Many of us in sales are taught to believe that the most important job of the salesperson is to ‘find the need’ of our prospects. If we can uncover ‘needs’ then our job is easy; we just need to show our prospect how our product or service fills that need. Right?
Well, the problem with that approach is that it only addresses part of the pie. Think about it. What do you do when YOU need something? Let’s say you need to buy a new computer; do you sit around and wait, hoping that a computer salesperson is going to call you? NO, of course not; you go out and you fulfill your need.
So, as a salesperson, if people really NEED your product or service they will pick up the phone and call you to place an order. If that’s the case, why aren’t you selling more??? Oh, you say, they’re buying from your competitor. Or, you might tell me, ‘Well, they just don’t KNOW that they need my product or service; my job is to ‘find the need’ and to ‘build their pain.’
Let me give you another way to think about this…suppose, just suppose for a moment, that instead of just focusing on ‘needs’ we broaden our thinking: as a salesperson you want to find out about what people DO. Your job is to find out and understand what they’re doing now, how they’re doing it, who they’re doing it with, when they’re doing, why they’re doing it that way, and then to help them do it better. Makes sense, right?
When you adopt the DO philosophy over the NEEDS philosophy, your thinking and the questioning will become much broader. By asking ‘do’ based questions you get better information from your prospects, which in turn allow you to make a proposal that will make much more sense to the prospect. And the only reason people buy something is because it makes sense to them.
By asking ‘do’ based question you are creating a conversation which engages your prospect. When performed at its best, selling is an extended conversation; it is not an interrogation by the salesperson, and neither is it a ‘product dump’ where you aim to tell your prospect anything and everything you can about your services.
What are some examples of ‘do’ based questions? Well, here are a few:
• ‘What are you currently doing about _______?’
• ‘I’m just curious, what made you decide to do it that way?’
• ‘How did you decide to do that?’
• ‘What are you hoping to accomplish in the next quarter, year, three years…?’
• ‘Tell me exactly what you do here?’ Or, ‘tell me what your key areas of responsibility are?’
• How was this decision made in the past?
• Will the decision process be the same this time around?
Take some time to make a list of questions that you can ask that are relevant to your business. Some of the questions may not seem to have a logical or direct tie to your product or service; that’s OK. In fact, that’s good! By focusing on what your prospects do and how they do it, you are opening up the whole dynamic of your sales call into a true conversation; one that will help you better understand the goals, objectives, and needs of your prospect. By broadening your conversation in this way you are then able to make the proposal or recommendation that will make sense to your prospect.
And, in the end, the only reason people buy something is because it makes sense!
Mark Dembo and Thomas J. Baskind are Managing Partners in DEI/Lexien of Greater New York, a sales performance improvement and management consulting company. They both have over 20 years of management and consulting experience in a variety of organizations. They invite you to visit their website, http://www.lexien.com/, and welcome your comments and inquiries.
In today’s competitive business world where consumers are being hit with literally hundreds of sales messages every day the hit and run or one shot sales approach doesn’t work. Because of the Internet consumers have more choices than ever before. Consumers today want more information. They want to be educated about your product or service. They want to be consulted not sold. You have to build a relationship to make the sale.
Before you can actively sell to someone, you first have to drop down or move up to his or her comfort zone. You can’t always get the sale with the first contact you have with the prospect. It’s often more practical to stair-step your way to get sales, much like a canal uses a series of sequentially and progressively raised locks that float a ship through it.
You should use a two-step approach to all your selling. You need to use non-threatening, big-promise, and lead-generating ways to induce your prospects to buy. For example, you could run an ad or a commercial offering a special demonstration or a free trial offer for something just for visiting your store or office. Or a simple, irresistible, introductory price on some extremely desirable product or service.
Two-stepping is a sales process that can be utilized in many different ways. In the purest sense, it is the process of generating leads and then converting them into sales. The first thing you do is run an ad, send out a letter, or an e-mail promoting your product or service to qualified prospects, and get them to respond in person, by phone, or by personally coming into your place of business. This process allows you to identify the people who are the most qualified and interested in your product or service.
