WARREN Greshes greeted everyone with a booming, “Good morning!”
When the response wasn't as enthusiastic as he expected, he said, “I'm going to have to raise you from the dead. Let's try that again. Good morning!”
And with that, the convention's keynote speaker was off and running with “Supercharged Selling: The Power to Be the Best.”
Greshes said that to not simply be successful but to stay successful, you need to have attitude and commitment. You're not just selling a product.
“I know that as a customer, I can buy anything in the world that I want off of the Internet, and I don't have to talk to any of you,” he said. “But the question has become this: What is it you're willing to do for your customers that creates so much extra value that it now becomes more beneficial for them to deal with you than to click on a computer.
“What is it you're really selling? Are you just selling horse trailers? Or are you selling extra-quick service, convenience, value? Are you selling utility trailers? Or are you selling knowledge, expertise, information, and education? If you're just selling stuff — what everyone else is selling — then I can click on my computer and buy stuff from the cheapest guy in town.”
He said you can't just be a “price company” because anyone can cut prices.
“I don't care how cheap you are — sooner or later, somebody comes along and undercuts your price,” he said. “Some companies will take a loss just to buy your business away. And once your price has been undercut, you have nothing left to sell because you told the marketplace that the biggest reason to buy from you was price.”
Greshes said McDonald's gained its market share by understanding who the customers are and what they want. The Happy Meal concept, unveiled in 1979, was a key.
“Kids wanted the toy,” he said. “Kids wanted the box. You know why? Because kids don't buy food. They buy fun. They figure they can get food anywhere.”
He asked the audience, “What is your Happy Meal? What is it that you're willing to do for all your customers, your clients, your prospects that no one else is willing to do? How are you differentiating yourself from the competition?
“Let me ask you something: Do they just want a cheap trailer? Or do they want to work with quality people from a quality company that ships a quality product that is innovative, that ships on time, that helps customers to do more business, and always adheres to safety guidelines and makes it easy to buy? Do they just want a cheap trailer? Or do they want to work with a sales person who will be their expert, their adviser, and their resource?”