Sell, Sell, Sell!

A “put off” is something a prospect says to “get rid of you”. To get you off the phone or out of his office. To end the meeting and move on with his/her day.

Examples:

• “Send me your brochure and I’ll get back to you”
• “Can you send me your basic price schedule to review?”
• “Let me talk it over with my team and I’ll get back to you”

Countless pages in sales books and hours in sales meetings have been spent addressing techniques for responding to put offs - to prevent yourself from being “put off”. A typical response might be “If I agree to send you my catalog, will you commit to talking with me for 15 minutes next Thursday morning?”.

How about using a Judo approach? Wiki defines Judo as “the principle of using one’s opponent’s strength against him and adapting well to changing circumstances. For example, if the attacker was to push against his opponent he would find his opponent stepping to the side and allowing his momentum to throw him forwards”

So, here we are spending considerable time and money developing online methods for our customers to obtain the information they need to make a purchase decision and to make the purchase itself.

And the customer just wants to end the conversation with the sales rep. Many times its just because there are other pressing matters that need attention.

So when the customer asks for your price list, how about directing him to the online sign up page on your website? Now their only a credit card number away from a purchase, rather than just waiting to receive something from you.

If you design your site to include other actions that a prospect can take prior to purchase, such as sign up for a webinar, subscribe to your newsletter or blog or view an online demo or presentation, these things become measurable steps in your sales process.

So, when the client gives you the brush off, you move him to the appropriate step in your process and agree on next steps.

Go through this exercise - write down the top “put offs” you hear from prospects. Then identify a corresponding piece of information or action you can direct the prospect toward on your site for each put off. Now you’ve got them going to the store in order to move on with their day.

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If you sell over the phone, you know that establishing trust and rapor over the phone can be a unique challenge.  When you’re not face to face, you don’t have the benefit of your winning smile, successful dress and empathetic facial expressions!

To get a prospect to share their “Pain” over the phone requires trust.  This article posted recently on Dig It! suggests a very simple, very effective approach.

This is the kind of thing we can all use every day!

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Typical sales people are not engineers.  They’re not detail oriented.  They’re right brained types, creative, impulsive and extroverted.

Sales people like to make things up as they go.  The take it as it comes environment is what attracts this type of person. 

This is a pretty common personality type among entrepreneurs too.  And so business owners, sales managers and the sales people they manage are all sort of winging it out there.

As with just about any other profession (notice I didn’t say discipline!) a little bit of accountability goes a long way.

In my experience as the President of a CRM provider, most businesses are looking to hold their sales people accountable in some way.  Its tough.  Sales people don’t respond well to that generally.  That’s why CRM implementations end in disappointment so often.

And yet, what sales person wouldn’t want to be better at what they do?  Higher commissions, more referrals, etc.

What I’ve found works effectively is to motivate sales people to begin a basic organization plan.  To make themselves more productive, save themselves time, free up hours each day for “more productive activities”.

I know, it seems overly simple and obvious.  But, business owners find it hard to focus on just simple organization.  They can’t help dreaming about all the wonderful things that a CRM can do for their business.  And so they skip to step 2 or 3 before they get the sales people organized.

Take for instance the simple technique of questioning a prospect for their “pain”.  Its a pretty simple concept to grasp in a sales meeting or while attending a seminar.  Its an entirely different thing to do it well with prospects.  We’re all trained from birth NOT to upset people, not to agitate them.  Going for pain is about making the prospect uncomfortable.

So to do it well, you have to self evaluate.  After the call is over, you have to ask yourself “Did I get a real pain? Was it deep enough? Emotional enough?”  But how many of us find self evaluation easy?  We’re usually not very objective.

Getting organized can make you better at getting pain from a prospect.

How?

First, selling any product or service involves finding out some minimal set of things from the prospect.   How many of these do you use each year?  Do you use small, medium or large? etc.

The prospect’s pain is usually described in terms of these things to some extent.

So the way to get better at digging for the prospects pain is to document which of these tidbits you’ve obtained from the prospect.  If you’ve gotten all the standard questions answered, the odds are you’ve gotten a good handle on where his “pain” comes from.

So, there it is.  Sales reps can improve themselves significantly by simply putting a few custom fields in a contact management system or CRM in which to record the answers to the core questions that describe the pain that your company solves for customers.

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Wow!  If you spend a few minutes surfing blogs on sales and internet marketing, you can get the feeling that sales people are dinosaurs…  Here’s an example posting.

Its easy to get a bit myopic and assume that we (those of us reading and writing blogs) represent the majority opinion.

Since beginning this blog, I’ve made it a point to ask customers and colleagues if they “blog”.  The answer is almost always no.

In a group of young people working for a technology company, only 1 out of 10 responded that they spend time reading or writing blogs.

