By Janet Wagner
When you make a sales call, do you have the whole meeting planned step-by-step? If your client veers from your plan, do you try to get him back on track as quickly as possible? Is closing the sale your primary focus?
Keith Rosen, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Closing the Sale, suggests that when you stop trying to control and focus on creating solutions and possibilities for your clients, sales will naturally follow. The need to control is based in fear, and fear hinders selling, he writes in The Complete Idiot’s Guide. “We believe that the more we attempt to control our risks in any situation [like] the risk of losing a sale … we can then keep at bay that which we fear happening most,” writes Rosen. “If you’re controlling, you’re not creating.”
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Stop trying to control and focus on creating solutions and possibilities for your clients. |
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Why people buy
Many things can prove the tipping point for a client considering a sale. Often, the decision hinges on a belief that the product or service fulfills a pressing need and on confidence that the salesperson is genuinely concerned with meeting that need. How do you inspire a client to see you as an advisor and consultant rather than a salesperson simply looking for a commission? Be genuine, be enthusiastic and use your own words to describe your products and services, Rosen writes.
Question, listen, observe, adapt
As a salesperson, you must first determine what your client needs. Ask questions to learn what’s important to him and listen intently to his answers. Only when you understand precisely what he needs can you confidently offer an appropriate solution. “During a sales call, a salesperson does not learn anything from listening to his own talk,” writes Rosen. “Listen to people the way you want to be listened to.”
Observe your client’s buying style and be chameleonic in your ability to quickly adapt to it. If the client is detail oriented, provide details; if he’s pushed for time and values brevity, provide the salient features of the product or service.
View objections in another light
You’ve made your sales pitch, you’re eager for the sale and what happens? Instead of an agreement to buy, your client brings up objections. Don’t panic and bombard him with more of your pitch; instead consider what an objection really is—an indication of interest and a need for more information, according to Rosen. If the client wasn’t interested, he’d turn you down flat.
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The ability to be creative is one of the most important attributes of a sales professional. |
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When a client balks and begins to retreat from a sale, pin down the exact source of his reservations because a failure to address the root cause of the objection will mean a lost sale. Then engage him in a discussion of possible solutions. “Salespeople don’t overcome objections—prospects do,” writes Rosen.
Keep track of objections that you hear repeatedly; they indicate points in the your presentation that need more detailed explanations. Beware of creating objections by offering unnecessarily convoluted explanations of your products or services.
Replace closing with opening
When you respond to a prospect’s objections with questions rather than becoming reactive, you create an opening for discussion about other solutions and additional products and services, he writes. This approach also engenders trust by underscoring the fact that you’re focused on finding the best possible solution for the client, not simply making a sale. “This strengthens your relationship with your [clients], as you take the time to provide the information or solutions they want,” writes Rosen.
After the sale
Don’t gather up your papers and dash out the moment the client agrees to buy; instead ask him questions aimed at getting him to explain what swayed him. This will provide valuable information about the effectiveness of your presentation and also point to niggling doubts that, if left unaddressed, could result in a canceled sale. “The greatest salespeople are not great closers,” writes Rosen. “Instead, they are skilled openers of new selling opportunities.”
For more tips on creating sales, see Keith Rosen’s The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Closing the Sale.
January 2008
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