Most sales people have aspirations of being the best in their field. Most have a desire to excel beyond their peers and rise to the top of their industry. One of the most frequent questions I get is, “How do I become a top sales person?”

Well, let’s relate the selling profession to other professions. In many areas, one way to recognise someone who is a qualified expert in their field, who has an abundance of knowledge on a particular topic, is someone who holds a PhD in that field.

The abbreviation PhD stands for “Philosophiae Doctor,” which is Latin for Doctor of Philosophy. Of course, I would say that term could not be any more appropriate to describe a master sales expert! If you want to become the best, then get a PhD, a doctorate in sales!

Sales Doctor
On average, earning a PhD or Doctorate’s Degree requires 8 to 12 years of study or at least 4 years after earning a Master’s Degree. However, one of the most appealing aspects of the sales profession is that time is not the issue. In the sales business, it is all about merit. Like a car, it is the mileage, not the age that counts.  In sales, it is not about time; it’s about productive activity.

How Many Prospects Have You Seen?

In sales, the true test of knowledge and experience eventually comes down to how many qualified prospects you have seen and how may closing attempts you have made.  The challenge then is to figure out how many closing attempts you need to perform in your business to be able to compare your knowledge to the level of a PhD.  Well, of course, there is no available science for this, but I believe below is a very sound idea on how to earn a PhD in sales.

How Many Closing Attempts Earns You a PhD?

Remember, the goal is to come up with a number of closing attempts, sales presentations, or interactions that demonstrate a doctorates level of knowledge and experience.  In addition, the method must take into account the vast differences in products, services, commission structures and sales processes.

My idea is to figure out what is the top annual income in your sales profession, determine how many closing attempts (on average) it takes to earn that earn income, and then multiply that number by three. 

In other words, find out how many closes it takes to earn the top annual income, and then close three times that amount.  Why three times the yearly amount?  I think it demands more consistency in work ethic, which is an integral part of achieving any successful sales career.

Use These Steps

You want to find out how many sales presentations it takes to earn the top annual income in your business.  Multiply that number by three and you have the goal to earn your PhD.  Here are the steps you can use to go about this.

#1 – Top Income
First, find the top earning sales person in your profession or industry.  That does not mean just in your firm, but in your industry.  Find a top-level sales person or consider what the highest level of sales achievement is in your company. In either case, get a number in terms of annual income that the big dogs make.

#2 – Average Sale and Commission
Now, find out what is the average sale in your business, and the average commission for that sale.

#3 – Divide the Average Commission into the Top Annual Income
Next, take the average commission earned on the average sale and divide that into the top annual income. This will give you the number of sales needed to earn the top income.

#4 – Times the Closing Average
Multiply the number of sales needed by the closing average to get the number of closing attempts needed to earn the top income for one year.

#5 – Times Three
Finally, multiply that number by three.

The resulting number is the amount of closing attempts you need to earn a PhD.

An Example
Let us assume that in your field the top sales people earn £100,000 a year. You then find that the average sale commission is £250. Therefore, on average, it will take 400 sales to earn the £100,000.  (£100,000 / £250 = 400)

Of course, the top sales people may have a much higher average sale. However, use your personal current average or the company average, not that of the top sales person.

Now, with 400 sales, consider the closing average. Again, this is your average or the company closing average and not that of the top producers. The closing average we will assume is 20%, or one out of five. Therefore, we will say that it will take 2,000 closing attempts to close 400 sales.  (400 x 5= 2,000)

Finally, take that 2,000 and multiply it by three and you get 6,000.

If the above numbers represented your business, and you put yourself in position to close, to ask for the order 6,000 times, you would have earned a PhD!

You see; prospecting skills, setting appointments, closing skills, knowing your business, understanding the competition, account management, referrals, everything must come into play for you to be able to perform the required number of sales interactions. 

How Long Does it Take?
How long  it will take to achieve a sales PhD in the above example, is completely up to the sales person.  The goal is to do 6,000 sales interactions. That may take one sales person three years, doing an average of 2,000 per year.  However, another, harder working sales person, may see 2,400 people per year and get it done in two and a half years.  Yet still, a sales person with exceptional cold calling and appointment setting skills, may see 3,000 people per year and earn a PhD in just two years!

