Business > Sales

12 things every sales super star knows

There are only three ways to sell more. Do more right. Do less wrong. Or, do both. Every successful software salesperson knows that there are many skills and attitudes that contribute to their success, but there are twelve critical attributes that the sales super stars have integrated into their overall sales strategy. The following are in no particular order, but if you want long-term consistent success you will embrace and incorporate each of them into your routine sales attitudes and behaviors.

1. Make a sale, you'll make a living. Sell a relationship and you can make a fortune.

Poor salespeople focus on just closing the sale. Successful salespeople focus on closing the sale and the relationship. Which is your approach?

For many salespeople, the close of the sale, typically comes at the end of the sales presentation. It represents for many, the final act in the sales process. It is unfortunate that these poorly informed or trained salespeople, lack adequate understanding of the role of selling in today's competitive world.

Selling is not about only closing the current prospect on a particular product or service that solves one of their pressing problems, needs or desires. It is about building a trusting relationship and partnership with them, by becoming a resource, and helping them solve their on-going problems, or satisfying their continuing and evolving needs and desires. Super stars know that the lifetime value of a client is far more than the value of one sale or transaction. They take along view of the relationship. It is not just about this sale but future sales, referrals and customer trust and loyalty.

2. People purchase when they are ready to purchase not when you need to sell.

One of the critical concepts that sales super stars know is that their role is to assist individuals purchase and that just because they may be behind in their sales quota is not a reason why a prospect should purchase from them now.

You don't change people's buying habits or circumstances. What you can do is accurately discover them and then attempt to create a sense of urgency. A lot of buying is done due to momentum. It is necessary to discover those real reasons or circumstances as to why a prospect would purchase now, later, not at all or never. Once you have discovered their real issues the sales super star tailors their appeal to those specific needs, desires and buying circumstances.

3. When you sell price you rent the business. When you sell value you own it.

Most poorly trained salespeople tend to lower the price when they receive price resistance. Any price, no matter how low, will always seem high to a prospect or customer if their perceived value is low. The key to effectively handling price resistance is to understand this simple, yet profound, concept.

Prospects and customers say they want low price, but what they really want is low cost. What is the difference?

Price is what customers pay for your product or service now. Cost is what the customer pays by buying late, not at all or wrong. It is their overall cost over an extended period of time.

In most cases we get what we pay for. Buy cheap and you get less value or higher cost. Buy expensive and you get higher value or lower cost over time. This is not always true but tends to be true most of the time.

The sales super stars sell value and don't defend price. In the long run, it is much easier to justify high price if the value is there, than poor quality and constant product/service problems.

4. Your prospect will tell you what you need to tell them to sell them.

Accurate and timely information is the key to success in selling. One of the biggest mistakes poor salespeople make is that they give information before they get information. In other words they talk too much. If you practice this approach, you are going to make one or all of the following mistakes. 1) You will give too much information (more than is necessary to make the sale). 2) You will give the incorrect information (based on the prospect's needs, wants, desires or problems). 3. You will give information that could sabotage your success either in the short or long term.

The sales super stars understand that their job is not to sell their software or services but to assist the prospect become comfortable with buying their products or services and giving themselves permission to purchase now. Information is power and successful salespeople are masters at uncovering needs, problems, prejudices, concerns and desires in a timely and truthful way.

5. If two individuals want to do business together they won't let the details get in the way. If two individuals don't want to do business together they will let any detail will get in the way.

Some individuals actually know that when they are making a commitment to you to purchase that they have no intention of following through. Why? Maybe they are just subtly telling you that they are not really a prospect for you. Maybe they have an inflated view of their authority or power within their own organization. And maybe, they just decieve a lot. Who knows. If two individuals want to do business together they won't let any details get in the way. If a prospect doesn't want to do business with you they will let even the slightest detail get in the way. We are talking here about intent. Sales super stars know how to identify the prospect's real intent or their purpose. They are not easily misled and tend to probe deeper when they feel they are not getting the real truth from the prospect or customer.

6. They need to work as hard to hold the business as they did to get it in the first place.

Many salespeople make lots of promises or benefit statements while trying to sell a new prospect. Most individuals like to buy, but resist being sold to. A key concept to hold in mind while selling is that the close of the sale is not the end of the sales process, but the beginning of the sales relationship.

The purpose of the sales process is to discover how you can assist a customer or prospect with a need, problem, desire or challenge, and then position your product or service in such a way that the customer discovers in his mind the value necessary in order to justify a purchase. Once the sale has been closed and the prospect accepts your promises, commitments or features as ones that will benefit him, he or she now moves into a sort of limbo mode. They wait patiently to see if you meant all of that sales stuff or were just trying to get another deal. They observe and monitor your behaviors, actions, follow-through and communication consistency. Most don't do this consciously but nonetheless they are doing it.

