Clayton has a post on his Salesopedia blog that references some recent survey results from their highly-visited site. One result jumps off the screen: What’s the toughest objection? Indifference …….. 64.7% Price …………….. 26.5% Timing …………… 8.8% Isn’t that the truth? We used to work for a sales trainer who always stressed that indifference is the worst outcome of a sales call. Salespeople know what to do with a yes (after writing that, I wondered if there are salespeople who don’t know what to do with a yes…), they know what to do with a no, but no one is certain of what to do with a maybe. As a… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Reminder-Be Valuable
This reminder is from the daily JustSell.com email: Harvard Business School Professor Emeritus Theodore Levitt once said, “People don’t want a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole.” The sales point: your prospect doesn’t want a product; she wants a solution. You need to listen to uncover your prospect’s hidden needs, and then sell your product as a solution. It’s not about what you’re selling – it’s about how what you’re selling can help the customer. Be valuable. And remember – a good salesperson walks away if he cannot truly help his prospect. That last sentence is difficult for many salespeople.
Continue ReadingOpen-Ended Questions
Asking the right questions is the backbone of successful selling. The reason they are so important is that the right questions qualify the right information. This information allows the salesperson to determine how good of a fit exists between the prospect’s needs and the salesperson’s solution. Simple, right? But what questions should the salesperson ask? JustSell.com has an excellent starting point where they list 30 open-ended questions. An example: qualifying What do you see as the next action steps? What is your timeline for implementing/ purchasing this type of service/ product? What other data points should we know before moving forward? What budget has been established for this? What are… Read More
Continue ReadingReasons You Are Not Selling
This article is from the Salesopedia website. The article is excellent and rather amusing to read (probably since I am guilty of many of the author’s items). For instance: If you’re a professional salesperson and you’re not selling, it could be because: • You are boring. Do customers cut you off in mid-sentence, or jump in when you pause for breath? Chances are, you’re boring them. Paint a vivid picture and put them in it; use an example or interesting case history to illustrate your point. Whip out some visuals to show them how much they will save. I love it. When is the last time your read something that… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Pain Of Change
We’re big fans of Jeff Thull here at The Hire Sense and we always try to keep up with his articles. This one from Inc.com – Three Keys to a Successful New Year – is well worth the read. Ok, we might be a bit late getting to this one since it’s theme is for the new year. I have always appreciated a doctor analogy for selling and I think Thull lays out a good example here: Like an experienced doctor who continually diagnoses for problems and recognizes symptoms, you see the issues your solutions address far more frequently than your customers do. You know the business drivers that your… Read More
Continue ReadingQualifying Is In The Questions
Successful selling is far more than being a smooth talker. It requires the ability to listen attentively and move within the conversation. This principle is discussed in a ManageSmarter.com commentary titled Build Sales Relationships: Consultative Questioning. The opening recollection of the author’s first sales position is excellent: I marched into orientation, ready to close like a champion. That’s when my real learning began. My manager opened training with a startling insight: “Want to be successful in sales? Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.” His approach contradicted everything I read: He stressed dialogue instead of dominance and questioning in place of presenting. And he always customized his approach based… Read More
Continue ReadingDeal-Killing CEOs
ManageSmarter.com offers an article I could have penned – The CEO as Salesperson. I can relate to this sales call: After initial introductions, the CEO took over the meeting and, ignoring the agenda, began a detailed demo and discussion of the product. He set about to demonstrate the superiority of the product and his own knowledge of the industry. He argued with the prospect, dismissed their questions and points of view, and then couldn’t understand why they didn’t buy immediately. It took the regional manager nine months to recover and get the sale. My experience with the CEO in a sales call most often followed a similar form with even… Read More
Continue ReadingSelling-You Can Always Get Better
ManageSmarter.com offers this article – If You Want to Improve, Train Your Brain – regarding the need for salespeople to have a broader skill set in today’s market. That is a trend we have seen over the past few years and one that is sure to expand. Ok, I know sports analogies can get tiresome, but I did appreciate the “subtitle” of this one (emphasis mine): “Selling is like golf: You will never be perfect but you can always get better,” Johnston explains. “Even the pros lose their swing at times, and it is good to get coaching when that happens.” You can always get better at selling – how… Read More
Continue ReadingBuckling Under A Price Discussion
Money is a difficult topic for many salespeople to handle with a prospect. Some salespeople buckle and collapse with large discounts while others simply avoid the topic as long as possible. As a sales manager, there are few things as uncomfortable as watching one of your salespeople crash and burn when qualifying money. Lee Salz offers a good article on Salesopedia covering this topic. Salz cuts right to the bone on why this topic is so critical: If you don’t believe you are providing a fair, competitive price for the solution, my question is why are you presenting it anyway? One would hope that you have integrity so why present… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Perfect Stall
Our local Pioneer Press offers an article about HD radio which intrigues me. There are some interesting developments in the technology. One of them is this: More important, the radios have an iTunes tagging feature, developed with Apple’s help and being tested in the San Francisco Bay area. This means users can press a button to tag songs they like, save that information to their docked iPods, and later transfer this info to their iTunes software on their computers. They then can buy the songs on Apple’s music store. That is a fantastic idea. However, I truly enjoyed this perfect stall that comes later in the article: “We’re definitely taking… Read More
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