The Salesperson’s Bill of Rights
This past week in the United States we celebrated our 240th Independence Day! We also celebrated our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and the free enterprise economy, all of which selling is an integral part. Therefore, we thought it would be a great idea to review the sales person’s Bill of Rights as well.
You have the right to a fair trial.
Customers and prospects often base their decisions on inaccurate or incomplete information. It is your job to make sure you fully understand how your solution is being judged, and to provide relevant information about all that you have to offer.
You have the right to be wrong.
Sales people are human and as such they make mistakes. It is unrealistic to think that salespeople can go through their careers not making any mistakes. The obligation for salespeople is to address their mistakes right away. Once you realize you have made one, fix it. If you canxt fix it, address it. Seek alternatives and let your customer know what you are doing to make it right as well as what you are doing to prevent the same thing from recurring.
You have the right not to know all the answers.
Let’s face it. Sometimes customers ask questions that we are simply unable to answer off the top of our heads. It’s fine not to know something as long as you gain a thorough understanding of what your customer is asking so that you can respond in a timely manner.
You have the right to be persistent.
If you make cold calls it takes an average of eight touches before a prospect will engage in a meaningful conversation with you. Most people quit after five. Stay persistent. If you donxt make cold calls and have a limited number of customers that buy from you on a continuing basis the number one reason they leave is due to perceived indifference. Don’t let this be a reason you customers leave. Stay consistent with your communication.
You have the right to ask tough questions.
One huge roadblock salespeople have with respect to asking questions is they don’t want to pry into a customer’s business. We submit that you not only have the right to ask questions but an obligation to ask questions. As a doctor should not prescribe medicine until a complete diagnosis has been performed. You have no right to present a solution until you completely understand the customer’s needs. The only way to accomplish that is by asking substantial questions.
Please be sure to keep you rights in mind as you sell. Remember that win-win may seem a bit cliché but it is still the fundamental reason that selling, and our economy works. Can you think of a right sales people have that we didn’t mention? Please share your thoughts with us. We’ll have five more rights for you in next month’s post.
Is Prospecting Relevant in 2016?
Many sales people can relate to this picture.
In 2016, some see prospecting as antiquated. Some believe prospecting for customers and sales opportunities has not progressed much further than the days of the safety helmet with a dim light to lead the way.
Well think again, because “there can be gold in them thar hills”, as they used to say in the old western movies. Why won’t sales people prospect? Why don’t they prospect well? Many times, it is a combination of factors: a lack of proper training, procrastination, poor time management, poor phone skills, the idea that prospecting is outdated and ineffective, or simply a lack of motivation to bring out the metaphorical pick axe and other sales tools to dig for opportunities. By the way, many great opportunities may lie just below the surface of your territory. So how can you improve your prospecting gravitas?
Set goals for finding more gold.
How can you begin to take a fresh aproach to prospecting? First, set a goal. Increase your contacts and your contact base by some number to generate additional appointments. Many of our customers have found that a ten percent increase of appointments results in significant revenue increases. Much more than ten percent by the way. However, as a sales person, you must set goals to make this happen. You must set SMART goals!
- Specific
Your goal should state exactly what you want to do. It should not be vague or ambiguous. What kind of prospects do you want to call? Where are they located? What are their markets? What are their positions in their companies? Be as specific as possible about the kind of customer you want to prospect.
- Measurable
Quantify it! How many prospecting calls do you plan to make each week? Write the number! How much time do you want to invest? Make an appointment with yourself on your calendar. Keep it!
- Action based
Do you plan to make phone calls, emails, social media posts, or on-site calls? Spell it all out. What exactly are you going to do?
- Realistic
Don’t over commit. Start with something small and manageable to begin. You will lose motivation quickly if you are unable to meet your goals.
- Time-oriented
When will you complete your goal? If you don’t have a deadline it’s not a goal. How many prospecting calls do you intend to make a day? A week, month or a quarter? Give yourself a deadline and stick to it.
Develop a plan. Pan for more gold.
A lot of prospecting is done via the phone. In prospecting, as in all sales situations, you must be prepared. You need to develop a plan of attack. Prior to making your calls, you must define and plan for certain key aspects. How do you generate interest with prospects? What questions should you ask to better qualify prospects in order to address their needs and determine a solution? This also holds true for email and social media.
Build a strong value-statement. You’ll hit pay dirt.
You need to develop a compelling value statement to make prospects want to engage you. This is a brief statement that identifies specific reasons why a prospect would want to do business with you. Script the statement. Practice saying the statement until it becomes natural to you. Believe in it. The more your statement differentiates you from the competition, the more likely you’ll get engagement or appointments.
Don’t be tempted by fool’s gold. Prepare for objections.
Prospects frequently have objections. You can improve your prospecting productivity if you practice your responses to the typical objections you receive. The best way to counter the objections is by asking questions. Ask questions that generate thought on the part of your customers. Ask original questions that your prospects don’t typically hear. Ask questions that help you acquire information to better determine how your product or service fits into the prospect’s sphere of influence. Then, most importantly, ask questions about their answers! Be interested first, then you will be interesting to your prospects.
Strike it rich.
Prospecting is one of the most challenging aspects of selling, however it can also be the most lucrative effort of your sales strategy. So update your prospecting skills. Get rid of the helmet and light mindset. A well applied effective prospecting strategy will make you rich!
Open For Business or Gone Fishin’? What does your booth say?
