One of Barbados' more well known proverbs is "Wuh sweeten goat mouth does bun e tail," which means what seems sweet and good at first can have negative or painful consequences. Needless to say, they understood our American and Canadian English perfectly.

Don’t take the recommendations from people who have much to lose lightly. While we were staying at the Bequia Beach Hotel, we mentioned to the owner’s daughter, Jannica that we were making a day trip to St. Vincent. She immediately, and gently, suggested that we consider having lunch at their “sister” hotel, the Grenadine. We arrived on the island around 10:30 am. After walking many many blocks along the waterfront we grabbed a cab to the recommended hotel. It was wonderful! High up on the hill, overlooking the turquoise Caribbean ocean, we dined exquisitely on crab and lobster. Plus, I swear they called the Bequia Hotel to ask how we liked our Mohitos – lots of rum! So, did our hosts have much to lose if they were wrong? Yes. It’s a small island that has many tourists overhearing other tourist’s conversations, and of course an even smaller world because of the internet.

To learn more about Barbados, log onto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbados
To learn more about Bequia, log onto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bequia
or blog me here.

Pauline O'Malley

The Most Important Skill in Sales

What’s the most important skill a sales professional should have? It’s a question I’m frequently asked. I always respond, “There are two: Overcoming objections and closing. You can't get the deal if you can't ask for the order.”

I love that today's economic meltdown is separating the ‘order takers’ from the ‘sales professionals.’ Professional sales people stand apart when the purse strings tighten. That’s when the real selling begins.

‘Real Selling’ means overcoming objections and closing the deal. Two parts. The first part can be a little tricky. Unless you have the best tools….

Take, for example, one very common objection: “That’s more money than we’ve budgeted.” Dr. Alan Weiss offers constructive advice, but he fails to provide an easy to use tool that enables clients-to-be to reconsider their statement.

Let's pull back. What are objections, any way?

They’re reasons to buy. Think about it: Every time anyone expresses they don’t want to play with you, the door opens for you to ask why. What a gift! Stalemates only come when people don’t say no. The key is to listen carefully. When your spouse says, "I don't want you to go golfing with the guys for a week during Spring Break." She may be saying to you, "I don't want you to leave me with the kids when you and I should go someplace sunny and rekindle our relationship.”

Too close to home?! Let's try a business example: "We don't have the money right now." Listen. Then break it down. "Right now." Did they have money in the past? Maybe. Do they think they many have money in the future? Maybe. But what we do know is that each and every one of us—even in business—has spent money we thought we didn't have on something we believed would provide value. And that’s a very useful fact in sales.

First, acknowledge what you’re hearing. Say “yes.” Or “absolutely.” Then hook them with a rephrase of their objection in your own words. When your client-to-be reveals that they don’t have the money right now, you say, "Absolutely. Things are in flux."

With just this short sentence you’ve proven to your client-to-be that you’re listening to them, you understand where they’re coming from, and that you can be trusted.

Then, state your mandate and what's in it for them. Try stringing a couple of benefits together, like this: “Our objective is to ensure you’re on a strong footing in 2010, and continue to prosper throughout the decade." Whatever the two benefits, we call this a ‘reassurance statement.’ The test of success is whether they’re slightly nodding their head—subconsciously saying “yes.”

Then follow up with your ‘resume’ statement—your reason for the call. "Let's take no more than 15 minutes to determine if there’s a fit between your company and ours." This is your ‘closing’ statement, which in our opinion is really a ‘bridging’ statement. All human must move up six Levels of Interest before becoming raving fans of your solution or you. You must continually ‘close’ your client-to-be, moving them from one Level to the next, eventually Level 5 Buy, and then to Level 6 Believe.

Rephrase. Reassure. Resume. The Three R's.

But in the immortal words of Ron Payne, one of our top strategists, don’t confuse simple with easy!

On average, you’ll need 30 minutes to develop an effective ‘rephrase’ for the top 10 objections you meet every day of your selling life. It takes 45 minutes to an hour to develop just three ‘reassurance’ statements that compel your client-to-be to consider your pitch when you ‘resume’ the point of the conversation. And it requires at least two hours of your devoted attention to develop nine closing statements that inspire clients to move up the six Levels of Interest, where they will buy, and buy again.

Want to learn more? Consider attending our upcoming workshop, ‘Overcome Objections & Close Nine Ways’ on Wednesday, February 3. We’ll delve deeply into The Three R's. We’ll develop rephrase, reassure and resume approaches that will work in your business. And we’ll have fun doing it!

Check out all of our 2010 workshops here.

Can't attend? Think about our personal One-to-One Coaching experience. Just you and one of our strategists creating tools that will win you bigger deals in less time.