How to Build Trust and Rapport Quickly By John Boe

If you're working hard, but aren't consistently generating enough sales and getting referrals, chances are it's a matter of trust. One of the most critically important and yet frequently overlooked aspects of selling is creating a solid foundation of trust and rapport.

Suppose you could incorporate a few simple, yet highly effective ideas into your selling process and substantially increase your bottom line?

Successful salespeople have a knack for making people feel important. They understand the value of building trust and rapport early on in the selling process. For you see, it really doesn't matter how knowledgeable you are about your product line or how many closing techniques you have mastered, unless you earn your prospect's trust and confidence you're not going to make the sale period.

Once you have established trust and rapport with your prospect, you actually have the hard part behind you and can anticipate making the sale. While there's no system that will work 100 percent of the time with every prospect, fortunately there are fundamentals you can use that will help you build trust and rapport quickly.

Gain the Competitive Edge...
Whether you like it or not, people form impressions about you based on such factors as appearance and attitude. When it comes to building trust and rapport, there is nothing more important than making a favorable first impression.

It's important to remember that in most cases, your prospect's first impression of you will be made over the phone or from a voice message you leave.

Here are some suggestions to help you create a favorable first impression:

1. Show up on time and be well prepared.

2. Maintain a well-groomed appearance and dress appropriately for your market.

3. Be upbeat and personable without becoming overly familiar.

Adjust to Your Prospect's Temperament Style...
Research indicates people are born into one of four primary temperament styles: Aggressive, Expressive, Passive or Analytical.

Each of these four primary temperament styles requires a unique approach and selling strategy. For example, if you're selling to the impatient, aggressive style, they want a short warm up and expect a quick, bottom line presentation. While at the other extreme, the cautious, analytical style requires a longer warm up period and is interested in every detail.

Each of these four behavioral styles can be easily identified by observing their body language patterns. Once you learn how to identify each of the styles, you'll be able to close more sales in less time by adjusting to your prospect's preferred buying style.

Understand Body Language...
Body language is a mixture of movement, posture and tone of voice. Research indicates that in a face-to-face conversation, more than 70 percent of our communication is nonverbal.

Our body language reveals our deepest feelings and hidden thoughts to total strangers. In addition, nonverbal communication has a much greater impact and reliability than the spoken word. Therefore, if your prospect's words are incongruent with his or her body language gestures, you would be wise to rely on the body language as a more accurate reflection of their true feelings.

Be mindful of your own body language gestures and remember to keep them positive by unfolding your arms, uncrossing your legs and smiling frequently.

Create harmony by "matching and mirroring" your prospect's body language gestures. Matching and mirroring is an unconscious body language mimicry by which one person tells another they are in agreement.

The next time you are at a social event, notice how many people are subconsciously matching one another. Likewise, when people disagree, they subconsciously mismatch their body language gestures.

An effective way to begin matching your prospect is to subtly nod your head in agreement whenever your prospect nods his or her head, or cross your legs when they cross their legs etc.

By understanding the meaning behind your prospect's body language, you will minimize perceived sales pressure and know when it's appropriate to close the sale.

Use Active Listening Skills...
Successful salespeople take notes, listen attentively and avoid the temptation to interrupt, criticize or argue with their prospects. It's a good idea to occasionally repeat your prospect's words verbatim. By occasionally restating your prospect's key words or phrases you not only clarify communication, but also build rapport.

During the first fifteen minutes or so of the appointment, you should listen more than you talk. Keep your attention focused on what your prospect is saying and avoid the temptation to interrupt or dominate the conversation. The quickest way to destroy trust and rapport is to interrupt another person. If you do interrupt, minimize the damage by apologizing and asking them to please continue.

Establish Your Credentials...
It's important for you to establish your credentials as an expert in your industry early on during your initial appointment. Hand out your business card and or company brochure, then mention two or three reasons why you like working in your industry and for your company.

Make sure your marketing materials look professional and are kept up-to-date. If you conduct appointments in your office, I recommend you display your awards and certificates of accomplishment.

Look for Common Ground...
Before you begin your sales presentation or demonstration, you must first "warm up" your prospect and make them feel comfortable. A great way to establish common ground during the warm up is to discuss the weather, sports or a local news story.