Trade shows are a big part of any company’s sales and marketing budget. Many companies participate in local, regional and national shows throughout the year. This adds up to numerous shows and big bucks. Such large sums of capital cause management to ask, “What are we getting in return for such large expenditures?” Sadly, many companies struggle to quantify the return on their trade show investment..
Even in 2016 with all of the information available online, serious customers still find trade shows indispensable. They are the best source for product information and one-stop-shopping. Trade shows are also a place to actively participate in relevant demos. Attendees visit, on average, 26 booths during a show. You need to make sure your booth is on their itinerary. Your booth has to convey that you are Open for Business, not Gone Fishin’.
In order to maximize your trade show investment, you’ll need to get down to basics. It is important to set goals and objectives that are measurable and achievable for each show. A few goals you may want to accomplish over last year’s performances are:
- Connect with a specific number of prospects or customers in total.
- Qualify a targeted number of people.
- Close more qualified prospects.
Certainly you may have other goals related to the number of new accounts developed or targeted accounts you may want to pursue. The most important overall goal should be to Close to the next step, whether that step is a meeting, an in-house demo, an RFQ/RFI and in some cases actually winning business!
In all situations, make no mistake, you are in the process of selling. Everyone who does booth duty must be able to develop and communicate a value statement that concisely tells the customer why your product or service is a unique solution with specific relevant benefits.
Your cost per qualified lead decreases and the odds of closing business increases, especially if you’re Open For Business at the show.
Hoping… Wishing… vs. Expecting Success in 2016?
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t’s highly likely that your goals for 2016 are directly related to your performance in 2015. If you had a good or great year in 2015, you’re probably looking to sustain that high level. If you had an average or poor year, you’re probably looking to improve or avoid 2015’s results.
What’s on your list right now that is part of your plan to accomplish your objective? Are you still formulating your plans? Maybe you know what you want to do, you haven’t allocated time to commit it to writing or share it with someone else. Studies done on the subject of goal accomplishment stress the point that commitment is the key to success. People who have in some tangible way (written or told someone) committed to their goals, on average, achieve more than 40% greater success than those who don’t.
Here’s a simple process:
- Decide what you want to accomplish.
- Determine what is required to accomplish your objective.
- Formulate a plan to execute your strategy.
- Act!
There’s a credit card company that asks “What’s in your wallet?” We’re asking you, “What’s in your tool bag?” Are you still working with the same tools you’ve always used? Another key component of every survey I’ve seen regarding attaining success emphasizes the importance of growing and stretching out of one’s comfort zone. Have you just one tool in your bag? Are you using it in every situation, or are you examining each situation and applying the right tools?
Here’s a saying that might have value for you: “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Come the end of 2016, how will it have gone for you? The headline for this tip mentions hoping and wishing versus expecting success; but, here’s another: how about earning your success? Find a way to grow and expand your tool box. Remember: hope is not a strategy.
Sales Concepts can help you add the tools you need to succeed that you may be missing as well as help you master the tools you already have.
What Picture Are You Painting For Your Customers?
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hen I started working in sales, I recall a conversation with a wise and experienced sales person where I asked the question, “What do you think sales is all about?” I remained quiet and listened to what he had to say. He explained sales is about painting word pictures, and salespeople are the artists. If your customers and prospects like the picture and see themselves succeeding, they will buy. At the time, I thought this idea was kind of silly and too simplistic. It was not what I expected from someone who had been selling for over 30 years. Now that I have decades of experience, I’ve come to understand just how wise he was.
The inspiration for this article came during one of our recent training programs. I was conducting practice sales calls with one of our attendees, and I remember losing my train of thought, because I had no interest in what the sales person was saying. He had not asked any questions. He behaved as if he already know what solution he was going to pitch without determining what I needed or wanted. The picture he painted was his own and not mine. Anyone who has looked at group photos knows firsthand that the most interesting photos are the ones that include themselves. After this call, I understood why my customer’s clients were not interested in what he offered. The word pictures were only of him. They all seemed to be the same and were delivered with little or no enthusiasm.
What word pictures are you painting? Are they yours or your customers? Are you painting your pictures with enthusiasm about customized solutions for each customer or prospect? Here are a few tips that we practice.
The next time you work with a prospect or customer by phone, email, or even voice mail, determine the behavior style of that person. Each customer or prospect has a behavior style (a way they like to conduct business) where he or she naturally resides. If we, as sales people, are going to meet the expectations of customers and prospects, we need to customize our delivery to meet their style. If we don’t, the picture we paint will not appeal to them.
Listen to your calls. As time passes, it becomes difficult to maintain the required level of enthusiasm needed to attract and keep customers. Sometimes we fall into a routine where our messages sound the same and we treat all of our customers the same. Be aware, while you may not notice this, your customers will. I recall a time when I replayed some of my voice mails and could easily understand why no one was returning my calls. I sounded the same in each message. Have people listen to you and ask them to give you genuine feedback. This helps you understand how others perceive you. Avoid routine. If you are bored, your prospects will be bored.
Practice on your coworkers. Make sales calls on the people with whom you work. Just as we do in our courses, record the calls. This is a powerful method of learning. Again, ask yourself about your delivery and word pictures. Are you convinced you would buy from yourself? If not, what should you change? If so, why? Are you approaching the sale with your contact in mind? Are you tailoring your method of delivery to the individual you are calling? If not, practice the ideas listed here, ask for suggestions, and you are always welcome attend one of our upcoming courses for professional guidance!
