Why Salespeople Don’t Close Every Sale

It is possible to close every sales opportunity, but it typically never happens.  Even when a salesperson does everything right, the buyer is still the one in control.  They have the ultimate and final word and because of that, sometimes a sale is not made that should have been closed.  Here are ten principles that will help every salesperson close more sales if the buyer is willing and possibly even close every sale.

1.     Selling is a process.  To be successful at selling you must realize that selling is a process and not just doing a lot of stuff.  The correct process should include: 

       a) identifying qualified prospects 

       b) building rapport 

       c) discovering the need 

       d) presenting your product or service as a solution to that need 

       e) resolving concerns and objections 

       f) closing the sale.

2.     All sales activity should fit within your personal philosophy and style.  You need to sell within yourself and your own beliefs.  It is true that you must follow the process, however, every person has his or her own style and personality.  Be true to your own style.  This is a form of social integrity that will make you more believable to your prospect.

3.     Develop a game plan for each sales opportunity.  Don’t just wing it.  Determine exactly what you believe will need to be done to successfully close the sale and then do it.  Every winning sports team follows a game plan and it is no different in selling.  Your game plan will include the specific ways in which you deal with each step of the sales process.

4.     Focus on the needs of the buyer.  Selling is not about you, your company or the product.  It is one hundred percent about the buyer and meeting his or her needs.  Place your attention on what is important to them and help them achieve it.

5.     Romance the sale.  Selling is very similar to the courting process.  Statistics have shown that the average person requires between five and seven contacts before they feel comfortable enough to buy from you.  Romance, romance and romance even more, to increase the reality of making the sale.

6.     Demonstrate the value of the product or service in meeting the specific needs of the prospect.  Show them how others have benefitted from the product.  Share testimonials of happy satisfied customers to support your claims.  Let your current and past customers sell your product or service for you.

7.     In your presentation and subsequent romance visits, create a dialogue with the prospect, discussing how your product will meet their specific needs.  When the two of you are discussing the features and benefits of your product in terms of meeting a specific need, they are more likely to draw the conclusion that your product will be the solution to their problem.

8.     Telling isn’t selling.  Find every opportunity to ask questions that will encourage the prospect to reveal the information that you might otherwise tell them.  Hearing themselves talk about the product and its benefits is more convincing than hearing the same thing from the mouth of a salesperson.

9.     Avoid asking the two most worthless questions in the world, which are: “Have you made up your mind yet?” and “Do you have any questions?”  You need to know the answers to these questions, but the best way to receive the answer is to share additional valuable information about your product.  As you discuss the information, the prospect will naturally share their progress in the decision making process.

Always ask for referrals.  Let a prospect know that referrals are the method you use to grow your business.  Ask them this question:  “If the time ever comes that you become a happy satisfied customer, would you be willing to give me referrals or introductions to people you know who could use my products or services?”

Establish Focus And Direction In Your Life

You have frequently heard the statement, “the shortest distance between any two points is a straight line.”  That statement is also true with regards to pursuing a career in sales.  The “straight line effect” is a function of establishing focus and direction in your life.  Focus is not the process of developing a one-track mind intent on doing just one thing at the expense of everything else in the shortest time possible.  Rather, focus is an undeviating coarse of action, over time, that will ultimately lead to the achievement of your objective.

Focus requires that you are traveling in the right direction to achieve your objective and once your direction has been established, focus will allow you to more narrowly define your course.  Focus becomes an unwavering beacon or sentinel to keep you on course amidst the many distractions of life.  An analysis of most people’s lives would indicate that they travel through life without direction doing those things that seem appropriate at the time.  They choose between events and opportunities that arise from their wanderings instead of determining a course of action ahead of time.  Instead of focusing on what they want to achieve in life, they are content to deal with the unguided events of a life without direction.  For these people, life is like a leaf blowing in the wind.  The leaf goes wherever the wind blows, without the ability to determine its own direction or fate. 

Salespeople have the ability to choose their own level of success by establishing direction and focus within their sales activities.  Daily effort focused on your anticipate results will allow you to experience regular progress toward your objectives.  Being busy and just doing “stuff” are only excuses for not applying a focused approach to the achievement of your dreams.  When you are focused, you are aware of the impact that time, activity and money have on reaching your goals.  When you are focused, you can look beyond distractions and obstacles that ensnare those without a definite purpose.

Here is a list of ten benefits of establishing focus in your sales career.

1.     You will bee firm and resolute in your actions.

2.     You will make correct choices and stick with them.

3.     You won’t waste motion and will align all your effort to reach your objectives.

4.     You will decide the type of lifestyle you want to live and then sell to make it happen.

5.     You won’t be misguided by random events.

6.     Your sales activities will become a means to an end.

7.     You’ll focus your activities on what you want to achieve and won’t alter your course of action.

8.     You’ll experience greater happiness in your day-to-day activities.

9.     You will find purpose in your life.

You will achieve more success than you ever thought possible.

For Salespeople, Christmas Should Be A Time Of Giving

There are many gifts you can give your prospects and clients at this time of year.  Here is a list of just a few:

1.     A listening ear

2.     Great Service, beyond expectation

3.     The perfect solution to their problem

4.     Time

5.     Knowledge

6.     A sincere compliment

7.     A referral

8.     Friendship

9.     A tangible gift, a token of your appreciation

10. A smile

Here is my gift to you.  Share it with everyone you meet during this special season.  I first read this story entitled “The Christmas Local”, told by Aleene Sanders in the December issue of the Amtrak magazine almost twenty-five years ago while traveling from Washington DC to New York City.

We never considered the wail of the old steam locomotive mournful, as I’ve heard some people say.  The passage of the trains behind our house was often the only contact we had with others for days at a time.  My brother and I were thrilled by the roaring engine, the clicking wheels and the shrill melodies of the whistle.  At the first sound we would rush out back to wave wildly to the crewmembers or even try to outrun the engine as it slowed for the dirt road crossing a quarter mile away.  We felt as though the trainmen were our friends, although we never got a chance to talk to them.  They often tossed us the funny papers from distant cities or bags of hard candy or black liquorice whips

It was a hard winter for us.  Dad’s little temporary job played out.  A bout of the flu left him weak and coughing for a month, unable to cut trees from across the tracks and split them into firewood.  Probably the hardest thing of all for him was breaking the news to us that there would be no Christmas gifts this year.  My brother and I took the news in stride.  We had discussed the possibility privately many times.