If you're meeting your prospect in his or home or office, look at personal items on display such as pictures or awards. People enjoy talking about their hobbies and past accomplishments. For example, if you notice a picture of your prospect holding a big fish in his or her arms, ask them about it and watch them beam with pride.

In today's highly competitive marketplace, your prospects have many options and are looking for a salesperson that they know they can trust to work in their best interest.

Salespeople who fail to put an emphasis on developing trust and rapport actually do a disservice to their customers and in effect, leave the backdoor open to their competition. In addition to generating new sales, developing strong relationships will keep competitors at arms length and your business on the books!
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John Boe presents a variety of sales training and motivational programs for meetings and conventions. John brings over twenty years of experience as an award-winning sales trainer to the platform. To have John speak at your next event, visit www.JohnBoe.com or call 877 725-3750. His free Newsletter is available on his website.

Josh's Thoughts:

There were lots of great points in the above article. One thing that sticks out in my mind was...

"your prospects have many options and are looking for a salesperson that they know they can trust to work in their best interest."

How true this is. Keep the following in mind -- all things being equal, people will always choose to do business with those they like, know and trust. Follow the ideas outlined above and you'll be that person they look to when they need what you have to offer.

-- To your selling success, Josh Hinds :-)

The Power of One - By Kelley Robertson

One is a very tiny number. However, it can have a tremendous impact on your revenues. Here are some ideas to consider:

* Make one more cold call every day. One extra call a day equals 260 calls in a year. How many meetings could you set up with this number of calls and how many of those meetings could you turn into sales? Consider your current conversion ratio and think of the impact on your business.

* Suggest one additional item to every customer. This is particularly important if you sell lower priced items or work in a retail environment. Too many sales people are focused only on getting the initial sale. However, almost everyone has additional items, products, or services that could be beneficial to their customers.

* Invest one day per month developing your skills. Many of the most successful people in business invest in themselves. They attend workshops, conferences, and participate in webinars and tele-seminars on a regular basis. Considering that the majority of people do not invest in developing their skill, you can quickly out-pace your coworkers and competition.

* Read one book every month. Expanding your knowledge will help you become more successful. Read books related to your industry or that will provide insight to helping you improve your skill in a specific area.

* Ask one more question during each sales call. Before you start “pitching” your product or service, ask your prospect one more question. This question might give you the additional insight you need to more effectively position your product or service.

* Pause for one moment longer than usual before responding to a prospect’s question or request. Known as the pregnant pause, this often prompts the other person to blurt out something they had not intended to say. The secret behind this strategy is that most people are uncomfortable with silence and will begin talking to fill the “dead” air space.

* Get to the office one hour early. Remember the expression “The early bird gets the worm”. That one extra hour first thing in the morning can be the most productive time of the day. You have a better chance to reach decision-makers, there are fewer distractions, and you can often achieve more in that 60 minutes than in several hours.

* Address objections one more time before giving up. Too many sales people give up too soon when faced with objections. I’m not suggesting that you beat your customer into submission in order to close the sale. However, I do recommend that you tackle each objection one more time before you give up.

* Send one more email to the prospect who has been sitting on the fence. Sometimes, people need that little push and encouragement to move forward. But, many cases, their time is occupied by other projects and priorities which means they are not focused on your solution. Gentle reminders are often appreciated providing you don’t follow up so frequently you appear to be stalking them. Even though they may not be ready to make that particular buying decision, you will help keep your name in their mind.

* Ask for an endorsement or testimonial one more time. Endorsements and testimonials are greatly underutilized by most people in business today. Quite often we ask a client for a testimonial but because they have other priorities, they forget. Call them or send an email and politely request the testimonial again.

* Suggest one more idea to help a customer improve their business. Schedule a breakfast meeting or lunch with your customers but instead of trying to sell them something, focus on learning more about their particular challenges. Offer solutions that do not include your products or services and your customers will begin to see you more as a partner than a supplier.

* Send one more thank you card or note. Very few sales people make the effort to thank their customers. You can stand out from the crowd by sending handwritten notes to thank customers for their most recent order, meeting with you, or sending an on-time payment. You can also send a note when you see their company mentioned favorably in the news.