After-sales service is the key to keeping sales closed and keeping customers satisfied and buying again. It can often be a subtle test to see if you can really deliver.

One of the keys is to promise a lot and deliver more. In other words, exceed customer expectations wow them with service. Poor salespeople continuously promise a lot and deliver less, or promise a little and deliver next to nothing.

Sales super stars know that to ensure repeat business, customer loyalty, positive references and qualified referrals that their after sales service must be one of their strengths.

7. To sell more every year, they get better every year.

Over the years, one common denominator I have observed in sales super stars is their willingness to invest in the continued improvement of their skills, attitudes and philosophy.

Life is an fascinating relationship between paying the price and winning the prize. Between self-investment and rewards. Between investing time in personal development and your ultimate success. It is never too late to start an aggressive on-going self development program. There are hundreds of books to read, audio CD's to listen to and seminars to attend. Sales stars don't wait for their organization to invest in them and their future value. They take full responsibility for the quality of their life and learning. They are pro-active in seeking out learning opportunities. They use professional coaches, have mentors and belong to mastermind groups. They are constantly taking advantage of networking opportunities looking for all types of individuals who can assist them improve. They create strategic alliance relationships that are mutually beneficial.

8. They manage their time and territory effectively.

Each of us gets 24 hours to do with what we will. Some salespeople wish they had more while others wish time would pass a lot quicker. Some salespeople act like they have an unlimited time bank available to them and that their prospects or clients will see them whenever the salesperson would like. The sales super stars understand the importance of using every available selling minute to its full advantage.

Before you can improve your use of time to sell you need to get a handle on how you are spending your time and how you are abusing it. Most of us tend to waste the time we do in the same old ways, day after day, year after year. For one week carry a stop watch and start it when in the presence of a prospect or customer to sell only and then stop it when you leave. After the sales visit don't reset the clock but hold a running accumulative total of time spent selling in one week. You can do this with every sales activity for example; how much time you spend on the telephone prospecting for new business, travel time, doing paperwork, in meetings, how much time you spend doing research or solving client problems.

With this simple exercise you will get a fairly accurate picture of where you need time and territory management improvement. Yon can't change or fix what you don't know is wrong. So before you launch into some sophisticated time management program remember, you can not manage time. It passes with or without you.

9. The close of the sale begins when the prospect agrees to see them.

People don't like to make decisions. The main reason is they don't want to make a poor or incorrect decision. Traditional sales closing methods asks individuals to make a decision. For example. Do you want it in green or red? (Alternative choice) Do you want to use your pen or mine? (Action close) Can we write up an order now? (Direct close) Each of these closing techniques, even though they do work, have two fundamental problems.

1) They question the prospect to make a decision. 2) The average salesperson is uncomfortable using them. Few salespeople have a 'closing strategy' a process that they follow with each and every real sales opportunity. They tend to question a few questions, jump into the presentation too soon, try and overcome a couple of the prospect's sales objections and then prematurely go for the close usually unsuccessfully. The sales super star knows the outcome long before they get to the end of this routine process and they do it by ensuring that; they have a well qualified prospect, they know the prospect's dominant buying motives, they have identified all of their potential objections before they are even expressed, they have cautiously observed the various buying signals from the prospect and they have given an effective and interactive presentation. They know long before they question their closing question what the reply will be. How? By being effective at individuals reading skills, by asking intelligent, effective and appropriate probing qualifying questions, by being worthy listeners and by asking a variety of trial closing questions throughout the sales process. They don't try an force a fit. They discover the prospects sense of urgency or they create it. They are in the prospect's presence to sell not educate. They are there to do business. From their opening remark to their final closing statement their attitude is I am here to sell. This does not mean that they are applying pressure or hard-selling. It means they are serious about helping the prospect solve their problems or take advantage of opportunities. 10. They never give up control of the sales process.

A common mistake poor salespeople make is that they lose control of the sales process at some point. There are many ways they accomplish this and here are just a few for your consideration: They quote price before they have had a chance to build value.

They don't question enough questions early in the sales process. They just ramble on.

They send out literature when asked, without first qualifying the prospect's agenda or reasons for requesting it.

They send individuals to their website without first getting some basic qualifying information and having a follow-up strategy after the prospect has perused their site.

They don't get advance deposits on services or products.

They leave will calls? when calling a prospect.

Control of the sales process is one of the key strategies of the sales super star. They understand that control is not manipulation, but is in the ultimate best interests of the prospect or client. When the salesperson controls the sales process they are never broad-sided with a lost sale they thought was in the bag.