At a networking group I participate in, I polled the group for blog participation and ended up having to explain what the heck a blog is in the first place.

And so, as we all write about the evolution of Internet marketing techniques that increasingly make the buying process a self-serve endevour, we see a trend that we’re a part of but, sometimes forget that its a trend that has yet to really grasp the mainstream consciousness.

The point here is that what’s written in blogs seems to represent our predictions for the future.  To a large degree, we are all preaching about Internet marketing and sales automation because we have an interest in helping businesses do it.

In the meantime, most businesses are out there doing it the old fashioned way.

What I find most challenging today is to find a sales person that is comfortable with the rate of change in the marketing and sales processes in businesses.  Most small and medium sized businesses are constantly tweaking their online marketing and purchase processes to try and get it right.

In the meantime, the sales rep can become numb to all of this.  They just try to go about their daily lives and ignore the latest new fad from the tech guys.

What I’d like to find are sales people that have been around and closed some deals but, are technology oriented enough to be comfortable with a few twists and turns in the process every now and then.  I’d really like the sales rep to bring me ideas.  They should be asking their customers - “how can I make it easier for you to do business with my company?”.

I think the challenge for sales people today is not to pack up your bags and admit its over for one to one contact… its to open your eyes to the trends and the technology and make it your ally, not your enemy.

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I read an article over the weekend describing a sales methodology, called “Buying Facilitation“, and going all the way back to Dale Carnegie as the root of the approach.

What struck me is that the 1980’s was quoted as the era of the introduction of “Consultative Selling”…

Its true that there was a boom in gurus and programs based upon the approach of asking questions instead of “pitching”.  However, the approach has been around literally forever.

The original sales gurus all got started in the very early 1900’s, when the industrial economy was exploding.  There were more and more businesses making more and more stuff and it all needed to be sold.

W. Clement Stone, Og Mandino and Dale Carnegie were all born within 15 or 20 years of each other at the turn of the century (1900…).  Wikipedia has a really cool quote engine that gives you a good take on each “master’s” wisdom - click these links to read - W. Clement Stone

If you read the works of these masters, you see that their principals were founded in religion.  In fact, when I read Og Mandino’s “The Greatest Salesman in the World” for the first time, it struck me as more spiritual than business related.

I wasn’t there but, it seems to me that these guys took good old fashioned Christian ethics and repackaged them for business people.

There is a parallel between industrial and technological growth and increasingly secular societal standards.  The 80’s were another period of economic growth and another opportunity for a new pack of gurus to break into the market with “new approaches”.  David Sandler, etc. are less “values” based and more mechanically oriented than Clement, Og and Dale but, the mechanics are the same.

So I wonder, when will this cycle repeat itself for the Web 2.0 world?

We’re driving customers to our web sites, offering them rich content for free, letting them find their own solutions and generally trying to make it easy for them to get what they want without having to talk with a sales rep.  How does “Do unto others” work on a web page?

Well, one could argue that the plethora of free online content is a step in this direction.  Information that used to have a cost, in either dollars or time invested, is no longer costly.  So, are we being charitable by making it so?  Well, not exactly.  We’re doing it because there’s something in it for us.  But, so were Og and Dale, etc.  They just found that doing the right thing was in their own best interest.

Maybe one answer is that focusing on the customers needs is even more valuable and important in a world where there is less human to human contact during the process.  So, if your sales team still has to get on the phone or meet with clients to close the deal, they should recognize that your customers find that experience increasingly unique.

Imagine yourself as the kind hearted pilgrim that comes across a lost and thirsty traveler and offers him the last of his water.  Your competition is focusing more and more time and money on the online experience, just as you are.  Your customers know it.

Put them on a pedestal and help them any way you can.  That will be such a rare experience that they’ll be compelled to do business with you.  And its just good karma anyway.

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I read a great article on Yoest the other day about a meeting with David Sandler. Funny thing is, when I met my first Sandler trainer, his approach was almost exactly the same…

I expected him to act like every other sales person I’d ever met and start “selling” me on his services and he didn’t. One of the first sentences out of his mouth was “So, why am I here?”. It put me off. Made me nervous. Made me start blabbing…

Later, “It doesn’t sound like you need me”… Wow! By the time it was over, I felt like I was begging him to do business with me!

As I first began to be trained in the Sandler approach, of course, this seemed totally counter-intuitive. As I warmed up to the concepts, I would try to put myself in the mind set of the super-cocky sales guy. Sort of “I’m too good for you. You better convince me that I need to waste my time with you…”

The approach is called the “Take Away” by Sandler trainers. When a prospect is hesitant to commit, take it away. The prospect usually responds by try to convince you not to “take it away”. The reason is that their hesitancy was based on their expectation that you as the sales rep are going to beg them for their business. When you refuse to play that game, you change the rules and you’re in control.

