Sales Summit: ‘Sell Solutions – Not Products’
Jeffrey Cufaude, the keynote speaker on the opening day of TRSA’s Sales & Marketing Summit, July 17-18 in Baltimore, offered attendees a wealth of ideas for enhancing the value of their services as a way to boost sales.
“Try to sell solutions, not just products,” Cufaude said near the conclusion of his half-day workshop titled “Increase Sales Through Sharing and Serving.” There’s no magic formula for “better solutions,” he added. Still, “Insights come from unanticipated sources.”
In terms of textile services, that means getting team members at all levels to think of themselves as sales people. Ways of providing better service can include simplifying invoices, looking for ways to ‘bundle’ different services into packages and sharing information that can enable laundry operators to partner with, rather than simply sell, goods and services to their customers.
Cufaude, an Indianapolis-based consultant with a diverse background ranging from restaurant manager to association executive, emphasized the importance of textile service companies telling their story in clear terms to emphasize the value they bring to customers. He encouraged the use of concrete examples to describe specific instances where laundries have solved problems for customers, while avoiding excessive detail in marketing materials. In essence, companies need to leave behind their “confirmation bias,” that is, doing what works for you, and instead focusing on the needs of customers and how a launderer can address them.
The workshop was a highly interactive program. At several points during the course, Cufaude broke the room full of operators gathered at the Baltimore Harbor Hotel into small groups of a dozen or so, to discuss and reflect on the topics under discussion. Then they would reassemble and share ideas with the larger group. For example, Steve Florence of Starr Textile Services, noted the importance of having route service reps and the carts they transport project an image of professionalism and quality. This enhances customer confidence in the service that commercial laundries provide.
Cufaude expanded on this point, noting the importance of image to telling a business’s story to customers. If a route delivery person is a smoker, for example, and delivers towels to health spa, the odor of smoke on his clothing might offend a customer who’s otherwise happy with the service. Conversely, programs like TRSA’s Clean Green program of third-party environmental certification can enhance a company’s story by documenting their commitment to environmental compliance, he said.
Determining what customer sensitivities and wants are is also an important metric that commercial laundries need to know. Cufaude recommended regular surveys of customers, with incentives if needed to encourage participation. Face-to-face surveys with responses given in real time tend to produce more useful data, he added.
Cufaude cited a wealth of examples of quality and innovation from companies outside the textile services business, ranging from Uber to Disney. Uber attracts customers who are willing to pay slightly more for a taxi service by reducing uncertainty and enhancing convenience. As for Disney, he described a free bus service that the company provides from the Orlando Airport to its Disney World facilities. The idea is to enable visitors to avoid the unpleasantness of driving themselves in hot weather to the theme park. If they arrive in a better mood, he added, they’re more likely to spend money.
Cufaude cited other examples of innovative ideas, ranging from packaged chopped lettuce to “Swiffer” mops and “dip and squeeze” catchup containers as a smart option for quick-serve food outlets.
While these products may seem obvious after the fact, their development followed close observation of consumer behavior with an eye toward making things better. “Eliminate a workaround and you add value,” Cufaude said, noting that before Swiffer, consumers might brush dust under a rug, or simply ignore it. Now there’s an easier solution available. “I didn’t know we needed a Swiffer, but apparently I do need it and I spend a lot of money on it,” he said.
The bottom line for sales success is to be a “giver, not a taker,” Cufaude said. Companies that generate real, measurable value for companies, whether that’s through innovative products or value-added services, are likely to become indispensable partners in their customers’ businesses.