“I’m in a slump right now…” “Our sales are in a slump…”

We hear this terminology all the time in the world of professional selling. However, just what is a sales slump anyway?

Most sales people refer to a sales slump as that time when sales slow down, and business slips into a quagmire. The main thing is that most sales people relate a sales slump and its cause to unfortunate circumstances, usually beyond the sales person’s control. It’s not their fault. I mean, no one gets into a slump deliberately, right?

To that common definition of a sales slump, I say…

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SALES SLUMP.

Are there times when your sales may drop off? Yes. However, it is not due to unfortunate or even unforeseen circumstances.

#1 – You Reap What You Sow
The primary reason you see sales fall off in what sales people commonly call a slump, is due to an inconsistency in work ethic and a lack of understanding the science of selling.

As an example, a sales person sets a goal to earn £1,000 in commissions for the week. He has a 20% closing average. However, since he earns an average of £200 per sale; he sets a goal to close 5 sales, and here is a sample of what happens that coming week:

Monday – Sales person does three presentations and closes two. Earns a total £500
Tuesday – With referrals from Monday, he does two presentations and closes both! Earns £350
Wednesday – He does four presentations and closes two of those! Makes £450
Thursday – He does two closes and sells none, but having already reached his goal, he takes off early and hits the local pub.
Friday – He runs another strong referral: one presentation, one sale. £250. He then takes the rest of the day off for a well-deserved early weekend.

Our sales hero closed 7 sales instead of 5 and earned £1,550 instead of £1,000. He is ecstatic and feels he has a great month and career ahead.

What’s the Problem?
The problem is that this sales person performed only 10 sales presentations and he closed 7 sales. The problem with that is that 7 out of 10 is a 70% closing average. His average is only 20% or 1 out of 5. With a 20% closing average, he should have done 25 presentations in order to make 5 sales. He should have done 25, but he only did 10. He owes the “street” 15 sales presentations. What do you think is going to happen next week?

I Fought The Law and The Law Won
The “law of averages,” is a LAW, it will come true. If you flip a coin 100 times, it may land on heads 15 times in a row, but when it is all over, it will come out very near to 50 heads and 50 tails. Our sales person’s 20% closing average is going to come back with a vengeance!

The Following Week…
Still riding on the high of last week, our hero sets a goal to make £1,500 again this week with 7 sales.

Monday – Does 4 presentations, sells one. £185
Tuesday – Does 3 presentations, no sale.
Wednesday – Works very hard and gets in 5 presentations and sells one. £200.
Thursday – Getting desperate, he gets out and does 5 more and sells one. £225.
Friday – He begins to feel that he is doing something wrong, different from the previous week. So he alters his sales presentation on the next 4 calls, and sells none!

This sales person now begins to say, “I’m in a sales slump!”

The fact is that he is exactly where he put himself.  He is in the exact situation he created.  This is not a slump.  For this sales person to earn £1,000 per week, he needs to do 25 sales presentations every week, week in and week out, regardless of how many sales he closes. Instead, he is experiencing the results of the sales process for which he invested.    

#2 – You Reap What You Sow – Again
Just as the lack of work ethic will come back to haunt you, so will a consistent input of positive sales activity. When you consistently do the proper number of sales closes, phone calls and other sales actions, you will still occasionally have a period of a few “no-sales” in a row. However, that too is part of the process and not a slump, as you can count on closing several sales in row to even up the law.

Be consistent with the number of sales calls, sales interactions and other foundational sales activities and erase the word slump from your vocabulary. Watch your averages and do not allow your work ethic to lag when you have a good selling week.

My associate John Landrine in the U.S. has a saying…

“If the street owes you, it will pay you back with bonuses and rewards. However, if you owe the street, it will collect with interest and penalties!”

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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The sales team works hard. Most put in long hours, study diligently and follow the plan. However, are all doing as well as they can? Are all of your sales people actually working as hard, trying has much and giving it all they have? In short, are they doing their very best?

Below are some effective ways to help you motivate your sales people to do their very best and try their hardest. After all, often the only missing ingredient between success and failure is that last little push.

Money is Not the Prime Motivating Factor
First, find out what it is that truly motivates each sales person. Understand that on the surface, and even to the sales person, that motivator may appear to be the money, but it is not. The sales person who is motivated by money, is really inspired by the things that the money will do for him or her. The person’s desire is the results, lifestyle, power, influence, fun or any number of a thousand things that the money will provide.