Alternatively, for a less organised sales person with a lackluster and inconsistent work ethic, it may take six years to get there.   Figure out how many closes you need to get your doctorates. 

Then earn your PhD in selling your product or service and you are sure to become a tenured member of the sales elite in your industry!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Many sales people ask if they should buy the product or use the service that they sell. My answer is also a question in, “Do you truly believe in what you sell?” I will make this short and sweet:

“If you qualify as a prospect for what you sell, then the first sale you should make should be to yourself.”

I want to stress, that the prerequisite is that you must be able be a qualified prospect for the product or service. In other words, if you sell jet aircraft to Fortune 1,000 CEOs, then you probably do not qualify as a viable prospect.

However, if you fit the parameters of a prospect that you would normally go after, then yes, you should own the product.

Can’t Afford It
If your first thought is that of course, you would buy the product and you will someday, but right now, you just cannot afford it; then you do not believe in what you sell. This lack of true belief will cause you a ton of problems. You will lose more sales than you can ever realize because you will have to empathize with the prospect.

I Understand How You Feel
Any excuse you use for yourself, for not owning the product; you will have no choice but to believe and understand when the prospect gives you that same reason for not buying. You feel that you simply, and very honestly, do not have the money to buy the product right now. You know you are not lying to yourself, as you know your own financial situation. It is the truth, not a stall or an excuse. Ok.

However, when a prospect, who is equally as sincere, tells you that he or she honestly cannot afford it right now, you will have no choice but to believe them and accept that answer. You may use all of the rebuttals in your sales script, and rattle off the usual off-pat answers to the objection, but deep down inside, you will be saying, “Yeah, I understand how you feel, Mr Prospect. I can’t afford one either.”

Come Back Next Month
Likewise, when the prospect pleads with you, “I really love the product, and I want it. I just can’t do it today. If you come back next month, I’ll be ready to buy…” When this happens, your words may try to overcome the objection, but your eyes will be saying, “Yes, I think I will get one next month too.”

Create the Objection
In addition to the above, you will actually create more objections than you overcome, and ironically, they will be the same objections YOU use not to buy. If you feel you cannot afford it, you will get ‘I can’t afford it’ objections all day long. If you believe the price is too high, watch how many prospective customers tell you the same thing.

Get On or Get Off
If you believe in what you sell, and are a qualified buyer, then buy the product. That means, PAY for it! I am not talking about getting some free-be from the company. Aside from perhaps a small discount, you need to buy the product the same way your customers do.

Huge Return on Your Investment
If you want to energize your career, and dramatically increase your income overnight, try this: No matter how difficult it is, stretch the budget, sacrifice a bit, and buy your product from yourself. The brief pain of the expenditure will dissipate quickly, leaving you with the great benefits your product offers. You will reap the rewards and realise that it was worth the money.

When that happens you will begin to close with such strength, you may not recognise yourself, and your closing percentage will sky rocket along with your income. In addition to the benefits you get from owning the product or using the service, you will essentially get a raise. Oh, and let’s not forget, that when you closed yourself, you got a commission too!

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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Every sales person knows that to set yourself apart from your competition is a vital component of your sales process.

Although you may get many chances to do this during the sales process, the best time to differentiate yourself is in the very beginning. Here are three powerful ways to help you eliminate your competition so they could ultimately respond with “You had me at hello!”

#1. Response Time
While it seems that everyone invests enormous amounts of time and money on increasing web presence and traffic; not as many invest equal resources on responding to those enquiries. Those emails and incoming phone calls are critical and the time it takes to respond is as important, if not more so, than how you respond.

Take any measures necessary to respond instantly to web enquires. By instantly, I do not mean a few days later or even the next day. I am also not referring to an automated response saying that you received their enquiry. You need to contact that prospect with a personal telephone call or email within minutes or as soon as physically possible. Establish alert systems, forwarding avenues; do whatever you have to do. Hire a dedicated person to respond or to distribute enquiries to the appropriate sales person if needed.

Now, I know some of you are probably thinking, “Now, wait a minute, Sean…that can cost a fortune and we do very well with incoming leads.” Do you honestly know exactly what your enquiry-to-lead conversation rate is? Do you know exactly how many calls came in to the front desk and how many become bona-fide leads? Do you have actual data or are you guessing?