The day before Christmas dawned cold and frosty.  Mother had us stay in our warm beds until mid morning.  She then dressed quickly and went to our depleting woodpile.  When she returned, we could see tears on her face as she built the fire.  We stayed close to the stove all day to keep warm.  Nearing sundown we heard the Local Train whistling its return trip.  It was sounding short, sharp blasts so insistent that we all grabbed coats and hurried outside.  Looking down the tracks at the slowly approaching train, we saw an amazing sight!  The head brakeman was dancing on the high mound of coal on the tender car.  With each hopping step, he kicked off great lumps of precious fuel.  The black nuggets and chunks littered the right of way as far down the tracks as we could see.

The fireman leaned far out the window of the engine to drop down a big brown paper package carefully wrapped with heavy twine.  The rear brakeman jumped from the caboose and thrust a large cardboard box into Dad’s hands and then he and the conductor shouted “Merry Christmas”.  Excited and delighted, we helped our parents gather plenty of coal for the night, leaving the rest to be picked up by morning light.  Later that evening when we had warmed and settled a little, Dad took out his pocketknife and cut the cord on the box.  Apples, oranges, Christmas candy and nuts greeted our wondering gaze.  The brown paper bundle yielded a dear little sleepy-eyed baby doll, a toy truck, crayons, coloring books and a game of checkers.  Along with the toys was a scribbled note, “We noticed your woodpile was getting low.  Keep warm.  Merry Christmas!”

Later, while we happily clutched our unexpected gifts, Dad opened the Bible and read aloud the wonderful story of the first Christmas in Bethlehem.  Together we thanked God for the gift of the Savior and for the generous railroad men He had sent our way.

Am I Selling As Well As I Can

No one will ever reach perfection and the history of the world has clearly proven that point.  If you are one of those salespeople who believes they are doing their best and there is no room for improvement, your are just kidding yourself.  In reality, you have probably become complacent, lazy, delusional, bored, lost your focus, or become infinitely wealthy.  There is nothing you do that cannot be improved upon, even if the degree of improvement is insignificantly small.  Watching the Olympics is a lesson in the psychology of the human spirit.  There are no limits to one’s ability and every record is just waiting to broken, even if by only one thousandth of a second.

You can become better in every aspect of your sales process.  Have you ever made a consistent effort to improve your performance?  I see salespeople every day reaching new sales targets they never imagined possible.  Why, because they understand their sales process and then looked for areas of improvement.  Selling is simple in theory and yet complex in application because no two sales opportunities are exactly the same.  However, in its simplest form, selling is comprised of four main categories: Prospecting, Presenting, Romancing and Closing.  Within each of these broad catagories, every salesperson can find areas for improvement.  Here are just a few ideas to cause your mind to ponder ways you can sharpen your sales skills.

Prospecting:  Are you taking advantage of your bucket of happy satisfied customers?  They can provide three different types of opportunities.  First, you can find additional opportunities with them.  Second, you can ask for and receive referrals to other prospects.  Finally, you can ask for and receive a letter of recommendation that endorses you as a qualified supplier.

Presenting:  Are you assessing the true needs of the prospect before you begin to tell them about your product of service?  To begin to sell before you assess the needs of the prospect is like putting the cart before the horse.  Do you spend the majority of the time talking, or do you ask the questions that will cause the prospect to reveal their pain.  Salespeople should spend the majority of the time listening to the prospect.

Romancing:  This is a subtle way of following up with a specific purpose without offending and asking the two most worthless questions pertaining to sales, i.e. “Do you have any questions?” and “Have you made a decision yet?”  Romancing provides an opportunity to provide additional information necessary to make the sale.  It is also an excellent tool for building and strengthening the relationship.  Romancing affords you the opportunity to be with the prospect when they make their decision.

Closing:  Do you evaluate each sales opportunity whether it is won or lost?  Identifying those things done well in addition to recognizing those things that could have been done better will raise you to the next level of performance.  Closing the sale is a process and to be successful, you need to perfect your process and then follow it regularly.  If your sales closing ratio is not where it should be, discover areas of improvement and implement them.

Every salesperson can improve their performance and until you have become perfect, continue to evaluate, modify and refine your process.  Set achievement goals each month and challenge yourself to reach and exceed them.  You will never know how good you can possibly become until you make an effort to do just a little bit more each day.

Salespeople Need To Measure Their Performance

Establishing goals provides a measurement tool for your sales performance.  When you are held accountable to yourself or others for reporting your activities you will not just reach your goals, you will exceed them.  Thomas S. Monson is often quoted relating to performance.  He said, “When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.”  No statement could be more applicable to salespeople.

To be successful at selling you must establish a system of accountability.  Hold yourself accountable for performance on a daily and weekly basis.  Strive to increase your efforts from one day to the next and to improve your results each week.  By doing this you can take corrective action as well as reinforce your positive performance 52 times each year.  Common sales practices separate personal performance from accountability.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  There cannot be a separation of the principle assign & report.  They are one and the same – inseparable.  To set a sales goal without reporting on the performance is to imply that there is no value or importance to achieving the goal.  If you are not going to establish a pattern of reporting your performance, then don’t waste your time setting goals.  Reporting establishes the value and importance of the goal.  You can’t have one without the other.  The number one reason for lack of sales performance is due to setting goals without establishing a procedure for daily and weekly reporting.

Create a structure of accountability relating to your goals.  Discuss your accountability plan with your supervisor.  It is not good enough to just be accountable to yourself.  You might also consider involving family, friends, co-workers and anyone else you feel comfortable with discussing the steps and achievement of your goals.  You will find strength and courage when you involve others.  It requires courage to hold yourself accountable.  My favorite, yet simple definition of courage is “doing what you say you will do even when the emotions of the moment are past.”

Here are five benefits of measuring your performance through applying the principle of Assign & Report in your sales activities.

1. The importance of achieving your goal will be firmly fixed in your mind.
2. You will focus intently on doing those activities that will allow you to reach your goal.
3. Knowing that you will be reporting your performance will inspire you to not fail.  No one likes to report failure.
4. You will feel empowered through a heightened sense of achievement that comes from the power of sharing your success.
5. You will be driven to perform beyond your goals because it feels so good to communicate that increased success to others.

Remember, sales success is nothing more than the establishment, achievement and reporting the performance of worthwhile goals.  You will never achieve your true potential until you measure your performance through goal setting and then hold yourself accountable for your activities.  Applying the principle of Assign & Report will become one of the most important reasons for your increased sales success.

You Are The Face Of Your Product

Salespeople are the face of their products and services as well as the voice of their company.  You are possibly the first thing that the customer sees and the last thing they hear regarding your company and products.  Ask yourself this question, “Do my words and actions represent my products and company in a true and honest manner?”  Here are five ideas that will help you convey the right message.