Your job is to find out exactly what it is that money provides that powers the sales person, and use it as the proverbial “carrot.”

Uncover Past Feats of Great Inspiration
In attempting to discover what a sales person’s motivating triggers may be, look to a time in his or her past, for a demonstration of great inspiration. Everyone has a story when they persevered through enormous adversity to succeed. Everyone has a story about when they would not stop, would not give up and won against all odds.

Such an experience could have been in a business setting, or something personal like overcoming a health problem, passing a difficult test, getting a degree, pursuing a member of the opposite sex, quitting smoking or learning to swim. Everyone has a situation where they pushed their hardest and succeeded.

You should get to know your sales team on a level more personal than just business. Take an interest in their lives and get to know them. In doing so, uncover one of those great challenges, and see what was the underlying motivation.

Perhaps it was love, or the feeling of power, or being in control. Often, it is recognition and pride. The point is that you want to take those past underlying motivational triggers, and use them today.

The Marathon
As an example, you ask a sales team member to explain the greatest challenge he has ever faced and overcome. The reply is that he trained for years, tried and failed many times, but finally he completed a full marathon race.

You next ask him to explain why he went through so much effort. Why was it so important and what drove him to keep trying? He tells you that it was simply to be able to know that he was capable of doing it.

Obviously, self-satisfaction and inner pride are driving issues for this sales person. You then use such ideas during your personal motivating meetings with this sales person.

“You know Steve, it is extremely tough and may take a lot of tries to do it, but if you can hit 45 sales in one month, you can take pride in knowing that you are the first person to ever reach that goal in the first year with the firm.”

Perhaps the marathon runner’s answer was that she wanted to prove all of those people wrong who said that she could never do it.

“Sarah, if you could close 45 sales this month, you will prove me and other managers wrong…”

Do It Again
Please understand, I am not talking about trying to manipulate people nor am I suggesting some psychological mind games. I am simply suggesting that you find what motivating factors led someone to overcome great obstacles in the past, and use those same factors in the present. In fact, do this to and for yourself!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Due to circumstances well beyond your control, the new software version upgrade will not ship as promised. The sales team has anxious clients waiting for the upgrade, in addition to many prospects who are interested in seeing the new version. Moreover, the delay means that regular monthly maintenance fees are suspended and the sales team will not receive their monthly residual commissions!

Now it is your job to deliver this uplifting news to the sales team. Arrrgh!

In business, things do not always go as planned and there are times when your firm may have to endure negative, costly and painful information. How you deliver such information to your sales team is critical.

The Positive Sandwich
You may have heard of the concept of the positive sandwich, in when delivering disconcerting information, you simply position the bad material in between two positive discussions. Lead off with something good, quickly disseminate the bad, and then close with something good. While there is nothing wrong with this concept as it makes sense and works quite well in many situations such as public speaking; today’s modern sales people may need a bit more.

Start at the Bottom and Go Up
Eliminate the emotional rollercoaster. Begin with the worse news possible, and then deliver good news. Follow that by even better news and then the best news. Finally, show some example of this good news in action.

As an example, using our hypothetical software upgrade above, you would deliver the bad news that the upgrade is late as are residual commissions. Then, share the good news that the upgrade has additional features and benefits. Better news; that clients who upgrade will get a reduction in their monthly service fees. Follow that by best news that sales people will get a raise in their residual percentage. Finally, share an example of the good news with the fact that the new features will open up new markets and more sales opportunities for the sales team.

Expectations Shape Perception
The most powerful way to deliver bad news to your sales team is to shape their expectations of that news.

Have you ever felt a movie would be the best movie of its genre you have ever seen, only to find that the movie was not as good as you thought? Alternatively, the movie you thought would be a flop, was not as bad as you thought it would be.

A company earns $200 million in profits. However, the company failed to meet the Wall Street expectations of $206 million, and therefore did not perform very well. Expectations greatly influence perception.

When you need to deliver bad news to the sales teams, start by shaping their expectations of the upcoming news. Let the team know that in the next meeting, you have some very bad news to share. You do not want to exaggerate or lie, and you don’t have to. Individual human imagination will run rampant as sales people envision their own worst possible nightmarish fears.

