BWGTouchPoint

My wife’s grandmother owned a parrot name “Tony”, and whenever anyone came into her house that parrot would fly over, perch on their shoulder and say “Got a kiss for me…got a kiss for me Tony?” saying it again and again.  Besides being a little freaked out because you had a parrot on your shoulder, the continuous “Got a kiss for me…got a kiss for me Tony” would start to get to be a little monotonous until you finally just tuned him out.  

The extended service plan (ESP) has three main benefits:  peace of mind, convenience and savings. But how often in your presentation can you make the statement that “this will give you peace of mind”, “this is convenient” or “this will save you money” without starting to sound a little like Tony the parrot and risk the customer tuning you out?  Finding different ways to emphasize the benefits of the ESP will keep your presentation compelling and help you be more successful when presenting the ESP to your customers.

Here are few different ways to emphasize the three main ESP benefits:

Peace of Mind

• Protects your investment
• Puts your mind at ease
• Saves you needless worry
• Your defense against…
• Protects you from…
• Shelters you from…
• You can depend on the ESP

Convenience

• It’s there when you need it
• Ready to go anywhere you are
• Simplifies
• Fast and easy
• At your convenience
• You won’t have to shop around
• Takes the work out of searching for a repair center

Savings

• Pays for itself
• A terrific value
• Cost-efficient
• Your money’s worth
• You save because…
• Helps you avoid costly repairs
• Eliminates costly repairs

Remember, “features tell, but benefits sell”, emphasizing the benefits of the ESP is what will ultimately induce the customer to buy, so don’t be like Tony the parrot, find different ways to emphasize the benefits of the ESP to keep your presentation compelling to the customer.  Oh yea, and don’t ever ask the customer, “Got a kiss for me…got a kiss for me Tony?”

As I travel around the country doing sales training for our dealers, the number one question I get is “How do you overcome objections?” 

Objections are common in sales, and there are a number of ways to overcome common customer objections to purchasing ESP’s. But what I try to emphasize in my trainings is that the best way to overcome objections is to try not to get them in the first place by making sure the structure of your ESP sales presentation is strong. 

When I was a young boy, I loved to build forts in my backyard.  My friends and I would borrow tools from our dads and since we lived in a fairly new suburban development we would “borrow” building materials from the local housing construction sites (I am pretty sure the statue of limitations on that “borrowing” has expired by now).   I remember our first fort had this cool trap door in the top for access, and it was our favorite place to hang out. Well, that was until a storm came along one night and toppled it over…and over…and over.  Our problem had been that we forgotten to build a strong foundation that would anchor it to the ground.  With our second fort, we knew how important it was build a strong foundation so we made sure to take care of that.  This time instead of plywood, we built the walls out of fiberboard, which was in abundant supply at the time.  Again a storm came along one night and what walls were not scattered to the wind; the fiberboard had literally disintegrated to mush in the onslaught of rain.  Seriously, it looked like someone had poured porridge over the whole thing.  It was not until our third fort that we learned our lesson, like the three little pigs: it is how you build your home and what you build your home out of that keeps it from falling apart when the big bad wolf comes huffing and puffing on your doorstep. 

You can learn a lot about selling extended service plans (ESP’s) from the story of the three little pigs. Let me point out that by no means do I mean to compare our customers to the big bad wolf, but if the structure of your sales presentation is not strong, even little huffing and puffing is going to knock that sale down. 

•  The foundation, or underlying basis of your ESP sales presentation must connect the customer’s need to the solution.   The need for an ESP may be a high amount of people using the product, a high amount of use of the product or a past experience with service problems.  The solution to that need is an ESP.  So a strong foundation for your ESP sales presentation must consist of showing your customers that they have a need and presenting the ESP as a solution to that need.

•  The walls or what encloses your ESP sales presentation are the benefits.  WIIFM- “what’s in it for me?” applies here.   What is the customer going to get out of having purchased an ESP?  The benefits of the ESP are peace of mind that they will not have to worry about unexpected service repairs for the term of the ESP.   That the ESP is easy to use and provides them with a convenient way to get their product repaired or replaced, and most of all that they are going to save some money if they purchase an ESP and have a service issue.  Explaining the benefits to your customers builds strong walls around your ESP sales presentation.

• The roof, or what tops off your ESP presentation is the close: asking for the sale.  It is important when asking for the sale that you “personally” recommend the ESP.   You’re the expert; let them know you believe in these plans.  A strong close, or roof on your presentation is letting your customer know you are keeping their best interests in mind and that you think it is a good idea that they purchase an ESP. 

