Sales Chump

Validation of your company can be a big objection to overcome, especially if you are selling for a new company or a company a prospect has never heard of.  A prospect wants to feel comfortable with the company they are going to do business with even if they feel comfortable with you.

First, be compassionate about this and don’t vilify the prospect for this.  Think how you would feel if someone tried to sell you a car you had never heard of.  Chances are you wouldn’t buy that car even if it was cheaper or offered more options than others.

Here’s a few things I have used that have helped tremendously.  A recommendation letter(s) from a fellow peer outlining how the company helped the peer save money, get extra options, add value, etc. could be all it takes to ease their concerns.  I am a fan of recommendation letters because most of the time you can write it yourself and have your customer tweak it as necessary and sign it.  I also like it more than human contact because you don’t know how your customer will act every time they are called by a prospect of yours.  What if your current customer is in the middle of being audited or they just had a fight with their significant other?  They won’t be in the mood and may not say the nicest things just because they are frustrated with external factors.  Get it in writing when they are in a good mood and when they feel good about your company.  Another tip is to not put a date on the recommendation letter.  You only want to use it as long as they are a customer but recommendation letters with dates expire after 6 months to a year depending on the industry. 

A professional presentation and marketing materials are also necessary to validate your company.  A prospect is not going to feel comfortable working with a company that has black and white stapled handouts.  Go to Kinko’s or Office Depot and get colored copies that are bounded.  Other color lasered handouts with a slick layout and folder are bonuses. 

Another way to validate your company is by getting your website linked on other companies/peoples websites.  Write an article in your field on a popular blog about the same industry, be an exclusive provider to an association and get a link on their website, maybe you have to be approved by a commissioin and they post the approved vendors on their set, or be creative to think of another way. 

These are great third party validations to overcome any fears a prospect may have to do business with you and the company you work with.

I believe one of the main reasons sales people don’t make as many sales as they are capable of is because they are unwilling to ask for the sale.  Asking for the sale should be easy if you are confident you have filled the needs of the customer.  Still, many salespeople still will not ask for the sale in fear of the response or in fear that they will be viewed as a hard seller.  If this is your fear, set up the close with trial closing questions.   

-How does this price compare with what you are paying now?

-Do we need to discuss anything else before you make a decision?

-Now that you’ve seen the information, is there anything holding you back from this decision?

-Who else will you need to talk to before making a decision?

-What other problems or concerns do you have that need to be discussed before moving forward?

Those should pull any final objections from the customer, if they exist.  Take care of those objections and then ask an above question again.  If the customer does not have any objection, ask for the close.  This is very hard although it sounds very easy.  You should be convinced the customer will benefit by choosing what you are offering (find value in pricing, services, etc) and sound confident when asking for the sale.  This can be as simple as:

-If there are no other objections please wait while I prepare the documents.

-Can we move forward?

-Can I expect the signed contract today? 

Again, you have to make sure you have addressed their needs prior to these steps.  These steps are easy if you’ve done your job.  You will be amazed how many customers will move forward when directly asked. 

So you think the economy is hurting your sales. In all honesty, you are hurting your sales. There is plenty of business going on every day. People are buying. Their reasoning and process may have changed, but the end result is the same.

The difference between those who thrive and those who flounder is in their heads. Successful business owners and salespeople are DECIDING to succeed.

That decision propels them to be more creative with their process. Those who are struggling have DECIDED to listen to the news instead of listening to themselves.

There are three key ingredients to selling in a more challenging economy. They are:

• Attitude

• Creativity

• Action

Attitude

You’ve heard it said that Attitude is Everything. So true! Henry Ford said, “If you believe you can do a thing or you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” Your mindset is a large part of your success or failure.

So, do a gut check. What do you believe at this very moment? Do you believe that the challenges of the economy are insurmountable? Or, do you believe that with ideas, a plan, and some action, you can still succeed?

It is your attitude that will unlock (or bolt down) the door to your success. You can, most likely, see it already! When you believe in possibilities, you open up your mind to discovery. On the flip side, if you are negative you are paralyzing yourself.

The first step in your adventure is this - adopt a ‘can do’ attitude. Embrace the idea that there are possibilities.

