So you’ve found out what the client wants and listened to their many needs. You’ve asked the right questions and got to the main areas of concern. Now you’re ready to present the solutions and convince the prospect you have the answer to his problems.

Great! Then how come your presentation sucks? How come the prospect who was champing at the bit not so long ago has suddenly glazed over and gone all limp and subdued? Could it be that the presentation you’ve just launched into is nothing more than a ‘feature dump’ with a smattering of ‘service shots’?

A great presentation actually turns into a two-way conversation, with the prospect seeing the answer to his problems getting clearer and clearer. Each part of your presentation should be related to specific aspects of the prospect’s business. Follow this checklist:

- Make each presentation personal and persuasive

- Make it an interactive, two-way conversation

- Blend the right amount of emotional appeal with intellectual reasons to buy

- Involve the prospect – speak about your product from their perspective, not yours

- Identify the specific buying motive, then tie your product to it

- Use the words your prospect uses, to match and mirror their thought process

- Tailor each presentation to the individual needs of the prospect

By doing all of the above, you create a very good reason for them to listen to you and make the right decision to buy from you. Make each presentation unique and specific, and you’ll see your prospect quickly turn into a client. And that can only be good for business!

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

One question that comes up more than any other on our sales courses revolves around the art of closing the sale. Many delegates ask if we can give them the ‘magic pill’, the statements that will work with every prospect, as if they need to be hypnotised into making the decision to buy from us.

Some people actually develop a fear of closing that drives them away from the profession. This is usually because of a mixture of ignorance of closing techniques and shyness about asking for the order. Many sales have been made simply because the person had the courage to simply ask for the order.

What are the main reasons for failure to close?

Firstly, it’s the fear of failure. Most of us are so psychologically programmed toward success as being the only worthy goal, that the mere thought of failure frightens us into a semi-paralytic state, in which we are afraid to ask for the order or final decision for fear of being refused.

We seem to think that so long as the prospect is not asked for the order we have avoided failure even though we don’t get the sale. We are petrified we might hear words like, ‘No!’ ‘Not interested!’ ‘Sorry, I don’t want it!’

These words hurt our egos, although, in reality, they are only words, and they will only hurt if we allow them to. If you cannot learn to take ‘no’ for an answer and bounce right back without allowing it to affect your confidence, then you had better look somewhere else for a job. You will never make it in selling.

Some people fail to close because of guilt feelings. They feel ashamed. They feel as if they are time-wasters begging for a living instead of people helping other people solve serious problems. This guilt feeling usually exists in those who do not yet fully understand the power of what they are selling and what benefits it can bring the prospect. A ‘no’ is a challenge, not a red light to stop the salesperson. If you aren’t proud of what you are doing, then you would be better off if you didn’t do it. There is no room in selling for those who are ashamed of it.

Some people fail to close because they misunderstand the need of the prospect; they think the prospect will automatically buy at the end of the presentation. Of course, some prospects do buy at the end of the presentation. But it has been proved that a larger percentage of prospects will buy if a good close is used than if it isn’t, because many of them need a push to get them to act. It is easier to do nothing than to take action. Such prospects need a push and that’s what you’re there for.

Also, some salespeople just get so bogged down meeting objections that the thought of trying to close never enters their minds. They are fighting for their lives; they are confused; they have lost control of the sale. The close must be so natural to the salesperson that he or she swings into it at every opportunity automatically.

So what can you do?

A customer does not normally buy just because the salesperson has talked at him until there is nothing more to talk about. However skilled your closing may be, it will not lead to a sale unless you have already aroused the customer’s desire to buy.

You simply cannot succeed by using tricks at the last moment. The closing technique can only produce buying action when the customer is already considering the proposition seriously.

The art of closing is to introduce the suggestion of buying in such a way that even if the customer reacts negatively, the sales conversation can still continue. Prepare your approach to closing before you start your sales presentation. Be prepared for every possible objection, even for the worst objection of all, a downright refusal to buy. The close begins at the start of your conversation.

