“Ask, and you shall receive”, a biblical principal that offers some of the best sales advice for beginning salespeople and experienced sales professionals alike. The best sales presentation imaginable generally will not yield the desired results unless the salesperson asks for the business.
Is this advice just for persons who make their living offering products and services to others for a commission? Yes, of course, but it is actually for all of us. After all, everybody sells! Surprised? Everybody does sell, although many people may not realize it at the time or think of themselves as salespeople. We sell ourselves and our ideas everyday.
In the job interview setting, we are selling the potential employer as to why we are the best person for the job. The boy who desires to date the girl he is enamored with must sell her as to the benefits of going out with him. The man proposing marriage to his sweetheart is selling her as to the lifelong benefits of being with him only. We all sell, in one manner or another, although possibly not in the traditional sense.
Selling, distilled down to its most basic roots, is simply the matching of benefits to needs and desires. The salesperson acts as the broker who is simply bringing the product or service to the table so that the buyer can be shown the personal benefits of ownership or use. Under ideal circumstances, the salesperson’s purpose is simply to help the buyer purchase what he needs or wants. It is a win-win scenario for both. There is no coercion.
What is missing in many sales presentations however, is the final close… asking for the order. I have witnessed countless sales presentations during my career where the salesperson has done a magnificent job in making her presentation. She answered all of the objections. She probed and used trial closes along the way. At the peak of the presentation, the crescendo… she says “have a nice day” or “I’ll see you next time” or “call me when you are ready” or some other lame comment and then turns to walk away. She never asked for the order!
My sales motto has always been, “Ask, or the answer is always no”, and it really is. We must always perform the next natural step in the progression of our wonderful sales presentation, after the objections have been answered, and that is to ask the customer to make a buying decision now. This is the reason why there are salespeople. We would not be needed otherwise.
After all, an interested potential customer can go to the internet these days and learn just about every fact imaginable concerning our products or service. He can also examine our competitors. The customer is better educated than ever before. The salesperson must be at least as well educated as her customer as to the features, advantages and benefits of her own products and services, as well as those of her competitors. Keeping these facts in mind, what then is the role of the salesperson? Salespeople exist to close the sale. That is all.
As salespeople, if we fail to ask for the order, seldom will we actually receive the business and related commissions we desire. So… “Ask, and you shall receive.”
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Visit http://www.learningforprofit.com/ or contact the author directly. This e-book is currently available from C|net’s download.com, the authors’ web site and a variety of online book merchants. Mr. Sitter is also a contributing writer for several online and traditional publications.
What’s next after someone becomes your client? What’s next is to
deliver on what you said you would, and more! As they say,
“Under promise and over deliver.” People expect you to deliver
results. Surprise them by also going the extra mile over and
over again.
As soon as you get a new client, thank them for doing business
with you. Send them a thank you note, an extra report or
something of value. Let them know that you appreciate their
business and show them you care about them. One small act that
shows how much you value your new client can create a client for
life.
The formula for having your clients turn into raving fans is:
good product + great service. Interestingly enough a good
product + bad service gives you unhappy customers no matter how
good your product is.
A study has shown that it takes 16 times the effort to get a new
client as it does to sell to an existing one. So treasure them
all and treat them like a $1m client.
When you have satisfied clients, they will buy more and more
from you. They have already experienced you, your
services/products and your quality of service so the decision
process is so much easier for them.
When you have satisfied clients, they will become your walking,
talking sales force. They believe in you and your
services/products so much so that they voluntarily tell others
about you.
Develop relationships with your clients so you can continue to
discover what they want. Then provide offers that deliver what
they want so they choose to do more business with you. This is
another huge key to your success. It is the key to maximizing
the lifetime value of a customer.
>From time to time, do a customer satisfaction survey. Test to
see if your clients are happy with your service and ask them for
suggestions for improvement. Then act on these suggestions.
If you do ever have a dissatisfied client, you have an
opportunity. People who are unhappy will tell about 10 other
people and then those 10 people tell about 5 people and so on
and so forth. Get the picture? So, when you have a dissatisfied
client, you have an opportunity to get them to experience your
excellent service and to build an even stronger relationship
with you. So sort their problem out quickly and they will then
tell others good things about you.
Treasure your clients and they will treasure you. Treasure your
clients and more clients will be attracted to you, that is how
it works!