Although it is a tiny number, one can make a very powerful impact both on your top line sales and bottom line profits. One extra sale every day, week or month – depending on your business, can make a significant impact on your sales by the end of the year.

The next time you think about giving up on a high-potential prospect, consider the fact that you might be just one phone call, email, or letter away from making the sale.

© 2006 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.
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Kelley Robertson, President of the Robertson Training Group, works with businesses to help them increase their sales and motivate their employees and has helped thousands of sales professionals and business people improve their results. He is also the author of “Stop, Ask & Listen – Proven Sales Techniques To Turn Browsers Into Buyers.” Receive a FREE copy of “100 Ways to Increase Your Sales” by subscribing to his free sales and motivational newsletter available at KelleyRobertson.com. Contact him at 905-633-7750 or Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.

Josh's Thoughts:

Like me I'm sure you found lots of good sales advice in the above article. Here are a few points I'd like to call special attention to if you'd allow me to be so bold :-) ...

Kelley's right on when he says, "Make one more cold call every day." Visiting or calling on a prospect isn't the easiest thing to do, that's why they call it cold. However, the sooner you get over any reluctance you might have over doing so, the sooner you will see your success in selling improve.

Try to make a game out of cold calling, instead of counting down the number of calls you make till you can call it quits for the day, you might try and identify the number of calls it takes you to secure an appointment or sale. For example, you might find that for every 6 or 7 calls you make, you get an appointment. Give this a try and you're likely to be surprised how over time it follows a trend. As your skills improve the "game" becomes more fun because you'll start to notice that it takes less calls. You'll also notice that by simply making a few more calls your number of sales will go up as well.

Another point I'd like to touch on is...

"Suggest one additional item to every customer". You may have heard this referred to as upselling. Think of it this way, you've just helped your customer to purchase a new video game player. Doesn't it stand to reason that they might also be receptive to you when you mention that they might also want to buy a certain game? I think it would -- especially if you've taken the time to see what sort of particular game would most interest them.

Finally, I think this is a terrific point...

"Gentle reminders are often appreciated providing you don’t follow up so frequently you appear to be stalking them. Even though they may not be ready to make that particular buying decision, you will help keep your name in their mind."

I can tell you from personal experience that I get a TON of email (yes, that's Ton with a capital T). It's not that I don't want to personally reply to each one as fast as humanly possible, but try as I might sometimes it's just next to impossible to do so. It takes time. It's for this very reason that I actually appreciate people taking the time to follow up with me, and you should as well.

For one thing, if it's a person that's interested in doing business with me in some respect it shows me that they are persistent enough to get an answer one way or the other. The key here is to be overly polite when doing follow ups. Do so and you'll put yourself leaps and bounds above those who neglect the all important rule of following up.

To your sales success, Josh Hinds :-)

Seven Steps to Successful Selling - By Bill Lee

1. Prospecting breeds activity. Regardless of the number of existing customers you happen to have, prospecting is basic to selling. It's not always the potential for new business that makes prospecting such an important activity, but the competitive information you are able to collect in the process.

As you prospect, keep your eyes open for new and innovative ideas that are working for the prospect. You never know what useful idea you'll stumble across when visiting a prospect you’re unfamiliar with. It may be a new technique he or she is using, an innovative method of marketing or a new product application. If it's working for one of your prospects, odds are it will work for your customers, too.

2. Selling is a process. As basic as asking for the order is to selling, asking for an order is not an end in itself. Neither is asking for an opportunity to quote. Sometimes asking for an order works, but it's usually something you must earn the right to do. So think of selling as a process.

While attending a sales seminar presented by Greensboro, NC-based Bill Brooks, I learned a new selling system that uses the acronym I.M.P.A.C.T.

Investigate: Do your homework before making a prospect call.

Meet: After collecting information about the prospect, it’s time to Meet him.

Probe: Don’t begin selling right away, first Probe for insights into the customers needs, his most pressing problems, etc.

Apply: Find solutions to your prospects most pressing business problems and share them with him or her. Apply your personal knowledge to the pressing issues your prospects are facing.

Convince: Now and only now, at this particular stage in the selling process is it time to begin selling, so don’t jump the gun.