Creativity

Once you’ve improved your attitude you are ready to do some real brainstorming. Take a look at your product/service offering and ask yourself how you can tweak it. Can you offer a ’stimulus’ discount? Can you add in complementary services? Can you barter with potential clients?

The young entrepreneurs over at Tees and Tats faced a real challenge when the economy took a turn. As merchants of high-end, limited edition tees, they found themselves in a situation where the economy was having an impact on their sales. Instead of giving in to what some would say was inevitable, they got creative and came up with a program to draw business. And they used the economic conditions as part of their program, tying the Dow Jones Index into their pricing platform. In essence they offered a rebate for every 100 points the Dow decreased. You can read their story here.

How’s that for thinking on your feet? It’s what I mean by creativity.

When the economy is good, people buy because of need and want. However, when the economy gets tight, people change their buying habits. The ‘wants’ can sit on a shelf, but the needs remain. Your job is to identify how your product/service is needed and how you can position your business as the preferred solution.

Have the new economic conditions created a new target market for your product or service? Have you considered that possibility? Think about it. Consider, as well, whether now is the time to add a product or service to your offerings. Some business owners are packaging their products differently as a way of adding value to their prospects.

Action

All of the above will do you no good if you don’t take action. A big mistake many business owners and salespeople make is hunkering down - I imagine to ‘weather the storm.’ The problem is that no activity leads to no activity! You have to act.

You have to take action on a daily basis - especially now. Look around. The most successful people out there are the ones who have embraced these ideas and are DOING something to build their businesses.

Visit your current clients. Touch base with them to find out how they are. What’s going on with them? Are there other ways you could be helping them? Building customer loyalty is key to current and future success. Those vendors who are helping their clients survive will be the vendors who are kept for years to come.

In addition to this, there is usually business there. Many salespeople win the first piece of business but never go back to find out what else they could be doing for that very client. Now is the time to uncover those missed opportunities.

Attend networking events. When times get slower you have more opportunities to get out and meet people. Getting out the door is essential. I submit that most selling these days is launched via networking and referrals. So, get out there and find those referral partners. This, of course, includes social media networking.

Reconnect with past acquaintances. When you’re busy it’s easy to lose touch with people. When times are tougher, slower, you can take advantage of the available time to reach out to those folks. They can be great referral sources.

Explore Strategic Alliances. These are relationships with individuals in complementary industries who are in front of your prospects. They provide you with another set of eyes and ears - like an unpaid sales team. And you do the same for them.

As mentioned above, some small business owners are bartering for their products or services. Remember, we all have needs. If you can match your need with a potential client you may be able to trade. Once they’ve experienced your product/service there’s a good chance they’ll continue to use you, either in a barter relationship or traditional.

I received a call from a past client a month ago. When I answered the phone she said, “What do I have that you want?” Well, that threw me for a minute. Then she explained that she wanted me to coach one of her salespeople and was wondering if we could barter for it. As it turned out, I did need one of their IT services. Deal made!

The people who are thriving in today’s economy are the ones who believe they have something of value. They also are taking action daily to do the things necessary to move their business forward. The lesson for you is this: you have to first adopt a positive attitude. That attitude will allow you to get creative with your messaging and your product offerings. A positive attitude and creativity won’t help you a bit if you don’t take them out the door!

At first glance this question seems kind of silly.  But really think about this.  How many times do you get a return call from a voice mail you leave?  What percentage are you getting?  Do you find most times you have to call and catch the prospect next time on the phone?

Chances are if you’re being honest, your % of returned calls from voice mails are low.  If they’re not, then this isn’t necessarily for you and you should share your tips.  When I first started in sales, my ratio of returned calls from voice mails or messages left with the gatekeeper or assistant was probably 1 out of 25.  I thought it should be higher so I listened to old calls (luckily my company records calls).

I listened to them as if I was the prospect.  Few things I found:

1. My messages were rather long and I found myself fast forwarding (which means they were probably deleted)
2. My messages were vague or gave too much info
3. My messages weren’t personal enough

I saw most of my messages were around 45 to 90 seconds which is long for a voice mail.  When talking live with a prospect you don’t have that long to talk to gain interest.  A message is even harder because they can delete it without feeling like they’re being rude.  If I wouldn’t even listen to the full messages, why should I expect someone else too?  Most of you are saying “duh” right now but this was when I was brand new.  I found 30 seconds is the max time you want to have.

