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 seminars
>The Selling Ideas for the Month
>Action Items
>Something to Report/What would you recommend?
>To Subscribe to the Selling Newsletter
>Need an article for your newsletter?
>About Maura Schreier-Fleming
>Contact Information
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The Selling Quote for the Month
“A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further then a great idea that inspires no one.”
–Mary Kay Ash
Selling is the transfer of emotion. Think about how you buy. Would you be more or less likely to buy from someone who showed indifference about the product he’s selling? Probably less likely. Your customers are the same. They want to see that you enjoy the product you sell and that you’re enthusiastic about their purchasing it. I’ve always said, successful selling starts with selling products that you love. Then you have to show your customers the joy you get from selling them. The emotions you have will be unconsciously transmitted as you sell. Buying your products is a great idea. You’re certainly calling on ideal prospects who could use or need your products. Just make sure when you’re selling you’re generating enthusiasm for your products and your customer using them. Your enthusiasm may just be what gives your customer the confidence to buy. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Upcoming Seminars
Where: Southern Methodist University
Legacy Campus 5236 Tennyson Parkway, Plano 75024
Plano, TX
When: This Friday! March 18, 2005 Time: 9-Noon
Program: Employee Survival Skills: Learning to Manage UP!
Cost: $109
For more information: 214 768 THINK (8446) https://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe521576746d0375711d-fe2610707066037a721174
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The Selling Ideas for this Month
Wishful Thinking Won’t Sell
Being clairvoyant is a great talent for selling. I know many salespeople who think they have the skill. Yet, I don’t know one salesperson that does. Unfortunately many salespeople rely on it for their selling. They think they have the answers and plan their selling based on what they think. This kind of thinking creates unsuccessful selling. Here’s how one salesperson lost a sale with this incomplete thinking.
Beware of the unknown. A consultant working in the area of organizational strategy was being considered for a consulting job. This salesperson had a Vice President’s recommendation and the strong support of one of the Directors of a Fortune 100 company. The Vice President delegated the buying decision to this Director and 5 other Directors who were on the buying committee. The buying company had done business with another consulting group that was also going to be considered.
The salesman was advised to ask his contact for the criteria for the group’s buying decision. The director said they didn’t have any. Rather than pursue this, the salesman ignored the advice and presented anyway. He thought his presentation would be strong enough without the information. He was wrong. It is absolutely critical to know how your customer is going to make the buying decision before you present. You are going to organize your sales presentation to meet your customer’s criteria.
Seize the opportunity. When a customer doesn’t have any criteria, look at it as an opportunity for you to provide the selection criteria. You should certainly provide the criteria that showcase your strengths. You can tell your prospect, “When I’ve worked with other clients on successful projects, here are the criteria they have used.” Advise your prospect that making a decision will be easier when they develop the criteria beforehand. Do everything you can to learn the criteria before your sales presentation, not after.
Get RSVPs. The salesman asked the Director, his contact, who would be on the committee. The director told him. The salesman assumed that all the committee members would be at the presentation. That was a bad assumption. During the preparation for the presentation, the salesman was able to assess that a couple of the committee members would support him. Unfortunately, one of his supporters didn’t attend the presentation and didn’t make his recommendation to the committee.
Do your own selling. A big difference exists between a sales champion and someone selling for you. A sales champion is someone who is so convinced you are the best solution for the company’s needs that unsolicited they will champion you to the others on a committee. When you ask someone on the committee to assess how other committee members are thinking, you are asking them to do your selling for you. This is a mistake. The salesman didn’t know everyone on the committee so he asked the Director about the committee members who he didn’t know. The salesman relied on that information to prepare his presentation. He missed an opportunity to connect with the other Directors by introducing himself and talking with them before the presentation. You need to create rapport on your own and gather your own information. Getting third party information will give you an incomplete and less accurate picture of your selling challenge.
Without criteria and presenting to an incomplete audience, with little established rapport, the salesman was later told that he had missed the scope of the project. He had gone beyond what was needed. The other company got the business.
Forget about trying to become the next Madame Cleo. She’s out of business anyway. Better planning is a more critical selling skill than being clairvoyant. And after you get the sale, it just may appear that you are clairvoyant.
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Action Items
1. Examine your last three pieces of new business. How did they make the decision to buy? Did their selection process make you a stronger candidate? Share that process with other prospects so you make it more difficult for your competition to get your business and easier for you to be selected.
2. Look at your schedule for this week. What upcoming meetings do you have where you need to confirm who will be attending?
3. Who will be attending an upcoming meeting that you don’t know very well. Do you need to introduce yourself before the meeting? Call them before the meeting, introduce yourself and find out their perspective on the meeting.
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Something to Report /What would you recommend?
What do you do that makes you successful? What advice would you give another salesperson? Send me your tip and I’ll share it with everyone who responds.
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. To thank you, you’ll receive a free subscription to The Selling E-Letter™, a bi-monthly selling newsletter. ($50 value)
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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, president of Best@Selling . ( https://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe511576746d0375701d-fe2610707066037a721174 ). Maura works with business and sales professionals so they can 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://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe521576746d03757313-fe2610707066037a721174
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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.
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Contact Information
1. Our Web site: https://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe511576746d0375731c-fe2610707066037a721174
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
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(c) Copyright 2005 Maura Schreier-Fleming. All rights reserved
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