New Selling Tool

By Jarvis Bates
Sales Management Consultant

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The secrets of success in selling are pretty well established: know your line, take care of your customer, make a lot of calls, follow-up, follow-up, follow-up, prospect to a fare thee well and always be closing.

To this traditional list, I would like to propose an unusual addition: benefit from serendipity.

Serendipity means, simply, finding that which was not sought, but that has unexpected value.

A field sales call made by an IBT outside sales rep working with an expert from Drives, Inc. recently won out through just that force.

The two had been calling on an oil patch company and had been trying to get them to buy Drives roller chain for oil rigs.

They were confident that Drives, Inc. had the right answer. They knew that the buyer was having premature failure of competitive product, which was hooked up with 500 hp motors.

When the chain was coming apart after 90 days, the sales team felt they had a big opportunity.

Drives, Inc. supplied the buyer with a working sample of the chain to test on the equipment, hoping that their USA product would clearly demonstrate its advantage in this particular application.

Luck, at first, was not with them. The engineer in charge of the installation would not entertain the idea of using any chain but the competitor's. He had been convinced that this was the only product he could trust. And, since they had been having trouble in the field with this particular situation, the last thing he was willing to do was try out some chain line he did not know.

So, the Drives chain lay there. The luck of the sales team turned 180 degrees in the next week. With another unexpected failure, the reluctant engineer had no choice. He needed some chain, and he needed it now. There, prepared to live up to the test, was the Drives, Inc. product. Serendipity gave the customer an immediate solution to a vexing problem.

Now, after more than 180 days, the Drives USA chain is still going strong.

The reward for Drives, Inc. and IBT has been the appreciation and loyalty of a new and happy buyer.

They have continued to buy Drives, Inc. product – and IBT has a stock on hand that it is supplying to the customer each time the competitive product needs to be replaced.

There is an old adage that it is better to be lucky than smart. The experience of Drives and IBT with the oil chain adds knowledge along with the new factor of serendipity.

But, of course, I also want to make sure that the full impact of the lesson is not lost.

Before there could be serendipity, the selling pair had to have knowledge of their line, be taking care of their customer, making lots of calls, following-up relentlessly, prospecting extensively, and constantly be working at closing the sale.

Or, as my earliest selling mentor used to say: "The harder I work, it seems the luckier I get."

For more information about Drives, Inc. products, contact your local IBT branch. Or write to us.

Drives and IBT

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