SALES QUOTE
“Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us without words?”
Marcel Marceau
For Salespeople…
You must know the famous mime, Marcel Marceau. He never spoke a word on screen. That was until Mel Brook’s movie, Silent Movie. There he said one word. “Non.” Some salespeople should be more like Marceau. Not necessarily saying no, but being quiet during a sales call. You don’t have to fill the room with words. Silence has a place in selling. One place to use it is when a customer is thoughtfully thinking of an answer to your question. Don’t answer it for him. Be silent. Another time to be quiet is when you quote your price. Say it confidently and then be silent. Yes, salespeople use words as the tools of their trade, but they can be misused as well. Don’t you be the one who forgets to use silence instead of unnecessary words in your selling.
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THE BLOG S AND OTHER COLUMNS
I’m now writing The Real Deal, a column on women in business for Allbusiness.com Hope you’ll read more ideas so you can achieve your success in business.
You can get RSS feed for the blog.
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THE SELLING IDEAS FOR THE MONTH
The Sales Test
What There are tests for everything. If you want to know if you’re on track to make your next sale, take this sales test.
1. Do you know the consequences of your prospect not buying from you? Customers think about buying when they have problems and needs. They are motivated to do something about their problems when they realize that the consequences of doing nothing are bigger than consequences from buying. If you don’t know the consequences of prospects doing nothing, you will probably hear them say, “I’ll think about it.” You probably haven’t asked the right questions to uncover the consequences of their problems. If you don’t know the consequences of doing nothing, then how does your prospect? A sale is less likely. Take 20 points off from your score if you don’t know the consequences of your prospect’s problems.
2. Do your prospects return your telephone calls? If they do you get 20 points. If not, you can keep trying to reach them or realize what’s really going on. They’re not a prospect for you at this time. What’s happened? Their priority has changed. That means your sales forecast needs to change as well. If prospects are unwilling to take a few minutes to return a phone call to you, they’re not going to be taking the time to buy from you either. Unless something changes, they’re not buying. It’s time to find another prospect.
3. Are they a good fit for your company and you? This is a tough question to answer honestly. When you want new business, a lot of even talented salespeople kid themselves into thinking that less than ideal prospects are better than they look. Instead of fooling yourself, analyze your prospects. Look at the criteria of your last 10 deals. You can consider size, location, years of business, job titles of who bought, or other criteria unique to your business. Then compare your prospect to these criteria. Is there a similarity? If not, the prospect is probably not a good fit for you. Stop kidding yourself. You may lose points on the sales test, but at least you’ll face the reality that you need to find another prospect who is a better fit for your business.
4. Can you offer a quantifiable benefit and prove it? Budgets are tight. Prospects may like you, but it’s not enough to make changes or pay for products and services unless there’s a real reason.
The only real reason is that you can offer savings or value to a prospect. Imagine telling a prospect, “I’ve increased productivity 20% in other accounts and can likely do the same for you.” Do you think that will get a prospect’s attention? When you prove what you’ve done, do you think it will likely lead to a sale? I think so. Yes, budgets are tight, but money is spent even now when the befit from spending it is real.
5. Are you worth it? What are you doing to improve your skills, your strategy or your business knowledge? Sure you’re selling products and services. Your customers are buying so much more. Along with your products, your customers are buying you and your brain. If you don’t have much to offer, you reduce the possibility of a sale. When you can act as a business consultant when your prospects buy from you, you increase the likelihood of a sale. Keep reading and looking for ways to help prospects and clients with their business by bringing more expertise to them. Take all or part of the 20 points here depending on how much added knowledge you believe you bring your prospects.
What’s your score from your sales test? Are you on track to get a sale? If your score is low, you know it is time to find new prospects. The good news is you can always take a retest so you pass your final—meeting your sales goals at the end of this year.
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ACTION ITEMS
1. Answer these 5 questions from above.
2. If you want to raise your score, pick two areas and address them.
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Programs
You can check for current programs.
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Dirk Nowitzki, 7 foot tall basketball star for the Dallas Mavericks, has made 145 of 155 free throws (93.5%) in 17 playoffs games this season through last Thursday 6/02/11 (source: NBA).
How about those Mavs!
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Here are some selling tools to help you sell more now. Click on the photo to find out more!
Monday Morning Sales Tips : A book that has quick ideas for you to be more successful in sales. Real-World Selling: A book with selling skills and strategies that work in the real world of sales. Secrets of Persuasion: Audio CD for the clues to use to speed-read people and close more business.