Astonish Your Customer(s)

How do Walmart buyers get recognized

Many small or niche brands think that giant retailers like Walmart would never be interested in their brand. If the product is me-too, with a me-too story and a me-too consumer value proposition, they'd be correct. 

But being small or niche, in and of itself is not a knockout factor.  

A friend of mine was a Walmart buyer. He told me that Walmart buyers get the most recognition when they find a hidden gem and make it something. According to this former buyer, the view inside Walmart says that any idiot can make the latest launch by Coke or P&G or Unilever a success, given the brand's spending level. It takes a real merchant to spot an item with unique value and then drive within the Walmart system.

I have seen this phenomenon play out in numerous Walmart vendor meetings where the retailer touts the success of beer-coozie, beef jerky, $1.00 DVDs and scads of other "little trains that could". 

Sometimes the sheer expense of building inventory and the risk of absorbing a potential huge return is too daunting a task for a small brand, and rightfully so. Just don't count yourself out just because you're small or niche.   

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.

Think goal or problem first, solution second

Here’s a smart and different approach advocated by Lisa Earle Macleod in “5 Secrets of Superstar Salespeople”.

Mediocre salespeople think “I have this product, how can I sell it to this customer?” Superstars reverse it, they think ‘I have this customer, how might my product be helpful?”

This seemingly backwards way of thinking shows up everywhere from the way superstars prep for their sales calls to the way they present their solutions.

An average rep will tell you, “I’m going to talk about this product and how it compares to what you’re currently using.” However, superstars organize their conversations around the customer’s environment and objectives, not their product benefits.

Average reps tend to say, “My widget does this and this, and here’s how it’s going to solve your problem.” When a superstar makes a presentation, they’re more likely to say, “You told me you have this goal, let’s talk about how we accomplish it.” Again, it’s a seemingly subtle, yet very distinct difference.

This reverse ordering flies on the face of the traditional feature-benefit or feature-advantage-benefit style of selling so many of us were taught. Yet, while it may seem backwards to the average sales person who thinks product first, customer second, it’s not backwards to the customer at all, who thinks goal or problem first, solution second.”

Remember, everyone is a sales person, whether your selling, marketing, interviewing, sharing a point of view, speaking. 

O.D.O.o.O.D.B.