Although Alan Sipe rode off into the sunset with his final Go Sell Something article this year, we're lucky enough to have his preserved wisdom with snippets from his articles in our Sales Tips. We thought it'd be fitting to look back at the most viewed Sales Tips from 2024 and share some of the most interesting excerpts from the full tips.
5. How to get new products in front of your customers
So, let’s develop a plan to profitably move more inventory to your current customers and maybe get some new customers too. First, check out your competitors’ websites to learn what they are promoting. This will help you understand if any of your newly purchased products are really “new.” Now, answer these questions about those “new” products. Who are the target users of these products? Everybody? Body shops? Front-end technicians?
While staying afloat beats the alternative in this career, the simple fact is that your sales have to grow to move you from staying afloat to building a solid foundation. Get more of Alan Sipe's strategy here.
4. The grocery bag tactic
Way back in my Klein Tools (1979) days as a district manager (salesman), we were introducing a line of really top-notch metal hand toolboxes. For the first week or so, I had almost no luck selling them to my distributors. After a lot of “No thank yous,” I realized that I was walking in the door of my customers carrying a bright red metal toolbox instead of my normal sample case. In reality, what I was doing was making my distributors surmise that I was going to try to sell them toolboxes and giving them lots of time to come up with a reason why they didn’t want to stock toolboxes.
We're all human, and humans can be fickle, silly creatures. Sometimes, all it takes to make a sale is a tactic as simple as its namesake. Catch the rest of Alan's explanation here.
3. Ask the right questions
There are a good number of mobile jobbers who came from a corporate or another non-technical industry position, wanted to get into their own business, looked into the available franchises, and chose the automobile aftermarket as an opportunity for them to succeed. And with the 2024 Aftermarket Profile saying 84 percent of the shops and technicians buy from a mobile, this industry is a good bet for success.
Surprisingly, you can use this lack of knowledge to your advantage. Actually, now that I think of it, any jobber experienced or not may find some of these ideas helpful.
As easy as it is to doubt yourself, especially as a newcomer to the industry, it's important to stay focused on what you can do next rather than dwell on the past. Even experienced distributors can benefit from this refresher on the power of simple questions and honesty on your sales.
2. Manage your pre-sale expectations
[As a brand-new mobile jobber] made their sales calls on that first field day, the district manager would help the new mobile jobber prepare for each call with samples, literature, an opinion of each facility, and sometimes a comment or two about the individuals in that shop.
The opinions ranged from, “This is a great shop with lots of good customers,” or unfortunately, “This shop has a negative vibe going on, and we’ve never done well here.” And some pre-call opinions were really negative like, “This shop has nothing but deadbeats and payment skippers, so let’s be careful who we sell to here.”
It might seem helpful to categorize everyone you see on your stops, but it's all too easy to let those determinations stop your sales and impact your future bottom line. As Sipe points out here, this applies to both sides of the customer spectrum, meaning it can endanger your relationship with your best customers, too.
1. Expand your customer base
In every large dealership you call on, there are your steady customers, your occasional customers, and those technicians you just can’t seem to crack. Set yourself a daily goal of investing ten minutes of one-on-one time with “that guy” who just won’t buy from you. You know who they are so create a list with all of their names and develop a conversion plan for each.
Start out slowly with just some friendly conversation. Next week, maybe give them a hat or some other promotional item you’re giving away. Keep at it. When your company comes out with something that is “new and exclusive” show it to them. Your persistence will eventually pay off.
Growing your customer base is a totally unique battle for every individual distributor, and it's rarely easy. More leads will end up being dead ends than ones that end in a sale. It's a slow, daily process, and as Alan Sipe explains in this year's most popular tip, takes genuine persistence to start seeing the rewards.