If a customer feels ready to buy, it isn’t difficult for a salesperson to sense the fact. The customer’s manner of speech and facial expression give it away. You can be sure he is ready to buy:

• If he asks about the delivery dates;
• If he inquires about prices;
• If he asks about quality, even though they may come up as objections;
• If he asks you for a discount;
• If he asks you whether you will put some of your selling points in writing;
• If he asks whether you can keep your offer open for a few days while he makes his decision.

This is what you can do when you get the appropriate signal:

• Make sure everything you talk about is customer focused.  Turn your features into benefits from the prospects viewpoint, not your own.
• Assume the sale will be made. Believe your prospect is going to buy until he or she corrects you.
• Sell the differences. These could be against what the competition are selling or what will happen if they don’t buy
• Focus all your energy on building customer relationships rather than simply making sales.In selling there are two basics, they are needs and wants. Of the two, wants are more important than needs. Need must be present but most people buy because they want something not because they need it. This is because most purchases are based on emotion.

A recent study into why buyers buy found that 71% of buyers bought because they liked, trusted and respected the salesperson*. You will make more sales if you become your customer’s trusted adviser than if you remain a salesperson. You must cultivate an atmosphere of trust between you and your prospect before any selling can take place.

Your belief in what you sell should be so strong that you find it virtually impossible to understand why anyone would not buy from you. That will give you the confidence to ask for the order and overcome the fear of closing. And that can only be good for business!

* source: Jeffrey Gitomer

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Now, here’s an interesting story this week from one of the UK’s bigger supermarkets:

Supermarket giant Tesco is set to open the UK’s first drive-thru store. The service is aimed at customers who do not want to carry out their weekly shop themselves, but who also do not have time to wait at home for an internet delivery. Instead, for a flat fee of £2, they will be able to drive to a dedicated area in a Tesco store at a set time and pick up their shopping without having to leave their car.

If it is successful, the group plans to roll it out across other areas of the country, although it does not have a timescale for the expansion.

Laura Wade-Gery, chief executive of Tesco dotcom and Tesco Direct, said: ‘This will be especially popular with busy mums who have the school run and children’s activities to manage.

‘It also offers a solution to parents who want to avoid the challenge of shopping in a busy store with children in tow but can’t afford the time to stay in for the shop to arrive to their door.

‘We also expect it to help young professionals who want the convenience of a pre-picked and packed shop but who cannot commit to waiting at home for delivery.’

Have Tesco found a new way to entice customers? Or is it simply a new marketing gimmick?

People like this gentleman from Birmingham, UK, think it’s a great idea.  “I used to enjoy shopping at a variety of outlets not just supermarkets, but having been on crutches for the last 6 months, due to a failed knee replacement that’s got to be taken out and replaced, I’d probably have starved if it weren’t for the big supermarkets’ online ordering and delivery service – its been a godsend! When you’re on crutches its physically impossible to go shopping – you can’t push a trolley, you can’t carry a basket and if, like me, you’ve also got acute arthritis in your other ‘good’ knee, you probably can’t manage more than a few yards anyway”

Others are a little more sceptical. Nick Bubb, retail analyst at Arden Partners, said he could see the appeal of the service to ‘time-starved mums’, but questioned whether it would have any great impact. ‘I am not sure how many Tesco stores will be big enough to offer this,’ he added, ‘and I am not sure if rivals will follow suit as they will not have the store size to undertake it efficiently.’

Mintel analyst Richard Perks also raised doubts over the scalability of the initiative, suggesting it represented little more than a ‘marketing venture’.

‘Online sales at Tesco account for less than 5% of overall sales,’ he said. ‘This is about attracting marginal business.’

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

A new sales rep was having difficulty getting customers. The sales manager decided that the best way to increase his confidence was to let him negotiate with an easy customer who always renewed his contract.

The sales manager reviewed his plan with the rep and gave him details of the customer.

The sales rep met with the customer, and although he was a little surprised at the amount of selling he had to do, got the customer’s signature for a large new order.

Back at the office, the rep went to his boss to tell him that he had completed the task as agreed. But as he arrived at the office, the sales manager called out: “Am I glad to see you!