Tie it up: Close the sale, ask for the order. When you’ve successfully completed each step in the IMPACT process, the close is almost automatic.

3. Selling is communication. All my life I have seen salespeople portrayed as fast-talking, back-slapping, Mr. Personality types. Even though the image of salespeople has changed a lot over the years, most salespeople still to do a better job of talking than listening.

To communicate more effectively, a salesperson must first ask the prospect enough appropriate questions and listen well enough to how the prospect answers to clearly understand his or her wants and needs. Only then are you in a position to prescribe solutions.

This reminds me of a cute statement I heard once in a sales seminar I attended: Prescribing a solution to a customer problem before proper diagnosis is malpractice.

There is a lot more to selling than quoting.

4. Closing is the heart of the sale. Closing is automatic when the preliminary steps are successfully implemented. Don't get closing in 2006 confused with some of the trick closes many of us were taught in the '50's and '60's.

Don't get me wrong, all professional salespeople should be aware of the Ben Franklin close, the puppy-dog close, the assumptive close, etc., and how and when to use them, but canned closes are no substitute for earning the right to a prospect's business.

5. You have no competition. Your competitors may all sell similar products to those you sell, they may all have similar delivery services, computerized billing, etc., but the one thing they don't have is you. If you work as hard on you as you work on your job, you are all you need to differentiate you and your company from the competition.

Make a list of ten benefits customers receive when they do business with you that they don't get when they do business with the competition. If you can't list ten, you're likely to be a slave to price objections until you develop a set of unique capabilities.

6. You get by giving. What goes around comes around. Serve your customers and prospects until they buy or die. A prospect simply cannot say no indefinitely to a highly professional consultative salesperson.

7. Only successful people succeed in sales. Success is in the eye of the beholder. An annual income of $100,000 may represent a distant dream to one salesperson and a pay cut to another. Some of the highest paid people in the world are salespeople; yet there are salespeople in every town who are starving to death.

To succeed in sales you must be a winner. You may get knocked down, but you must be resilient enough to get back up and learn from your mistakes. Great salespeople have learned that selling is a lot more than quoting every prospect you meet.
___________
Bill Lee is author of Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line ($29.95) and 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot ($21.95) plus $6 S&H for the first book and $1 for each book thereafter. Visit BillLeeOnLine.com

Josh's Thoughts:

I'd like to call attention to a few points in the above article. For starters...

"Probe: Don’t begin selling right away, first Probe for insights into the customers needs, his most pressing problems, etc."

It's amazing how many salespeople tend to move right into spouting off all the reasons why they feel their prospect must buy from them, without first taking the time to understand exactly what it is that the other person needs or wants from the product or service. Even if the remote possibility exists that they do know what's best for the client (notice I said remote possibility) the client doesn't get the feeling that they are truly being heard. We all want to be a part of the process. Remember, effective selling is something you do with someone, not to someone.

I think this also fits in with the point Bill makes in:

"5. You have no competition. Your competitors may all sell similar products to those you sell, they may all have similar delivery services, computerized billing, etc., but the one thing they don't have is you."

If you make a point of truly identifying the needs of your prospects you're going to naturally build rapport, and in turn become viewed as a trusted advisor as opposed to someone who is simply out to "sell them something".

Any thoughts you'd like to add?

-- To your selling success, Josh Hinds

Spend More of Your Time Selling By Jay Conners

The majority of people in the sales force spend an average of no more than two hours out of their day actually selling.

This fact is astonishing for two reasons. One, how do we as sales people manage to meet our goals. And two, why on earth are we in sales to begin with?

The lack of hours spent selling in our work week is understandable. Lets face it. The paperwork alone can take up half of your day. Not to mention the phone calls, the problem solving, putting out fires, etc.

There are many challenges to be faced throughout the day.

Why is this? Why does this happen?

It is all believed to be a mind set, and a very dangerous one at that if you plan to survive in the world of retail.

Because problem solving and handling customer complaints is a difficult challenge we must face on a daily basis, we automatically believe that this should take priority over our selling, because we see the selling as fun and rewarding.

All the other issues can be stressful, so we tend to want them out of the way so we don’t have to worry about them.