(c) Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation, 2005 You are welcome to
“reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and
unaltered (including the “about the author” info at the end).
There are a number of channels of distribution available to the producer, which may be employed by him to bring his products to the market. Consumer goods may be distributed generally through channels, in each of which the manufacturers may use the sales branch or sales office as the additional alternative. One of the channels used is Producer-Consumer, where no middleman is involved. Sales are made from house to house or by direct mail.
A second channel is Producer-Retailer-Consumer, by which goods may be purchased directly from manufacturers. Retail stores may also be opened by manufacturers by this channel.
A third channel is Producer-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer, which is the traditional and most economical channel. Penultimately, there is Producer-Agent-Retailer-Consumer, in which many producers use manufacturing agents, brokers, etc. for reaching the retail market. Finally, there is Producer-Agent-Wholesaler-Retailer-Consumer, where the services of agents are utilized by the smaller retailers, who purchase from a wholesaler and sell to small stores.
A large number of channels of distribution are available to the manufacturer for bringing his product to the ultimate consumer. Efficient distribution at the least cost and attaining the desired volume of sale can be secured only after experience, study and analysis. The notice of the product, its unit value, its technical features, and its degree of differentiation from competitive products are the factors which may limit the number of potential channel alternatives.
A retailer, as the name indicates, does retailing, which is to say he sells to ultimate consumers. In the distributional hierarchy, retailers are below the level of stockists, distributors, and wholesalers. Sometimes, retailers are termed dealers or authorized representatives. The retailer often operates in a smaller territory or at his specific location; earns lesser commission compared to higher levels in the channel; he does not carry out stock holding and sub-distribution functions.
A stockist or distributor or wholesaler is also a large sized operator but not on par with the marketer or sole selling agent in level, size and territory of operation. Stock holding and sub-distribution, as per the policies laid down by the manufacturers or the marketers, are the main functions of stockists/distributors.
Point Of Sale provides detailed information about point of sale, point of sale displays, point of sale hardware, point of sale marketing and more. Point Of Sale is the sister site of Fulfillment And Distribution.
People often ask me what the difference is between sales superstars and sales “wannabes”. There are many possible answers to this question however there are several core characteristics that sales superstars display in bucket loads which are often missing or less obvious in more mediocre performers.
Not surprisingly, few of these are rocket science and none of them are new. It would be really easy to read through them and think, “I know that!” but the question has to be “Do I really implement that and if I did implement that consistently, what difference would it make for me?” So I challenge you to read this twice, rate yourself (honestly) on a scale of 1-10 in each are and then create an action plan to increase your effectiveness and consistency in every area.
Have a plan and work it every day.
Sales superstars know what they want and they are focused on getting it. Period. When I run sessions I ask individuals to review WHY they are in sales and WHAT they want to get out of it. Most people do the exercise with the state of mind… “I know this” or “Why are we doing this? Can’t we just get on with it??!”. The problem is that although it seems obvious, it’s this desire that focuses us on doing what we need to do on a day to day basis.
Top sales performers plan their day the night before or at the very latest in the morning over their coffee. Rather than chatting about Eastenders (they probably don’t watch that rubbish anyway!) they are getting down to planning their day. They ask themselves questions like, “How can I achieve my goals today?”, “What activities do I need to undertake today?” and “How can I add value for my clients today?”. Then they plan their campaign and work through it meticulously.
Prospect new clients every day.
Metaphorically speaking, sales is a bucket with a hole in the bottom. Get over it! If you stop filling the bucket, it will soon be empty. Empty bucket means an empty sales pipeline and an empty bank account. You can sometimes patch up the hole short-term by improving your client relationships, increasing your sales skills and by creating more from existing accounts but long term the bucket is still leaky!
Whether you fill your bucket by cold calling, networking, referrals, events, PR, marketing, direct mail, white papers… you need to be doing this every day. We all know this but only sales superstars do it! Most salespeople only prospect when they have little or no choice. Not only is this the wrong way to go about it, you also guarantee that you’re feeling pretty desperate when you do get around to it! And what client likes a desperate salesperson??
Be genuinely interested in your clients.
Clients are bored of salespeople going through the motions. Salespeople are bored of going through the motions. So why do it?
