Progressive Distributor - Selling eye and face protection

Selling eye and face protection

by Rick Beatty

Too many salespeople fall into the habit of saying, “I have that; let me give you a quote.”

This is not selling. True selling, regardless of the product, has to do with need satisfaction. That is especially true when it comes to selling protective eyewear.

Your customer has realized and unrealized needs connected to end-user job hazards. These needs can vary greatly from job to job. Instead of demonstrating to your customer that you are there strictly for your own gain by focusing on product features and benefits, your approach to selling can clearly state that you are there for their interests as well.

As a salesman of protective eyewear, my function is to provide proper protection as defined by the Eye and Face Protection Standard, 29 CFR Part 1910.133. Any product I recommend must meet the requirements of ANSI Z87.1-1989.

Your job is to gain a good understanding of each application in order to uncover the end-user’s realized and unrealized needs. Take a quick tour of the facilities to assess the hazards present. OSHA calls this a “Hazard Evaluation and Workplace Survey.” While performing this walk-through evaluation, use your experience in personal protection to determine workplace hazards and always ask questions. These might include:

What “incidence” recordings have you had during the past
year? Why do you think they happened?

Have your employees been trained in the use of personal
protective equipment?

What do you currently use? What do you like about it (them)?
What don’t you like?

What are the most important things you consider in choosing
your protective eyewear (or face protection)?

What comments have you received from your employees regarding the protective devices you give them? What do they like about the current products? What don’t they like?

Dig deeper
In order to uncover unrealized needs, you may need to ask more specific questions:

Is price important to you? Your customer may have thought it was until you ask a question that causes them to rethink their motives.

Have employees complained about eyestrain or headaches after wearing their safety spectacles for a while? Poor optics, present in many “cheap” products, may cause this.

Do workers do any light- or medium-class welding or metal cutting? If so, what shade designation do they use? Some safety personnel don’t understand the difference between shades and tints, and therefore may be using an inappropriate product.

Some DOs and DON'Ts
DO understand that the person you are selling to may have very different needs from the employees that person is buying protection for. Ascertain the difference. Point it out to your audience whenever, and however, necessary.

DON’T assume you are talking to the decision-maker. Ask questions to determine who is responsible for selecting these protective devices. A buyer may care about nothing but price.

DO understand that price has nothing to do with cost, and be able to convey that point to your audience as well. How much did it cost when the company gave an employee a cheap product instead of one that provided proper protection? Or one that was so uncomfortable the employee wouldn’t wear it and incurred an eye injury?

DO assess, as quickly as possible, the level of competence you are dealing with. This can vary greatly and will be the key to the level of success you achieve.

DON’T be fooled by what people think they know, or what they want you to think. Ask the right questions to gain a true understanding of what they really know and think in order to get at the real issues that exist.

DON’T feature-dump. Find the need, then acknowledge and confirm it, support it and satisfy it. Now, close the sale.

DO understand that you are, in the final analysis, selling one thing and one thing only: A reduction, or better yet, the elimination of eye injuries. Nothing else matters.

Infrared radiation is most commonly produced in welding, cutting and brazing operations, furnaces, and molten metal or glass production. Only shaded lenses, which bear the shade number on the lens, can be used for these purposes.

Shaded lenses on spectacles generally range from 1.7 to 5.0. The higher the number, the more absorptive (darker) the lens and the more protection against infrared and ultraviolet radiation.

ANSI Z87.1-1989 and OSHA 29 CFR 1910.133 contain selection guidelines on shaded lenses. Consult these standards for details.

By adding tints to the lens, the visible light transmittance decreases, which blocks light and glare. Tinted lenses are available in a multitude of styles. Although these lenses absorb 100 percent of UV radiation, they are not shaded absorptive lenses. Tinted lenses are used indoors for specialty purposes or outdoors as a safety sunglass. Do not use these lenses for welding, cutting or brazing operations that produce infrared radiation.

Are there lateral or side impact hazards? This is an another often misunderstood facet of eye protection. Many companies use flimsy clip-on sideshields that do not meet the ANSI requirements for proper side protection for applicable lateral hazards. The standard does not require sideshields, only proper side protection. Many users assume they meet this non-existent requirement for sideshields by attaching these types of shields to their safety glasses.

Do your employees complain about their protectors being heavy or uncomfortable? Remember, employees won’t wear uncomfortable protection. Comfort equals usage.

Have you experienced a recent increase in eye injuries? If so, in what time period? Did you make any changes in your program or products just prior to the increase?

Be a safety detective
All of these questions are designed to uncover the customer’s needs, so you can address them with the appropriate products.

A simple story makes a point about satisfying needs. I visited a company that used a substantial amount of faceshields. Their biggest problem was that they had to replace the shields at an alarming rate. The safety director couldn’t understand why, since he purchased the most expensive, therefore “best,” on the market.

I discovered that he was buying polycarbonate shields even though the company didn’t have much of a problem with impacts, which is one hazard polycarbonate material protects against. They also had no high-heat or chemical exposure, or any of the other problems that would warrant using polycarbonate. The shields also tended to show scratches and had to be thrown away often.

I quickly pointed out that they could use propionate shields instead, which would save them at least 25 to 30 percent in price. They also would last longer because propionate has better anti-scratch properties than polycarbonate.

The moral of the story: by asking a few questions to uncover the customer’s needs, I was able to make a better recommendation than my competitor.

Rick Beatty is a senior territory manager for Dalloz Safety, Reading, Penn.