Understanding your local climate

The latest issue of A Chip off the Block is The Garden Edition and talks about  The Top 10 Things Sales Taught Me About Gardening here is my TeleSales Twist on Point #5.

Understanding your local temperature, soil, and weather is critical to choosing the right plants.

I live in the USDA’s Hardiness Zone 4 (of 10). That means that this year our estimated last frost date is JUNE 22nd (no I’m not kidding).

When I think of a sales landscape I ask questions to determine if the prospect will thrive in an UpYourTeleSales.com environment. Here are my top 3 questions:

• Will this prospect be comfortable doing business with me over the phone & on the web?
• What level of commitment does the organization have to improving their salespeople?
• Are there enough salespeople (there or to come) to pay me what I’m worth?

Do you know what questions you need to answer to determine if a prospect is a GOOD one?

Oh “good” needs to be defined as: making you money in return for the time/effort it will take to win & keep them as a customer.

I talk (a lot) about an ideal customer profile. Now that I’m gardening I’ve realized that the same is true here as well. In my garden there are several things that make an ideal plant:

• harsh winter resiliency (-34 Fahrenheit isn’t unusual)
• deer don’t like the taste (a garden with 12FT fence is not in my future to keep them out)
• need for minimal care (remember the reluctant part of my gardener persona, if daily attn is required it isn’t going to last long)
• pretty leaves and/or flowers (because why have them in there if those aren’t true)

These ideal criteria  don’t necessarily ALL have to be met;  harsh winter resiliency may be negotiated – by adding annuals I get my other three. One for me is non-negotiable; if deer are going to eat the plant before I get to enjoy seeing them bloom – they are out of there (the lily bulbs will be dug up this fall and donated to someone with a non-deer infested garden).

What are the ideal customer profile criteria for your TeleSales garden? What are non-negotiable? How many does an account need to be truly ideal for you to do business with them?

Answering all those questions will keep you busy for a while! Plus make you more successful in the long run.