I recently rented a self-storage unit. Chatting with Tracye, the manager, I learned she was heading on a week-long, all-expenses-paid trip to California.
I asked the occasion—turns out she was selected as one of the top 10 employees nationwide, out of 4,000+ employees, based on sales and customer satisfaction.
She was too modest to say it herself, but I’d venture this makes her one of the best self-storage salespeople in the country. And her customers are happy enough afterwards to give her great online reviews. She’s currently averaging a 4.8/5.0 rating on Google. Harness the power of seo analysis tools to optimize your content and capture your target audience.
As a marketing agency owner, you can learn from my seamless buying experience: What would your marketing agency sales look like if you had the best salesperson in the country?
What the top salesperson did… and what your agency can do, too
Getting a storage unit, I joined the 1-in-10 American households that rents offsite storage. Let’s analyze—what did Tracye do?
1) She read me and sold to me in exactly the way I wanted to be sold to. It reminds me of the comment on Mad Men, comparing Pete Campbell vs. Ken Cosgrove as agency account managers: “while Pete is very good at finding all the clients’ needs and then meeting them, Ken has that rare gift of making clients feel they have no needs.”
During the tour, Tracye was friendly but neither pushy nor nosey—exactly the right combo for me as a customer. And I had lots of questions about details, and she covered them all.
2) She clearly disclosed key concerns in the contract. She spent a surprisingly large amount of time pointing out potential concerns I might have, including how the “we’ll sell everything at auction if you stop paying us” process works. I got the impression that she truly cared about making sure I was clear on the policies and particulars.
I reviewed the whole lease closely and I have to say, she was pretty comprehensive on pre-flagging the concerns.
3) She was patient. This was my first time renting a storage unit. I was ultimately there for about an hour, including spending 15 minutes on the phone with my insurance company to confirm my regular coverage included the items in storage (yes, it did) and my taking forever to closely review the paperwork to my satisfaction.
I never got the impression that Tracye wanted me to hurry the hell up and get out the door.
4) She had sales support. Tracye’s colleague Paige called to confirm my ETA after I reserved a [non-binding] spot online the day before. When I hadn’t arrived a couple hours later (after a couple client meetings ran longer than expected), Paige called back to check on my new ETA. Some might see that as pushy, but she framed it as ensuring the property manager would be there to meet me for the tour. Good. And the technology worked, too—after I filled out the account setup info online beforehand, I was happy to see all but one form was pre-filled by the computer.
The company made Tracye’s job easier, not harder. And the Public Storage website really had sold me already, with the right info I needed to make a decision. Tracye closed the deal.
Getting to the top 0.25% in sales and customer satisfaction
Ultimately, everything came together, from marketing to sales to becoming a paying customer. The company’s marketing built my trust, and their salesperson cemented my trust. In contrast, many of Public Storage’s local and national competitors had so-so websites that failed to answer my pre-sales questions, and I ruled them out without even visiting.
I asked how Tracye how she got selected for the top 10 out of 4,000—turns out it was based on sales (as I expected) but also customer satisfaction reviews on Google.
Sure enough, as we wrapped up onboarding, she gave me a marketing flyer to do a Google review. I was impressed that she didn’t explicitly ask for a positive review. And she didn’t have to.
To be fair, I still didn’t buy the extra insurance or the “30% off” moving boxes, but that’s because I didn’t need boxes, and I almost never buy on-the-spot insurance. And when I ultimately declined the insurance, she didn’t push. [Update from 2019: Nearly six years later, I’m still a customer.]
Think about the buying experience at your digital marketing agency
I’ll ask again—what if your marketing agency had the best agency salesperson in the country? What if your agency had 4.8/5.0 stars on Google?
What if your clients were so happy, they were telling everyone how great you were? What might your profits look like?
The story of Tracye’s exceptional salesmanship and the seamless buying experience at Public Storage serves as a valuable lesson for digital marketing agencies. By carefully considering the customer’s needs, providing clear and transparent information, demonstrating patience, and offering reliable sales support, agencies can create a similar level of trust and satisfaction. Emulating Tracye’s customer-centric approach can ultimately lead to a thriving business and a stellar reputation in the digital marketing realm.
Question: As a customer, what’s been your best sales experience yet?
