As a material handling product dealer, it’s likely that you’re always looking for ways to boost sales of your material handling products, including warehouse safety equipment. Who wouldn’t? One of the keys to doing so, as well as building long-term relationships with your customers, is building trust from the get-go. So, what types of practices can you implement that will make these goals both natural and attainable?
Follow up with your warehouse safety customers
If you aren’t already doing so, you should be treating every customer with the same amount of care and attention. Though some may be more responsible for your commission than others, this doesn’t mean this can’t change in your favor. Word-of-mouth is a powerful thing. If an end user purchased just a few rack safety straps from you or even just a few pairs of work gloves, you never know what sort of leads a good experience can generate.
This exact customer may come back to you with a large order or refer a friend to you. Following up with your customers can be done in a few ways, but you should make it as easy on them as possible. Text, email, call, direct message, or even pop-in for a visit, if it’s convenient — and be ready to listen. They’ll likely appreciate that you value their input and are invested in their success.
Make giving feedback easy
Ask your customers if they like their products or if they have further questions or notes to you as a dealer. However, you may also choose to include a survey. Your marketing or service department may already do so because it provides such valuable information. If you’re not currently doing this, there are a variety of free online tools to create quick, user-friendly surveys. This includes options that you’re probably familiar with, like Google Forms and SurveyMonkey. No matter how you ask for feedback, be sure that you leave a section open-ended. This gives your customers an opportunity to add additional comments or questions freely.
Schedule in-person progress checks
You may not need to schedule in-person progress checks with all of your customers. However, it may benefit both of you to see how well any warehouse safety solutions are working. Are they properly installed? Is there an opportunity for more of the same product? Are there opportunities for different products to be used elsewhere? You can also examine first-hand how much these solutions have impacted your customers’ productivity and safety. Take these anecdotes with you on your next demo, or even write down what you witnessed. Sharing specific examples with prospective customers will not only help you boost sales but also allow your reputation to speak for itself.
Suggest new warehouse safety products (within reason)
We discussed in the above section that while meeting with your customers either in-person or virtually, you may determine opportunities for a greater variety of products. Identifying a need for more warehouse safety solutions — whether it be nets, cables, or something else — can easily boost your sales and build trust. Tread carefully, however, and ensure that your suggestion makes sense to the customer, ideally in the long-term.
For more resources just for dealers, check out our dealer marketplace. Here, you can join our dealer locator where more customers looking for Adrian’s products can find you.
Leave a Reply