Its a tough thing to pull off in the beginning. It feels uncomfortable because you’re afraid to offend. Of course, the cocky sales guy attitude worsens that risk! I always felt that I was either being too blunt or beating around the bush to much.

Experience taught me that the right approach was to adopt the posture and “attitude” of someone who really cares. Just try to help the prospect. Make it clear to your prospect that you’re there to help them, whatever that means, even if it means they don’t buy anything from you. Just try to find an opportunity to help in any way possible. If its genuine, it establishes trust and respect. Then its easy to say, “What can I do to help?” or “I’m not sure how I can help?”, etc.

Kind of cool when just doing the right thing is the right thing all around!

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I was working with one of my sales reps yesterday on a sales opportunity.  Very common situation, very common mistake, very expensive!

The client is asking for custom work that we bill for by the hour.  So, we’re on the phone with the client and we’re estimating the potential cost for the custom work he’s requested. 

He’s giving us good signs… we throw out an estimated cost for something and he says things like “that’s reasonable”, etc.  We’re getting excited.  Its not everyday you meet a customer willing to skip the hemming and hawing about price.

Without promting from the client, the sales rep starts to talk about estimated costs in terms of ranges.  Bad idea!

What did the rep do wrong?

Effectively a ceiling was put on our billings to the client.  He’ll forever have the top of the range he was given in his mind as the “worst case” scenario in terms of his cost.

That’s a common situation and the mistake is subtle but, also common.

Its human nature to talk when your nervous or excited.  You fill the air with words when you’re juices are flowing and the client’s not talking.  I’m not sure I know how to fix that.  It happens to the best of us.

What I do know is that when you answer a question that has not been asked, you’re unnecessarily limiting the shape of the deal.  Your job as a sales person is to understand the picture the client has in their mind - what did they come into your “store” looking to buy?  How does your product or service fit that picture?  That’s what you want to tell the client.

If you tell them how you fit their picture based on your own assumptions, your forcing the client to buy what you think he wants, not what he’s looking for.

Let him retain the image in his mind unaltered.  Its what his heart and mind really wants to spend money on.

So, what do we have here?  A stand off?  Do we stare the client down and wait for him to “break” and start talking first? 

No, just ask questions.  Its that simple.  When your juices are flowing you may not be able to keep your mouth shut.  Just be sure that what comes out are questions.

How does that sound to you?

Is that what you’re looking for?

What else are you looking for?

To finish the story - later in the conversation, the client explained that he was currently spending money with a consultant to band aid his situation at a rate that would justify his spending 10x the highest amount my rep offered up.  We left a lot of money on the table.

More important, the cost “range” put our collective creative minds in a “box” in terms of potential solutions.  The solutions we or the client may have dreamed up outside of the box may have been 10x more valuable to the client’s business as compared to the cost.

Take some time the next time you’re stuck in traffic and rehearse 3 to 5 simple open ended questions you can ask next time you feel that uncomfortable silence.

Happy Selling!

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Happy Halloween!

Something you might enjoy on “the day of the dead”…

Most people have a pretty negative connotation about sales people. They think of their worst ever sales experience, perhaps on a used car lot…

The bad news is that lots of sales people perpetuate this myth and are intimidated by their prospects because they feel inferior.

That’s no way to live your life!

The good news is that you can separate yourself from your competition by changing the game. Break the stereotype and establish a relationship of mutual respect with your prospect. Your prospect immediately values his time with you more than he does with your competitors.

And, its not hard to do…

Here’s a cool graphic from the Sandler Sales Institute that explains the basics very simply. Just click on each “compartment” of the Sandler Submarine. Take particular note of the Pain and Fulfillment compartments.

The jist of it is that you focus on understanding your prospects real needs. Ask open ended, probing questions. Establish verbal “contracts” with the prospect. “If I can show you that we can address these ‘pains’, are you willing to place an order with me?”

Don’t start dog and pony shows or create proposals until there’s a good contract in place that guarantees you won’t get the brush off afterward.

Make your Halloween resolution to start treating your prospects like trusted friends you just want to help. Ask questions you normally would only ask friends and family. Get to know their professional and personal needs. Find ways to help them.

This way you don’t have to scare them with your impending event close!

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“You’ve got to hear 5 no’s to hear 1 yes.” is a common saying in the sales game. Its also held up as one of the most challenging aspects of sales. Some people just can’t handle that kind of rejection day in and day out…

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way!

The history of selling, which I’ll save for another post, is such that prospects and sales people are trained to follow a certain dance. Its one in which the prospect is “leading” and the sales rep is “following”. This puts the sales person at the mercy of the prospect’s whims and leads to lots of dissappointment and rejection.