1.     Dress Appropriately – Long before you ever open your mouth, the prospect is evaluating you.  They are making judgments concerning your product based on your personal appearance.  You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.  Fortunately or unfortunately, that first impression is often based on appearance.  Since you are the face of your products, spend the necessary time to package yourself in an appealing manner.  People judge a book by its cover and products by their packaging.  Wrap yourself appropriately to represent both product and company.

2.     Be Honest – Integrity in both your words and actions is far more important than you may imagine.  People are generally trusting in nature, but once scorned, you may never earn back the trust.  You bear the burden of truth and trust regarding your products, services and the company.  In a sense, you are an outward expression of every employee, of every product, of every asset and every image one might have relating to your company.  The buck stops here – with you – you are it!  Whatever you say or do or act is the company.  You can’t minimize your influence and neither will the customer.  Be true, factual and honest in all your dealings with your customers and prospects.  Every employee and family that depends on the sale of the products and services of the company would want you to represent them with honesty and integrity.

3.     Under Promise and Over Deliver – You have all heard someone talk about a great movie they have seen or a fabulous restaurant where they have eaten.  They talked it up to the point that you felt compelled to go and then based on all they said, you were under impressed with the result.  In the sales process you can create a similar over inflated expectation with an under inflated experience.  Leave some of the excitement for an unexpected surprise.  Allow the customer the opportunity to discover unexpected features and benefits.  When you deliver what the customer expects you are only doing your job.  When you provide something beyond their expectation you are a hero.  The world of sales needs more heroes.

4. Focus On Their Needs – Selling really isn’t about you, it is all about the customer.  People need to feel important and you can provide that opportunity through your words and actions.  When the customer feels good about you, they are subconsciously feeling positive about your company and products.  The very best way to create a favorable attitude with a customer is to focus your attention on them by helping them solve their problems.  After all, in their mind, they are the most important person in the entire world.  Treat them that way and they will reciprocate by accepting your product and company as the very best. 

5.  Become A Boy Scout Of Sales – The Boy Scout Law states that a Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.  I can’t think of any of those characteristics that wouldn’t apply to a salesperson.  You are the face and the voice of your company.  If you personally personified all of those traits, in the mind of your customers and contacts, you would represent the greatest company in the world, while providing the very best products and services available in the market place.  Work diligently to incorporate the twelve principles of the scout law into your sales culture and you will experience greater sales success through a loyal customer base.  I can’t think of a company that wouldn’t want to be represented by the face and voice of a boy scout.

Reciprocity, The Most Powerful Principle of Selling

The principle of reciprocity is basic to the foundation of sales relationships.  It is basic to all human relationships. This principle defines the human desire to want to give something back when something is received. This compelling need is strongest when something is given without the expectation of receiving something in return.  The strongest and longest lasting inter-personal relationships are based on the principle of reciprocity.

The “Golden Rule”, a basic principle of Christian theology and practiced by other religions and cultures throughout the world says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  This principle suggests doing something for someone else, something that you would like, regardless of what their actions may be.  Leonard T. Hobhouse, a liberal politician and professor at Oxford and London Universities in the late eighteenth century said, “Reciprocity is the vital principle of society”.  Richard Thurnwald, one of the most renowned social anthropologists of the modern era taught, “The principle of reciprocity is the basis on which the entire social and ethical life of civilization rests.”  The French sociologist, Marcel Mauss, in his short book entitled The Gift, stated, “Reciprocity is the human rock on which societies are built.”

What are you doing to incorporate this basic and powerful principle into your sales process?  Salespeople should always be looking for specific ways to incorporate this principle in their sales activities.  Doing something for someone else has a universal acceptance and will become one of the most powerful actions you will ever employ in your sales career.  One of my sales training and coaching clients, Jamie Earl with Holland Equipment, shared this experience with me. 

“I recently spoke with Tim, my Business Performance Group Sales Coach in our training session, about doing things for our customers that helps them out; in other words, giving something that benefits them.  I’m not just talking about taking them to lunch to benefit them by making their bellies full.  I mean doing something that honestly either makes their day easier or helps them with their business.  I recently had the opportunity to do this with one of my customers.” 

“I grew up in a farming and ranching community.   Well, as it turns out, I have a customer that runs a few cattle on the side.  He is the one that orders their “wear parts” and up to that point, he was cordial with me but was buying his edges elsewhere.  As it turned out, I happened to call him on the day he was going to do some branding and tagging, but he needed some help.  He couldn’t do it by himself and I offered to help him.  I spent about half a day with him out on the ranch with some of the other guys he works with and we had a lot of fun.  It was amazing what that little act of kindness turned into.  He has since been extremely happy to see me whenever I come into the shop and is willing to send any business he can my direction.  It hasn’t been a lot of business yet, but we have forged a friendship that I feel will last a lifetime.”  

Jamie
Holland Equipment 

This example is the perfect embodiment of the principle of reciprocity.  It doesn’t matter what you do to help someone, what matters is that you do it.  And when you do, they will reciprocate in some form or fashion.  At the heart of selling is the principle of helping others to achieve what they need.  When you succeed in helping them, they will respond by helping you achieve your objective, which is to earn an income.  When you apply this principle two things will happen.  First, you will experience greater personal satisfaction in your profession and second, you will be more financially successful.

Ten Things You Can Do To Sell Yourself

People buy from people they Believe, Like and Trust.  Even in a challenging economy, all things being equal, you would choose to purchase from the person with whom you had the best relationship.  Quite frankly, people buy based on relationships even when others are offering a lower price.  When you develop trust between yourself and the buyer and they know that they can count on you delivering the value they expect, they will buy from you.  It is truly amazing, the number of sales made as the result of social interaction.  A day on the golf course is worth days of prospecting.  Building relationships is the most effective method of creating long-term sales opportunities.  Now, if all these statements are true, and I honestly believe they are, you should be selling yourself long before you open your mouth to sell your products or services.

Here are ten things you can do to sell yourself, thus creating the most successful environment for sales.