I’ve given you the wrong address. I’ve given you our most difficult prospect. Nobody’s ever been able to make a deal with him yet! Don’t go.”

Moral: In life you get what you expect to get.

Think about it…did the new rep know that he was visiting the hard customer? What if he had known? Would his confidence have been so high?

What made the difference in the salesperson’s mind?

His expectations dictated exactly what he received. By going with the attitude that he was going to make the sale, it showed in his body language, his demeanor and his confidence. We get back, not what we deserve, but what we expect.

Go on today’s calls with an attitude that these will be great experiences…as one of our trainers says, he looks at everything from a positive point of view, because he doesn’t like the alternative. Take that example and you’ll be in a stronger frame of mind when you see prospects. And that can only be good for business!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

How many times has the thought of prospecting sent cold shivers down your spine?

Many salespeople fear trying to gain business from new prospects because of the high chances of rejection, and the inability to deal with the usual negative responses.

But how about a rethink here. If you had the choice, would you rather contact current customers with whom you’ve built up a great relationship, or a brand new customer you know nothing about and knows nothing about you?

I can guess your answer!

Many salespeople we come across view their current customers as one-off sales transactions. With this limited view, the additional sales opportunities are simply that: limited.

But with a quick reframe, it’s easy to believe that your current client is not only a client, but they can also be viewed as a prospect.

So your mindset has to be focused on a repeat-business mentality. And before you say you’re already getting 100% of the business from the client, think that there’s more than one way to gain business from current customers.

How can you turn a current customer into a prospect and generate sales leads from them?

* Get them to give you referrals

* Let them do networking for you and be rewarded for it

* Let them introduce you to other business centres within their company

* Become a trusted advisor to them, allowing more business opportunities to flow from current contacts

* Identify opportunities that haven’t been seen by your current customers and help them to see how you can help them achieve market share with those opportunities

Although you may think you are getting 100% of their current business, there are always ways to improve and increase sales leads by proactively checking out areas you and the client may not have considered. It’s easier, less stressful and less time-consuming to generate leads with current customers than having to approach new ones. And that can only be good for business!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

‘If you build it, he will come’. Remember that line from the film Field of Dreams?

Well, you would be wise to follow Kevin Costner’s advice and build it yourself.

Build what? And who will come?

If you don’t build it, you won’t be around in 2011. Or at least you won’t be as successful as you could be.

What should you build? I’m talking about your ability to read how your clients’ businesses are going. In other words, you need to build your business acumen. It’s a Latin word meaning sharpness, keen insight or shrewdness.

Naturally it’s important to have all the sales skills that will differentiate you from your competitors. But you will need more. Much more. Let’s look at what average salespeople do today:

• Average salespeople struggle to understand how their own company competes and wins business, and they look for situations that don’t fit their company’s target market. They try to sell on price when their company isn’t that competitive.
• Average salespeople struggle to speak business language with their prospects. They lack the understanding to be able to discuss the issues, challenges, and opportunities their clients are facing a way that means something to their prospects.
• Average salespeople don’t comprehend the financial metrics that affect their prospect’s business, so they can’t provide any solutions to the challenges those metrics throw up.
• Average salespeople cannot explain how their solutions create a better future for their prospects or how their value over the competition is of great benefit to them.

On the other hand, great salespeople create value to their prospects by building their business acumen:

• Great salespeople understand their own company’s marketing strategies, their own company’s unique value proposition and how they compete against others in the marketplace.

• Great salespeople sell symbiotically, knowing how their clients compete in their markets, knowing their client’s unique value propositions.

• Great salespeople are able to discuss financial and business figures easily and comfortably, helping clients see the value of the product or service to their business.

• Great salespeople use their business acumen to pinpoint specific areas where value can be created with their products and services, to communicate how that product will create a competitive advantage to the client, and develop a solution for future business that will take the client into new markets.

