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a million a month. That's our perspective. We think we get a broader grasp of the industry by dealing with a large variety of small accounts. Why, we even print a special catalog just for small businesses, showing products and services they specifically need. They even have their own 800 number for telephone support. |
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Example. Just last week, a VP of operations at Universal, Inc., one of our accounts, told me that because we had learned so much about their business just by selling to them they decided not to hire a permanent purchasing agent. Instead, they've contracted with us to place their orders for related products supplied by other vendors. It's a real partnership. We'd like to do that with all our customers. |
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Restatement. So, yes, we do care about our small customers. |
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Framing your answers in this structure, you'll find that others understand your main point, and more important, remember it. |
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Tip 514: Use the genesis technique. |
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If you're asked a question and no immediate answer comes to mind, you can always use the genesis technique: start back at the beginning of time and talk until your mind focuses on a specific answer. Question: "How did you arrive at the exact commission rates for the sales reps?" Answer: "When we began to set compensation policy for all our employees, we tried to look at the entire packagesalary, bonuses, incentive awards, fringe benefits like company-car use. We tried to investigate which were most valuable to employees. When we surveyed sales reps, we . . ." |
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Eventually, the answer will hit you and you can continue on target. Such a long-winded, roundabout answer may annoy people, but that may be preferable to drawing a blank on issues you're supposed to know as well as your own name. |
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Tip 515: Answer one question at a time; Avoid multiples. |
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When someone asks you multiple questions in one large chunk, you have several choices: (1) Answer all of them. (2) Pick one or two to answer. (3) Lump them all together and give a general answer. Examples: "You've asked three good questions. For the sake of time, let me deal with only the last one. . . ." "WhoaI don't know if I can remember all those. Let me pick out a couple to respond to. . . ." ''Your questions really all point to one concern, I think: Do we know how to Y?. I can answer in a wordyes." |
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