That third fort of mine, stood for years in my backyard, and it went through many a storm without any damage.  So remember the next time the big bad wolf comes huffing and puffing on your doorstep and is ready to blow that sale down, the first thing you better look at is how strong you built your ESP sales presentation to withstand the storm.

I am so glad I am married now.  I remember what it was like being single and going out on that first date.   To say that some of those dates were a train wreck is an understatement.  I am sure we have all been through those kinds of dates; where half way through dinner you’re actually gauging the distance between your table the exit sign. Thoughts of faking food poisoning and calling for an ambulance to rescue you might start to sound like a very viable option.  In dating sometimes that spark is just not there; there is no “chemistry” as they say.

Chemistry in dating is really about perception, the perception of compatibility; is this person right for me?  It has nothing to do with fate or luck, pheromones or some Love Potion #9; it is about your body language and the verbal tone of your voice.  Over 80% of our communication is not in the words that we say, but in our body language and the tone of our voice.  As in dating, “chemistry” in sales is extremely important, it is in this underlying communication that we form a rapport and build trust with our customers.

This “chemistry” as we call it, like any other part of sales, is based on skill.  Which means that “chemistry” can be learned.   Facial expressions, hand gestures, posture, and tone of voice are all skills that can be developed and improved upon.

Facial Expressions

Smile!  A nice smile says; I like you and I am happy to see you.  A smile can act as an invitation to your customer that you would like to form a better relationship.  Lifting your eyebrows or pressing your lips slightly together is a sign of interest.  Most of all don’t be afraid to make eye contact.   When you look the customer in the eye it also shows that you are interested in them, and that you can relate to them.  Just don’t go overboard, for instance; don’t glare at them, never blinking, never taking your eyes off of them because…well, that’s just creepy.

Hand Gestures

When gesturing keep you hands above your waist, and make your hands purposeful and deliberate.  Try not to use the same hand gesture over and over again, excessive hand gestures can make you look nervous and the customer may start to focus on your hands and not on what you’re saying.   A slight touch on the shoulder or arm can show the customer that you are confident and comfortable with them.   When it comes to handshakes, a good handshake should be firm and match the pressure your customer is giving you.  Stay away from the “dead fish” handshake; the limp, clammy handshake only shows that you are nervous and insecure.

Posture

Stand up straight and keep your shoulders back to show confidence.  Avoid slouching because it indicates low self-esteem and unease. At times, lean slightly into the customer to indicate interest.  A tilt of the head one way or the other shows the customer that you are listening.   Stay away from closing  your arms in front of yourself; it closes you off from the customer and the customer may think you are bored with them.   Putting your arm on your hips can be a sign of aggression, and no one likes an aggressive sales person.  For best results, keep your arms casually to the side of your body.

Tone of Voice

Watch the speed at which you speak.  Speaking too fast can be a sign of nervousness.  Try not to speak in flat tone of voice anduse inflection to emphasis key points of your presentation.  Speak from your diaphragm to imbue energy and speak with enthusiasm.  Try to sound upbeat and warm, the tone of your voice unveils emotions and you want to elicit positive emotions.  It is believed that higher tones and pitches help establish rapport by signaling a more upbeat and happy personality.   Remember, “It is not what you say, but how you say it”.

So next time you are practicing your sales presentation, take into account your body language and your tone of voice, as well as the words your are saying.   Working on developing your “chemistry” skills with the customer may turn out to be the difference between succeeding or failing in sales.  Oh and by the way, if it also helps you to get lucky on that first date, more power to you!

When it comes to purchasing new products, I drive my wife crazy.   I spend weeks, sometimes months doing research before I buy.  Last year I spent months researching LCD TVs before I purchased one: researching native pixel resolution, video processor, and motion response times.

When I talked to my wife about these features, her eyes would glaze over and she would give me that little turn of the head my dog gives me when I am trying to explain to him why chewing electrical wires is not advantageous to his health.  To my wife, it’s like I am one of the adults in a Charlie Brown TV show, when I start listing off a multitude of features all she hears is “wha wha wha wha wha”.

I do all this research because I believe that the more information I gather, the easier the decision will be. But to be quite honest with myself, this information overload only makes the problem worse. The decision making process becomes even more frustrating.

People can feel this same way when it comes to purchasing extended service plans.  As sales people give them more and more information about the extended service plan they may become more frustrated because of their unfamiliarity with the product and their need for it.

