The Sales Advantage by J. Oliver Crom Michael Crom

Author:J. Oliver Crom, Michael Crom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Free Press

• Provides information about our company

• Shows how our products and services have satisfied customers

• Demonstrates the applications customers are making of our products and services

Ms. Lu Li Fung created an evidence book as a requirement of Sales Advantage training. She did it because she had to, but quickly found out what a powerful selling tool it is.

Ms. Lu runs a teashop in Nantou, Taiwan, a famous tea-producing region of the country. One day after she finished her evidence book, a customer and his friend came to her store to buy some tea. They asked her for a recommendation. Since Ms. Lu needed to practice her sales presentation for her class, she asked the customer if he had time to listen. The customer said he did, so Ms. Lu gave a six-minute presentation, complete with evidence book and flip charts.

The customer was so impressed that he gave a business card to Ms. Lu. “I have never seen anything like this. My company is looking for a supplier for our tea drink products. We already have ten bidders, but I think we will make an exception and let you be the eleventh bidder. Please come to my company, bring your evidence book, and do that presentation for my boss and the purchasing committee.” It turned out that her customer just happened to be the purchasing manager of one of the largest food and beverage companies in Taiwan (Tai-shan Industries).

Ms. Lu went to Tai-shan’s headquarters and did two presentations. Her presentation was so well received that Tai-shan informed Ms. Lu that they would do business with her on a test basis. She asked them to clarify just exactly how much tea they would be ordering for the test. The customer said “Two thousand kilograms.” She was shocked, because her entire annual sales previously had been two thousand kilograms.

Ms. Lu went home and began preparing for this order. After this test order, Tai-shan was very satisfied, so it gave her a second order of twenty thousand kilograms of tea. She had to form a new company and hire many people just to take care of this order. Finally, Tai-shan decided to use Ms. Lu permanently as the major supplier of their tea beverage products. They gave her an order for one hundred thousand kilograms of tea.

She is now one of the most successful tea merchants in Nantou. Many tea farmers line up outside her company each morning to sell her their tea. And it all started with good timing and a solution presentation that contained an evidence book.

Granted, this situation is unique because Ms. Lu didn’t have to go through earlier parts of the selling process. But if we think about it, there’s always a possibility that our biggest customer may turn out to be that person who simply crosses our path at the right time. And when that happens, we need to be ready. An evidence book is one tool we have to help prepare us for that important moment.

At Dale Carnegie and Associates, one of our sales teams in San Diego created a photo evidence book.

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