Yes, dealing with current customers and building the relationship is very important, but your goals don’t go away. So we must obtain new customers through new sales.

Probably the key ingredient to spend more of your time selling is time management.

Put together an action plan for each day of the week where you allow at least four hours of your day to be spent selling.

It is very easy to put an action plan together, but it is extremely critical that you stick to it in order to succeed.

Another key ingredient to spending more time selling is delegation. If you have the luxury of a staff, why not delegate some of the operational issues to other people.

Plus, you know the rush you get from a sale, the thrill of closing the deal. This can have a psychological effect on your work day. Making a sale is a great feeling and certainly out weighs the depressed feeling that comes with dealing with operational issues all day.

Remember, you are a sales person, and it is very important to spend the majority of your time selling.

There is not a problem that your current customer is having that cannot be fixed by either you or the person you delegate it to. So concentrate on sales.
__________
Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, he is the owner of www.JConners.com, a mortgage resource site. You can also check out his blog at wwwmortgagespot.blogspot.com for more articles.

How Are Sales Like Jump-Starting Your Car? By Clayton Shold

I hope it has been some time since you last had a dead battery. It's not a lot of fun, especially if it is pouring rain and you don't have a set of jumper cables.

Most people know a battery has a positive and a negative terminal. When jump-starting a car it is very important to know which is which. If you don't connect the negative terminal on one battery to the negative on the other, and then do the same with the positive connections, one can do serious damage to the battery and alternator.

So what does this have to do with sales? Well if you think about it, those in sales have a negative and a positive. Instead of terminals, we call it attitude.

Unlike a car battery, everyone knows the difference between a positive attitude and a negative attitude ... or do they? You would think this question is a no-brainer. A recent encounter caused me to wonder how evident this fact is.

It is no secret to many in sales that those who maintain a positive mindset towards their daily tasks, their prospects and their clients will out perform those at the other end of the spectrum.

Have you ever come across someone who didn't realize they have a negative attitude? I encountered someone recently that if you looked up the word negative in the dictionary you would have found a picture of this person. Envision a person firmly closed to new ideas or different ways of thinking. He was sceptical about the impact of mindset on actions and behaviors. He believes established processes are more critical than creatively thinking through a solution. He was openly argumentative with his peers, challenged his manager, and discounted others results. His only defence, "I’ve always done it this way." He was fortunate in having established a sizable block of business contacts over the years; which helped him produce above the required corporate quota.

I was left to wonder what his true potential could be if he were to flip the dial from negative to positive.

Those familiar with the pioneering work of psychologist Dr. Henry Murray will know he was one of the first to postulate a direct, observable link between thinking and behavior. In the 1960s and 70s, a Harvard professor, Dr. David McClelland extensively studied achievement motivation and concluded that successful individuals have a significantly stronger drive or motivation to succeed than do average or below average individuals.

Building on these works, the late Dr. Clayton Lafferty noted that successful sales people were likely to engage in constructive thinking, while unsuccessful sales people were prone to think in counter-productive ways.

Top sales people learn to be effective thinkers. That is, they consciously maintain a positive mindset; they focus on the sale and have established an inner drive to succeed. They combine their strong relationship skills with a strong belief in their clients. If you want to see what they look like, look up the word success in the dictionary!

If you want to jump-start your sales performance - connect to the positive terminal.
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Clayton Shold's mission is to help sales professionals make more money. He is a member of the Salesopedia community, "The World of Sales from A to Z". Learn more at www.salesopedia.com

The Strangest Secret ... By John Boe

In 1957, Earl Nightingale, speaker, author and co founder of the Nightingale-Conant Corporation, recorded his classic motivational record "The Strangest Secret." "The Strangest Secret" sold over one million copies and made history in the recording industry by being honored as the first Gold Record for the spoken word.

Nightingale, known as the “dean of personal development,” concluded that life's “strangest secret” is that we become what we think about all day long.

Your belief system, like your computer, doesn't judge or even question what you input; it merely accepts your thoughts as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Think thoughts of defeat or failure and you're bound to feel discouraged. Continuous thoughts of worry, anxiety and fear are unhealthy and often manifest in the body as stress, panic attacks and depression.

