Tag Archive for: sales

Habits To Break

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?

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?

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)