The key to overcoming what I call “The Charlie Brown Factor” is to determine all possible reasons why your customer might be interested in the extended service plan during the early qualifying stage of the sales process.  Once you can determine exactly why your customer needs an extended service plan, present them in a straightforward manner. Identify their need along with specific features and benefits of the extended service plan that will fill that need.

For example, if your customer is purchasing a laptop for business, you may want to point out that this can put an inordinate amount of use on the components over time, so they may want to consider an extended service plan.  At this time you may also want to address any common concerns, such as price. But the main objective is to not overload them with so much information that they become overwhelmed and want to walk away from purchasing the plan.

My wife understands this.  When it comes to purchasing new products, she only wants to know how it will provide a solution to the need she has. Everything else is just…wha, wha, wha, wha, wha.

The choices we, and our customers make in our travel, our homes, and the products we buy and use can have an impact on our individual carbon footprint.

Everyday, as we go about our daily lives; commuting, living in our homes, buying and using products, we are contributing to carbon emissions into the atmosphere.  Our carbon footprint or the total set of greenhouse gas emissions is the principle cause of global warming.  We know that the increasing demand for electronics, computers and appliances contribute to these greenhouse gases (products use electricity and electricity is primarily created by burning fossil fuels); because of this it is important to offer our customers choices that can help them make decisions about their individual carbon footprint.  For example, offering Energy Star efficient products was a huge step forward, but alone is unlikely to provide a near-term solution to the problem of home energy emissions. 

BWG is taking the lead in offering extended warranty programs that provide carbon offsets for covered electronics and appliance products for the term of the plan.  This is really a revolutionary concept in the extended warranty industry, yet quite simple in its design.  A carbon offset represents the reduction of one metric ton (2,205 lbs) of carbon dioxide emissions. BWG has partnered with TerraPass, a company that invests in greenhouse gas reduction projects by selling carbon offsets on the open market, so that each time a consumer buys an extended warranty from our extended warranty carbon offset program, part of the cost of that extended warranty goes to funding greenhouse gas reduction projects. 

Now, before you think I am going all “Al Gore” on you, let me say studies have shown we, as customers, won’t necessarily pay more for products that have a positive effect on the environment unless there’s something in it for us, such as saving on our electric bill. But by bundling the carbon offset with the extended warranty, a product that is primarily purchased to protect us from out of pocket expenses, it makes the choice easier for the customer to help the environment while protecting their investment. It’s a no-brainer! And more importantly for you, it just makes good business sense. Now you can give your customer another reason to buy an extended service plan and feel good about their decision to boot!

A consumer that buys an extended warranty in Florida can be helping fund a wind farm in Oklahoma or a project to destroy the greenhouse gasses from a landfill in Maine.  These consumers, your customers, gain the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping to reduce their individual carbon footprint while protecting their product unforeseen failures.  Now, the simple act of buying an extended warranty can make the world a better place for all of us to live- imagine that!

Read the BWG Press Release about our Carbon Neutral Extended Warranty Plans.

Not sure what your own personal carbon footprint is?  Check out the TerraPass Carbon Footprint Calculator.

In this month’s article “Desktop PC Buying Guide: Shopping Tips,” PC World Magazine recommends purchasing an Extended Warranty.

 In my mother’s eyes, I am an expert on computers.  I taught her how pulling all the paper out of the printer does not solve that printer error, or last week when she called to ask how to play a CD with an MP3 recording on it, I gave her my “expert” advice, which was to “put it in the CD slot of your computer.”  Seriously, she was thrilled when it started to play all by itself, and she thanked me over and over again, praising my expert advice. 

Now to be honest, I am not an expert at computers, not even close.  This is why I read PC World magazine.  For advice on computers they are the true experts.  This month PC World magazine online offers a number of handy shopping tips in their article “Desktop PC Buying Guide: Shopping Tips.”.   Tips such as doing some upgrades yourself to save money, and, more importantly, how “an extended warranty can be a lifesaver” if a service issue should arise.   That’s right PC World recommends when purchasing a PC, buyers should consider also buying an extended warranty and technical support. 

Here at BWG, we offer extended service plans that not only protect products beyond the manufacturer’s warranty they also come with robust technical support delivered by A+ Certified agents using remote diagnostics and repair tools.  With BWG’s technical support and troubleshooting some service issues can be rectified right over the phone saving customers the time and hassle of bringing a PC in for service.