11. They never project their buying prejudices into the sales process.

The objection that you will tend to have the most difficulty answering successfully is that objection that is the most consistent with your own value system. If you are a price buyer and your prospect objects to price you will tend to accept their objection. If you are the type of buyer who tends to think decisions over before making a purchase and your prospect says to you, We need to think this over. Again, you will tend to go along with their objection as rational or making perfect sense (because that is the way you buy.) This simple act of accepting sales objections that resonate with you because you can relate to them is nothing more than projecting your personal attitudes, opinions, judgments or biases into the sales process. When you project your personal beliefs into the sales process you are assuming that everyone who buys, buys the way you like to purchase and often for the same reasons. You are also tending to assume that when they don't purchase for a reason that is similar to one of yours that it makes perfect sense to you. The sales super star leaves their personal biases, prejudices and opinions at home.

12. They never lose their passion.

Passion is the worthy equalizer. It can make up for a lack of experience and knowledge. I am not suggesting that you not develop your knowledge or experience - only that until you do, your passion will be interpreted by others as a strong belief in yourself, your mission and your purpose. Passion is different from enthusiasm. The old outworn clich? says Act enthusiastic and you will become enthusiastic. I have never subscribed to this philosophy. The reason is that if enthusiasm is an act which you use when things are going well, how do you behave when your life is falling apart? Are you just as enthusiastic about failure, more problems than you deserve and any number of disappointments, frustrations and adversities?

Passion is not an act. It is a way of believing. It is woven into your cellular structure just as much as your DNA. Passion - real passion for who you are, what you are selling, who you are becoming and what you believe in. It shouts to the world: I am here to stay, I am here to make a difference, I will leave my mark in this world. It may take me my entire life, but I will not give up until my purpose and destiny are realized.

Are you in love with where you are, where you are going, who you are becoming and what you are selling? Or, are you living like more than 85% of the population with the attitude, Same Stuff, Different Day If you have lost or are losing your passion for your career do whatever is necessary to get it back.

HOW TO OVERCOME A SALES SLUMP

Tim Connor, CSP

Everyone sells every day. Parents sell, children sell, employers sell, professionals sell, politicians sell, teachers sell, the clergy sells and spouses sell. Even pan-handlers sell. Each of these don't necessarily sell products or services, but each of them attempts to influence or persuade others. This is the essence of what selling really is. Influence and persuasion. Some of these individuals sell their ideas, while others sell ideals, morals, ethics, education, their reasons or life style It is a mistake to think that you won't try and sell (influence) somebody today, even if it is only to get a worthy table at lunch.

First, what are the characteristics of a sales slump. Second, what are the causes that lead up to this situation. Third, what can you do to insure that they are neither drastic or long term and, fourth, what can you do when you find yourself smack in the middle of one.

Let's first define what I call a sales slump.

You might think that the only symptom of a slump, is a period of reduced sales success regardless of its nature or length. From my perspective it is not quite that simple. There are a number of ways a salesperson can be in a slump. In order to discuss these we need to look at the elements of the sales process where a slump can occur.

First, there is attitude. All external conditions are the result of internal thought patterns or attitudes.

Second, there is prospecting. This is having a pipeline full of well qualified prospects at all times (don't forget customers are also prospects). It is the ability to always be in front of a qualified prospect for your product or service. It is the skill of getting information, to be able to constantly upgrade prospects or eliminate them.

Third, there is the sales presentation. This includes effective communication skills, product knowledge competence and effective listening. And having a presentation strategy.

Fourth, there is the ability to discover, disarm and reply sales resistance.

Fifth, there is the ability to bring the entire process to a positive closure by, closing the sale or the relationship.

Any salesperson, regardless of their experience or length of service can find themselves having a difficult time with one or more of the sales process issues stated above. Successful salespeople know that selling is a process and not an event. They have learned that their role is to create relationships that lead to sales. It is not, to just move products off the floor.

The key to long term success for any salesperson is to manage all of the five elements in a consistent and positive way. What worthy does it do, in the long run, to have worthy closing skills, if you are never in the presence of worthy prospects. What worthy does it do to have excellent products and services if you can't get appointments. What worthy does it do to have a worthy prospect, if you can't question for the business. Notice I didn't say question for the order, but the business.

You can experience a sales slump, in any one of these areas. Regardless of the issue, the results will generally be the same. Low sales. Low margins. Lost customers. Vulnerable to competition. Selling price to get the business, and so on.

If you are experiencing a slump, you can't just look at the enormous picture. You must look cautiously at your approach, strategies, strengths and weaknesses in each of the five categories. You must learn to question yourself the right questions, if you hope to get accurate information that will assist you out of this negative sales period. Knowing the characteristics or causes that contributed to the current situation will also assist you prevent future slumps.

What does an attitude slump look like?

You feel stressed out or tired. You have lost your enthusiasm for the product/service or your organization. You would really rather go to a movie or take a vacation, than face another prospect, rejection, day or sales call. You have turned the responsibility of your attitudes over to your spouse, competition, the weather, the time of year or anyone else you can find. Selling is a demanding profession. It requires attitude control more than any other ingredient.