Up to now, sales acumen may have seen you through the tough times, but for the future, it may not be enough. Build your business acumen, your knowledge of how businesses work, particularly your current customers’ businesses, and you’ll find your customers will come.  You’ll be able to offer much more quality to your clients and prospects, and avoid being seen as ‘just another salesperson’. And that can only be good for business!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

It’s obvious why companies go out to tender for work, as it offers them the most benefits with the least work. They know that you will cut your costs to try to beat your competition, and you often do.

What can you do to improve your chances of winning this most difficult of circumstances?

Firstly, gather all information you can about the decision-making process. Who will be involved? Get as close to them as possible and act as a surgeon, asking specific diagnostic questions that will help you achieve your goal of getting the buying criteria clear before you submit.

Then, find out who you’re competing with. You want to give a fair deal, and this knowledge will help you achieve that. It will help you design a bid so the differences between you and your competitors can be highlighted. This gives your decision-maker an easier choice to make.

You also require a summary after the bidding of who won, why and on what terms. This will help your marketing intelligence for future bids.

By the way, if they won’t give you any or all of the above information, think seriously whether you want to bid at all, because it might be indicative of how they will treat you after you win. Are you sure you would want to work with someone who has that mindset? Is it worth the hassle?

Then, when you submit the quote, try to deliver in person so you can explain any specific issues the prospect may have.

• Get agreement on their needs and show how your solution will satisfy them.

• Discuss the long-term viability of your offer and emphasise the added value items, like warranties and guarantees.

• Get their buy-in throughout your presentation  and explain how you got to the price that you have offered.

If you didn’t win on this occasion;

• Get feedback as quickly as possible on the selection criteria they used to make the decision

• What price level did your competitor go in at? Was price the main issue?

• Ask the prospect if there was anything you could have done differently to have earned the business

• Write to the prospect thanking them for the opportunity this time, and confirm your interest in staying in touch

• You could offer to become an alternative source of supply if things don’t go according to plan with their new supplier

• Diarise follow-ups with the prospect to see how things are going with the new supplier and identify areas they may still not be happy with

If you find yourself in competitive bids often, it may be worth talking to your marketing department to create fact sheets and bid sheets that can be personalised for each bid you offer. That way, you are consistent and confident in what you can provide for your prospect. It gives you the benefit of creating special terms for prospects without spending too much time and effort on each one. And that can only be good for business!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

In a previous blog, we discussed some home truths that are real-world truths in 2010 and beyond. One of them was as follows:

False: Your persuasion techniques and convincing arguments will get the sale

Truth: It’s friendly, intelligent engagement that will convince the prospect they should talk to you

Many sales interactions consist of the salesperson trying to gain the upper hand by persuading the prospect that they would be making a big mistake not buying the product. Or they dump a lot of information on the prospect about benefits of the product, hoping some of it will stick.

Today’s savvy buyer has heard it all before, and their buying decision process has changed dramatically. These days they need to be convinced that they can trust you before they hear any slick presentation you may have.

You need to get engagement with the client first. This means seeing the situation through their perspective, noting what their problems and concerns may be. This involves quality questions, active listening and concerned interest in their current position. Only then can you earn the right to suggest solutions.

And when you do suggest those solutions, it needs to be done in a friendly, professional and intelligent manner, rather than reeling off a list of features that might, somehow, persuade the prospect to think of you.

All this creates a basis for trust, without which you are simply trying to take a transactional order. Friendly, intelligent engagement will provide the foundation for a long-term relationship. Even if they don’t buy from you today, you have laid the groundwork for future contact, something that no amount of persuasion or convincing arguments can guarantee. And that can only be good for future business!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Even though you’ve done your homework on the prospect, there’s always the chance that they will have to gain the approval of others in the company before they make the decision.

If that’s the case, here are four tips in making it easier for you to progress the sale:

1. Obtain the approval of the prospect you are dealing with face-to-face

2. Find out who else is making the decision and see if you can get their approval

3. Find out how the decision is going to be made and arrange a meeting with all concerned

4. Plan to make your presentation based on the needs of all parties.

Let’s go through those four steps and see how they work:

1. Obtain the approval of the prospect you are dealing with face-to-face.

You need to get their approval so you have an ally for your product. “Mr. Prospect, would you say yes if  the decision was up to you?”