When you get that enquiry, chances are yours is not the only site that prospect hit, nor the only request for more information they submitted online. People have become used to waiting days or even weeks to hear from a real live person with answers to their questions. Respond instantly and with customised information not generic sales-brochure type rhetoric.

#2. Give Something
Now, in that instant response, or if this is an outgoing call or contact, give the prospect something first before you begin asking for business. By this, I mean you need to offer the prospect information, ideas and advice that are useful to them, and do so without the thought of receiving anything in return. Educate the prospect during that first contact. Help them.

#3. Become a Consultant and Advisor
During that first contact, you need to raise yourself to the level of a consultant who is a leader in their industry. To accomplish this successfully, you need to ask THE question. THE question is one for which the prospect has not yet thought of. You need to ask a question that shows the prospect that you understand their situation and problems even more than they do. You need to ask that question that the prospect cannot answer.

It is that question to where the prospect’s only response is something like, “Uh…um. I never thought about that. What do you think?” When this happens, you have become the advisor!

If you do not currently have several such questions that make the prospect dig deep; that uncover areas of problems and pain that the prospect is unaware…then you need go back to the drawing board and figure out a list of questions that help to unearth their true hot buttons. However, you cannot TELL. You must ASK.

Respond instantaneously.
Offer some free information or advice.
Ask a question that solidifies you as an expert and you will eliminate competition before they can compete!

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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Whenever the idea of a planned presentation comes up, usually the first thing sales people think about is a “canned script.” In a canned script, I am referring to the old-fashioned, smile-and-dial era, word-for-word, rehearsed, “Pitch.” Such was a primary tool of sales people, in particular telemarketers, years ago. Alternatively, we had the opposite of the canned spiel with the show up and throw up method, where sales people just walked in and did whatever they thought came natural.

While most sales professionals have rose above the smile and dial pitch, the question arises of the validity of using a planned sales presentation today. While not exactly a throw-up tactic, many still believe it is best to know all you can know about your product and prospect, and then just go in and let the sales interaction flow impromptu, directed by the prospect’s interests. So, dealing with today’s modern and educated buyer, should you play-it-by-ear and wing it, or use a planned and structured sales interaction?

Defining a Planned Sales Interaction
I believe that for the majority of selling situations, you should use a well-planned and structured sales presentation; but allow me to define exactly what I mean.

Although with a planned presentation, you may have a few words or phrases that you might use verbatim, I am not talking about a canned script. By a planned presentation, I am referring to “a thoroughly interactive, yet totally controlled methodical process that systemically moves the sale through incremental, yet critical stages, accomplishing interim goals at each step, while maximizing the odds of closing the sale.”

You can keep your sales interaction feeling impromptu, but you must have a way to control the direction and outcomes. You should have a step-by-step process that leads to a successful conclusion. In such, you can maintain the flexibility to adapt to responses, yet keep the process on track towards a narrow objective.

A Strategy
A Planned sales interaction is a strategy. With a planned interaction, you want to know what you need to accomplish at each stage of the presentation. For instance, in your first step, you may want to design proper seating arrangements as soon as you arrive. Or you may want to find out more about the prospect’s delivery systems during your warm-up talk. Perhaps you need to uncover more about the current contract the prospect has with a competitor.

In your second stage, perhaps you need to uncover exactly how much the prospect is spending on the outdated system, how much time their people are wasting due to lack of training. It is a plan on what you need to accomplish and when.

Planned VS Canned
So what is the difference between a planned sales interaction and a canned pitch?

A Canned Script – PUSHES: Pushes benefits, forces ideas, and minimises interaction.
A Planned Structure – Pulls: Pulls out problems, uncovers pain and maximises interaction.

A Canned Script – SUPPRESSES: Suppresses responses and objections and stifles emotion.
A Planned Structure – EXTRACTS: Extracts responses and objections early or avoids them and stimulates emotion.

A Canned Script – TELLS: Tells the prospect things.
A Planned Structure – ASKS: Asks the prospect questions.

In dealing with today’s sophisticated and educated buyer, now more than ever, you need to have a well-thought-out plan. You must have a strategy to accomplish every sales goal, including just setting an appointment.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Stop scratching around for sales and learn how to sell the modern way with my FREE 40 minute online training session. Click on the image below to find out why you’ve got to be changing the way that you prospect and sell…

“Find the prospect’s hot buttons!” “Push their hot buttons!” We’ve heard these thoughts before; but what do they mean? Is it to say that as a sales person you should try to discover your prospect’s primary areas of interest? How do you push those so-called buttons anyway? How do these hot buttons help you close sales? Exactly what is a Hot Button?