I also saw I was inconsistent with my message.  I was either very vague and didn’t give enough info to get the person interested enough to call me back or I gave too much info where they didn’t need to call me back.  You want to find a balance that gives them just enough info to get them interested but not your whole pitch to where they feel calling would serve no benefit.  Also giving too much info without knowing your prospects needs can be harmful.

My early messages were also very impersonal.  It sounded like I left the same message 100’s times before and that I didn’t expect a response.  This seems crazy but if your message portrays that people would be missing out if they didn’t call you and that you have gotten responses before, they are more likely to call you back.  There’s a subconcious tone that you give that people pick up on.  If you walked around with a dollar bill in your hand with your head down mumbling asking if someone wanted a dollar you would be surprised at how many people wouldn’t accept it.

You want to make sure you mention your name, company, what it is you want to speak about and a number.  Make sure you describe a little about your services or products and give a benefit that speaking with you would give their company.  Otherwise if they don’t see why talking with you would help them, they won’t call you.  Using that format has moved my return calls into a 1 out of 4 or 5 range.  If you have their email, it’s always nice to mention you’ll follow up with an email as well.  Decision makers a lot of times find responding via email is easier as it doesn’t make them threatened or in a defensive mode as they can reply when they have time and they feel they can share true feelings rather than give false positives.

What if I’ve left several messages already?  This can be tricky but I’ve found showing a little frustration in your tone on your next voice mail while still being professional and respectful gets results.  You don’t want to do this on the first few because it will come off rude.  But if you’ve left 4 or 5 messages over a few months with no response it can be very effective if done right.  I like to use something like this:

Hi Mr Smith.  This is John Williams with ABC.  I’ve left you a few messages in the past and wanted to speak with you briefly.  I realize you’re busy and that this might not be a priority or it doesn’t make sense to talk right now but if you could find a minute to give me a call to tell me when it would make sense to speak about this, we can discuss further at that time.

What that message does is it shows that you care about their schedule and acknowledge you might not be calling at the right time.  But it also shows you are busy as well and that your time is valuable too.  This message has had over a 50% return for me when it gets to this point.

Hope those tips help you improve your return call rate.  Please feel free to chime in if you have a method that works well.

The Manager had a post a while ago talking about cutting bait and I wanted to revisit this idea of “cutting bait”.  A lot of this post will reiterate what was already said but we can touch on some new things too.  The title of his post was Can’t land a deal? Cut Bait!  But how many of us actually do this at the right time?

Cutting bait is a must to succeed and as sales reps we all find this hard to let a lead or prospect go.  If a lead or prospect isn’t going anywhere though it is just wasting time and energy that can and should be spent elsewhere.  But when is it the right time to cut bait?  How do I know when it’s time?

More often than not, you will know when it’s time.  Have you left voice mails and emails all to remain unanswered by your prospect over the past several months?  Chances are it’s time to cut bait with this lead.  This type of lead is even harder to part with as you haven’t got a direct answer from the prospect saying no.

Haven’t you said to yourself “I wish they would just call me back and tell me no”?  Well soemtimes silence is the loudest form of saying no.  If you’ve left voicemails and sent emails that generate responses typically and you’ve tried calling during different times of the day and month and don’t get a response, that silence can be taken as the sincerest form of not interested.

How do I know when someone says no if they really mean it?  Well this would depend on how well you talked with the prospect.  Did you go right into your product’s features and benefits without talking with the prospect finding out what is important to them, what they need?  If so, the no was probably knee jerk.  But if you went through your sales process and sincerely listened to the customer about what they want or what they need and you weren’t able to produce something that would help them satisfy that need or better their situation then the no is sincere and it’s time to cut bait.

Believe me, cutting bait isn’t easy for me either but at a point in time you look at your notes on a prospect and realize after 2 or 3 times longer than your typical sales cycle you’re still at step 1, it’s probably time to let it go.  Think about it this way (makes me feel better)… you could have completed 3 sales cycles in the time it took you to get this 1 going.  Set a time in the future where you dig through all those old (dead) leads and go through them all at once and if you have 10 to 20 of them, you might find yourself getting somewhere with 1 or 2 of them 6 months or a year down the road.