10 Reminders to Succeed in Sales
A popular pollster
recently revealed a study that among the professions, insurance salespeople and
car salespeople are among the business professionals who failed in honesty and
ethical conduct in business. Actually, this ill reputation is not only for car
and insurance salespeople but to ALL salespeople. Bill Brooks of Brooks fame estimate that
more than 85 percent of customers have a negative view of salespeople.
Actually, this is not a
cause for alarm for us as sales professionals. You can prove them wrong if you
learn to develop the skills that will have your clients think differently about
the selling process. In reality, sales is one of the most rewarding tasks
you'll undertake as a business owner-but only if you follow these 10 laws:
Reminder #1: Keep your
mouth shut and your ears open. This is crucial in the first few minutes of any sales
interaction. Remember
- Don't talk about yourself.
- Don't talk about your products.
- Don't talk about your services.
- And above all, don't recite your sales pitch!
Obviously, you want to
introduce yourself. You want to tell your prospect your name and the purpose of
your visit (or phone call), but what you don't want to do is ramble on about
your product or service. After all, at this point, what could you possibly talk
about? You have no idea if what you're offering is of any use to your prospect.
Reminder #2: Sell with
questions, not answers.
Remember this: Nobody cares how great you are until they understand how great
you think they are.
Forget about trying to
"sell" your product and focus instead on why your prospect wants to
buy. To do this, you need to get fascinated with your prospect; you need to ask
questions (lots and lots of them) with no hidden agenda or ulterior motives.
Many years ago, I was
selling CDs at a music festival. Actually, it wasn't my job to sell the CDs-it
was my job to get the earphones on every person who walked by my booth!
I noticed right away that
whenever people sensed I was attempting to "sell" them a CD, their defenses
immediately went up and they did everything in their power to get as far away
from me as they could.
So instead, I made it my
job to introduce new music to anyone who wanted to put on the earphones. Once they
heard the music, they either liked it or they didn't. I didn't do any
"selling," and I made more money that week than any other CD hawkers
at the festival.
Back then, I didn't know
anything about sales, but I knew enough about human nature to understand that
sales resistance is an oxymoron: The act of selling creates the resistance!
Reminder #3: Pretend you're
on a first date with your prospect. Get curious about them. Ask about the products and services
they're already using. Are they happy? Is what they're using now too expensive,
not reliable enough, too slow? Find out what they really want. Remember, you're
not conducting an impersonal survey here, so don't ask questions just for the
sake of asking them. Instead, ask questions that will provide you with
information about what your customers really need.
When you learn what your
customers need and you stop trying to convince or persuade them to do something
they may not want to do, you'll find them trusting you as a valued advisor and
wanting to do more business with you as a result.
Reminder #4: Speak to your
prospect just as you speak to your family or friends. There's never any time that you should
switch into "sales mode" with ham-handed persuasion cliches and tag
lines. Affected speech patterns, exaggerated tones, and hypnotic sounding
"sales inductions" are never acceptable in today's professional
selling environments. Speak normally, (and of course, appropriately) just as
you would when you're around your friends and loved ones.
Reminder #5: Pay close
attention to what your prospect isn't saying. Is your prospect rushed? Does he or she
seem agitated or upset? If so, ask "Is this a good time to talk? If it's
not, perhaps we can meet another day." Most salespeople are so concerned
with what they're going to say next that they forget there's another human
being involved in the conversation.
Reminder #6: If you're
asked a question, answer it briefly and then move on. Remember: This isn't about you; it's
about whether you're right for them.
Reminder #7: Only after
you've correctly assessed the needs of your prospect do you mention anything
about what you're offering.
I knew a guy who pitched a mannequin! He was so stuck in his own automated,
habitual mode, he never bothered to notice that his prospect wasn't breathing.
Don't get caught in this trap. Know whom you're speaking with before figuring
out what it is you want to say.
Reminder #8: Refrain from
delivering a three-hour product seminar. Don't ramble on and on about things that have no bearing on
anything your prospect has said. Pick a handful of things you think could help
with your prospect's particular situation, and tell him or her about it. (And
if possible, reiterate the benefits in his own words, not yours.)
Reminder #9: Ask the
prospect if there are any barriers to them taking the next logical step. After having gone through the first
eight steps, you should have a good understanding of your prospect's needs in
relation to your product or service. Knowing this, and having established a
mutual feeling of trust and rapport, you're now ready to bridge the gap between
your prospect's needs and what it is you're offering. You're now ready for:
Reminder #10: Invite your
prospect to take some kind of action. This principle obliterates the need for any "closing
techniques" because the ball is placed on the prospect's court. A sales
close keeps the ball in your court and all the focus on you, the salesperson.
But you don't want the focus on you. You don't want the prospect to be reminded
that he or she is dealing with a "salesperson." You're not a
salesperson, you're a human being offering a particular product. And if you can
get your prospect to understand that, you're well on your way to becoming an
outstanding salesperson.