1. Focus your attention on the other person.  Selling is all about the buyer and yet salespeople attempt to put the focus on themselves.  The buyer believes they are the most important person in the world and in the world of sales, they are.  Talk about them and their interests.  Listen intently and ask for their perspective.  Put them on stage and let them perform.  Give them the opportunity to shine.  As a salesperson, your time to shine will come with the closing of the sales.  This is their time to be in the limelight.
2. Make the other person feel important.  The best method of allowing someone to feel important is to provide for them an opportunity to talk about themselves.  Encourage them to talk about those things that are of interest to them.  Don’t upstage their performance.  There are many things you could say to put yourself in focus, don’t.  Listen, encourage and enjoy the excitement they have discovered in talking about themselves.
3. Learn something about the other person that you can sincerely relate to.  The key work here is sincere.  People have the ability to sense sincerity.  Don’t sabotage your success by coming across as phony.  When you have discovered something you can relate to, share your feelings without over shadowing the other person.
4. Be relaxed and have a sense of humor.  The inclusion of humor in personal interaction is a natural and extremely effective method of breaking down barriers.  Be yourself, natural, open and friendly.  There is a time to be more serious, but humor draws souls together.
5. Smile – Never underestimate the power of a smile.  Smiling is a human emotion that can break down even the most formidable social barriers.  In his book, How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling, Frank Bettger encouraged his readers to smile for thirty days to prove the powerful effect of a smile on sales performance.  It works!  Do it!
6. Be honest and genuine.  Honesty is the foundation of trust and people buy from those people they trust.  The world has too many salespeople who have abused the trust of others.  There is no long-term sales success without honesty.  If you can’t be honest, do yourself and the rest of us a favor and favor and get out of the sales profession.
7. Call people buy their first name.  The majority of all people prefer to be addressed on a first name basis.  If you are uneasy calling someone by their first name, ask for their permission.  You will be amazed at the positive responses you will receive.  Your first name is the most important sound in the whole world.  Use first names and feel the warmth and acceptance of others.
8. Create an atmosphere of caring.  This principle has been demonstrated in the advertising of a major greeting card company:  “When you care enough to send the very best.”  People are drawn to those who demonstrate a sense of caring.  When you truly care about a prospect and their situation as much as they do, you have raised your level of relationship.  Caring is felt and appreciated by everyone.
9. Never talk down to people.  This behavior is unacceptable and demeaning.  Accept people for who and what they are.  Treat them with respect as a person and for the title and responsibilities they bear.  Talking down to people is an attempt to elevate you at the expense of someone else.  In the process of building relationships, you should always strive to elevate others.
10. Look for ways to help others.  There is no stronger bond in the world than that created through helping others.  When we help someone, that act or deed does not just become a memory; its effect is burned into the soul.  As salespeople, your motto should be to find ways to help others achieve their objectives through the sales of your products and services.  If your products are not the solution, look for other ways to help them.

Effective Salespeople Speak FOUR Languages

Selling encompasses the art of communication.  The better you communicate, the more successful you will be in your sales career.  Communications is comprised of actions, words, appearance, sounds, moods, attitudes, voice, expressions and listening.  Another major aspect of communications involves personality.  There are thirty-two major personality traits that are simplified into four personality types.  To better understand and learn their significance to communications, they are typically categorized as red, yellow, white and blue.  Each of these colors represents a group of traits referred to as a personality type.  Each personality type communicates in its own unique language.  It is the understanding of and speaking the language of personality types that will significantly improve the success of a salesperson.

To simplify these four languages and to help develop your ability to speak them fluently, I’m going to refer to them by different names and suggest some recognition factors so you will know which language to speak.  For each personality type I will also give you some key points for communicating with them.

1.  Lion – Driver – Red: Recognition Factors

• Entrepreneurial Spirit, Sense of Urgency
• Independent & Decisive, Motivated & Persistent
• Concerned with Results, Takes Action
• Enjoys Challenges, Willing to take Risks
• Does not get bogged down with Details
• Very Demanding, Dominating, Controlling
• Lacks Diplomacy and Tact, Stubborn
• Keeps feelings and Emotions Private

How to Communicate with the Lion:

• Be Professional, Be on Time, Be Formal and Businesslike
• Be Direct, To the Point, Bottom Line, Don’t waste time
• Don’t sell relationships, Don’t be emotional
• Don’t tell them, make it their idea, don’t argue
• Be efficient and disciplined, Focus on time, money and results
• Don’t pressure them, Results are the only thing that matters

2.  Monkey – Expressive – Yellow: Recognition Factors

• Creative, Artistic, High Energy, Outgoing, Innovative
• Stimulating and Motivating, fun to work with
• Excellent communication skills, Personable
• Flexible on Rules and Regulations, disorganized
• Unrealistic, Impractical, Needs Direction
• Easily side tracked, Relies on hunches
• Opinionated without facts, Emotional

How to Communicate with the Monkey

• Be informal and personal, Focus on relationships
• Be entertaining and fast moving
• Get them to talk about themselves
• Use stories, examples and personal anecdotes
• Sell the sizzle not the steak, Use pictures
• Avoid criticism or high pressure
• They are impulsive, Keep it simple
• They buy when it feels right

3.  Owl – Analytical – White: Recognition Factors

• Hard Worker, Organized and Systematic
• Good at Follow through, planning and research
• Follows all the rules, Serious, Detail oriented
• Lacks enthusiasm, Overly Cautious, Lacks Urgency
• Poor communications and humor, Needs structure
• Greets you formally without enthusiasm
• Shows little emotion, Analyzes before speaking
• Takes lots of notes, Wants facts and figures
• Not programmed to make decisions

How To Communicate With The Owl

• Be formal and well organized, Be Prepared
• Place emphasis on actions not words, Be deliberate
• Don’t Rush, Allow them to ask questions
• Give detailed answers, Maintain arm’s length distance
• Keep humor to a minimum, Avoid idle conversation
• Avoid Physical Touch, Trust comes from respect
• Provide solid tangible factual evidence, No opinions
• Facts and figures are king, Don’t rush decisions

4.  Dog – Amiable – Blue: Recognition Factors

• Low-keyed, Likable and Caring, Good Team Member
• Loves Structure, Cooperative, Good Listener
• Makes Friends Easily, Mediator, Dependable
• Diplomatic, Tactful, Patient, Organized
• Excellent at creating processes and procedures
• Greets you warmly, Interested in you as a person
• Not a risk taker, Avoids conflict, Does not like change
• Easy going, Want to please, People oriented

How to communicate with the dog

• Will decide quickly whether to trust you
• Be casual and down to earth, Be sincere and honest
• Focus on them not your achievements
• Speak softly and slowly, Maintain good eye contact
• Ask question about them and family, Listen actively
• Give emotional support, Establish a personal relationship
• They will readily accept your opinion
• Don’t debate facts, figures or details
• They need personal assurances

Speaking the language of personality types could very easily become the most significant reason for your increased sales performance.  People like to deal with and associate with people like themselves.  As you communicate with others in their native personality language, you will discover greater insights, develop more relationships, uncover and solve more needs and sell more of your products and services than you ever imagined possible.  By the way, if our paths should ever cross, my native language is DOG.

Discovering The Common Denominator of Success

He had been brought up on the popular belief that the secret of success was hard work, but he had seen so many people work hard without succeeding and so many people succeed without working hard that he had become convinced that hard work was not the real secret even though in most cases it might be one of the requirements.  And so he set out on a voyage of discovery which carried him through the biographies of successful people and all sorts of dissertations on success until he finally reached the conclusion that the secret he was trying to discover lay not only in just what people did, but also in what made them do it.

