Do you know why your customers bought from you and not the \’other guy\’? Instead of telling me the reason you THINK you were chosen, let point you in the right direction… Why don\’t you try ASKING THE CUSTOMER!

Your existing customers can provide you with a significant amount of information. When you understand why people bought from you in the past you can make it very simple for prospects to purchase from you in the future.

How can you find out precisely why your customers bought from you? You can always pay a visit to each one individually, but there is a better approach…

Host a \”Breakfast of Champions\” and invite your best customers to drop in. Never arranged a breakfast? Here are 4 simple steps to get started:

1. Contact a nice hotel near your customers and find out the specifics of renting a meeting room. I\’ve had the most luck meeting between 7am and 10am. Be sure to allow a minmum of 3 hours. Tell your customers that you are organizing a breakfast meeting in celebration of your best customers and, of course, they are invited. Let them know there will be coffee, prizes, food, etc… Try to get a commitment on the phone or email so you can plan accordingly.

2. This is the \”GET\” part for you. Tell the customers that you\’ve got some pretty lofty goals and you could really use their help! Ask them why they bought from you, things you were good at, things you could work on, etc… Be sure to explain that their input will lay the foundation for you to better serve them, and others, in the future.

3. Once you learn the different reasons for buying, be sure to give them some sort of gift as a way of saying \”Thank You.\” Don\’t be cheap here! The information the customers shared is well-worth a nice box of chocolates, gift certificate to their favorate restaurant, ipod, etc…

4. Follow-up with a letter summarizing what they told you and how you plan to implement their feedback into your business model.

Organizing a meeting like this isn\’t highly difficult… but then again most of the time it\’s the small things that separate the good from the great!

Here are 4 additional tips to increase your chances of a successful meeting:

1. Always get to the hotel early enough to set-up. Crazy things tend to happen in hotels – make sure your meeting room wasn\’t rented out by a group of Rock Stars the night before!

2. Choose customers who you think will get along with each other OR can help each others business (may require several separate meetings).

3. Don\’t be too proud to ask what you can improve on. You didn\’t think this was going to be all fun and games did you?

4. Don\’t rule out a particular hotel or meeting venue because of the price. Invite them into the meeting for coffee or food. Let them see your happy customers (and how you treat them) and I can assure you that you\’ll get a call when they have roof issues!

It\’s amazing what you can learn if you ask the right people.

As Jeffrety Gitomer says, \”People hate to be sold but they love to buy.\” Learn WHY your customers bought from you and you have the ability to create buying situations for prospects in the future!

There are many more tips and tricks I didn\’t include because I want to hear what you think! What would you add? What have your experiences been? Share and we all benefit!

Please share you stories at Roof Your World – Sales Training for Roofing & Construction Professionals: http://www.roofyourworld.com
Stay Dry,
-Eric

Please share you stories at Roof Your World – Sales Training for Roofing & Construction Professionals: http://www.roofyourworld.com
Stay Dry,
-Eric

Author Bio: Please share you stories at Roof Your World – Sales Training for Roofing & Construction Professionals: http://www.roofyourworld.com
Stay Dry,
-Eric

Category: Business
Keywords: roofing sales,roof sales,customer service,customer loyalty,roof sales training,flat roof,constructio