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WHEN WE FIRST start selling, we are happy just to get an order. Then we are pleased to have a good day, subsequently a good week, then a good month. Then we have a good month every other month. Eventually we put together a good year. After our first good year, we want to have another great year, and finally a great career.
Account Selection
Most sellers have only a vague idea how much their customers buy. The Master Seller knows exactly how much each customer buys and gives them the appropriate amount of time based on that volume. Let’s categorize our accounts by size:
C Accounts – 0-5 possible orders per month.
B Accounts – 5-10 possible orders per month.
A Accounts – 10 to infinity possible orders per month.
One of the biggest mistakes made in account/time management is to spend too much time with smaller accounts that buy from us and treat us like a partner, and not enough time with bigger accounts that are keeping us at arm’s length. Bigger accounts are more competitive, so it may take longer to break into them, but they also demand more attention because they are buying volume more often.
Of course, we give all our accounts A-level service, but we must give them the appropriate time based on their size.
Offer Volume
One of the best ways to sell more volume is to offer more volume. It may seem obvious, but I hear a ton of what I call “one and done” calls—sellers calling with one truckload of one item. I sold a well-known large volume account in Kentucky for 15 years. For the first five years I offered them onesey-twoseys and that’s what I sold them. For the second five years I offered twosey-fiveseys and that’s what I sold them. For the last five years I offered them blocks of 20 at a time multiple times a week. I didn’t sell them a block of 20 every time, but once or twice a month they would buy a block of 20. I continued to get the onesey-twosey and twosey-fivesey orders, but booking the big blocks changed my income dramatically.
The point is the account didn’t change; I started offering them more volume and sold them more because of this. In addition, I did the same with the rest of my account base and prospered for it.
Multiples of Multiples
We offer multiples of multiple items on every call, not one of one. We don’t list them all off and ask, “What do you think?” We offer three trucks of 2x4 then ask for the order. Then we offer three trucks of 2x6 and ask for the order. We then offer three trucks of 7/16” OSB and ask for the order. This brings more value to the customer and gives us more opportunities to sell. It also sets us apart from all the sellers who are too lazy to do so.
Post-Order Habit to Sell Volume
The best time to sell someone is right after we have sold them. Just like combinations in boxing, the best time to hit someone is right after we hit them. Our post-order steps are the following—every time:
Thank the customer: “Susan, thank you so much for the order, I really appreciate your business.”
Go over the details: “Let’s go over the details just for fun. We’ve got three trucks of 2x6 #2 SYP, with tallies of 1-2-3-4-5, paper wrapped, shipping the week of 10-15 delivered at $650/MBF. Is that what you have?”
Thank them again: “Again, Susan, I really appreciate the business.”
Congratulate them: “Susan, this is a great deal. Of course, you are a great buyer, so it’s not a surprise.”
Ask for additional orders: “Susan, we both know this is a great deal. I don’t know if I can get more at this price, but if I could for the week of 11-5, do you want to put on three more?”
Post-Missed Order Habit
When we miss orders, we quiz customers about what they bought and ask if we can sell them more of the same.
Offer volume. Ask for additional orders. It takes just as much time and effort to sell 10 as it does to sell one. Start offering volume today and you will sell more—guaranteed.
– James Olsen is principal of Reality Sales Training, Portland, Or., and creator of SellingLumber.com. Call him at (503) 544-3572 or email james@realitysalestraining.com.
