MCE: Selling Overcoming Objections (ENG)

The sales process is complicated. With professional selling, we know the methods and the processes. We have an assigned sales territory, and we are responsible for market penetration and market share. But all of that is put in jeopardy if the salesman does not know how to handle the objections that the customer might present.

This is an element of the presentation class. However, because of the importance of overcoming objections, we are going to deal with them exclusively in this program. How these objections are handled can make the difference between a sales success and a failure. This program deals with the methods to employ: the “how to” of overcoming objections. In the sales process, typically you are looking for an order, or at least a positive outcome of the sales call. In order to achieve that outcome it has to be understood that the customer has to learn about what it is that you are selling. In many cases, an objection is simply an indication that the customer does not have enough information yet to make an informed decision.

From keeping your cool, to making the objection specific, and providing compensating factors, everything about the “how to” overcome an objection is exposed. You can’t afford to run the risk of losing a sale by missing this important program.

MCE: Selling Leadership (ENG)

The management and supervision in business is in many cases misunderstood. You manage process but you have to lead people. Often, we get consumed by our need to improve our processes. Since the 1980’s with the “Japanese” continuous improvement movement we have been obsessed with eliminating non-value added, tasks and processes. But what have we done to inspire management to improve their ability to lead their employees.?

Leadership is a complicated function. It involves compassion, courage, trust, integrity, commitment, loyalty, inspiration, and communication. A true leader will take people to places that they would not have gone to on their own. This program explores the true meaning of leadership and talks about differing leadership styles and their impact on performance.

Leadership has to ensure that the day to day operations are performing and at the same time they must focus on the future. They also have to understand and accept how important managing change is to improvement. They have to be able to look at their businesses with “fresh eyes” to ensure that they can identify and eliminate their “sacred cows.” This is a critical class for anyone in a leadership position.

MCE: Selling Market Strategy (ENG)

The only way to position your labor business is to provide customers with something they value.  The fundamental principles of customer value are to offer something the customer wants and needs and to provide that offering better than your competition can.

This class provides methods and a road map to follow in developing a strategy. We identify three key strategies for enhancing customer value. Companies focus on being: Better – through the provision of superior quality labor and service. Faster – sensing and meeting changing customer requirements more quickly than others. Closer – creating durable linkages and even partnership with channel members and customers.

This program takes you more deeply into operational excellence offers customers good pricing as well as convenience and reliability. Then we examine labor leadership which is the result of superior product performance. Finally, customer intimacy which utilizes “micro” marketing techniques. These strategies for providing customer value indicate the importance of the marketing focus in overall strategic planning. Customer value offers a way to gain strategic advantage over competitors and to differentiate the company’s products or services.

Communications is the critical element to successful implementation of a strategy for the parts business. The final emphasis of this class is to ensure that the strategy is effectively communicated to all employees so that they will be committed to executing the strategy.

MCE: Selling Market Segmentation (ENG)

Marketing is the process of identifying and satisfying customer needs. That process becomes impossible with the thousands and thousands of customers that you have in your assigned area of responsibility (AOR). As a result of that truth, it becomes important to be able to find out what the customer needs and wants, and then to be able to find common elements of their business that will allow you to group them with other customers of common needs and wants.

That is the aim of market segmentation. Market segmentation is the process by which marketeers divide potential customers into smaller groups that are looking for similar benefits from a product or service. The goal is to isolate a group that prefers these features and benefits, and to develop a sustainable differential advantage that satisfies their needs. All of the methods and processes that are required to perform this are covered in the class.

We cover the industrial focus, the individual demographics, and the psychographics. We also have to assess the dealer strengths and weaknesses, as well as reviewing the same strengths and weaknesses in the competition. All of this and much more is covered in this comprehensive program.

MCE: Selling Market Capture (ENG)

The parts and service businesses within the construction equipment Industries has never had a precise method to calculate the share of the parts market for a specific brand. To some degree this has allowed the parts business to operate without a critical performance measure being in place.

This program married the market potential, that we cover in another class, with the actual sales for a dealership for a specific brand. The market potential model allows a dealer to calculate the potential consumption of parts on specific machines. That, together with the actual parts sales, allows a calculation to be done arithmetically that determines the percentage of a customer business obtained by a dealer.

This class provides a detailed methodology to calculate the share of the market the dealer obtains. This is the market capture rate that the dealer obtains in the parts business. Ideally, we would be able to perform this calculation by machine model. Unfortunately, we do not get the model and serial number for each parts sale.

Similarly, we touch on the “mean time to failure (MTF)” statistics provided by the OEM’s for their products. With territory potential, market capture we can drive market coverage methods which with the MTF the sales force can be targeting customer needs in a timely manner. This program covers all the details and methods required to perform the calculations required to measure market capture.