At the core of Earl's message, he reveals the incredible power of positive self-talk, belief and expectation. What you vividly imagine and hold in your subconscious mind begins to out picture as your reality. Your belief system not only defines your reality, but it also shapes your character and determines your potential.

The Placebo Effect ...
The ability of the mind to cure a disease even when the medicine is known to be worthless is known as the “placebo effect.” This occurs in medical trials where doctors give patients sugar pills, but tell them they will cure their illness. Often it does, even though the pills contain nothing of medical benefit. The only thing of value in these medical trials is the patient's own belief that the sugar pills will cure them. It's the power of the patient's belief and expectation alone that produces the improvement in his or her health.

I recently read a remarkable story about a group of cancer patients who thought they were being treated with chemotherapy, but were actually given a placebo. Before their treatment began, the patients were informed about the complications associated with undergoing chemotherapy treatment, such as fatigue and loss of hair. Amazingly, based on nothing more than their belief and expectation, nearly one third of the patients who were given the placebo reported feeling fatigued and actually experienced hair loss!

The Power of Affirmation and Positive Self-talk ...
If you had access to a powerful tool that would enhance your self-esteem and allow you to reach your full potential would you use it?

A good way to create positive self-talk is through affirmations. An affirmation is a positive statement that represents your desired condition or outcome. Interesting enough, your subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between a real experience and a vividly imagined “mental” experience.

When he was a struggling young comedian, late at night Jim Carrey would drive into the hills overlooking Hollywood and yell at the top of his lungs "I will earn ten million dollars a year by 1995." When 1995 finally arrived, Jim was the star of the movie "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls", for which he was paid twenty million dollars!

World-class athletes understand the value of affirmation and recognize the impact of their mental preparation on their physical performance. They use the power of positive affirmation to reduce anxiety and increase their expectation of achievement. To be of maximum benefit an affirmation must be simple, encouraging and stated in the present tense. By repeating an affirmation over and over again it becomes embedded in the subconscious mind.

To be effective your affirmation must be stated aloud…

1. In a positive manner with the focus on what you want. When you catch yourself saying or thinking something negative about yourself, counteract the negative self-talk with a positive affirmation. Start your affirmation with words like “I am…” or “I already have…”

Example:
“I close sales with little or no resistance.”

“I take good care of my customers and they show their appreciation by referring their friends to me.”

2. In the present tense. Your subconscious mind works in the present tense, so avoid words such as can, will, should or could.

Example:
“I love doing my work and I am richly rewarded creatively and financially.”

3. With strong emotion and conviction.

4. Repeatedly. I suggest you read your affirmations each morning upon awakening and again each night just before falling asleep. Close your eyes and picture the end result. Feel the emotions associated with the affirmation.

Here are some of my favorite affirmations:

"Every day in every way I'm getting better and better!"

"Everything comes to me easily and effortlessly!"

"I love and appreciate myself just as I am!"

"I love doing my work and I am richly rewarded creatively and financially!"

"I now have enough time, energy, wisdom and money to accomplish all my desires!"

"Infinite riches are now freely flowing into my life!"

"I am relaxed and centered!"

"I feel happy and blissful!"

Do affirmations really work and can they be used to propel a person to achieve greatness? As a young boy growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, 12-year-old Cassius Marcellus Clay dreamed of someday becoming the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. When working out in the gym, Clay would continuously affirm to all within earshot that he was indeed the greatest boxer of all time! While many felt he was brash and boastful, few people actually took this 89-pound youngster seriously. Mohammad Ali used his affirmation to become the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world and arguably one of the most popular and recognized sports figures of all times!

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny.” -- Anonymous

You show me a salesperson with high self-esteem, a positive attitude and a healthy work ethic and I'll be able to predict his or her success in advance… I guarantee it.
____________
John Boe presents a variety of sales training and motivational programs for meetings and conventions. John brings over twenty years of experience as an award-winning sales trainer to the platform. To have John speak at your next event, visit www.JohnBoe.com or call 877 725-3750. He has a free Newsletter available on his website.

How Questions Help us Focus on the Reasons Buyers Purchase By Steve Martinez

Lets say I want to buy a nail from you, will you ask me why? Or, will you take my order and sell me what I think I need? Will you give me a demonstration on why your nails are superior to the competition? Or, will you ask me questions on how I will use the nails?

One reason people fail in sales is a strong belief they must sell their product or service to everyone. I met someone who held this strong belief this weekend when he said “everyone is a potential customer”. This wasn’t the first time I’ve heard this. I worked in an industry where this belief was part of its culture. The sales strategy was to focus on presenting features and benefits.

During this era I spent countless hours learning how to demonstrate copier and fax systems, including memorizing sales scripts for each product. We held contests to test our presentation skills and our knowledge of the products and services we sold. This worked well and we sold plenty of equipment. The difference then, was that it was an emerging product line when everyone was a potential customer. This sales strategy doesn’t work well in mature markets.

How a Little Product Knowledge Can be Dangerous...

If we sold nails to customers, we should learn everything there is to know about nails. Perhaps we would review product specifications and test our knowledge so we know all the inside information on nails. We might have sales demonstration contests that teach us how to present the superior benefits and features of our nails and why they are better than the competition. These sales exercises and the focus on our product might be a hazard for some salespeople. This is particularly true if sales training focused only on the product and not the questions to ask.

Focus on the Reason and Application...

Having strong product knowledge is important. However, product knowledge is not as important as learning the questions to ask. A sales person should learn the reasons for using the product too. A good sales person will learn the benefits and problems the product will resolve so they can use this information in questioning prospects about the application.

Remember the story about selling me a nail? If you asked why I needed a nail, you might learn that I want to hang a very special, heavy picture that weighs about twenty pounds. You might learn that the picture is a valuable family keepsake worth more to me than any object in my home. With that in mind, you would realize that a nail won’t do the job. Your questions allow you to understand my purpose and goal. My wanting to hang a personal and priceless heavy object would change your recommendation because a nail won’t do the job.

It is important to learn the reasons why a prospect or a customer will need our products or services. When we understand what the reasons, goals and purposes are, we will know how to solve our customer’s needs. Questions accomplish this task better than presentations.
___________
Steve Martinez teaches businesses how to increase sales by automating the best practices of sales. Visit www.SellingMagic.com.

Communicate On Their Level, Not Yours By Art Sobczak

I was browsing the latest toys in the computer department at Best Buy, while also eavesdropping on the sales attempts by the staff. Interesting, indeed.

A middle-aged fellow with his young son were quizzically poking at various machines. The dad had the "deer in the headlights" look. Son kept saying, "Dad, we need somethun that goes fast!" Finally accosted by a salesperson, the dad explained he'd like something that "Goes fast."

The blue-vested clerk pointed to a machine and said, "Pentium three, 600 megahertz, 27 gigs of hard drive, 128 meg DRAM, 8 meg video memory, 512K level 2 cache. It screams, dude."

"Oh," the dad said, nodding his head, lips pursed, as feigning that he had a clue about what he just heard.

A few silent seconds passed. "We'll shop around a bit more," he said, dragging the kid with him. I watched him all the way out the door.

Key Sales Point:
Communicate with people in the same way THEY speak and think, not the way you speak and think.

This is especially crucial by phone. Here are some guidelines.

1. Listen carefully to words and phrases they use to describe situations, needs, desires, and problems. Write down the relevant ones.

2. Question to get explanations on ones that you don't fully understand, or maybe even seem foreign to you.

For example, "Kelli, when you say you want something that goes fast, what exactly are we talking about? What will you be using the machine for?"

3. Use their language when presenting your sales message and recommendations. Sell them on the results, using the language they understand:

"... and with this system your son's games will run twice as fast as on that old machine you said you have now. Plus, you won't have to sit and wait for it to grind through those spreadsheet calculations you mentioned you run ..."

Remember, don't sell the means; they buy the end.
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Art Sobczak helps sales pros use the phone to prospect, service and sell more effectively, while eliminating morale-killing "rejection." He presents public seminars and customizes programs for companies. Art has a number of books, CD's to help sales reps. See free articles and back issues of his weekly emailed sales tips at www.BusinessByPhone.com. Also ask for a free copy of his monthly Telephone Prospecting and Selling Report newsletter by emailing ArtS@BusinessByPhone.com, or calling (402)895-9399).