The Selling Newsletter
The Selling Newsletter
from Best@Selling
A free monthly newsletter of ideas to help make your selling easier.
Selling is the easiest job in the world…Just ask anyone who is NOT in sales! Best wishes for YOUR successful selling—Maura
This issue contains:
-The Selling Quote for the Month
-Upcoming Programs
-The Selling Ideas for the Month
-Action Items
-Selling Tips
-To Subscribe to the Selling Newsletter
-Need an article for your newsletter?
-About Maura Schreier-Fleming
-Contact Information
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Selling Quote for the Month
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
Conrad Hilton
It’s mid year. You may be on track to achieving your goals. Or maybe now that almost half the year’s gone by you’re wondering what you’re going to do to turn this year around. Doing nothing is not an option as Conrad Hilton seemed to notice. Yet sometimes when things are going differently than we would like, we end up feeling immobilized and do nothing. In sales especially, there are high highs and low lows. If your numbers are less than you would like, it’s time for action. Just do something. I’ve found that doing even the smallest part of a task makes a difference. I’ve faced roadblocks on certain tasks that seemed to paralyze me. If I pick just one small step and do it, that provides the momentum to do more. If I just write one sentence. If I just make one call. If I take just one step it often is enough to propel me forwards. In selling, sometimes our objectives are big and we want to make huge strides. Sometimes we just can’t take those huge steps. So if your action is to make just one more phone call today or one more sales call tomorrow, that’s a great plan. By doing something—no matter how small, you’ll begin the momentum to get you moving on to reach a successful conclusion.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Sales Programs
Does your trade association or company have a meeting planned? Have Maura speak on selling and business skills and strategies at your conference so you can sell more this year.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Selling Ideas for this Month
Finding Great Customers
Great questioners make great salespeople. It’s especially true when salespeople ask questions that guide prospects to understand that they need to act now and buy. Unfortunately, not every prospect will become a great customer. There is a way to increase the likelihood of working with great customers. You can ask questions that uncover useful information about your prospects. The answers will indicate if the customer is one you want to sell to.
A long, long time. Ask your prospect how many long-term suppliers they have. If your customer either has none or just a few, that should alert you to the fact that the prospect is not a good one. Be concerned if they take bids from their suppliers every year. Prospects who lack loyalty are prospects that will cost you time and energy. Think of your costs to set up the account, maintain inventory, and establish contacts— only to lose the business in a year. That’s an expensive company to do business with. You should try to show these prospects how doing business with you for more than a year will benefit their business. Start the conversation by asking what it will take to keep their business for longer than a year.
Just remember that some business cultures are very difficult to change. You may not be able to change that culture even in a year. Unless you sell them on the idea of establishing a longer term business relationship, you’ll be doing business with an undesirable customer.
Attention Kmart Shoppers. Ask your prospect when they have paid more than the lowest price for a product or service and why. This tells you about their perception of value and willingness to pay for it. Perhaps your products and services include technical support. Your customer should understand this costs you money to provide. You want your customers to be willing to pay for it, too. Some customers buy only the cheapest products even when they recognize that a more expensive product will provide them additional benefits. A customer who wants your more valuable products and has never paid for service will expect you to lower your price so he can buy. That’s not a desirable customer to sell to. Again, unless your salesmanship includes a compelling reason for this prospect to pay more, this is an undesirable prospect.
Easy does it. Ask your prospect which of his suppliers are easy to work with and why. You’ll learn what work has to be done to be perceived as easy to work with. Your prospect will expect similar performance from you. That will be a desirable prospect if it’s something you can normally provide. You’ll also find out who is going to be a high maintenance customer. When you find out why a supplier is perceived as easy to work with, you may uncover areas where your company or you are unable to offer comparable service. Be concerned if your prospect is unable to describe any suppliers who are easy to work with. If they can’t name one supplier, what makes you think you’ll be the first? If a prospect says that none of the suppliers are easy to work with, you won’t be either. That will be an experience you will certainly want to miss!
The answers to these questions serve you, the salesperson, more than your customer. That’s the way it should be when you’re qualifying customers. After the sale you’re going to be doing the work of serving your customers. You might as well sell to customers who are more likely to become great ones.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Action Items
1. Review your list of prospects to see which business you expect to close this year.
2. Qualify their likelihood of closing and ease of serving based on the answers to the above questions.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Selling Tip
From Maura’s ebook: 97 Ways to Sell More Now E-Book
https://www.bestatselling.com/selling_tools.htm#5
Tip 12. Ask 5 customers to tell you what they like about your products or service. Listen, summarize and ask them to include these comments in a referral letter to you.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Looking for new strategies to improve your persuasion skills? This easy to apply Audio CD will give you many new ideas to easily improve your persuasion skills so you can sell more and close business faster.
https://www.bestatselling.com/Audio_CD.htm
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
I’m always looking for success stories and other tips from sales professionals. Please feel free to email me at info@bestatselling.com with ideas that have worked for you.
If you want to build customer relationships for long-term business, you can easily do it using Exacttarget (www.exacttarget.com) and their CANSPAM compliant broadcast services.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
To Subscribe to the Selling Newsletter
Help us spread the word. Please forward this free newsletter to co-workers, friends and associates.
Subscriptions are free.
Click here to subscribe to the Selling Newsletter
or send an email with NEWSLETTER in the subject to:
info@bestatselling.com
To unsubscribe, scroll down to the bottom of the newsletter and you can click on the “Go here to leave this list– (and why would you want to do that!!! 🙂 )
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Need an Article for Your Newsletter?
Articles from this newsletter may be used in your free publications or posted on your web when given the following credit:
Written by Maura Schreier-Fleming, Best@Selling (www.BestatSelling.com). Maura works with business and sales professionals who want to sell more and be more productive at work. She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results.
For free articles, selling ideas and morale boosters
visit https://www.BestatSelling.com
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
About Maura Schreier-Fleming
Invite Maura to speak at your next conference or sales meeting! Contact: info@bestatselling.com
Maura Schreier-Fleming works with business and sales professionals to make it easier to sell more and be more productive at work. Her Best@Selling clients want to create long-term client relationships. They include Fujitsu, Fannie Mae and Dr Pepper/7UP. She has an M.S. in Textile Engineering from Georgia Tech and was Mobil Oil’s first female lubrication engineer in the U.S. With over 20 years of sales experience, she teaches the art and science of selling with a unique hands-on perspective and a great deal of real-life insight. She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results (a book filled with ideas to make selling easier and more productive. Her business column ‘Selling Strategies’ appears in the Insurance Record magazine and her column ‘Street Talk’ appears in Jobbers World. You can contact her for seminars at company or trade association meetings at 972 380 0200 or info@BestatSelling.com
Privacy: At Best@Selling we take privacy issues very seriously. Your information remains with us and will never be sold, shared, or distributed in any manner, for any reason.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Contact Information
1. Our Web site: https://www.BestatSelling.com
2. E-mail: info@bestatselling.com
3. Call: In Dallas 972 380 0200
4. Write us:
6757 Arapaho Rd., Suite 711-183
Dallas, TX 752448
——————————————————————–=———-
(c) Copyright 2006 Maura Schreier-Fleming. All rights reserved
[Back to top]