I understand that it’s hard to get motivated on the 47th call of the day or the 15th meeting of the week but if you can’t get motivated then you can be sure that your client won’t be! I’m guessing that your market is pretty competitive right now. In many markets clients get hundreds of marketing approaches for every meeting they take or for every salesperson that they speak to. Make sure it’s you by getting motivated and interested in your clients now.
People often ask me, “How do I differentiate myself from the competition?” The answer’s simple… be genuinely interested!
Ask great questions.
Most salespeople think they are great at questioning. Most salespeople are wrong. When I run sessions I often ask people to write down some questions they can ask of their clients. I give them between 5 and 15 minutes. Few people come up with more than 3 or 4 bland questions and many come up with less that that!!!
When I ask about it, delegates say things like, “Oh! It’s difficult like this. I have loads of questions when I’m in flow!!”. Poppycock! Most salespeople ask few or no questions and those they do ask are all about them not the client e.g. “Have you got budget?”, “Are you the decision maker?” and “Are you happy with your current supplier?”.
Great questions come from two things:- The first is being genuinely interested in your client. The second is planning and preparation. Questions need to be planned, rehearsed and written out. Questions need to be captured, learnt and practised. Focusing on this one area of your business over the next few weeks could well cause a sales explosion for you.
Listen to understand.
If we’re bad at questioning we’re even worse at listening. If you think about it, this is hardly surprising because we’re never actually trained to listen. Most salespeople “listen to talk”. This means that they are filtering their clients’ words listening for what they want to hear. For this reason, many salespeople totally miss crucial pieces of information because it wasn’t what they were wanting to hear at that time. This can kill a sale.
To be able to listen to understand we need to be genuinely interested in our clients, focused on what they are saying and devoid of agenda. This doesn’t mean that we don’t have objectives for meetings just that the best way of getting there is to understand our clients, their challenges and their needs more fully. When we truly listen to clients with the intent of understanding we will reap the benefits because clients so rarely get listened to in this way.
Know your clients.
In today’s fast moving market places few people know their clients fully. This means that they miss opportunities and lose business because they don’t have enough understanding of how they can truly help their clients.
The information you need will change from market to market but could well include… size, markets, customers, projects, turnover, values, mission, individuals, individual drivers, future growth plans, exit strategies etc etc. When you start to truly understand your clients you can really start to tailor your solutions to meet their needs…
Sell solutions not products.
Sell solutions not products. Sell solutions not products. Sell solutions not products.
Clients do not get up one morning and decide to invest in a new PC system. They buy solutions to challenges which are effecting their business growth, profitability, efficiency etc. Most salespeople are too tied up in the nitty-gritty of their products and have little or no understanding of what the real business benefits are to their clients. This is partly due to lots of product training and partly due to not asking the right questions.
If you’ve ever had problems with trying to get clients to commit; had deals that seemed “on” then went sour; thought a client needed a far bigger solution than the one they were prepared to pay for; had clients who bought something else instead… then you were probably selling products not solutions.
As a benchmark rule… we shouldn’t discuss specific products or solutions until we know what the explicit need(s) of our client is. (Explicit: stated by client not you!)
Know your market.
Know who your core clients are, their demography, their industry sector, their personal demographics etc. Outline your perfect customer on a piece of paper… in detail. Check that there are enough of them to build your business to the size that you want to build it to. Work out how to reach them, create your offering for them and get to work!
I have worked with many clients who will not turn away business. They say things like, “You can’t very well turn stuff away can you?” I can see the argument for this in the short term but in the medium to long term it can become professional suicide. The reason for this is that you end up tied up working for the clients that you don’t want anymore and you never find the time to target and approach those who you do want.
Let’s say for example you’re a consultant and you charge £750 per day but you want to be in the £2,500 per day market. If you’re delivering 27 days a month at £750 you’re too busy to target the £2,500 a day clients. What’s more, if you’re good, the £750 a day clients will always keep you busy. Clearly this segmentation will not always be about money… you may choose to be at the bulk-business, low end of the market place.. even so, you need to know your market.
Be proactive, confident and professional.
The outside world will always judge you by what you do and how you appear. It may seem unfair but it’s the way that it is! What’s more, you will normally be judged on your lowest point of your lowest day! If you have a bad day and you do something that’s not particularly professional then you can bet your last Rollo that you will be remembered for that and not your numerous great days!!