The things that failures don't like to do are the very things that you and other human beings, including successful people, naturally don't like to do.  Have you have wondered why it seems that most successful people like to do the things that unsuccessful people don't like to do?  They don't!  So why do successful people do them?  Because they know that by doing the things they don't like to do, they can accomplish the things they want to achieve.  Successful people have developed a purpose strong enough to make them form the habit of doing things they don't like to do in order to accomplish their purpose.  Habits are paramount in understanding the common denominator of success.  Every single qualification for success is acquired through habit.  People form habits and habits form futures.  If you do not deliberately form good habits, then unconsciously you will form bad ones.  You are the product of your habits.

Resolutions or decision are worthless until you have formed the habit of making and keeping them.  As you focus your efforts on keeping your personal commitments each day, the time will come when you will wake up one morning a different person in a different world.  The resolution or decision has become a habit and the decision doesn't need to be made any more.  The reason for seeming like a different person living in a different world lies in the fact that for the first time in your life, you have become master of yourself, and master of your likes and dislikes through surrendering to your purpose.  In the final analysis, your future is not going to depend on economic conditions or outside influences or circumstances in which you have no control.  Your future is going to depend on the strength of your purpose in life.

Let me share the story of a young man who discovered this principle.  Bob had a definite purpose in life and it was definitely a sentimental and emotional purpose.  He wanted his son to go through college without having to work his way through as he had done.  He wanted to avoid for his little girl the hardships, which his own sister had to face in her childhood.  Bob wanted his wife and the mother of his children to enjoy the luxuries and comforts, and even the necessities, which had been denied his own mother.  To achieve this end, he was willing to commit to forming the habits of doing things he didn't like to do in order to accomplish his purpose.  Bob realized that the more he was willing to do for his wife and children, the more he could actually do for himself.  He had surrendered himself to his purpose and by so doing, was able to achieve his desires.

For as long as you live, don't ever forget that while you may succeed beyond your wildest dreams, you will never succeed beyond the purpose to which you are willing to surrender.  Furthermore, your surrender will not be complete until you have formed the habit of doing the things that failures don't like to do.

“The common denominator of success–the secret of success of every person who has ever been successful–lies in the fact that they formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do.”    

 –  Albert E. N. Gray

Enjoying The Fruits Of Sales Success

I’m in Hawaii this week with thirty-seven of my clients and staff, all of whom have earned a ten day luxury vacation because they reached their sales goals.  My clients generated $2.5 million dollars in new profit margin that represents about $10 million more in sales than they generated the year before.  For every dollar their employers spent on training, they got back $27 dollars in new profit margin.  Training should never be considered a cost, but rather an investment that will generate a great return.

We have spent the past several days on the beaches, and the mountains of Kauai having the time of our lives.  With several more days until we return, I’m just going to savor the rewards of a job well done.  At the same time, I’m going to ponder the reasons they are tasting the sweet joy found only through sales success.  I don’t measure success in terms of money earned, but rather, the true enjoyment found in using that money for those things that will provide joy and happiness.  All the hard work and focused effort during the past twelve months has been worth it.

Each salesperson with their spouse traveling with us this week has achieved greater success this past year through goals setting.  They have realized increased performance through daily planning and organization.  They have consistently and effectively used the hours of each day to proactively accomplish their own agenda instead of reactively dealing with the shallow demands of others.   They have prioritized their own activities, and tactfully assessed the needs and demands of customers and management.  These clients comprehend the four quadrants of time and work diligently to focus specifically on those things that are important but not urgent, giving them the peace of mind that quietly and firmly spells success.

These clients enjoying ten days in paradise, spent time each day and each week finding new opportunities.  They effectively assess prospect’s needs and present the very best solutions.  These salespeople know how to “romance the sale.”  They constantly provide materials that will help in the decision making process.  They understand the value in “being there” when the purchasing decision is made allowing their influence to become part of the decision making process.  These salespeople effectively monitor customer satisfaction and engage their “happy satisfied customers” in the referral process through introductions and letters of recommendation.  The sales training and coaching clients of The Business Performance Groups, who are enjoying the fruits of their labors while vacationing in Hawaii this week, are professionals in every sense of the word.  Their commission checks and life style are proof positive.

Here are just a few of the rewards enjoyed by our sales people in Kauai this week:  Gorgeous waterfalls, the majesty of Waimea Canyon, miles of pristine beaches, crystal clear turquoise water, surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving, Na Pali Coast at sunset, swinging from a rope and dropping into a deep pond at the base of Kipu Falls, hiking mountain trails to discover beautiful sights beyond description, soaking up rays on white sand beaches, cooling off with shave ice, savoring the juicy taste of an Hawaiian BBQ, breath taking sunsets and sunrises over the beautiful Pacific Ocean and the satisfaction of knowing that this fabulous vacation and many more in the future are the result of their skills and consistent sales effort.
 

Have I Ever Told You How Much I Love A Career In Sales?

I was reminiscing the other day about my sales career.  For the first twenty-five years I earned a very lucrative salary, which was complimented with annual performance bonuses, stock options and a generous travel budget.  When I started my own company, all of that changed and my compensation effectively became a commission.  The biggest concern with the change in my compensation plan came from my wife.  She wanted security and I wanted the freedom of an unlimited income.  She actually made the comment, “Why don’t you get a real job.”  I asked her what she meant by that, and her explanation was, “You know, when a company deposits money in our checking account every two weeks and we just know it will be there!”  

What she didn’t understand was that the security of an income rested with me and not the company.  Every day there are those companies that promise a salary, but go out of business or let salaried employees go.  Commissioned salespeople that really perform, on the other hand, are less likely to lose their jobs.  It has been many years since my wife verbalized her concerns about “real jobs” and commission income.  In fact, when she wants to purchase something outside of our regular household budget, she will say to me, “make another sale so we can purchase such and such.”  She really gets it.  Salespeople can have whatever they want; all they need to do is sell more.

This past week I have trained five workshops dealing with the principles and skills that make salespeople successful.  These are the very principles and skills that provide salespeople with an unlimited income, the skills that allow salespeople to enjoy the finer things of life.  These are the principles and skills that when applied, enable salespeople to have their best sales month ever.  Top sales performers enjoy an income that is in the top 5% of all wage earners.  In one of the workshops last week we had six sales people who achieved their best sales month ever!  Each of those salespeople sold more than 300% of their prior twelve-month average.  One of those people even had their territory cut in half and still managed to have his best month ever.

