Tag Archive for: sales

A “Shut Up And Listen” Story…

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Received this success story from a reader who is a medical sales exec. He had just read an article I published on the 5 Mistakes Sales People Make. His lesson was from mistake #1–Shut Up And Listen.

“I attended a trade show recently where I worked our booth for several days. I flatter myself as being a “seasoned problem solving pro”, however, after two days of constantly “throwing up” on customers with the features and benefits of my product, I read your article and changed my approach for the final day of the meeting. 

It was unbelievable what problems I discovered when I closed my mouth and opened my mind to their problems. With just asking the simple question, “how do you see this helping you?” a totally different dialogue emerged where the prospect identified problems they were having in how they were currently doing things. The prospect felt better about telling me the truth- no pressure from me. I felt much better because I discovered problems that I never knew our prospects were having. Lesson learned – sales will follow when problems are solved.

Well done. We hear this all of the time…our ego gets in the way of the prospect buying. Selling is simple. Don’t screw it up by overdoing it!

Rule #12 – No Persuasion

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This is from my very own Trainer Rule Book. Over the next few days, I’ll give you some of the rules we teach our clients who ask us to help them grow their business.

[NEVER COERCE PEOPLE PSYCHOLOGICALLY.]

Our freedom is most dear to us. When you, as a sales professional, begin to encroach on that freedom, you become the pain and you won’t make a sale. But the problem is that you won’t make it…not based upon the product or pain…but based on your approach.

Tell people upfront, ”It’s ok if you decide not to pursue this….let me know and I’ll be gone.” Give them an out. They’ll find you’re the only safe person they have to talk to. Stop being a master persuader and start being a master communicator and qualifier. That’s what separates the wannabees from the super achievers. No more persuading and defending.

How is this relevant to me and my business? Take a moment and examine your language in the last customer encounter you had. Was it full of platitudes, claims and opinions? Was it self serving? Or, better, was it real communication–not trying to convince or persuade–but trying to have an honest conversation.

Are Your Canaries Still Breathing?

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You know the story of how canaries were used in coal mines–miners would take the birds down because their metabolism was sensitive to poisonous fumes. If the canary died, that was a leading indicator of danger for the miners.

As an advanced sales professional, you have to have your own set of canaries to serve as indicators for what’s happening to you in the sales process. The best indicators are words used by both you and your prospects. Here are three phrases that are warning signs your sales process is in trouble.

[1] “This is a done deal.” Typicalliy this is spoken by you when descibring the deal to your manager. As a sales coach, when I hear a person say this, I know the deal is in trouble. If you feel a deal is a “done deal,” then you will get sloppy. Usually, this sloppiness happens at exactly the wrong time in the process. If you find yourself saying this–or your people say it to you—beware. The deal is about to unravel.

[2] “That was a very good presentation.”  Usually spoken by a propsect after a lame presentation. You don’t want your presentations to be “good,” you want them to move people to “action.” When I hear I did a “good job” I know I fell short. If you hear that, say to the prospect, “I’m not sure I hit the mark. What didn’t you like about it?”

[3] “He just needs a little more information.”  Usually spoken by a sales person after the prospect has asked for more stuff. I have some bad news…there is never enough stuff (info) to share. If you’re hoping to fill up the belief gap (that gap that must be filled before a prospect will believe you have the right solution and act on it) with information, you’re dreaming. More information never sold anyone. What sells people is the pain they experience by not getting what you have. IF you can’t communicate that, then you’ll keep believing that information is what’s lacking.

These are just a few indicators that your sales process is messed up. I coach people that it’s better to do something about these indicators when you hear them, than to have your head in the sand.

Habits To Break

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Since the name of this blog is called Advanced Selling Strategies, I can think of no better post than to coach you a bit on “habits to break.” I see these habits so ingrained that you may not even think they are ‘bad.’ But they are.

[1]  Talking Excessively. I know–this doesn’t sound very advanced–but it’s simple. Just shut up and stop convincing people of how much you know. Let your buyer work a little bit. They will.

[2]  Presenting Before You Know The Problem. It’s hard isn’t it? Every fiber in your body is screaming to present your knowledge. But if you do it too quickly, they won’t have a chance to *make the connection* between what you have and what they need.

[3]  Doing Something Without an Agreement.  What that means is if someone asks you, as a sales person, to give them a price or give them a demo, slow down. Don’t do it unless you have a fairly good understanding of what will happen next. You control the process so never do anything without a clear agreement.

[4]  Having a Meeting Without an Agenda.  I see this mistake made even by seasoned pros. Always have an agenda on a first call. You can send it to them in advance, or you can bring it with you. But have one. It helps you. It helps them. Stop winging it.

[5]  Saving The Money Discussion for the End. In the sales process, talk about money early–right after the prospect admits his problems to you. You bring it up. But always do it in the context of the cost of the problem to be fixed. There are two sides to the economics discussion–the cost of the problem, and the cost of the solution. Cover both. Don’t let your buyer talk about the *price* side only.

Is Your Solution Intentional?

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I got the proposal via email a week after the sales person and I had talked at length. It was well designed. It was well laid out. And it came with a fabulous letter introducing it. (I presume all from some template that a higly paid consultant had devised).

BUT…..

It didn’t hit the mark because the solution he proposed was a random effort to solve my problem–which, of course, got me thinking (everything gets me thinking).

His solution was random and not intentional. The reason is that it had no direct link to my expressed pain. He never connected the dots for me. Therefore when I looked at the solution he was recommending…and the price…it didn’t “hit the spot.”

What he should have done: He should have crafted a proposal that went down item-by-item through the problems I had and the compelling reasons for changing. Beside each of those, he should have crafted a well-written sentence explaining the benefits of his solution in solving those problems. Then his solution would have become intentional. It would have intended to solve the problem, rather than intended to make the sale.

The paradox? He would have gotten the sale instead of a “let me think this over.”

Be intentional–not random.

What Do You Need To Be Good At?

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What do you really need to be good at to earn more income in selling? After many hundreds of hours of reflecting, I’ve come up with “7 Core Competencies of the High Performing Sales Team.”  I’ve even attached it to this post.

How to Use It                                                                                                 If you’re a sales manager, there is a page near the front that you can use to assess your people. If you’re a sales executive, read through the detailed descriptions of each of the areas and assess yourself–honestly.

Download CoreCompetencies.pdf (12 ppg)