Now, by the time you deliver the actual news, you can rest assured that it will be nowhere near half as horrible as they thought. Now use a nonchalant, light-hearted tone of voice when delivering the news and the sales team’s perception will be that the news was really not that bad at all!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Practice, practice, practice because practice makes perfect! While that age-old sentiment is nice, it is not true. Practice does not make perfect. Only Perfect practice makes perfect. I ask sales people if they routinely practice their presentation and often I get the response, “Oh, I have been doing this for years. I got it.” Or, “I’ve done this presentation so many times, I can do it in my sleep.”

Well, I have been “practicing” my golf swing for over 20 years, and it’s still not perfect. While you need to invest a significant amount of time in practicing your craft, you must make certain you are practicing the right stuff! Furthermore, you must routinely “check in” on yourself to ensure that you have not deviated in the wrong direction or got into bad habits.

Below are a few tips on practicing your sales presentation to get it perfect and to keep it that way! Depending on how long you have been selling some tips may not apply.

The Mirror
One of the best places to practice your sales presentation is alone, in front of the mirror. It is imperative that you first become very comfortable and natural with your sales presentation. No matter what you say, if you are uncomfortable saying it, you will have problems in the field. Practice adapting the presentation to fit your personality and style. Of course, assume the prospect responds as your presentation predicts.

Better still would be to video your presentation and then play it back.

Friend, Loved One
Now practice in front of a friendly, non-threatening, non-judgemental audience. Once again, this will help you to become comfortable in front of people.

Management or Trainer
Now get in front of your sales management or someone in your firm who is a confirmed expert in delivering the same sales presentation. It is important that this person or group are “qualified” to offer criticism and to help you correct your mistakes. Understand that this may not include your fellow sales associates.

A major mistake is to practice in front of and look for advice from an associate. Unless this person is qualified as a sales trainer who is authorised by your company to teach the sales presentation, do not choose such an audience.

Because a sales person has a higher closing average than you have, or is even a top sales person, it does not make him an expert to teach the sales presentation. That sales rep may do or say things that are grossly incorrect, but due to his personality, experience or any of a dozen other reasons, he is able to close successfully. However, it is possible that those same mistakes that cause one sales person no harm, can destroy another.

Practice with a qualified trainer, making adjustments until you know that you are practicing perfectly and then record your perfect presentation. If possible make a full video recording of your presentation.

On-the-Job
Now get out there and practice in front of people who can write a purchase order!

Review
Periodically, record yourself again, and compare it to the last recording of your sales presentation. While there may be some deliberate changes and enhancements, you will see when you begin to deviate too much. Keep practicing with the perfect presentation as the guide.

Tip For Sales Managers
Here is a way to help ensure that sales people practice perfectly and that the more experienced sales people do not get too far off track:

Have the more senior, experienced sales people perform the sales presentation in front of the sales team. You can do this as a sales training session or at a sales meeting. Give the sales person a few days advance notice that he or she is to perform the sales presentation for the team to help train the newer members. Inform him or her that your goal is for the new sales people to see the presentation done exactly the way it is supposed to be done, by a pro!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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In the recent post, “The 3 Worst Practices For Conducting A Successful Sales Meeting,” I highlighted the three main DON’Ts for a successful sales meeting:

DON’T
1. Berate
2. Intimidate
3. Subjugate

Now let us look into three BEST practices to help you structure your sales meetings to raise people up, increase sales and elevate your sales team to the next level!

DO
1. Educate
2. Illustrate
3. Motivate

#1. DO Educate
While this important “DO” seems obvious and easy, it’s usually not the case in most sales meetings. You need to coach or train during every meeting. Sales people need to learn more and such continuing education is everlasting and is an investment.

The problem is that many managers have difficulty in figuring out exactly what to train/coach/teach. The sales team has already gone through the company sales training. You went over objections a dozen times and there seems to be nothing left to talk about when it comes to prospecting. In fact, the sales team feels that they know everything.

So where do you get educational topics that are not only informative, but also useful and timely solutions?

Uncover Problems and Pain
Just as when dealing with prospects, with your sales team, you need to unearth their problems even when they are unaware that they have any.

You then need to use those problems as the basis for your sales meetings.

You should have a personal one to one meeting with each sales person at the end of every day or month, depending on the logistics and your sales cycle, even if it is by telephone. During that individual meeting, you want to make note of the problem areas the sales person has. However, do not correct those issues then.

If your correct the sales person at that time, it will come across as a de-motivator. Instead, make note of the issues, and uplift the sales person. Then, in the sales meeting, do not single out that sales person. Simply use that issue as a training topic.