The Hot Button
For most sales people, the term Hot Button refers to some topic, product or service-point for which the prospect has very strong interest or desire. With this avenue of thinking, many sales people look to the benefits their product or service offers. They think, ‘find a benefit the prospect likes and push it to make the sale.’ Unfortunately, this is a mistake.

A Definition
Merriam-Webster defines the adjective, “hot button” as, “An emotional and usually controversial issue or concern that triggers immediate intense reaction.”

The key words to remember are emotion and intense. A benefit does not usually create an emotional reaction that leads to a buying decision. Also, understand that the fear of loss is a far more intense emotion than the desire for gain.

Find Hot Buttons
To find the prospect’s emotional triggers, you need to find their problems. Unearth the prospect’s problems and pain and you will discover their hot buttons. Then present how your product or service will solve those problems, and you will be pushing those hot buttons.

Don’t Confuse Interest and Desire with Hot Buttons
Often when a prospect mentions some area of interest, the sales person assumes such is a hot button, and relentlessly pursues the idea. However, such initial areas of interest usually just scratch the surface of the prospect’s situation.

Also, keep in mind that today’s modern buyers are smart, and are not too quick to reveal their emotions and concerns, as they know doing so will weaken their negotiating strength. In addition, the prospect’s true hot buttons, those areas of serious problems and pain, may not be immediately evident, even to the prospect.

Solutions to Problems = Hot Buttons
You need to have a systematic method of asking questions to uncover the prospect’s problems. Find areas the prospect is losing, hurting or suffering in some way due to the lack of your product or service. Exemplify those areas of problems and pain, and then present your solution and you will hit the hot buttons on the head.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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It’s only normal and human for family problems, health concerns, financial issues and even the state of the ozone layer to sometimes flood your brain and distract you from optimum performance. You may have also found that simply to, “Put such thoughts out of your mind…” is much easier said than done!

One way to deal with distractions that hamper sales success is to work. That is, to increase those sales tasks that require less thought. Some may call these actions “busy work,” but they are essential and will help you get focused. Here is a practical way to help you put distractions in their place and re-focus.

Just remember to F.O.C.U.S!

F – Future
To set the stage properly, think of the future…your future. I’m not just referring to your long-term goals here, but to your long-term dreams and aspirations. When the trials of everyday life besiege you, look to the big dreams: Take that picture of your dream car off the fridge and actually check it out! Visualise you and your family in that dream home or going on that dream holiday. Dream and dream big. Remind yourself of why you are doing all of this and what the end game is.

O – Operations
Now go over your checklist of sales planning and operations. You should have a checklist to ensure you are prepared for selling. Go over your sales interaction, and then go over it again. Do you know the three possible objections that may arise? Do you have a plan to overcome them before they arise? What planning and preparation steps do you put in place for each call or visit. Go over these again and refocus.

C – Competition and Customer
Do you know all there is to know about your competition? Are you up-to-date on their latest developments and improvements? What are your competitors’ selling advantages? How will you handle it if the prospect says they are satisfied with your competition? What are the three main selling advantages you offer above the competition?

Do you know all there is to know about the prospect? Have you investigated their web site? Are you aware of their goals? Does your offer align with their goals? Are you certain you are in contact with the main decision maker (DM)? Are there other DMs involved, a committee?

U- Uncomfortable
Do you have a list of questions to ask the prospect to unearth their problems and challenges? What are they? Can you name three ways the prospect is hurting or losing right now because they are not doing business with you? Do you know if and how the prospect’s problems are costing them more than the price of what you sell?

S – Systems and Science
Have you double-checked everything that you will use in your sales interactions? Is your laptop and presentation set up and ready? Do you have all of the necessary attachments, cords and plug-ins, including some extras?

Do you know the science behind what is going to happen today? That is, do you know exactly how much you will earn when you complete the next sales interaction or telephone call? I am not referring to if you make the sale, but do you know what you earn if you do not close the sale? Do you know exactly how many prospects you talked to this week? How many emails did you send out? How many calls did you actually make?