If they say yes, then you can confirm they would recommend your products to the other decision-makers. You may even go through the checklist of product, price, services, warranties, back-ups, etc, just to confirm they are ok with them.

2. Find out who else is making the decision and see if you can get their approval

Think in terms of being ‘on the team’. Use language that shows it’s you and the prospect making the decision with the other decision-makers

Think about what we as a team would have to consider. When can we get together? What will be most important to us all? These questions will help you be in the mind-set of the decision-makers, and help you put your proposal across in the best way.

3. Find out how the decision is going to be made and arrange a meeting with all concerned

Make sure you offer alternative dates for all the team. This way, you show your concern in fitting in with their schedules and the importance of you being able to present effectively to all the people that matter

4. Plan to make your presentation based on the needs of all parties.

Don’t rely on your prospect to make the presentation to the decision-makers. If there are any questions, you won’t be there to answer them. Convince the prospect that it is vital you meet with the decision-makers as this is an important long-term decision they are making, and you want to make sure their company gets it right, don’t you?

By going through these four stages, you increase your chances of success when the prospect has to get the approval of others first.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

One of our trainers is looking for a new car for September delivery and he shared with me his experience at his local dealership. I thought I’d share his story with you…

“I had settled on a new model, agreed the spec and was ready to negotiate the price downwards with the salesman. I teach this stuff, so it should be a doddle, I thought.

I asked what was the best price he could offer on this model. He looked at the price list, then at the car, then at his manager. I thought he was going to try the old ‘let me talk to my manager’ ploy, but instead he asked me ‘What price do you have in mind?’

‘Goody’, I thought. ‘I can name my own price!’

I knocked £1500 off the sticker price, more than 10%.

He then asked me ‘Do you care how I get you there?’

This made me think for a few moments, because if I said no, I knew what he would do. If I said yes, he would have asked me what the conditions would have to be to get to the target price.

As price was my main issue (as it is with many discount shoppers) I answered the question with a ‘no’.

This opened the door for the salesman to look at alternative ways to get to my target price.

He asked ‘Is it the fact that you don’t want to pay the asking price at all, or you don’t want to pay it for this car?’

Cue another few moments of thought-filled silence! I answered that I wanted this car, but wanted the discounted price.

‘OK’, he said, ‘let me see how we can get to that price for you’.

He then proceeded to go over the value to me and my family of the choice I had made. I was actually feeling that it was worthy of close to the asking price…I was even feeling a bit cheeky asking for that much off.

He said he could get to the asking price for me, though I would have to go for flat paint instead of metallic, knock off the three year warranty that had been included in the price, take out some of the accessories he had persuaded me I needed, and take his dealer’s finance package, which was 2.9% per annum more expensive than my bank’s deal.

What did this poor old buyer do in the end? Accepted a £500 discount and got my metallic paint, a two-year warranty and accessories back!

Yes, yes, I know…but I had fallen in love with the car, and my emotions won out in the end.

I also asked if he had been on any training courses recently! He told me he was the number one salesperson in his dealership on revenue and profitability, and he also had attended most training courses out of all his colleagues in the past two years.

Naturally, I wasn’t surprised”

Interesting! Maybe that question ‘what price do you have in mind?’ isn’t the best in all situations but it gives you an idea of what you have to move to if you have some margin available.

The other question, “Do you care how I get you there?” gets the customer to consider what’s most important to them. If, like our trainer, you say that the target price is most important, you can see if there’s anything you can do to get to that price.

What you’re basically saying is that, if the price is the only criteria that’s stopping the client from buying, moving the specification, warranty, payment terms, credit facilities, service back-up or other additions can help you get closer to that price.

And if they balk at that, maybe the price isn’t the most important aspect of the purchase after all.

Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Oh, and our trainer has been ribbed all week in the office!

Happy selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
The UK’s #1 Authority On Modern Day Selling
MTD Sales Training

Have you downloaded my latest report “The Sales Person’s Crisis”? Over 10,000 sales pros have.

Click on the image below to find out why you’re very existence as a sales person is in doubt…