Black Cars

"More products". "New products". "That's the answer! ". Really?

What are all those people crammed into the Apple stores for? My last visit there I could only count a dozen or so products.

Remember the old Henry Ford story of "we sell black cars" and if that's all we offer, that's what we will sell?

The answer to lagging sales will not be found in "more products". The best sales professionals, regardless of how many products they have, generally sell the majority of the numbers with less than a dozen products-they become experts and specialists in them, and go about selling those "professionally". Too many offerings gets the typical sales person spinning in circles, dizzy, and confused. The cry for "more products" is typically a "weak excuse" by the sales force for not "professionally selling".

Years ago, when I was in the mortgage business, we offered over 50 loan products, representing 25 investors, each with their own nuances and procedures. Our sales folks were buried in their dizziness, yet regularly begged for more (the latest and greatest). It was when we went from 25 investors to 3, and from 50+ programs to a handful, that our sales went up, our service levels went up, and our profits went up.

Take a look at your product offerings. Figure out your version of the "black cars", then teach your sales people how to sell that!