This week we will be traveling to Hawaii for ten days with thirty-seven of our clients and staff.  They have all earned a luxury vacation on the island of Kauai through achieving their sales goals for the past twelve months.  What have they done to enable them to reach their goals?  They have put into practice the principles and skills of selling.  Some of these principles and skills deal with time management, visualizing success, how to close the sale and ask for more, prospecting and referrals.  They have learned to use sales tools such as goal sheets, prospect data sheets, ten most wanted lists, bucket of happy satisfied customers and have determined what is humanly possible.  They have learned how to speak the language of personality types allowing them to communicate effectively and to sell to each of the four different personalities.  They don’t just know about personalities, they speak the language.  They have learned how to dress for sales success and how to diagnose needs and how to resolve concerns.  They know how to identify the four sales qualifiers and how to use their existing customers to facilitate closing more sales with their prospects.  These salespeople who will enjoy an all expense paid luxury vacation as a reward for their sales performance are all enjoying a significant increase in their income.  On average they have doubled their income.

Have I told you recently how much I love my career in sales?  You too can find greater joy in sales when you learn and apply the correct principles and skills.  Read, study, educate yourself and enjoy partaking of the fruits of the greatest and oldest profession in the world.

Time Management - An Essential Principle For Sales Success

Life, its all about time. Here are some truths about time that you might not have considered lately: There is never enough time. You can’t save time. You can’t stop, freeze, delay, slow it down, speed it up, or alter time in any way. You can’t make time. Time is money. The truth of the matter is this – there is only one thing in the entire world that you can do with time and that is to manage it. Learn to do it well.

For some people, time is too short. For others it moves too quickly. There are those who claim time just drags on day after day. I’ve heard some people complain that there is never enough time and we all know people who have too much time on their hands. I’ve made an interesting observation over the years. Successful people always have just enough time, but unsuccessful people never have enough time.

Time is a continuum. It exists and moves forward without the influence of man. We have absolutely no control over time; to quote the words of the song, Old Man River, “it just keeps moving along”. We talk about time in terms of time zones, time frames, time outs, good times, bad times, time to arrive and time to leave. Some familiar times are: time to get up, time to go to bed, time to go to work, time to eat, summer time, spring time, etc. Even the Bible talks about time in Ecclesiastes:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Successful people in all walks of life have learned how to manage their time. To be successful in the world of selling, you too, must learn how to manage your time. For those salespeople who don’t effectively manage their time, time will manage them. Time has no idea what you want to do with your time, so when you let time manage you, the results will be a disaster. Here are a few simple rules for managing your time.

1. Decide what you want to accomplish with your time.
2. Plan a specific time to do those things you have decided to accomplish.
3. Determine before you begin, how much time you are going to spend on each thing you have planned to accomplish with your time.
4. There will always be enough time if you manage it wisely and never enough time if you squander it.
5. Time doesn’t care what you do with it or how you use it. You can use it for value or waste.
6. Time is continually moving and if you don’t move with it will pass you by. Remember, time continues to move even when you don’t.
7. With time, there is no “time out.” For every second of your life, it is “time in.”
8. No one knows how much time they have until their time has come to an end. For those who use their time wisely, all the time they have is enough. For those who waste their time, their time is too short.
9. For those who live life successfully, by any definition, it can be said that they effectively managed their time.
10. In the entire world, there has never been, and never will be, a successful salesperson who didn’t effectively manage their time.

Successful salespeople manage their time consistently and daily. They have calculated the value of their time in both dollars as well as social value. Think of time as money or social activity falling from the sky. You can catch as much or as little as you chose. It is up to you. What are you willing to do with your time. Are you willing to learn and apply correct principles of management to get the most out of your time or will you just let it pass you by?

A Career In Sales Will Change Your Life

Forty-two years ago I decided I wanted to pursue a career in business.  Selling was not really on my radar.  My vision was putting deals together and making things happen.  I took business classes, accounting classes, advertising classes, management classes, marketing classes and even classes dealing with importing and exporting.  I enrolled in every class I could conceive of that would educate me in business.  Strangely though, I didn’t take any sales classes.  It has been a long time, but I don’t think there were any sales classes offered.  My career in business turned out to be a career that involved selling in addition to management and business.  A career in sales changed my life and it has changed the lives of countless millions of other people as well.  Let me tell you the stories of three people who either chose, or fell into a career in sales.  I have changed their names to protect their privacy, but the circumstances and details are real.

I met Bob for the first time when he was about twenty-four years old.  He had enrolled in a community college to study business and prior to enrolling in college had worked construction.  Bob was recently married and after taking a break from his studies, accepted a sales job that paid $12 per hour or about $25,000 per year.  Like most salespeople, Bob had no sales training, but he was good with people and tried to do what he thought was best in bringing sales to the company.  After Bob’s first year of selling, I started to teach and train him in the principles and skills of salesmanship.  In Bob’s second year of sales he earned a commission of $48,000. Bob continued to study, learn and apply his skills and in his third year he earned $92,000.  Bob had a great fourth year in the sales arena with an income of $184,000.  He has truly enjoyed the fruits of his labors and has provided for his family admirably.  There are very few young men, twenty- eight years of age making that kind of income.  A career in sales has changed Bob’s life forever.

Let me tell you about Sally.  Her story is an emotional one for me, one that could only have come about through a career in sales.  Sally was a single parent, raising three children and struggling to put food on the table when I first met her.  Her life and that of her family was one of constant challenges and a feeling just accepting the bad situation that life had dealt her.  Many people assisted her and at the same time pitied her and suggested that she would never rise above he dismal situation.  Last year as Sally applied the new skills she was learning as part of her sales training program, she achieved a benchmark that others said she would never reach and one the she never thought possible.  Sally earned more that $50,000.  This month she will earn more than $10,000 and should have a total income in excess of $75,000 for the year.  With tears in her eyes she confided with me that she was now in a position to reach out and help others financially.  Only a career in sales has the ability to change a person’s financial situation as dramatically as Sally’s.

Mike had lived a challenging life, complicated by some of the demons of addiction.  His employment, family, and self-esteem were all affected.  At one point he was homeless, family-less and penniless.  He eventually found the personal strength and the support of others to piece his life together.  He found a sales job, conquered his demons, reached out to his children and discovered happiness again in his life.  After working with Mike and helping him perfect his natural ability through establishing certain skills and procedures, he more than tripled his income.  In just a few short years, a career in sales allowed Mike to pull himself from nothing, to a stable and happy life with an annual income in the mid six figures.  One of my favorite expressions comes from Don King, the famous boxing promoter.  He would often say, “Only in America”.  To Mike, I would like to say, “Only in America and only through a career is sales.”