Here’s an example:

In your one to one meeting with Steve, you noted that at least twice, he lost sales you think he should have closed. You ask some questions of Steve and find that he is not correctly demonstrating how to run the Profit & Loss Reports of the accounting software.

Three Approaches
There are three ways you can handle this situation.

a) You can inform Steve of the problem right then…
“Oh Steve! I can see exactly what you’re doing wrong. You are not showing the P & L report the right way. It’s in your manual! As soon as possible, come in and I will go over it again with you…”

While this appears to be an innocent approach, what really happened is that Steve went home depressed. He knows he lost a few sales he should have closed and that he is probably doing something wrong. His self-esteem is at an all-time low. Then his wife hammers on him that money is tight and he should forget that sales thing and get a real job. Then he calls his sales manager, who confirms the fact, “Yep, Steve! You blew it!” Not good.

b) You can bring up Steve’s problem during the sales meeting and completely embarrass and berate Steve. Not good.

c) You can bring up the problem as a general training topic for the group.
You can bet that if Steve is having the problem others are as well. Also, it cannot hurt to reiterate something that is apparently so crucial that it can mean the difference in closing the sale or not.

With this method, you single out or berate no-one, and the sales teams always receive just-in-time training topics that are always relevant.

Ask questions to uncover the problems and then offer the solutions as educational topics in your sales meetings.

#2. Illustrate
By illustrate, I’m referring to demonstrating, or proving what you say. This relates to such things as in the above example. Demonstrate the method of how to show the P & L report. If you have sales people who may be experts with that part of the sales interaction, then have them illustrate to the group. In this way, you not only keep the older pros interested, but you also help ensure they stay on track.

Illustrate other topics as well. When you speak of goals and milestones that are possible, exemplify such with someone who has done it. The key is always to back up, show and prove what you say.

#3. Motivate
As you can see, with this structural process, there is already a certain amount of motivation embedded into the sales meeting. In fact, the very structure itself leads to motivation.

Now it’s time for the rah-rah, pep rally. Now is the time for the cheering, congratulations and new sales incentives. Now when you talk about reaching new heights, the sales team can believe it because you demonstrated exactly how. You illustrated how to do it or showed how someone did it in the past. Also, you gave them the education and the tools they need to reach the next level.

DON’T
1. Berate
2. Intimidate
3. Subjugate

DO
1. Educate
2. Illustrate
3. Motivate

Do this and your sales team’s belief will expand their reach and their reach will always slightly exceed their grasp.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Bestselling Author, Sales Authority & Speaker On Modern Day Selling Methods 

MTD Sales Training

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While a good sales meeting can invigorate sales people and increase revenue, a poor sales meeting will cost you more than you can calculate. Incredibly, many sales managers take the structure of a sales meeting for granted. It is the old, “If it’s not broke don’t fix it…” attitude.

However, here are three basic things to understand about sales meetings:

1. There is no such thing as an ineffective sales meeting. Sales meetings have either a positive effect on your sales team, or a negative one.

2. The sales meeting is never the blame. When sales are off, typically the blame falls on sales people, market conditions and everything else, other than sales meetings.

3. Sales people do not tell you that sales meetings are ineffective. First, many sales people would never understand if a sales meeting is effective or not. Second, a sales person is not usually going to go to his or her boss and say, “Your sales meetings are boring and I am not learning anything…”

The point is that just because it does not appear to be broken, does not mean it is not. Below are three DON’Ts, the worst practices for conducting a good sales meeting. Then, posting December 15, 2011, I will detail the three best practices, the DOs for sales meeting success!

DON’T
1. Berate
2. Intimidate
3. Subjugate

#1. DON’T Berate
While you may never have a conscious goal to demean sales people or in anyway, put someone down, it happens all the time in the sales meeting. When a sales person has a problem, or is not performing well, it is easy to use that person’s situation as an example. Never point out someone’s shortcomings in a group sales meeting. Always discuss a sales person’s negative issues in private. Also, remember that as I explained in the post, “The Zero Tolerance Approach to Sales Management,” that a sales person’s failures…are actually YOUR fault!

#2. DON’T Intimidate
Be careful not to intimidate sales people with pressure or threats. Some managers believe that negative motivation is a useful tool in that fear is a far stronger emotion than desire. While it is true, that fear can get people to do things they might not otherwise do; unfortunately, that includes the good as well as the bad things. In addition, when you intimidate one person in front of the group, the negative affects spread like an airborne virus throughout the group. Also, be aware that you can intimidate people without actual threats. Challenges and goals that are beyond the sales person’s belief or imagination, can intimidate, frighten or embarrass a person when done in front of other people.