Once you’ve identified your best prospects, then your selling process begins. They have an acknowledged interest. They’re saying they can use your product or service. They’re interested and want to know more about your product or service.
Now, you’ve got to cultivate and convert them into customers. You can do this in a number of ways. For example, if the prospect has contacted you by mail, telephone, or e-mail you could give them an extensive sales presentation over the phone followed up by a letter that reiterates the offer, answers all their questions, and attempts to close the sale.
If you have a Web site (and every business should), you could have them sign up for your free newsletter or consultation. This allows you to easily capture their name, address, phone number, and e-mail address so that you can follow up by telephone, letter, or e-mail and then add them to your prospect list.
In most of your marketing, two-steps are really multi-steps, because you generate and identify a qualified lead and then begin a process of continual nurturing that may entail a sequence of four, five, or even ten different follow-up events. These events could be an expansive call, followed by a letter, then another letter, and even another letter. This process is simply continuing to educate and build the relationship with your prospect.
Keep in mind, that the more expensive and complex the purchasing decision is, the more nurturing you will have to be, the more questions you will have to answer, the more powerful case you will have to make, and the more credibility you will have to establish. Most of the time it takes more than a simple one or two-step process. It’s a multiple step process.
Many businesses sell products or services at a very modest price just to qualify people. For example, some businesses will sell introductory quantities of a product just to get a prospect. That’s a good first step. The next step is building the relationship so that the business can get them to make a larger unit of purchase.
Two-step selling can be used in many different ways. For example, you could run ads to get people to come into your store which is the first step. The next step is selling them. You could send out letters to get people to contact your business for more information. You could hold free seminars, offer free lessons, or other training events, where you have an opportunity to qualify them as prospects. When the event is over, you can either offer them a special proposition, or you can offer to send them more information and continue to build the relationship.
Your company’s stability is very important when you’re trying to convert a prospect to purchase an expensive product or service. This is why many times multiple communications are actually a selling process, because it conveys and establishes your dependability, stability, and trustworthiness. It tells people you won’t simply “hit and run.” Studies show that many people will look for the stability in a company based on how it communicates with them over time. And they use this as an important criteria on whether to buy.
Your purpose in selling should always be to suggest first. By suggesting instead of selling you will be able to bring more qualified prospects to your business. Too many businesses try to slam-dunk or one-shot approach. This is out of your prospect’s perceived comfort zone. You need to test more compelling and less threatening offers as opposed to the one-shot, all-encompassing ones.
People don’t want to be threatened. They are uncomfortable being asked to commit to purchasing something they’re not sure they want or believe they can afford.
Always test different two-step offers. Call a prospect, follow up with a letter, then send out some informative materials and some educational offers. Then, follow up again with another call. It would be a good idea to let them sample your product or service with a guarantee that costs them very little. Ultimately you will win the prospect over to a higher-priced product or service.
Keep in mind, if you induce hundreds or even thousands of people to show an interest in your product or service or make an initial modest purchase, you’ll end up nurturing hundreds or even thousands of customers who will buy from you over and over again. Always try to achieve your sales goals by using a series of progressively more encompassing, small, and non-threatening steps. If you do, you’ll sell a lot more people more easily, and a lot more of your marketing will work for you.
Copyright© 2005 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many of America’s largest corporations, on the subjects of leadership, self-esteem, goals, achievement, and success psychology.
Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com
Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com
Use Textpad Program for Easy Ezine and Web Site Submissions To
Bring More Sales Judy Cullins ©2005 All Rights Reserved.
When you create your articles in TextPad format, something like
Notepad, but much more versatile, you will have them in 65
characters across wrapped, just the right format. Then, when you
are ready to submit your articles to web sites, you simply copy
and paste the parts of the article into the web site you want to
post on.
Use Textpad to format all of your email promotion, ezines, or
articles to high traffic ezines or Web sites. This shareware
program at www.textpad.com is free to use for some time, and you
can buy it later. It can put all of your articles or other
message into 65 characters across wrapped automatically.
Textpad formats my monthly ezine, “The BookCoach Says…” easily
to reach over 3500 subscribers. It also keeps track of my list
and when someone opts-in or opts-out, we use TextPad to locate
the name in the files to add or subtract. I like it because we
can send the ezine and articles straight from our office. To
submit your own ezines or well-edited articles to opt-in ezines
and Web sites, you will want this format unless you want HTML
format.
While Textpad has no format like bold, or italics, this one
program has helped me to produce and send out over 165 articles
and 95 tips to share with more than 100 ePublishers and 980 Web
sites (year one) and 21,000 (year four) with hyperlinks back to
my sites. This is why I am #1 on www.google.com and 25 other
search engines. You can have similar success.
Author’s Note: TextPad allows you to send all of your emails
including documents within the email, so your readers can open
and see all immediately. When people don’t have to download an
attachment, they are more likely to open your emails. Think of
the time saved. From using this format, hundreds of thousands of
targeted buyers eventually will come your way—to your Web
site, ezine, or to your email address.
We are all in sales. We all selling in every role we have. Whether you are in sales, marketing, home business, looking after your kids, dentist, athlete or whatever your chosen field is - you sell. When you are “selling an idea” or pitching a business proposal or offering a product or service - it is all selling. You can choose to avoid it or be good at it. Have you ever met natural sales people and admired them? Have you wondered how they do it? It is simple - you just need to be in the “know”.
Know your style - how do you like to work? Do you work with a team, do you work for a manager, or do you work alone? Determine how you work best or how you need to work, and design a sales process just for you.
Know your personality - are you outgoing? Are you shy? Are you confident? Are you reluctant to meet new people? If you are an extrovert sales may seem a bit easier to you but I believe that the introverts who are exceptional at building relationships with people, are some of the best sales people I know.
Know what energises you - do you work best inspired by others, do you like recognition, do you like to set goals and achieve them. However you like to work you can use this same formula to boost your sales. If you like recognition but work alone, you will need to find someone who you can share your sales achievements with.
Know how to network - this is one of the most important skills in any business. Learn how to network in opportunities that are suitable for your business. If you want to find out more on how to do this you can read my latest book with other master networkers called “Network or Perish”.
Know your commitment - how much time can you allocate to selling as part of your role. If you run a home based business or work for yourself, I imagine you would be “selling” constantly to educate others on what you do and generate your next project or income opportunity. If you work with a sales team you may be required to bring in monthly targets. Make a note of how much of your time you need to spend in a sales mindset.
Know your weekly sales target - if you are part of a sales team, this will be easy as managers provide you with monthly figures. If you don’t have this target - create it. Look at your annual income or targets you want to achieve, divide it by twelve for a monthly figure then simply divide it by four - easy - now you have your weekly target. Place this target somewhere you can see it each day to remind you of what you need to achieve. Take 10 minutes each week to review how you went against your sales goal.
Know your strike rate - if you have to make sales calls (either on the phone or in person) keep a track for two weeks to determine how many calls you made and how many translated into sales opportunities. Some of you may have products or services with long sales cycles (for example in some businesses the sales cycle can be several months) but you will get a feel for your success rate. You might find out of 10 appointments you have 5 turn into sales - your strike rate is 50%. Now you need to make 20 appointments to achieve 10 sales in a week.
Know your team - if you work alone, build a virtual team. Your virtual team might include accountant, personal assistant, bookkeeper, mentor, web designer - you get the idea. Know the talents of those around you and learn from them. Outsource expertise areas to allow you to focus on selling. Know whom your team is connected with and how they might benefit from your product or service. Know how they like to work and ensure your sales processes support that.
Know how to ask for the sale - so many people I observe forget to ask for the sale. Don’t be scared of asking people if they want to buy. Find language that suits your style and just ask. It could be as simple as “Would you like to proceed with this? If so, when should we deliver it for you?” - don’t forget to ask for the business.
Know why people buy from you - understand what needs your product fulfils in people’s lives. Do you sell services that make people feel better about themselves; do you sell products that make people’s lives easier? What reasons do people have for buying from you? You could conduct surveys or hold focus groups to ask your customers what they think. Once you know this information it will assist your marketing and sales efforts.
