I’m happy with my current supplier

Grant Leboff: Tony, I think one of the challenges that people have in any sector of the market is when they’re told, “Well, I’m happy with what I’ve already got.” Sometimes they say, don’t they, the best enemy of the sales person isn’t the competitors, its the status quo. It’s just ‘well, I don’t need to do anything else’. So how do you get round that? How do you initiate a conversation with someone when they’re sort of opening stance is, “Well, we’re okay. Thanks. We’re happy with what with what we’ve got.”

Tony Morris: I think most sales people give up to early, and they accept that and think, “Oh, there’s nothing I can do there.” To me this is of three angles. I call this the technique, the three bites of the cherry. My first root there is to elicit pain. What I want to find out is of the who they’re using, but most importantly, what impact that supplier has made for them. Really the questions I’m asking are problem questions, to try to elicit pain.

To give you an example, I might say, “In your opinion, what areas could they improve.” The next question, they call it scale question. If you had to rate your supplier, 1 to 10, 10 being exception but 1 being awful, in terms of service, where do you rate them? It’s very rare you’re going to get a 10. If you get an 8, you say, “Okay, that’s pretty good. What would make them a 10?” It just gets them thinking about, hopefully, some pain or problems they’ve got with their supplier.

If you’re unlucky and get all 10s, and positive feedback, then my second bite of the cherry, is what I would call the benchmark. “How long have you been working with company X?” They say, “2 years.” Okay, “Who have you bench marked them against?” The reason I’m asking that is I want to embed a seed of doubts that maybe they’ve become complacent, and then there might be better things, or better people out there in the market.

So by asking, “Who have you bench marked them against,” will hopefully plant that seed that they will look elsewhere. If they’re quite astute and they have bench marked, the my final go is, I call it the backup. You’ve probably heard the saying, “I’d rather have 10% of something, than 100% of nothing.” What I’d say to them is, “If you’re supplier ever let you down, or were at full capacity, who would you then go to in the market?” Hopefully for you, they don’t have a backup, and I would say, “Based on that, I would like to be your backup. Let’s meet to make sure that we’re the right fit for you. If that arises, we can support and work with you.”

Grant Leboff: That’s interesting. They’re great questions. To what extent, do you think, you have to have a really good understanding of the competition, or what else is out there, then? Does it not matter because you’re asking those questions, and you can think on your feet, or do you think competitor analysis and understanding, the state of the market, so you can know where the opportunities are, are a good thing? Where do you stand on that?

Tony Morris: I think you must know your competition from a credibility perspective. I think you’re right. If the more you know, it helps. They say knowledge is power. A prime example, about 3 months ago in that company was a recommendation. They say, “Look, I met you Tony because you came highly recommended. However, we’re happy with our supplier.” They very kindly open up who it was, but I knew the supplier didn’t have a very good post training support mechanism. So, I questioned that. I said, “I’ve heard amazing things about X training company. What did they do once they actually finished the training, apart from give your guys notes?”

I ask that question, that leading question, because I knew it was quite minimal. They said, “They check in now and again on a phone call, but that’s about it.” I said, “Well, how do you feel about that?” They said, “What else is there?” Then I could then lead on to exactly what we do post training, which they were very impressed with. I think I couldn’t have done that without the prior knowledge. I think it’s crucial, actually.

Grant Leboff: How’s it work the other way? In other words, if you’re asking these questions, maybe other people are asking questions of your customers.

Tony Morris: Of course.

Grant Leboff: How do you go about trying to protect, in terms of retention of your own customers? Are there any particular scenarios, or tactics you’re using for that?

Tony Morris: It’s very difficult. I think, to me, I want to become a partner, rather than a supplier. The way I do that, I try and build up the best relationship I can. As I mentioned earlier, some of my clients weren’t quite analytical, they might want to not share things about themselves, personally. My relationship, my rapport is purely on a business level, and is very formal, and very professional. I make sure, if I haven’t worked with them for a few months, I just stay in their mind.

I might send them articles of interest. I might send them a copy of my new book, or a link to another book that I’ve read that I think will value them and their team. Just I make sure I stay in the forefront in their mind, and I’m always viewed upon as a value add, and a partner, as opposed to a supplier, really.

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