#3. Subjugate
By definition, to subjugate is to bring a group under control or submission by force: to overwhelm, overpower and conquer them. Unfortunately, such is the organisational philosophy of many sales managers. Demanding better performance is not managing. To lead, people must follow, and that does not mean forcefully dragging them behind you.

Be careful not to build yourself up, in meetings. Instead, uplift the team. In addition, never demand the team do things that you cannot, have not, or would not do yourself. You want to lead, not rule. In sales meetings, be careful not so issue orders or commands. Instead, offer objectives and action plans to reach those objectives.

Just as in dealing with a prospect, with your sales team, you need to PULL, not PUSH. You need to ASK not TELL, and you need to HELP not SELL.

Don’t demand that your sales people succeed, and order them to do it. Instead, show them how to succeed and help them do it.

Posting December 15, 2011:
The 3 Best Practices for Conducting A Successful Sales Meeting

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Bestselling Author, Sales Authority & Speaker On Modern Day Selling Methods 

MTD Sales Training

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Is it true that the best sales people can sell anything to anyone? Are you one of those rare few in the world of professional selling that has the ability to sell virtually any product to any prospect?

You have heard those old sentiments before, “I can sell ice cubes to Eskimos…” or “That guy can sell prescription eyeglasses to a blind man.”

In the 60s, 70s, and early 80s, many sales people prided themselves in the (imagined) ability to turn every prospect into a customer regardless of the prospect, product or service. Such a sales person could overcome every objection and close every sale.

My first question to you is, “Is such a thing possible?” My second, even better question is, “Would such ability be a good thing?”

The Ultimate Closer
Today, in the age of the modern, educated and sophisticated buyer, some still believe that if you can perfect and maximize the main areas of the sales process, that one can indeed close almost every sale with nearly any prospect. The ultimate closer would then be THE consummate professional in such areas as:

Prospecting – The ultimate closer could fine-tune the sales funnel to filter prospects so well that the majority of prospects become buyers.

Asking Questions – The closer could become so skilful at asking questions that he or she could find a problem that the prospect is having, in any situation. The closer could somehow always find a way to create need or desire for whatever he or she sells.

Persuasion – The closer, of course is so powerfully persuasive that he or she can talk anyone into believing anything. He can simply talk his way out of a straight jacket.

Closing – Finally, the ultimate closer would have the ability to overcome any objection or condition. This sales person has an answer for everything.

Are you that perfect sales person?
Can you sell anything to anyone?
Does such an ultimate closer exist?

I will give you my take on this early next week.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
Bestselling Author, Sales Authority & Speaker On Modern Day Selling Methods 

MTD Sales Training

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

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Many times, your buyer will take a look at your up-front price and reject it. This is because they don’t see how the goods or services you offer will solve their problems at the price stated. In other words, value has not been built up in the customer’s mind.

Value isn’t waht you think it is. Value is alwyas what the buyer thinks it is. If you think it’s goos and the buyer thinks it’s not, it’s not!

So here you need to really educate your buyer. You need to highlight the focal point of the conversation. Either you will focus on the price of your services or products, or on the value of your solution, that is, what is it worth to the buyer. Here are some tips on how to help the buyer perceive that value:

1) Remind him of the value of past services: If you’ve been partners with the company for some time, bring up the value that you have built up over that time with him. Remind him of what they’ve received from you in the past.Is the peace of maind and security you have provided worth something? If so, let him know how much that must be worth.

2) Check if price is the real issue: You could ask something like: “Mr Buyer, if you were to make a decision today on all the criteria except price, who would you go with and why?” The reasons the buyer comes up with will include a number of things other than price, and you can ensure that you build value on those other things. You can then convince the buyer that all those valuable things outweigh a small price differential between you and the competition.

3) Shift the focus off price: You don’t make apologies for high quality and great service. Explain how your services adds value to the offering you are making and explain how your back-up or other unique offerings benefit the buyer’s business.

4) Use testimonials to convince the buyer that price isn’t the be-all-and-end-all: It’s ok you saying that your quality and service makes up for the higher price, but you would say that, wouldn’t you? Use what other customers have said to reinforce your message that value is built in to the long-term service of your realtionship with them.