So, how does a sales person take control of the dance and find success in a more fulfilling way? Well, its not as hard as you think…

Its really about knowing what makes someone need and want to pay for your product or service and making sure the prospects you invest your time in fit the bill. There are entire books and sales methodologies built around this concept - “Solution Selling”, “Find the Prospect’s Pain”, “Questioning Techniques” are all common phrases used within these methodologies.

More good news! You don’t really need to spend a week in sales training to get good at it!

Here’s a simple road map -

1. Write down 3 to 10 things you need to know about a prospect before you know if you’re likely to do business with them. Imagine that you’re talking with a life long friend and he says he knows someone who may need your product or service. In that comfortable setting, with no risk of offending anyone, what would you ask your friend about his friend to be sure its a fit?
2. Spend a little time working on scripting out ways to ask these questions that will be appropriate for your prospects. Keep it short, simple and to the point.
3. Create a call sheet where you can record the answers to these questions for each prospect you talk with. A simple spreadsheeet with each prospect listed on one row and the answers to your questions in columns will work. If you’re using a contact manager or CRM, create fields in the system for these answers.
4. Now, test the questions by trying to answer them for all the prospects that are already into your sales pipeline. Try to fill in the blanks when you have further questions with these prospects. You’ll find its uncomfortable if you’re asking the right questions because these questions are much easier to ask at the beginning of the relationship.
5. With every new prospect, take control up front using your questions. Take the role of the expert. When the prospect starts asking you the typical questions about your company and services, they’re taking over and you’re loosing control. Stop them by saying something like “Our product/service is designed specifically for certain types of companies/customers/etc. Let me breifly ask you a few questions to see if we’re likely to be a fit for you. If so, I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.” If handled properly, the prospect will see that this is in his best interests as he won’t be wasting his time if its not a fit.
6. Now, the hard part - when you hear answers you don’t want to hear, recognize that you have an opportunity to do yourself and the prospect a huge favor. You can save yourselves a lot of time by saying “based on what you’ve told me, I don’t think that our offering is going to fit your needs.” You may even want to point them to other solutions that do fit.

I know, this sounds totally counterintuitive. Just try it. You’ll find that you establish tremendous creditibility with the prospect and often, they’ll try to convince you that they DO need your product! …and that’s what we’re after!

Now you’re in control.

Now price won’t be such an issue.

Now you have more time to spend on the prospects that DO fit the bill!

To read more about this approach, try these articles on qualifying techniques other related topics.

If you’re having trouble making this concept work for you, you may be talking to the wrong people. More to come on finding the right prospects…

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Objectives -
Put the sales person in control of the process and focus time on prospects that are ready to close

Change the dynamics of the relationship - Customers expect the sales person to “chase” them and they take advantage of that fact.  They don’t return your calls because they know you’ll call again.  This Firing technique takes sales person out of that situation.

Get the prospect to return your call - Understand, we’re taking advantage of the fact that emotionally, your prospects derive a sense of importance and power from the fact that you’re chasing them.  They don’t want to be taken off your list.  That makes them feel less important.  If you “fire” them and they don’t call back, then they are telling you that they are not sufficiently interested/qualified for your services right now.  The best news is that many WILL call back and there will be a new relationship in place.  You’ll be in control!

Technique -

1. Decide on a series of steps that are the limit of outbound calling that are sufficient for most of your prospects.  For instance -
2. Call on day 1, leave message if not in
3. Call on day 2, don’t leave message
4. Send email on day 3
5. Call on day 5, leave message if not in
6. Call on day 6, leave message “firing the prospect” if not in.

All the steps can follow your normal “script” or approach.  The last one, where you “fire” them is the key.  For a look at a good system to manage this kind of calling campaign, click here.

So, when you make that last call, if you do not reach them, you leave a voice mail to this effect - “Bob, this is Bill with Maximum Potential, in the last couple of weeks, I’ve called and left a few voice mails and sent an email or two in order to discuss our Human Resource solutions with you.  Since you have not responded to my messages, I’m going to assume that improving employee retention and reducing hiring costs are not a priority for you at this time and I’m going to take you off of my calling list.  If I can be of service to you, just call 888-???-????.”

This last message in which you actually fire the customer, rely on two components, without which it won’t work:

• It must be firmly and clearly worded - they have to know you’re not going to call anymore.  The next move is theirs.
• You have to be sure you don’t want to call them anymore.  You loose credibility if you leave a message like this and then call them again in a few days.

When they do call back, stay in control.  Suggest a next step but, be sure to confirm that they’ll take your call when you call back - best of all, set an actual appointment.

Good selling!

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