MCE: Selling Leveraging Service Assets (ENG)

The service department is known to provide repairs, rebuilds, and maintenance services. We manage the labor function to have the highest possible labor efficiency and quality. High performance in a Service Department must maximize efficiency, maximize quality, and satisfy customers.  The first step to understanding and accepting what we have to do is to understand the assets at our disposal. From the technical skills of the mechanics, to the bays and vehicles we work from, and the specialized tooling there is a lot to consider. How to leverage these assets is the theme in this program.

Individual employees want to do a good job and they want to be able to provide the highest level of skill possible. We have a responsibility to maintain those skills with professional training programs. From the OEM’s, to specific training within the dealership we will explore all that training entails. It starts with the skills set inventory for each technician, and then a training plan for each person can be developed. We are expected to make money on our labor. What is less understood is that we are intended to be able to recover our costs on all of the tools and technology we use. In this program we uncover methods to be able to recover these department costs in a manner that is fair to customers and the company.

Each employee can show off their skills and knowledge especially well if we provide them with the comprehensive training and tools necessary to deliver world class service. We must provide leverage on these assets. This class is an important piece of their learning.

MCE: Selling Campaigns and Promotions (ENG)

A new reality continues apace. Everyone by now has been affected by “telemarketing” and I trust your tele-selling life has had a successful start. But, even with the sales aspect of the job, it is hard to hold onto a performance edge: to stay motivated and excited. The job, over time, gets to be too much of a routine.

We need to generate excitement and energy in the department. We need to operate with regular campaigns and promotions. Something special needs to be going on all the time. To do this, we need to inject campaigns and promotion planning into our sales forecasts and annual budget plans. Campaigns and promotions have to become an integral part of the life in a parts business.

We provide a structure to the campaign and promotion activities with the use of a Promotion Planning Tree (PPT). The PPT provides a road map of activities, and a check list, to ensure that we get everything right. It allows everyone to be involved in the development of the campaigns and promotions so that there is understanding of what it is we are aiming to do. It allows vigorous debate in the development of the campaigns and promotions so that everyone is involved in the programs. It brings back the excitement to the job.

MCE: Selling Buyer’s Needs (ENG)

A new reality continues in its approach.  By now everyone has been affected by “telemarketing,” your tele-selling future has gotten off to a successful start, and you have also learned how to handle the objections from the customers. You know all of the mechanics of selling. Now we need to make it easier for you by exposing the “buyer’s needs.”

The needs that the customer has in this transaction can stem from “ego satisfaction,” in other words knowing that they are making the right choice, to feeling that they are treated with respect. The sales person has to be sensitive to all of these various attributes and reasons which can underlie the buyer’s needs. But your customers also need your expertise and knowledge and experience. You are in a difficult position. In order to be able to satisfy the needs of the customer, you have to continue to keep yourself current on the product and Industry trends and competition. There is a lot to do.

This class deals with survey information obtained from the customers. If they are given a chance, customers will tell us what they need and want, and we then have to be in a position to deliver it.

MCE: Selling Best Practices (ENG)

With standards of performance we dealt with what it looks like when it is right. With Best Practices we aim for performance excellence. What is it that the most successful dealers are doing to achieve excellence? This is discussed in detail in this program to allow dealers to see optional approaches to processes and systems. From using the standard times to shop floor scheduling turnover, from maintenance programs to labor efficiency, every aspect is discussed.

We will cover all aspects of the processes required in a labor business: from dealer business systems, to labor collections systems, to service pricing systems. People and system productivity and effectiveness are critical in any business today, but this is especially true within the equipment business where the gross margin on the prime products continues to erode. There are many aspects within a labor business that must be covered that can make a significant difference in either cost structures or market positioning and competitive situations.

Process manuals – electronic or paper – and procedures, as well as training methods to employ become critical to the consistent delivery of excellent customer service. How to measure your success in the area of customer satisfaction, as well as all operational processes becomes part of this program. Anyone interested in achieving the best possible level of performance within the labor business will gain insight from this program.

MCE: Selling Basic Marketing (ENG)

In this Basic Marketing class, we explore a broadly misunderstood sector of business. It is much more than mailings, promotions, and tradeshows. It is all of the aspects involved in influencing the customer to purchase your products or services.

Marketing is the science of choosing target markets through the use of market analysis and segmentation. This class exposes all aspects of marketing: Relationship Marketing, Business Marketing, Social Marketing and Internal Marketing. In Relationship Marketing, we focus on suppliers and customers, and the goal is to build loyalty. The Business Marketing is all aspects of the traditional marketing functions: advertising, promotion and communications. Social Marketing looks at everything that impacts society. For instance, the impact on the environment from the use of clean engine technology. Internal Marketing, is the broad communications to all employees of everything that we are doing in the business.

This program covers all the basics of marketing: from the four P’s to the more current addition of SIVA. We expose you to everything involved in basic marketing theory today. Without creating the environment where your product or service is understood, you make the job of selling much more difficult. This program aims to provide you with the tools to use to make selling more successful.