Know how to thank your customers for their business - find out what your customers enjoy i.e. outdoor activities, entertainment, cooking - what are their interests? When you thank them for their business include something that reflects this. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Simply send a thank you card with an article inside they would be interested in. This shows you know your customers well and you think of them after the sale has occurred. Whenever I speak or train a new female client I always send a box of flowers the following day to their office. This shows them I appreciate the opportunity to work with them and their team.
Know how to generate referrals for your business - a good way to do this is develop advocates for your product. Find people who are willing to promote you to their customers or provide testimonials for you - this is very powerful marketing tool and makes your sale process really easy!
Know “no” is not the end of the sale - some people say no to a sale because they have more questions or are not completely satisfied they require the product. Don’t let no be the final word. Have a series of questions or statements you can make to help fully understand why someone doesn’t buy from you. Don’t be put off by the word no - don’t take it personally.
Know how to negotiate - this skill is essential if you are serious about selling. Learn the skill, get some training or observe and expert and ask lots of questions. Negotiation is a key part of any sale - no matter how large or small - get good at it.
Know how to make your service tangible - if you sell a service i.e. coaching, image consultation or something that doesn’t have a product your client can touch or feel - make it tangible for them. Simple ways to do this include business cards, brochure, website, a free analysis or one hour consultation, a manual, testimonials from previous clients, a CD or book on your topic of expertise. There are many ways to make it tangible - get creative.
Know more than your competitors - we all have competitors. Understand how what you are offering is different or better than your competitors. Be able to explain the differences to your clients. Know what your competitors are also offering so you can provide an educated and balanced opinion about how your products are different.
Selling is a great skill - you can develop it or improve it - make the decision to boost your sales by applying these strategies to your business.
Neen is a Global Productivity Expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy - and where they focus their attention - Neen helps people to rocket-charge their productivity and performance. A dynamic speaker, author and corporate trainer, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice, sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Find out more at http://neenjames.com/
There are two main types of communication that take place in selling situations:
conflict and cooperation. Which type of communication you’re using will have a
profound impact on whether or not you get the sale.
Conflict takes place as the result of the vast majority of sales processes and
especially as the result of those taught in traditional sales training, which usually
goes as follows: The salesperson initiates the sales process through a cold call.
Because the prospect does not expect or anticipate the call, sales resistance
automatically exists and the salesperson is forced to overcome it. This is conflict.
When the first appointment takes place, the prospect again has his defenses up in
anticipation of a pushy sales pitch. As a result, frivolous objections are thrown out
that the salesperson must overcome. More conflict. At the end of the appointment,
the salesperson must secure a time for a second appointment in order to present a
proposal. The prospect says to call next week for a time, but the salesperson wants
to secure it now. Even more conflict. The second appointment takes place, the
proposal is presented, the salesperson asks for the order, and now the prospect
really has objections. Conflict. The salesperson works to overcome them and then
uses a sleazy technique such as the infamous alternate close to again ask for the
order. Conflict at its worst.
Now let’s take a look at a sale where the state of mind is not conflict but
cooperation:
The prospect learns of the salesperson’s offering through the salesperson’s
thoughtful, organized self-marketing plan. The prospect contacts the salesperson
and asks for a meeting, to which the salesperson of course agrees. Cooperation.
During the first appointment, the prospect willingly explains the need that exists
and the salesperson listens and takes down all pertinent information. They mutually
agree to a time to review a solution. Cooperation. The day for the proposal
appointment arrives and the prospect is excited to finally learn of a way to solve his
problem. The salesperson presents it and the prospect agrees that it looks great.
More cooperation. There is no need for the salesperson to engage in any ethically
questionable closing tactics because the prospect sees the value in the proposal and
simply buys. Cooperation at its finest.
Ask yourself, do your sales processes look more like the first or second example? If
you’re experiencing conflict instead of cooperation with your prospects, perhaps it’s
time for you to drop the old methods of prospecting and selling and learn a new
way that fosters goodwill and cooperation. The answer is self-marketing. Instead
of annoying people with cold calling and pushing them to buy with tacky closes, it
will induce qualified prospects to call you and simply agree to buy.
