Browse Tag

selling

When a Salesperson Should Stop Selling Value

SQC smallProblem:  Recently, I had a conversation with a sales engineer about his frustration with trying to convince a prospect the price of his equipment was worth the value.  His prospect is convinced that he is selling high quality, efficient equipment with a large ATBM (Average Time between Maintenance).  Though his prospect faces frequent interruptions due to breakdowns, the prospect continues to buy his competitors’ equipment because their prices are lower.  The prospect continues to tell him that he can’t justify the capital investment needed to buy his equipment. read more

Closing Deals In Complex Sales

SQC smallProblem:  Mark was a high tech salesperson, selling complex hardware and software solutions to distribution companies.  Relatively new to the job, his ability to close was frustratingly poor.  But he was in good company, as the other salespeople in the company suffered from the same problem.

Analysis:  Bernie was Mark’s sales manager, and was “old school.”  He was a disciple of J. Douglas Edwards who, along with Dale Carnegie, were early pioneers in sales training.  Bernie has been in sales for 30 years and had learned his craft well.  He was proud of the fact that he had been successful selling a variety of products, starting with vacuum cleaners and progressing to aluminum siding, and then retail computer parts before landing a job with a hard drive manufacturer.  Recently, he convinced the president of this company to hire him to manage the sales effort.  He loved to regale his troops about his closing prowess, telling them that the best salespeople were the ones who could sell something to someone who didn’t need it.  Of course, his techniques were highly manipulative but they worked well in vacuum cleaners and aluminum siding (remember the movie Tin Men?) He subscribed to many sales technique blogs and required his people to memorize the closes.  The sales trainers he hired to train his people reinforced these manipulative techniques.  “Tell them our story and then go for the close,” exhorted Bernie as he rehearsed his people in selling features and benefits.  Of course, Bernie was the problem. read more

Set the Trap… for Yourself!

SQC smallProblem: Jack had been with the company for only two years, yet he was considered their most technically competent salesperson. He was the “go to guy” when the other salespeople needed someone to talk to about solutions, specifications, and competitive information. He was an expert when it came to product knowledge, yet he had the worst closing rate and was the lowest paid salesperson. read more

Beware of What you Send Before Your Meeting

SQC smallProblem: Dennis was the VP of Sales for a medium sized application service provider and was concerned about the high number of appointment cancellations his reps were getting. As an example, he related something that had happened about ten days before. Apparently Richard, one of his reps, had made an appointment with a prospect that looked like they’d be a good fit for the company. A day after the appointment had been made; the prospect called back and asked that the rep send “some information” about the company prior to the meeting. Richard felt that this was a good sign of interest and complied, sending a fairly extensive package of information. It contained spec sheets on some of the products, a partial client list, company history, several recent news releases, etc. Then two days before the appointment was scheduled, the prospect called and canceled, saying that they had looked over the material that was sent, and they felt that a meeting would not be necessary. This, explained Dennis, happened too often. read more

Sound Like a Salesperson? Get Ready for Rejection

SQC smallProblem: Jason was new to the company and was trying to develop his territory. He didn’t lack enthusiasm and was making his objective of 100 cold phone calls a day. He felt pretty good about that since he saw others make far less. But still, he was not making nearly enough appointments to keep his pipeline filled and wondered how he was ever going to achieve his income goals if things didn’t change. read more

No Secret Formula

SQC smallProblem: Many salespeople wish there was a secret formula to prospecting successfully for new customers. We often hear salespeople moan, “If only more people would listen and talk to me. We know they would buy our service.”

Analysis: Prospects are bombarded with sales messages and buying opportunities. One recent study estimated that on average each of us is exposed to more than one thousand messages every day. Add to this the complexity and pace of business, prospects have no real way to cope but to screen out much of what they hear and see. Further, prospects buy for their own reasons and at the time that is right for them-not for your reasons or timing. read more

Why Should They Give You an Appointment?

SQC smallProblem:  One of the biggest challenges that salespeople face is getting appointments.  People are constantly bombarded by marketing messages via the media enticing them to purchase.  Prospects receive daily calls from salespeople who want to see them, so it’s no wonder that they treat most requests for meetings with skepticism and suspicion.  This unfortunate fact of life makes the salesperson’s job that much more difficult. read more

It’s Seldom About Price

SQC smallProblem:  One of the most common objections salespeople get is about price: “That’s a bit more than we were thinking about paying.” “Your prices are kind of high.” “That just doesn’t fit our budget” are typical comments. Salespeople tend to be very aggressive in their attempts to overcome price objections and begin dropping their price to get the sale. And, more often than not, once the price issue has been “resolved,” another objection comes to the surface. Sometimes it seems to be a never-ending circle of objections from the prospect. read more

Eliminate Mutual Confusion

SQC smallProblem:  Ever go on a sales call where there seemed to be little structure, where both parties seemed to be on different pages, where expectations were not met, and little was accomplished? Even worse, you expected something positive to occur but simply got a luke-warm response such as, “I need to think it over. Call me in a few days.” Opportunities are squandered and the buyer seems to be in control. read more

All-Pro or Product Peddler?

SQC smallProblem: Picture your last very important sales interview with Mr. Big — the one that potentially represented three months quota. You know the one we mean. Going into the meeting, on a scale of 1 to 10, where would you rate yourself on the following scale? 1 means your briefcase is full of literature to show him, and 10 means that you have planned the call well and have rehearsed the questions you will ask to help you understand the problem in a way that fits with Mr. Big’s behavioral style and frame of reference. If you scored less than an eight, your chances of a successful meeting are less than 50%. read more