Sales superstars constantly raise the bar and ensure that they are seen as proactive, confident and professional by their clients, their peers, their managers, their friends and their families. If this is a case of “fake it until you make it” then so be it. Ultimately, if you keep on behaving a certain way it will become natural for you and before you know where you are, you’ll wake up one morning and just be that way without having to think about it!!!
Learn from the best.
I once read that we become most like the 6 people that we spend the most time with. Now, that’s a bit of a scary thought. Factor in the moaning, whining, mood-hoovers that often surround us on a day to day basis and it’s hardly surprising that we end up struggling to stay “up for it”!
Everyone should have their own “success team”. This can be real or virtual. Who do you want to model your life on? Whose actions impress you? I try to surround myself with positive people who are goal-oriented and who take responsibility for their own success. I listen to motivational speakers and experts in the car. I seek out top performers and ask them what they believe, how they behave and what they did to achieve their success. Then I ask myself, “How can I use this to increase my success?”
So there we are… 10 characteristics of sales superstars. On your 1-10 scale - how effectively do you display them on a day to day basis? Where are your areas for improvement? How are you going to raise the bar and get more of what you want in your career and your life?
Good luck!
For the last 10 years, Gavin Ingham has been helping sales people to explode their sales performance by turning self-doubt, fear and lack of motivation into self-belief, confidence and action. With his inspirational approach to sales performance and motivation Gavin combines commercial experience, personal excellence and communications technologies in delivering personal and business sales success.
Visit http://www.gaviningham.net now to join Gavin Ingham’s free newsletter Real World Sales Tools ~ real world sales tools & strategies that you can utilise to outsell, out-manoeuvre, out-position & out-live your competition! Refer us to your friends & colleagues but never to your competition!
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With so many companies paying commissions as a percentage of gross margin, it’s tempting to quote full price - or at least a very high price - when writing proposals. You’ll certainly make the biggest commission this way, but the question begs: will you lose too many sales on price to make it worthwhile?
If you’ve read my materials before, you know that I am very blunt about speaking
the truth, and the truth is that price matters. Lots of sales trainers seem to be in
total denial of this fact, and a lot of managers too, who just happen to be paid on
profit margin. They insist that if you’re a good salesperson, you can sell everything
at full price. But in the real world, price matters. Period.
Even when using the powerful profit justification techniques I teach, if your price is
out of line, it’s out of line. Your prospect will take your profit-justified proposal and
ask a competitor to provide the same solution at a better price.
As usual, this topic came to mind due to a real life experience that happened to
me. It was a conversation yesterday with a friend who happened to be the prospect
of a salesperson trying to make a full-price sale. The moment she objected to the
price, the salesperson immediately offered a lower price. A much lower price.
Her reaction? She was insulted - infuriated - that the sales rep tried to pull one
over on her. She rightfully felt that his intent was to get as much money as he could
out of the sale. When the sale was in jeopardy, he instantly dropped his price. After
all, getting less money is still better than getting none.
I feel the same way when a salesperson marks up a price in an attempt to make easy
money off of me. I’m not stupid, and I take it as an insult to my intelligence when it
happens.
When I was selling based on margin, I gave a fair price up front and stuck with it. I
told the prospect flat-out that my price was my best price and it could not come
down any more. I explained that I feel it’s unethical not to give my best price up-
front because anything else would be an attempt to rip the prospect off. Prospects
identified with this and appreciated my honesty and frankness. I got lots of sales
this way.
In addition to angering prospects, quoting your full price will also cause you to lose
more sales than you know. Prospects will consider your quote to be “out of the
ballpark” and assume that even if you can negotiate, you still won’t be within their
budget, and as a result they won’t return your calls when try to offer that lower
price. Quoting a fair price up front gives you a much better shot at the sale.
Having said all this, quoting a fair price doesn’t mean giving your maximum
discount on every proposal. Find the right balance where your price is fair and
competitive but where you’re still making a good commission. If your proposals are
within that range, you’ll win plenty of sales and have a generous commission check
to show for them!
Frank Rumbauskas is the author of the hit sensation “Cold Calling Is A Waste Of
Time: Sales Success In The Information Age”. His training and products teach
salespeople how to generate hot leads without cold calling and how to keep their
power and remain in control of sales situations. For more information please visit
http://www.nevercoldcall.com
