Alan Sipe, Knipex-Werk
In northern Germany you cannot hit a decent 3-iron in any direction and not bounce off a high-quality tool producing facility! Get off the train in Wuppertal and you can easily see four manufacturers on your way to the Knipex facility. Drive out to eastern Germany, into the Rennsteig region, and you'll see homes with murals depicting their centuries old tool-making heritage painted onto their sides. In short, these folks are really into hand tools and have been for centuries.
The tried and true formula for selling (Feature, Advantage, Benefit and Close) hasn't changed much over the years, but if I have learned anything while working with Witte and Knipex, both growing leaders in their field, it is their passion for customer planning and planning sales presentations.
I have just returned from the Cologne Hardware Show (which is like no other hardware show you will ever attend) and was very impressed with what I saw. They do it up big in Cologne.
The two booths I worked were packed from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. every day. Most of the meetings were scheduled weeks in advance and precisely planned in writing. Who would be there? What do they buy now? Any current issues? Most importantly, what can we sell them? For the manufacturers, the CEO and many other top executives are there all day every day.
The buyers are just as organized, making all the meetings productive and informative. Cologne is an order writing show and in many cases annual contracts are negotiated and signed right there. So how does this translate back to the states?
If you are an owner or senior manager, do you have a binder on your desk with an up-to-date synopsis of your top 25 or 30 customers? If one of them called right now, would you know everything you needed to communicate with them? Is there an up to date plan showing what your sales department is trying to accomplish with these top accounts?
Do you have this information available…right now? Oh sure, you know all your customers, don't you. "I've been selling old Harry for 15 years and I know all I need to know." Then why is Harry's business with you not growing? Why are your margins with Harry down? What new products has Harry bought this year?