When outside issues cloud mental clarity, sometimes you need to turn to the mechanical, routine actions that lead you back. Just as the professional golfer will go to the practice range to hit a few hundred golf balls to get re-focused, you also may need to practice those activities that distract you from the distractions.

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Stop scratching around for sales and learn how to sell the modern way with my FREE 40 minute online training session. Click on the image below to find out why you’ve got to be changing the way that you prospect and sell…

A sales person with a fear of rejection is like a lifeguard with a fear of water. It is a serious problem. Although, faced with a constant flow of rejection, absorbing one “No” after another, it is only understandable to begin to develop a pessimistic anticipation when closing sales. In addition, those old thoughts like, “It takes X amounts of NOs to get a YES…” and, “You should not take rejection personally…” provide little comfort.

However, there is a way to get past this mental block. Mental block is certainly the term, as the statistics will always prove that the fear is more psychological and emotional than physical. Following is a practical way to look at this; to think about it, to help you get rid the fear of rejection once and for all!

Understand the Fear
Let’s face it; the fear is not unfounded, in particularly when you work on a 100% commission. The problem is that rejection in sales involves the loss of money that is often substantial. The fear comes from the risk of losing income, and since that income provides for nearly everything you have and do, then the risk is great. As a sales person faced with possible rejection, in your mind, it is more than just the potential loss of money. It is the possible loss of everything: your home, food, auto, family, dignity and your lifestyle, as you know it.

Put the Fear in Perspective
When you, even subconsciously, feel that so much is at stake, you naturally fear. Therefore, you first need to put the situation in its proper perceptive. When you ask for that sale, what is it that is really at stake? You are about to ask for the sale in which there is a potential commission of £1,000 on the table. Naturally, you feel that if rejected, you lose £1,000. However, that is not true.

What is Actually at Risk?
To determine what is truly at stake, figure out the momentary value of that one sales call. As an example, let’s say that you earn an average of £1,000 when you close a sale. However, with a 20% closing average, it takes you five closing attempts to close one sale. Therefore, each closing attempt is essentially worth but one fifth of the total, or £250. Should the prospect buy, you earn £250, not £1,000. Does that make sense?

What Do You Lose?
Let us take this a step further though. Since you earn £250 per closing attempt, it does not matter if the prospect buys or not…you STILL earn £250! Every time you ask for the sale, you earn a certain amount of money…period.

You Are Paid Every Time!
Do you fear rejection when cold calling? Assume that you earn £250 for every closing attempt. Yet, it takes you 10 cold calls to set one appointment for that closing attempt. Therefore, you essentially earn £25 for every cold call you make—-regardless of the outcome of any individual call!

Figure out your actual numbers; the true value of each closing attempt and each sales activity in your business. It does not matter if you earn £250 per close, or £25. It does not matter if you make £10 per cold call or £1. The fact is that you get paid for every sales activity, rejection or not.

You lose nothing. You risk nothing. You get paid no matter what.

What is there to fear?

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

Stop scratching around for sales and learn how to sell the modern way with my FREE 40 minute online training session. Click on the image below to find out why you’ve got to be changing the way that you prospect and sell…

We have heard for years about how much today’s consumer detests receiving the dreaded cold-call. We all know that cold calling has become increasingly difficult and the modern-day buyer has become more evasive, defensive, suspicious and even hostile towards getting a telephone solicitation call.

As a result, there are tons of training and tips on how to handle such obstacles as well as many alterative prospecting avenues. However, my take is that to develop any solution, you must first truly understand the problem.

So, join me as I diverge today, and instead of giving you tips on how to overcome objections, get past gatekeepers or project a positive image; allow me to share some insight into WHY consumers have come to feel the way they do about receiving a cold call.

If you can genuinely understand and honestly empathise with the person on the other end of that telephone call, then you can begin to learn how to handle the situation from the inside– out!

#1. Privacy Violation
Of course, you have heard buyers complain that a cold call is an invasion of privacy. However, think of this analogy:

You are sitting at home with your family, relaxing or eating dinner or you’re in the middle of writing an important document at work. Suddenly a stranger bursts in the door and begins to walk right up to you. What would you do? Better yet, what would you actually say?

Responses to this person
Your first response might be questions like:

“Who are you?!”
“What do you want?!”
“Why are you here?!”
“How did you get in here?!”

You are doing nothing more than protecting yourself/family from a possible harmful source. It is a natural defensive reaction.

