Selling or taking orders?

Welcome to the self storage blog, where we keep a diary of our experience in the self storage world.

I think there is another way to differentiate one operation from another. It is nothing new. It has been talked about for a very long time. It is the difference between making sales and taking orders. Anyone can take an order from a prospect who already wants to buy. But making a sale to someone who is not yet convinced to buy is another subject. When you look at your storage facilities and hear how your staff people deal with prospects, can you tell which side of the fence you are on?

I had a great visit with a prospective PhoneSmart customer today and found that this company is focused on creating a selling culture and seeks to make sales and not just take orders. I think they will like dealing with us, because we look at our company in the same way. It will also mean that this company will make the most of our work and end up with some great conversion ratios. This makes for a win-win situation we will all enjoy.

If you have competitors who are just taking orders, you are in a great position, beause you have a little time to shift over to a selling culture or to fully develop your already budding sales culture. If you are competing with the company I met with today, you are several laps behind and need to get moving. You still have time to sell to the customers you will deal with after you have become a sales organization, but in the mean time, you will be losing many of your propsects.

There is a simple test to tell which side of the fence you are on. The next time someone buys from you , ask yourself, “Did I get this sale beause the person wanted it, or did I do anything to make it happen?”

If you can’t find anything you did to make it happen, you have taken an order. We all love the “gimme” orders and we need them. But don’t think you had anything to do with it besides just being there.

If you did something to make it happen, even if it was seemingly a small thing, you have made a sale. Whatever you did to make it happen…do it some more!

Bye for now,
Tron

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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