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Sales Hack: Show Loyalty to Your Prospect and Their eCommerce Brand
posted by Darren Pierce
Losing Tank
Beagles are excellent hunting dogs. Their noses are unmatched. They make an unusual bark, more like a yodel – it’s called a “bay.” This is so that slow humans can find them when on the hunt. I’m not a hunter, but I love beagles and the Beagle bay.
I laid my 14-year-old beagle, Tank, to rest last month. One year ago we lost his sister, Bella, but Tank held on for one more trip around the sun. He fought through many challenges including epilepsy, heart failure, and bladder cancer. Why did he fight so hard? Because dogs will do anything to be with you, and stay with you – no matter what.
You see, dogs are incredibly loyal. Tank never quit fighting hard to be right next to me. Right up to the end, he would fight his way up the stairs every night for bed and stumble his way down with me in the morning, stopping periodically to make sure I was still behind him. When I left the house without him, you could expect to hear several minutes of that unmistakable Beagle bay.
Losing a dog is painful. I believe the agony is rooted in the loss of someone with whom you have a deeply loyal and trusting relationship. There is nothing more loyal than your dog. This loyalty prompts us to open up to our pets. Areas of our heart that are normally closed off become unsealed, and our dogs sneak into these dark and cold compartments. They bring light and warmth to these neglected chambers of our heart, and they camp out there. It’s the ultimate example of an obedient response to the well-known command: “Stay.” “Stay Tank, good boy.”
This ultra-loyalty earns love and trust. Loyalty is a key component to building trusting relationships, but I think we often forget how important it can be when we are prospecting. We can learn a lot from the loyalty of dogs and apply those lessons to our SaaS sales conversations.
Sales Hack: Show Loyalty to Your Prospect and Their eCommerce Brand
I challenge you to think about your top 10 online retail prospects right now. Think about their online storefront, the products they sell, their social media accounts, and their logo.
Have you purchased their products? If not, have you purchased swag with their logo? Or, have you shared positive news about their company with social media? Do you even follow them on social media (think Tank following me around)?
If not, stop reading and start showing loyalty, now, please. If so, then great you are demonstrating loyalty to their brand, but that is only half the battle.
Now think about the PEOPLE who work for your top 10 prospects. Think about the owner or head of eCommerce or head of fulfillment. Your prospect. What have you done to display your loyalty to these eCommerce executives specifically? Researching something for their upcoming vacation? Cheering for their favorite team? Following them on social media? Sharing a recent post?
If you aren’t demonstrating loyalty, then you aren’t fully opening up areas of their heart. In these areas, you find the true pain that you can solve. Then you stay.
And in honor of Tank and Bella… I wish you all happy hunting.