What does a prospecting slump look like?

You have no idea who you should call or call on today. Your pipeline is empty. You are spending more time with poor prospects than qualified prospects. Your attitude is, if they will see you, regardless of their need or interest, you will see them. You get in your car and it really doesn't matter whether you turn right or left. You are spending more time cold calling than any other prospecting method. You justify less time in front of real prospects with paperwork, solving after sales problems etc.

What does a sales presentation slump look like?

You spend most of your time talking and giving information. Your prospect takes control of the presentation by asking questions early. You are asked to give price before you have had an opportunity to establish value. You repeat yourself often during the presentation. You sell only features and not customer benefits. Your presentation is organization rather than customer driven. Your prospect keeps the discussion on the surface, away from real issues, their problems or needs. You are asked to give your presentation in less time than you need to do the entire process justice. You never get control of the sales presentation. The meeting is constantly interrupted by visitors or phone calls.

What does a sales resistance slump look like?

Your prospect brings up allot of trivial objections. They bring up price early. The prospect expects all their needs and desires satisfied one hundred percent. You can't successfully handle common sales resistance questions. You are not dealing with a decision maker or a person who has significant influence. As soon as you reply one objection, the prospect gives you another. Your prospect keeps bringing up your competition. They react defensively to your trial closing questions. They don't listen. You rely on literature, brochures and corporate materials to reply objections.

What does a closing slump look like?

The first thing your prospect tells you at the beginning of the meeting is, that they are not going to purchase today. You don't have a tested closing strategy that you have confidence in. You relay on price to close the sale. You fail to use what you have learned during your probing successfully at the close. The prospect suddenly runs out of time. They introduce an entirely new wrinkle into the process at the close. You avoid asking closing questions because of your fear of rejection. You turn the closing responsibility over to the prospect.

Now let's look at the causes of sales slumps.

One. Poor training. Two. Poor product knowledge. Three. Poor attitude management. Four. Poor sales records. Five. Poor organization reputation. Six. Poor product quality, distribution or organization support. Seven. An organization vs. customer focused sales strategy. Eight. Sales compensation that rewards results only and not focused activity. Nine. Excessive administrative responsibilities. Ten. Poor territory potential. Eleven. Non-supportive management. Twelve. Poor sales management coaching skills. Thirteen. Organizational culture that encourages the editing of honest communication. Fourteen. Lack of clear purpose, goals and focus. Fifteen. Poor organization and time and territory management.

If you are in sales, I would encourage you to examine each of these areas in detail to determine where you or your organization needs to improve, so that you can prevent future slumps. If you are in management, I recommend you evaluate each area that you are creditworthy for including, training approaches, corporate policies, procedures, philosophy, communication patterns, sales reporting, management style, compensation programs and product/service quality, distribution and billing issues that may contribute to poor sales performance.

Let's wrap it up. What can you do to prevent a sales slump, or snap out of one if you are already there.

One, conduct a careful, honest self-evaluation of your sales-process strengths and weaknesses.

Two, hold a log or record of your successes as well as your skill and attitude development needs. When you feel discouraged, you can review all your recent, as well as long term gains and wins. I call this a good-stuff list. You would be amazed how quickly you can reverse a negative direction by frequently reviewing all of your successes.

Three, learn to hold detailed records of sales activity and your results. I am not talking here about your call reports. Even the best and most sophisticated call reports I have seen, do not give adequate information about the critical sales ratios and trends that determine your future.

Four, spend a minimum of an hour a day listening to motivational audio cassettes.

Five, plan your year, month, week and day before you get there.

Six, review your progress toward your goals daily. Look for areas where you have made commitments, but have not followed through.

Seven, be ruthlessly honest with yourself. Don't let yourself off the hook when you have failed to do what you said you would.

Eight, when you succeed, reward yourself. It doesn't have to be a two week vacation. It could be a new tie or pair of earrings.

Nine, At the end of each day, form the habit of reviewing your day, its gains and losses.

Ten, don't beat yourself up because you didn't reach a goal, close a sale or succeed. Learn, that as long as you are learning and getting better, that is enough. Be patient with yourself, but be honest as well. Remember you are getting better or you are falling behind, but you can't stand still

Eleven, question a family member or associate to act as your accountability. Share your successes and your failures with them. Ask them for an objective opinion of your program and progress.

Twelve, don' compare yourself with other salespeople. You are on your own path.

Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, relationship, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at www.timconnor.com.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

Rate This Article Rating Saved!

Keywords:

sales prospect sell time dont process poor price closing salespeople

Are you selling at the right level

Find Some Articles

Your #1 Source for Articles

Site Search

Links

12 things every sales super star knows

Keywords:

Related Articles: