Have objectives for every call
When we are selling to our customers, or converting prospects to customers, we normally have multiple points of contact. That may mean lots of phone calls, several visits, or a mix of both. In these situations it is very easy to get into a bit of a rut, and find ourselves making little or no progress. To avoid this happening, make sure you have an objective for every point of contact with your customers. Each contact should take you one step further towards your ultimate goal. By ensuring you have planned a goal before calling or visiting them, and by reviewing that goal afterward, you will ensure that you constantly move forward.
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Don’t believe the myths
If you've ever spent any amount of time with professional salespeople you will know that
These are things we know to be true. Why? Because we believe them to be true. In every walk of life myths are created based on our experiences. Those experiences are based on our perception of events and our choice of interpretation. Sometimes they are so strong we actually damage our own prospects. I have actually been called by people who start the phone conversation with “ I don’ t suppose you will be interested in…” in fact I was very interested in what they had to say until that point. Most of us find it hard to get started on a Monday, and are keen to get finished on a Friday. So is it a coincidence that we find it impossible to speak to people at those times? Myths are very powerful, and they present some of us with great opportunities. If we know that none of our competitors are going to ring at certain times of the day, that means the way is left open for us. From now on, throw away those “truths” you thought you knew about selling and swim against the tide. You’ll be surprised at where it takes you. Once you get the order – shut up and leave
You know how it goes; you've battled your wits for 90 minutes, trying to read the prospect, build rapport, establish the problems that you can solve, and countering objections, leading to a final close. You are exhausted, exhilarated - and vulnerable. This is when you say something stupid like “I’ll get the order processed straight away so you get your goods before they are discontinued.” We are all vulnerable to this sort of mistake; it’s the adrenalin that causes it. There’s only one way to deal with it - get out while you still have the order. Resist all temptation to stay and celebrate with your new customer, just thank them for the business, assure them they have made a great decision and leave. You can celebrate later, in privacy, where you can’t do any harm. Be confident in your price
Here in the UK most of us now are what we call “sophisticated buyers”. That is to say, we recognise that, by and large, we get what we pay for. So when you are tempted to offer a really low price in order to drum up some more business, you could in fact be damaging your prospects. A friend told me once about his cousin who opened a gym in New York. In the US almost everyone has a personal trainer, and so offering this service is vital if you want people to come to your gym. This cousin wanted to get a big client base quickly and so he targeted the customers at the nearby gyms with a really low price for his personal trainers - half the rate of the competitors. After a month he still had very few customers, and so he started ringing the people who had shown initial interest to find out why they hadn’t joined his gym. The overwhelming answer was that they believed the trainers couldn’t be any good as they were so cheap. Once he put up his prices business began to take off. Your pricing says more to a prospect about your company than any sales literature ever can, so be confident, and the customers will be drawn to you. Practice your introduction
Studies of people going for job interviews have shown that 80 per cent of interviewers make their mind up about the person in the first four minutes of the interview. Whilst the sales scenario is a little different, those first four minutes are still vitally important. It is in this time that you either will bond with the prospect, or you won’t. If you don’t bond with them, then they are going to be incredibly hard to sell to. In which case it makes sense to do whatever you can to ensure those first four minutes go as well as possible, doesn’t it? You can’t predict how the prospect will react when you first meet them. Some people will be warm and welcoming, some will be initially resistant, and some will deliberately try to wrong foot you. Therefore, you should practice your introduction very carefully, so that you can deliver it perfectly every time, regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in. Don’t be one of those people who prefer to be “spontaneous” when they first meet a prospect. None of the world’s top salespeople are. |
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