5) Build performance criteria into your contract: Here at MTD, we ran a Sales Development Programme with a company in the construction industry. We held back part of our fees until the end of the programme. If we delivered to the spec we had promised and the customer profited from that, we shared in those profits. If we didn’t deliver and their profitability wasn’t what we expected, we didn’t get those performance fees. Needless to say, we shared a good percentage of the extra profits the company made!

You can build some kind of performance contract into your relationship with the buyer. You could reduce the risk to your buyer by introducing a clause for failure to perform. This is known as a malus, and it occurs when the contractor must repay or forfeit some of their fees for failing to perform. If you are that confident you can deliver for the buyer, you might consider something like that in your contract to reduce the risks for them, and hence increase the value.

6) Confirm the basis for the value you are offering: If the buyer is still considering using your competitor, you can identify the best value offerings you have and reiterate them. Then you could say: “Mr Buyer, let’s go over our proposition together and I’ll highlight the benefits you will get by going with us. Then, let’s compare what the competitor is offering and we can see which of us would benefit your long-term business the most”.

It’s true that some buyers will fail to see the value of your products and services.Their objections appear as either value-based objections or equity problems. In the first case, the buyer falils to see the value of what you are offering. In the second case, they cannot see the difference between you and the competition. You need to reiterate your value and uniqueness.

Ask yourself, what are your definable and value-building differentials? Where is the value in your proposaition?” The ansers to these questions will build confidence in your customer and encourage them to identify, with you, the full value of your offerings.

Happy Selling

Sean

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

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Maybe you’ve faced the situation where you’ve prepared a great presentation for the client and you turn up with all your materials and examples of how you can help them, only to have them say ‘You’ve got five minutes. What can you do for me?’

All that preparation, all that research, all that time spent on getting your pitch ready…and NOW they tell me they have five minutes! Great!

How can you ensure this unpredictable client won’t come up with something like this on your next call?

The best way is by confirming with the client what the format of the meeting will be before you actually turn up.

You should confirm what the essence of the meeting will be, describing the objective, the amount of time allocated for the meeting, and its intended outcome. It’s almost like an agenda that you both agree over the phone and can confirm via email.

It will go something like this:

“Mr Client, I would be happy to meet with you to discuss your coaching needs, and see whether we can help you achieve your objectives over the next six months. During the meeting, I will be asking about your current performance and how it compares with where you need it to be. So it would be useful if you had those figures available.

Naturally, you’ll have some questions about our capabilities and what format the coaching would take, so I’ll be happy to answer those.

From my experience, these type of meetings take about 45-60 minutes. By the end of the meeting, we should be in a position to assess whether our services can be of value to your company. Are you happy to invest an hour of your time to assess if we should move onto the next level?”

Both you and the client now know what will take place during the meeting and how it can be more predictable. It may not stop the odd meeting starting with ‘I’ve only got five minutes’, but at least you will be able to confirm another time and date for the meeting without feeling guilty or under pressure.

Also, by phoning the client on the day of the meeting, you can confirm that they still have the time set aside for you before meeting them.

All this should help you make the meeting more predictable and ensure you have the opportunity to present yourself in the best light, without rushing through your presentation.

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.

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There are, of course, many reasons why people buy from you, but they all tend to fit into specific categories and if you are able to observe and ascertain the real reason why your prospect says ‘yes’ to you, then you have a good platform to build on for the next prospect.

So what are the main reasons why buyers make decisions to buy? Here are four:

1) The supplier has the knowledge they are looking for. This could be knowledge about the product and its abilities, knowledge of the industry or knowledge of the customer’s position and company. This builds trust, one of the key reasons why anyone would choose to do anything with another person.

2) A clear and pertinent knowledge of the way the prospect’s business works. If you are aware of the business the prospect is in, that’s fine. But if you want to make the prospect look at you as a needed supplier, you require a closer working relationship, and that starts with your preparation in gathering information about the company to show how you can help them achieve their goals.

3) The relationship with the supplier’s company. Having a good long-term relationship with the main contacts is vital to the loyalty required by the supplier to offer the quality of service the buyer will need.

4) The combatability of the two companies. There can’t be trust or promise of future business if there’s no compatability between them. This means that they are “capable of orderly, efficient integration and operation with other elements in a system” as one definition puts it. The orderliness and efficiencies are needed from both sides for it to work effectively, and if it falls apart from either side, you can expect poor results.

These four reasons cover many of the needs of the prospect and you should always measure yourself against them to see how you are faring on a regular basis.

Happy Selling!

Sean

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

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