Why your not selling anything
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It is Monday the last day of the month. You panic, you are concerned and your
fear the wrath of what your sales manager might say. Sound familiar?
Too much competition, too little time and too much of the Internet are
creating boundaries never experienced in the sales world. Although companies
continue to employ new representatives sales opportunities get harder each day.
I recently sat down with a dear friend and current business owner who
expressed to me her concerns over gaining new sales. Iris's expressed that
customers no longer telephoned her for orders and many did not have the time or
money to meet with her. Sales were poor because Iris was making some common
mistakes. Her business is down by 30%. Not good for a small business owner that
grossed over $1.5MM last year!
The reason for failure is constant errors. These faults are caused by lack of
training, lack of attention and lack of knowing you are committing these
fraudulent acts. In my opinion the ten most common include:
1) Poor opening statements that get a no!
2) Sending Unnecessary literature
3) Poor Telephone technique, sounding dispassionate
4) No Post Call Review
5) Poor Listening Skills
6) Not understanding how to befriend the gatekeeper
7) Inadequate of lack of open ended questions
8) No Pre Call Planning
9) Misunderstanding and Not identifying the objections
10) Reluctance to get a Commitment
In order for you to gain more customers, more contracts and more money you
must become aware that you conduct these errors. As the CEO of your territory
and your customers you must understand that in order to maximize revenues and be
more efficient you must acknowledge that you make this errors.
1. First, answer the big questions.
Most sales professionals are in a rush to start doing. But success starts
with defining. You should first address three essential questions: "Who I am?"
"Where do I want to go? (in other words who are my clients?)" "How do I want to
get there?" Your answers to these deceptively simple questions will become the
genesis of your mission, your business plan, and the clients that you want to
serve.
2. Write your mission statement.
Not to be confused with an advertising slogan, your mission statement should
be a plain-language description of your company's reason for being: who you are,
why you exist, what you hope to accomplish, and what you believe.
Why bother? Well, at the very least, a mission statement enables you to
clearly and concisely describe your business vision with customers, and
partners. Clients want to know "what's in it for me? By understanding your
business and how your products and services meet the clients needs you become
more focused on their issues.
3. Establish goals and objectives.
Ask many sales professionals what they want to achieve and the answers will
boil down to, "Get online and make a lot of money." Attractive as that
aspiration may be, it's too vague to be of any use in guiding your planning
process.
Goals spell out the broad intentions of your business, and can be short- or
long-term: "To become a leader in dollar market share of the widget market." "To
be known in the industry as the leading innovator in widget innovation."
Objectives-whether financial or marketing-should quantify. Keep them
specific, quantifiable and attainable, and include a time limit whenever
possible.
4. Plan your Sales Calls.
I am amazed after so may years in sales how many people are in the business
and never plan for a call. You have heard the analogy time and again, about
departing for a trip unknown to you and not using a map. Would you want your
airline pilot to fly a plane without proper coordinates? Why then would you get
on the telephone, or schedule a meeting with a client without planning for it?
An old cliché states that if you fail to plan than you should plan to fail.
This is true. You and only you as the sales professional must understand what
you want to say, what you want to accomplish, what action steps you want to take
and what you want to sell.
5. Strategies for Success.
Focus.
What are the wants and needs of the client? What are the business issues this
person faces? What are the personal and professional reasons he or she would buy
your particular product or service? Most reps focus on themselves, how much
commission they are going to make and forget who they are selling to and why.
Focus on the client, not yourself!
Relationship.
People want to have relationships with people. They won't buy large
quantities of product from the Internet because they want to trust a human
being. Think of a client relationship as a lifetime investment. This portion of
the process fits in with my earlier thoughts of becoming a consultant not just a
sales professional.
Energy.
Love what you do, love the product you are selling and love the people you
sell with. If you don't, then get out. Your energy and enthusiasm come through
on each and every call, if you are dispassionate, you will not ask the right
questions, you will not read the buying signs, hear objections and importantly
will not make any money.
Commitment.
Commit to your boss, to your job, and to being the best you can be. Identify
with the client, When you commit you become energized and when this occurs you
become the sales professional that you want to be, #1 in your field. Commit
yourself to being the customer and becoming a mirror image of their thoughts.
Know the ...
The customer; the prospect; the product; the topic you are going to speak
about when you meet with the prospect or client; the competitors, the
marketplace and the issues that surround them; the questions you want to ask;
the possible objections; the closing technique; the hot buttons--factors which
allow the client to say yes to you; and finally, your own limitations.
Listen.
Understand the wants and needs of the customer and establish appropriate
benefits you can offer; create a customized sales pitch that will meet these
objectives. You do this by asking questions, lots of questions. Further your
questions must be open ended. When you ask questions, you listen and when you
listen you begin to better understand the drivers, the body language and the
issues to get you closer to a YES! Enthusiasm. Again, love what you do or find
another job to love.
Customers love to purchase products from people who are interested, involved
and motivated to achieving long lasting success and resolving their business
issues. Do you want to buy a product from an uninterested sales professional?
About the Author
!. Results is about choices you make You are the average of the 5 people you
spend the most time with. – Jim Rohn 2. Use approaches of the masters Find a
mentoring group or mastermind group and share the secrets that make others
successful 3. Journal your success Develop a journal of all your successes, do
not lament about failure seek out positive results and attitude.
http://www.gettingtothefinishline.com/products.php.
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Article Published/Sorted/Amended on Scopulus 2007-11-23 11:42:59 in Marketing Articles