What I also found interesting in this article was PC World also stated that when they “conducted a survey investigating customer satisfaction with extended warranties, 71 percent of respondents said that they were glad they had bought one.”  In my job, one of the remarks I hear when doing ESP sales training is, “If the customer doesn’t have a service issue and ends up not using the extended service plan, haven’t they wasted their money?” Is that true?  Not if you look closely at this statistic, because it is doubtful that all 71% of the PC World respondents had a service problem, which tells us that even though consumers purchase an extended service plan and end up not using it, they are still pleased that they bought it.  As I have said all along, the main benefit consumers receive from an extended service plan is peace of mind.  Even if they do not have an opportunity to use the service plan, the peace of mind they have gained knowing it is there for them just in case is enough. 

So, next time you are presenting an extended service plan on a desktop PC, remember to mention to your customer that the true computer experts, PC World Magazine, recommend them.  My mother will thank you.

Read the PC World article “Desktop PC Buying Guide: Shopping Tips”

“Add-on” sales or as I like to call it, “value added-up selling” of an Extended Service Plan (ESP) may be the best way to increase your sales above all other methods. 

When I waited tables as a young man, I remember we would use the phrase “churn ‘em and burn ‘em” in connection to how quickly we could turn over our tables to get new customers in the door.   Sometimes I see sales people using this same philosophy; seeing how quickly they can finish up with their current customer and move on to the next customer.   Now there’s nothing wrong with trying to make sure that all your customers are taken care of, but there is if you become more of an order-taker than a sales person.   If you are acting as an order-taker and only showing the customer what they asked for before moving on to the next customer, you are doing a disservice to yourself and more importantly to your customer.

There are many good reasons why you should sell service plans, like increased customer satisfaction, increased creditability and increased competitiveness, but the one reason I think we frequently overlook, as sales people, is that it is much easier to generate business from an existing customer than it is to generate business from scratch with a new customer.   From a purely financial point-of-view, “value-added up selling” of an ESP makes good business sense.

Not only does it make good business sense, it also makes sense when trying to please your customers.  With “value-added up selling” you are taking the time to offer your customer a TOTAL solution to their needs.  If you sold your customer a printer that didn’t come with a cable and didn’t bother to offer them a printer cable, how pleased would they be when they arrived home and couldn’t hook up their new printer to their computer?   Also, don’t you think that your customer will be more pleased with the picture quality on their new LCD TV if you also offered them a HDMI cable?  “Valued-added up selling” will give your customers a better solution and a superior customer experience, ultimately resulting in customer loyalty and repeat business.

In the end, our goal is to build positive, meaningful relationships with our customers and provide products that perform beyond their expectations, which is why when our customers experience a service issue with a product that we sold, it jeopardizes the relationship we have built with them.  By slowing down, taking your time and offering a service plan to every customer, a service issue that can be very frustrating, time consuming and expensive for the customer, will be made much easier for them.  Service plans ensure that your customers are going to remain happy with the performance of their product, and we all know that a happy customer will keep coming back to you again and again. 

So enough with the order-taking, the churnin’ and burnin’, and offering customers the bare essentials. Start taking the time to provide “value-added up selling” to your customers so they receive a TOTAL solution that will give them the best possible customer experience.

Recently on late night cable I saw a showing of that old Robert Downey Jr. movie, “The Pick-Up Artist”. Robert Downey Jr. plays womanizer, Jack Jericho.  “Jack Jericho”, you have to love that name; it sounds like a character from the “Gears of War” video game.  I am seriously considering changing my name to it.  Anyway, as I was saying, Jack struggles with his womanizing ways after he meets the girl of his dreams, played by Molly Ringwald.  As movies go, pretty forgettable, but I do remember that it taught me two valuable lessons that I have used throughout my sales and sales training career.

1. It’s all about probabilities
2. Do not fear rejection

When it comes to extended service contracts (ESC), lesson number one is easy.  In sales, the more times you can present your product to prospective customers, the more successful you will be, so make sure to present the ESC to every qualified customer, every time; it’s as simple as that. The more you present the offer the higher the probability is that the customer will buy it. Number two is a lot harder.  If you sell ESC’s to 30-40% of your qualifying customers you are doing pretty good, but that still means six or seven out of every ten customers you present the ESC to are telling you “No”.   That’s a whole lot of “No’s”, and when you are told “No” that many times, you are bound to start fearing rejection.