 To all of you looking to improve your financial and career situations let me say this:  Anyone can enjoy the same success shared by Bob, Sally and Mike.  A career in sales provides greater potential with less risk than most any other opportunity.  Selling isn’t easy, but if you will work hard, smart and receive the proper training, there is no limit to what you can achieve financially in a relatively short period of time.

The Power Of A Personal Performance Interview

Several years ago during the early days of my professional sales career, I was exposed to what I believed at the time, to be a very novel and progressive aspect of employee management.  As part of a very formal management activity, I met with my direct supervisor in an annual goal setting and performance evaluation.  The tool was an official booklet that provided an outline for the establishment of goals for the coming year.  It also included a template for the reporting of the prior years performance, bench marked against the goals that were established for that year.

As I participated in my first annual performance evaluation, I marveled at the ultimate power and simplicity of the process.  Imagine, actually setting goals and performance targets and then being held accountable for the results!  How truly profound this principle was and yet, so easily implemented.  There was no guesswork to the expectations of my performance.  It was clearly defined and written so I knew, as well as management, the expectation of my performance.  I was held accountable for a very specific result and would sit in front of my supervisor in twelve months time and report my achievements.

I was very familiar with the concept of accountability.  When I was in my youth, my father would give me a list of jobs to be completed in our yard the beginning of each week, and each evening when he returned home from work, I would report on my progress and accomplishments.  I tried to never disappoint him and to live up to his expectations.  I honestly believe that my father planted weeds just to provide work for me.  Then there was the three hundred foot driveway that required shoveling after each snowstorm in order to drive the car up the hill to the house.  I believe the driveway was strategically engineered just to teach me how to work.  Every year at the beginning of the winter season I was ceremoniously presented a brand new snow shovel to replace the one that was totally warn out by the end of the previous snow season.  There was a standing winter rule at our house:  the family car was never to be parked on the street at the bottom of the driveway.

Accountability is the discipline of setting goals and then reporting progress on those goals.  Assign and report is a principle so profound and powerful, that very little in this world would be achieved without its application.  And yet, the principle is only half applied at best, by most companies and managers.  Accountability is simple and yet basic in concept, but formidable in application.  Let me explain how this principle has been taught and applied with all of our clients at The Business Performance Group.

1.  At the beginning of our sales training and coaching program we set goals with each client.  The goal setting is a collaborative effort between the business owner or sales executive, the salesperson and the sales coach.

2.  All goals are broken down into monthly and then weekly increments.

3.  Each week the sales coach, working closely with each salesperson, determines the expectation for the coming week and then gives the salesperson the opportunity to report on their performance for the prior week.  Fifty-two times each year the salesperson has a performance target and fifty-two times each year the salesperson reports their performance.

4.  Each week the sales coach teaches and trains the salesperson how to apply the specific principles and skills necessary to achieve the goals for the week.

5.  In addition to reporting their performance against the weekly goals, each salesperson is asked the following four questions designed to keep themselves focused on achievement:

a.  What did you do well this past week relating to your sales activities? 

b.  What could you have done better in pursuit of your sales goals? 

c.  What single activity do you want to focus on this coming week for improvement? 

d.  What will you need to do to implement the planned improvement?

At the beginning of my sales career I was impressed with the power of an annual performance review.  The skills of goal setting and regular accountability were principles that I had learned in my youth, but had not previously considered pertinent to sales achievement.  I have since discovered the concept of “assign and report” to be so profound and basic to success, that I can truly say that to not apply the principle in your business, puts you squarely on the road to failure.  In my youth I was taught the discipline of assign and report and in my business I apply its powerful application fifty-two times each year with the salespeople I train.  I challenge you to do the same.

Six-Step Process For Receiving Sales Referrals

The very best next source for new sales is with an existing customer.  That existing customer can also produce the second best source of new sales and that is through referrals.  A referral from a happy, satisfied customer will keep you from consuming large amounts of time making cold calls.  Cold calls can produce sales, but not at the same time and effort ratio of referrals.  I have listed below, the six-step referral process we teach all of our clients at The Business Performance Group.  It takes time, requires precision, and cannot be short cut if you are going to use it to your ultimate sales success.  Every aspect of this system works in concert with every other step of the process.  Use this system with my blessing to achieve your ultimate sales success.

Step 1:  Make a written list of every happy and satisfied customer you have ever sold to.  Visit with each one of them either in person or on the phone and ask them if they would be willing to help you.  Explain that the way you make your income and support your family is by selling products and services to companies like theirs.  Explain the way you grow your sales is through a referral system, and that all of your satisfied customers participate in the system.

Step 2:  Explain that the system is simple, non-threatening and very successful.  It is based on sending a letter to the people they will refer to you.  This letter will introduce you, your company and products to them.  It will be brief, only a couple of paragraphs.  In your letter, you will ask for a few minutes of their time and mention that you will call to schedule an appointment within a couple of days.  (If they are local, schedule a personal visit.  If they are out of the area, tell them you will schedule a convenient time to talk on the phone.)

Step 3:  At the bottom of your letter of introduction will be a short note from your satisfied customer recommending you to them.  You will write the note of recommendation and show it to your satisfied customer and ask them if they like it.  If not, have them make changes.  An example of the note might say something like this:

Bob,
I have been working with (your name) for some time.  He has provided us with excellent products and service.  He has been a real joy to work with and has benefited our company greatly.  When (your name) calls, do yourself and me a favor and schedule a few minutes to meet with him.  It will be one of the most profitable meetings you will have had in some time.
Personal regards,
(Referrer’s name)

Step 4: Ask your satisfied customer for the names of five people they know personally, who might have need for the products and services you sell.  These people need to be in a position of authority to make a purchasing decision, or at least influence the decision.

Step 5:  Make a list of referrals, with their name, title, company, phone number, address, and email address.  Send the introduction letter and follow up within a couple of days of the time you believe they will receive it.  If you let too much time go by without following up with a phone call, your success will drop off dramatically.

Step 6:  When you meet with, or present your products and services to the new prospect that has been referred to you using this system, mention to them that the way they were referred to you is part of a system.  Tell them the system is very successful, and is the process you use to grow your book of business.  Ask the new prospect if they would be willing to give you referrals if and when they become a satisfied customer.  They will typically say yes.  Don’t bring the subject up again until they become a satisfied customer.  When that time comes, remind them of their prior commitment and ask for five referrals and start the process all over again.

If you are disciplined using this system, within a few months it will become your most effective source of new customers and your sales will have improved significantly.

The Ten Steps Of Successful Goal Setting

Setting a goal is easy. Anyone can decide they want to do something and set a goal. However, all goals are not the same, and most goals are never achieved. When it comes to goals and achievement, most salespeople don’t correctly use this powerful principle to their advantage. Let me take a few moments and outline ten basic steps of goal setting. The proper application of this principle will dramatically improve your sales success.

