I received an email from a customer yesterday that is symbolic of everything I’ve been yapping about here on The Sales Lion. Please give it a look, otherwise this stuff isn’t going to make any sense:
Mr. Sheridan,
Congratulations on your new location and the business as a whole. I am looking to install a fiberglass pool in my Hagerstown, MD home. In researching pool manufacturing, the choice of Leisure Pools(our pool supplier) quickly become clear. Although I may be able to find someone logistically closer to my area than River Pools & Spas, I already have a tremendous amount of comfort with - and respect for, your company. In fact, a great deal of what I’ve learned about modern pool design has come directly from your blog entries. Hopefully, you’d be willing to take on a project in Hagerstown, which is approximately 30 minutes beyond what I see you’ve already done in Harper’s Ferry, WV.
I’d appreciate the chance to speak with you regarding an installation, and would welcome a site walk-down at your convenience. I realize this must be a tremendously busy time of the year in your profession, and thank you in advance for your consideration…….
Thank you again, and I look forward to meeting you,
Daryl
Shortly after receiving this email, I called the gentleman on the phone and was very pleased to find that he had been reading our blog for about 8 months now. In fact, he had watched every video and read every article we’ve ever written (over 200 pieces total)–no exaggeration.
Yep, this dude was seriously informed and knew exactly what he wanted.
Virtual Selling
What happened next though is what this article, and virtual selling (as I like to call it), is all about.
After discussing things for a few minutes, Daryl asked me if I’d be willing to come out to his home and install a pool even though it was about 20 miles beyond our ‘normal’ installation area. I told him I would, but first we’d have to reach a price agreement on the phone. Assuming we reached an agreement on the phone, then I could come out that very night.
Well, as you’ve probably already guessed, after some find out questions I was able to give Daryl the price of his swimming pool. He said ‘Yes’, and I got in the car.
A few hours later, upon arriving at Daryl’s house, he greeted me as if I was an old buddy he hadn’t seen for quite some time and welcomed me to sit down in his kitchen where he had 2 Papa John’s pizzas just waiting for our dining enjoyment.
Over the next hour, Daryl and I ate pizza, talked pools, signed a contract, and shared quite a few laughs.
Not bad for never having met the guy in my life, wouldn’t you say?
But in reality, Daryl had quite a different relationship with me than I had with him. He’d watched all my videos. He’d read thousands of my very own words. And by so doing, I had earned Daryl’s respect, trust, and ultimately, his business.
This is quintessential Web 2.0 and this is what virtual selling is all about.
Positive Change
Just a few years ago, such a sale like Daryl’s would have been impossible for me to achieve. I never reached pricing agreements on the phone regarding a $50,000 pool. And I certainly never was greeted with Papa John’s pizza. Because my website stunk, I did a terrible job at building value and relationships with potential clients who searched our site.
In fact, in those days, the value wouldn’t come until I’d had the chance to sit down with the homeowner and spend hours with them teaching, informing, and educating.
But today, with such a prolific website, I’m in reality spending more time with prospects than ever before…..without physically being there.
I hope you understand what I’m saying here. Great websites with great content act as virtual sales professionals. When done the right way, they allow sales guys, when actually present with a client, to do more selling and less teaching. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
So think about this question, and answer it with brutal honesty:
Can my website consistently sell clients without them ever actually talking to myself or my staff?
If your answer is a definitive and resounding ‘Yes’, then you are on the path to virtual sales stardom.
If you answered ‘No’, then we’ve got some work to do.
Blow ‘em Away
Regardless, I hope you understand the moral of this story. Do not settle for anything less than a tremendous website. Blow consumers away with your content. Teach and inform with awesome video. Promote a feeling of trust, expertise, and excellence. By so doing, your path to success will skyrocket and everything you currently know about the world of sales and marketing will change with it.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Every time you used the term ‘virtual selling’ I thought of that scene from “The Lawnmower Man” where the dude was trying to unlock the code and the computer kept repeating “access denied, access denied….”.
When a customer is on our site and can’t find the information they seek, we are essentially flashing a big fat “access denied” message to them. In which case they will move on until they find the information they desire. In Daryl’s case, he was granted access to what he wanted and he granted us access to his business. Wonderful article my friend!
Love the analogy Jason…..ACCESS DENIED!!……no doubt, we must prevent such from happening if we want our sites to reach elite levels.
Marcus, thanks for another great article. I like my web site. It’s not great, just good. It went up in 1998. I check and change it constantly to maintain position. Your web site and my competitors are no where to be found, but your blog is creeping up on me. I’ve published 12 articles in trade journels. That gave me momentary “sales stardom”. Your blog keeps you in the consumers eye forever. As you pointed out, Daryl bought a pool from you because of your blog. This blog is the greatest sales tool I’ve ever seen.
You’ve got a lot going for you with a site from 1998 Bob, Google loves that. Everyone has different strategies in terms of their goals. I’m assuming that when you say your site is ranked higher, I guess you’re referring to your target of ‘fiberglass pool tiling’. Our approach is all based on long tail phrases, 3 words or longer…….You bring up a great point regarding the difference between ‘paper’ print versus ‘digital’ print. Digital truly is the gift that keeps on giving–the snowball that keeps on growing. ….BTW Bob, when are you going to shoot one or two of those articles my way so I can publish them as a guest post on our pool blog??
Your correct Marcus. I should have stated the search term: “fiberglass pool tiling” Thank you.
The power of web 2.0 at its finest.
With the new tools we have access to we have the chance to talk to millions of people at once and they listen!
The way you have run your business with your blog Marcus is a true testament to the potential of the web. This customer who you had never spoken a word to specifically, but you had said many hundreds of things to him.
Great job Marcus.
Keep up the good work and keep us updated on more of these success stories!
//Daniel
.-= Daniel M. Wood´s last blog ..How To Activate Your Subconscious Mind And Unlock Its Potential =-.
Daniel, great to hear from you my friend….You are very accurate when you say I’d spoken to the customer hundreds of times–before we’d actually spoken. Such is the power of Web 2.0 when done the right way. And the beauty is Web 2.0 is available to everyone in the world, at almost NO COST, with effort, desire, and discipline being the key—qualities that you demonstrate daily as I can read on your excellent sales blog Daniel. Thanks again for your kindness.
Hello Marcus,
Thanks for the word of praise back.
For any company it is mad not to spend the 1 hour/day (tops!) it takes to run a successful blog. It costs no more than the time you put in and the results can be amazing.
If that customer had been the only one that every reacted to your blog, you would have still made a profit! That is how effective this is and I really understand why you are doing everything you can to get people interested in and to start blogging.
You are doing a great job.
.-= Daniel M. Wood´s last blog ..How To Activate Your Subconscious Mind And Unlock Its Potential =-.