Frank Rumbauskas is the author of Cold Calling Is A Waste Of Time: Sales Success In
The Information Age and The Sales Mastery Program. His focus is on teaching
salespeople and sales organizations how to stop cold calling and replace it with
smart self-marketing that will bring in a steady supply of qualified, eager-to-buy
prospects. For more information please visit http://www.nevercoldcall.com.
Turn voice mails into a cold calling journey of discovery!
Most people who still use the traditional cold calling mindset look at voicemail as a dead end. They say to themselves, “Oh well, I may as well leave a message and hope he calls me back.”
This almost never happens, and we know it. But we’re often so relieved not to have to talk with someone, that we leave a message anyway. We avoid dealing with another person’s potential negative response to us and we avoid being challenged by the receptionist as well.
By the time the day is over, we might feel good because we’ve played the “numbers game” and made a lot of calls. But our productivity has been minimal. And over time that can make us feel frustrated by our experiences in cold calling.
With the new approach to cold calling, voicemail is an opportunity for discovery. It leads us beyond voicemail. Voice mail becomes a starting point for you begin the process of locating the person you’re trying to contact.
Our objective is not to pursue people to make a sale in this new way of cold calling. It is to uncover the truth of their situation and to be okay with the outcome, whether it’s a “yes” or a “no.”
So we can begin to feel more comfortable hitting “0″ when we get someone’s voicemail. Because we then have an opportunity to go back to the receptionist and begin a dialogue based on asking for help.
Here’s how the dialogue might go:
“Hi, maybe you can help me out for a second? I’m trying to get hold of Mike and I got his voicemail. Would you happen to know if he’s at lunch, or on vacation, or in a meeting by any chance?”
Here, you aren’t just asking to find Mike. And you’re also providing possible solutions to finding Mike. This helps the receptionist feel as if he or she is part of the problem-solving process.
The receptionist is likely to offer one of two responses. The first is, “Yes, he’s in a meeting (or at lunch or on vacation) and I’m not sure when he’ll be back at his desk.”
This answer has just given you a lot more information than you would have if you had just left a voicemail. Now you know your contact’s whereabouts in real time and you can call back at a more appropriate time.
The second response is, “No, I don’t know where he is.” In this case, you would reply, “That’s not a problem…” This low-key statement diffuses any possible pressure that the receptionist might be feeling about not being able to answer your question.
You can then continue with, “Would you happen to know anyone whose desk or office is near him or who works in his area who might know where he is?” Again, you’re offering another option for solving the problem. In many cases, the receptionist will then transfer you to a colleague of your contact who can help you determine his or her whereabouts.
The receptionist may also reply, “No, I don’t know anyone in his area.” You then say, “That’s not a problem…” and offer, “Would you happen to have a paging system or his cell phone number by any chance?”
If the receptionist replies, “Sorry, we don’t have those,” then at that point you can say, “Thank you very much. I really appreciate your help. And then hang up, and call back another time.
Does the idea of paging potential clients or calling them on their cell phone make your stomach clench up? Are you thinking that you can’t cold call people that way because they might reject you?
That fear is only to be expected if your agenda is to sell something to the person. In other words, if you’re still using the traditional sales mindset. But once you master the new cold calling perspective, you’ll feel comfortable calling anyone, any time, using any mode.
As long as you’re 100 percent focused on your potential client’s world, you’ll find that people will be receptive to you. You can easily navigate throughout an organization with the type of dialogue described above, because you’re asking for help in a relaxed manner and you never put anyone on the spot.
Suppose that your efforts to locate your contact in this way fail. At that point you can leave a voicemail, but it should always be your very last option. Here’s an example of an appropriate cold calling voicemail:
“Hi John, maybe you can help me out for a second? I’m not sure if you’re the right person or not, but I’m trying to reach the person responsible for reporting problems about unpaid invoices. My name is John Edwards, my number is…”
Try this way of approaching the situation of voice mails, and you’ll be surprised and pleased at how often it becomes a highway instead of a dead end.
Ari Galper, founder of Unlock The Cold Calling Game, makes cold calling painless and simple. Learn his cold calling secrets even the sales gurus don’t know. To receive your 10 free audio mini-lessons visit http://www.Unlock-The-Cold-Calling-Game.com