Fear of rejection can be a very big hurdle for human beings to overcome.  Whenever we are rejected it can bring up fears of loneliness and guilt within us, thoughts that we are disliked or we did something wrong.  It is only natural to want to avoid this.  Personally, I believe the main reason some sales people give up on, or decide to pick and choose when they offer ESC’s, is because they have become afraid of being rejected, of being told “No”.

To those of you who feel this way or have felt this way in the past, you do not have to let this fear of rejection take power over you; you do have a choice.  There are a number of things you can do that will help.

Don’t take it personally – It does not have anything to do with you personally.  In sales, customers are not rejecting you; they are only saying “No” to the product or the offer you are presenting.  This is important, remember they are not rejecting you! I know, even when it isn’t personal, it still stings, but don’t let it put you in a bad mood.  Know that sooner or later someone will purchase the ESC from you, so dust yourself off and tell yourself that you cannot close every customer and move on.

Learn from it – Work out the reasons of why the customer said “No”. Review your presentation; analyze what worked and what did not, and what you could have done differently.  Ask for feedback from the customer. Sometimes after the sale, if you approach the customer again about their reasons for not purchasing, they will feel less pressured and be more open and honest with you.  Let them know their feedback is only to help you become a better salesperson, and always make sure to thank them afterwards.  If you consistently do this post-sale analysis, you may begin to spot trends or reoccurring problems.  With this information, you can plan for rejection before it happens and reconsider your approach in future sales.

Celebrate your strengths – Turn rejection into acceptance, acceptance of who you are as a salesperson.  Remember that rejection happens to the best salespeople.  Remain positive and celebrate those things you do well.  Most of all enjoy doing your job and have fun.

You see even a not so great movie like “The Pick-up Artist” can sometimes teach you some positive lessons in life; like the fact that it is all a numbers game and not to fear rejection.  These little bits of wisdom have been helpful to me on my journey; I hope they will help you too.

Good luck,

Jack Jericho

Columbus, Ohio’s NBC 4 news station recently reported on why fixing LCD TVs may cost more than the actual TV. The story reports that many of the parts in LCD TV’s don’t last very long and that a lot of the spare parts are hard to come by. The story goes on to report that consumers should be considering extended service plans when purchasing these TV’s.

Watch the video yourself at: Big Screen TV Warranties, NBC 4 Columbus, Ohio

When I first heard the word “Twitter” I thought they were talking about a new kids game like Twister. Personally, I never liked Twister; I didn’t have the long lanky body you needed to play.  Every time I tried get my right foot on the green circle, keeping my left hand on the red circle and my left foot on the yellow circle, I would ultimately fall and crush the person below me, and being a fairly large kid, let’s just say the person beneath me was never too pleased.  Now that I know that “Twitter” does not pose any eminent threat to those around me, I find myself really enjoying it.

For those of you that still do not know what “Twitter” is:

“Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers who are known as followers.”

- Wikipedia

No matter what you may think, you’re never too old to Twitter.  For most people when they think about Twitter, what comes to mind are individuals like Paris Hilton twittering “Just had lunch at the Beverly Hilton Hotel”, or some banter to that extent.  I know my niece and her friend’s like to twitter to keep each other informed about what they are up to.  Now I know what you are thinking, do you really need to know where Paris Hilton had lunch, or that your best friend just saw “The Men Who Stare at Goats“?  That’s up to you, but you should not discount Twitter because you may think that it is all meaningless banter.

There are two main groups of “Twitterers”, individuals who twitter on their on behalf, like those mentioned above and businesses and organizations that are on Twitter.  Businesses and organizations tweet to keep their followers updated on links, news stories or events as they become available.  They can share expertise and advice. They are able to have an open conversation with their followers, putting a human voice to their business or organization.  As a business professional, this group of Twitterers can be very valuable; it is a great way to get information about business and organizations that you are interested in.

Here at Bankers Warranty Group we use Twitter to network with our dealers, others in our industry and those that just want to understand us better.  Our Number One rule of twittering is “Always Be Informing”.  That is why many of our tweets offer advice on how to present our Extended Service Plans to consumers.  We do not believe in inundating our followers with tweets, their lives are far too busy already, so we only tweet once or twice a day.   With a limit of only 140 characters, we are very limited on what we can tweet (that’s why we use this blog to dig deeper into our conversations) but we feel that if we offer our followers a little tidbit of practical information every day that they might find it useful.

Check out our Twitter site at www.twitter.com/bwgbulletpoint and subscribe to follow our tweets.

I promise you we will never tweet to tell you where we had lunch that day.