Step #1: Choose goals that excite you. Nothing is so motivating as a goal that unleashes passion. Too often salespeople take a passive approach to goal setting and find themselves pursuing goals that they don’t really care about. Once you have selected your goal find a picture. We are all visual and nothing is so convincing as a picture. Psychologists tell us that a picture is worth a thousand words. Find a picture that represents the achievement of your goal and look at it daily.

Step #2: Determine if the goal you have selected is one that is of value to you and your personal success. Review the positive aspects of achieving your goal and then evaluate the negative aspects of reaching your goal. Then take the opposite view and review the positive aspects of not pursuing that goal and then evaluate the negative aspects of not achieving the goal. You want to make sure that the goal has value before you commit time and effort towards its achievement.

Step #3: Once you have determined that the goal is in harmony with your objectives and you are committed to the time and effort to achieve it, write a positive, present tense affirmation relating to the achievement of the goal. Write down the names of those people that inspire you and would be proud of your achievement. Write down the names of a few people that might not believe you could reach your goal and focus on proving them wrong. Finally, tell those that you are close to about your goal and give them periodic updates on your progress.

Step #4: Without a “time frame” for completion, a goal is just a wish. Determine a realistic completion date and work towards completing the goal by that date. Remember, Someday is not a real day. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc, but never Someday. Someday is another word for never.

Step #5: Goals must be achievable, realistic and challenging. It is far better to aim a little bit lower and achieve the goal than to aim too high and fall short, even if in both cases the same result is achieved. In the first case you were successful. In the latter, you failed even though the results were the same. Don’t program your mind for failure. Once the goal has been achieved, set a super goal. A super goal represents that “little bit more” you can achieve after having reached your goal.

Step #6: Lack of determining the steps necessary to achieve a goal is the major reason for failure. You have all heard that the way you eat an elephant is one bite at a time. The same is true with achieving goals. Once you have determined your goal, break it into small steps. Give each step a time frame and then move forward one step at a time until you have achieved your goal.

Step #7: Just because you have set a goal doesn’t mean you are capable of achieving it without the proper training or education. Make learning and training part of the goal achievement process. Consult those who have previously accomplished your goal or something similar. Take advantage of the knowledge and wisdom of others to achieve your goals.

Step #8: Plan time each day for the achievement of your goals. Too often people become so focused on the day-to-day urgencies associated with their employment that they forget to plan time to accomplish the specific steps of their goals. Without proper daily planning you will never find the time to reach your goals.

Step #9: Create a structure of accountability relating to your goal. It is not good enough to just be accountable to yourself. Involve family, friends, co-workers and anyone else you feel comfortable with in the steps and achievement of your goals. You will find strength and courage when you involve others. A definition of courage is “doing what you say you will do even when the emotions of the moment are past.”

Step #10: Goals are achieved mentally before they are ever achieved physically. The world of sports is a very good analogy for winning first in your mind and then on the field of play. Envision yourself achieving your goal and then your physical actions will follow. In the Law of Success, Napoleon Hill’s first book, he describes the insight he gained from his research into the power of goal setting. He said, “Any definite chief aim that is deliberately fixed in the mind and held there with determination to realize it, finally saturates the entire subconscious mind until it automatically influences the physical action of the body toward the attainment of the purpose”.

People Don't Buy If They Have Unresolved Concerns

Some salespeople talk fast.  Others never stop talking.  Still, there are those who talk fast and never stop talking.  There is an ill founded notion that if you talk fast and talk longer, that you will discourage others from asking questions or bringing up issues you would rather not discuss.  Then there are those salespeople who will conclude their presentation without asking for questions, believing that if they can avoid the appearance of a concern, then there must not be any.  
 

There is no victory in avoiding questions or ignoring a prospect’s concerns.  If a sale is to be made, concerns must be resolved.  We all heard the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi proclaim, in regards to the new national health care bill, “We must pass it so we know what is in it.”  For most Americans, that comment fell short of answering their concerns.  In fact, the majority of Americans were offended because Government would buy a product with unresolved concerns and the people would not.  Concerns must be resolved or the prospect will not buy and if for some reason they do, they will want their concerns resolved after the sale or they will end up dissatisfied and will either return the product or share their negative feelings with everyone they meet.

Here are two very effective methods for revealing the prospects true concerns and then resolving them:

1.     Ask for the prospects buy-in with every point you make during your presentation.  As you describe a feature or benefit, ask the prospect for their opinion.  Ask them to describe the value of each point that you present.  Ask them to share their perspective relating to the values and benefits to their situation.  When you ask for their perspective you will know if your solution is on the right track and you will be receiving their approval or disapproval as you move forward in your presentation.  Through effective questioning during your presentation you will draw out their hot points, their concerns and their objections.  You will be in the “driver’s seat” allowing you to determine the final direction of your presentation. 

Remember this key principle:  The presentation you make to any prospect is the solution to their needs, wants and desires which were discovered in the assessment phase of your presentation.  Always present your product or service as a specific solution to a need.  Presenting a product or service without focusing on a specific need is a waste of your time and theirs.  The typical parting response to that type of a presentation sounds like this.  “Well, thanks for your time, I’ll contact you if I ever have a need for your product.”  And you would probably say, “Thanks for your time and I’ll be in touch.”  This is pure wasted time and effort added to a stagnant bucket of hopeless opportunities.

2.     When you complete your presentation which, as I previously mentioned is a solution to a need, want or desire that the prospect has revealed to you, ask them to share with you any concerns they have with your solution to their problem.  Encourage them by suggesting concerns you have heard from others, or by bringing up points that typically are more difficult to understand.  Once they raise a concern, place it on a “mental shelf” in your mind and ask the question, “besides that, is there anything else?”  Keep asking for other concerns until the prospect finally suggests that they don’t have any other concerns or objections.  Having placed each concern on a mental shelf in your mind, you can now reach up, pull each one down individually and go to work resolving their concerns.  (By-the-way, the last concern they mention is probably the one of most importance to them).  As you resolve each concern, move on to the next.

An important element of resolving the prospect’s concerns is developing a dialogue with them.  They express their concerns and then you discuss a resolution.  As the dialogue develops you both gain greater insight into each other’s needs and solutions.  You become comfortable discussing a broad spectrum of possible solutions and you gain greater insight into the prospects situation as they come to appreciate your depth and breadth of understanding.  The prospect will respect your perspectives and you will have empathy for their position.  This is the nature of true salesmanship. 

When you avoid concerns, you are literally avoiding the opportunity of make a sale.  Practice these two methods of revealing and resolving a prospect’s concerns and watch your closing ration improve and your sales success soar.