Now, if the answers to those first questions were inadequate, your next responses would turn more aggressive:

“We don’t have any valuables/money!”
“Get out of here!”

Responses to the Telephone Intruder
You have to realize that when you make a cold call, essentially you just “materialised” in that person’s dining room or working environment. When the prospect picks up the telephone, you are instantly in their living room, their office or perhaps their bedroom! Just like the above example, you just burst in the door, unannounced, and charged up to the person. Can you see why they react as they do?

Responses to a cold call:

“Who are you?!” “Is this a sales call?”
“What do you want?!” “What are you selling!?”
“Why are you here?!” “What are you selling!?”
“How did you get in here?!” “How’d you get my number/information/pass gatekeeper?”

These are not objections! They are normal and natural defences erected for protection from an unknown potential threat. If inadequate answers ensue, then real fear sets in:

Responses to a cold call:

“We don’t have any valuables/money!” “I’m not interested!”
“Get out!” “Click!” They hang up.

Can you understand why some tell you, “I’m not interested!” before they have any idea of what you sell?

#2. Personal Space
In addition to the intrusion, a cold call violates personal space. Think about it; when someone is talking on the telephone, where is the phone? It is right up against their face. You are a total stranger and suddenly you are right there, virtually nose-to-nose with the prospect. You are literally in their face!

#3. Lack of Knowledge
When you call someone, you immediately prove that you have more knowledge of him or her than he or she does of you. First, you called them, which means you have their telephone number and in many cases, it is a private number. You also knew the exact whereabouts of the person: you caught him at the office or her at home.

You know his name. You know her address. You know his job title. In fact, with very limited prospecting information, you could know what they do, where they work, how much money they earn and what kind of dishwashing detergent they use. However, at the time of the call, the prospect knows almost nothing about you.

People can feel this imbalance of power and it makes them uncomfortable.

#4. Lack of Control
Finally, with all of the above, the prospect was powerless in preventing any of it. They hired a sharp gatekeeper, set up voice mails, eluded calls, and still you caught them. The prospect simply had no control over your entrance.

This lack of control is what sends real fear into the hearts of today’s buyer and is why you have heard buyer’s use the term, “violated.” It is this severe, often hopeless feeling of a lack of control that is at the heart of the problems with cold calling.

However, if you think about it, there is one very simply thing the intruder could have done to avoid all of the first natural defences and the following unnatural defences.

All the intruder had to do was knock on the door.

Safely behind the door, the homeowner/decision maker could look and decide to let the person in or not. The resident could ask questions of the would be intruder—before they gained entry. Most importantly, the buyer would have the choice, the option of opening the door.

The buyer would feel as if they were in CONTROL of the situation.

That is the problem with a cold call. There is no way to give the prospect the immediate feeling of control. There is no way to knock on the telephone.

Or is there?

Posting Jan 6, 2012:
How to Knock On the Telephone

Happy Selling!

Sean

Sean McPheat
MTD Sales Training

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In the recent post, “Can You Sell ANYTHING to ANYONE?” I highlighted that many sales people believe that it is possible to become so good in the practice, art or science of selling that one can close every prospect for any product.

Could a sales person get to the point to be able to sell anything to anyone by becoming an expert in prospecting, asking questions, persuasion and closing skills? Let’s look at those thoughts again…

Prospecting – A real pro could use the prospecting process so effectively that he or she filters potential prospects to such a laser-targeted degree that most actually buy.

However, that would not be selling to anyone. In fact, that would be selling to a very narrow group of prospects that share certain traits.

Asking Questions – I mentioned that a sales person could become so skilful at asking questions that they could always find a way to create need or desire for whatever he or she sells.

However, to unearth a need that truly exists is one thing. To manufacture a need that was not there until you showed up, is another.

Persuasion – We all know that sales person who believes he or she can talk anyone into anything.

However, talking or manipulating people into buying something that they do not want or need is not selling.

Closing – The sales person who can sell anything to anyone would have to have an answer for everything and can overcome every objection or condition.

However, if you do not occasionally get objections that are far more than simple stalls, or run into conditions that can halt the sale in its tracks; then why would a company need to pay sales people to go out and sell the product?

Selling Anything to Anyone – Sean’s Take
Personally, I cannot and will never be able to sell anything to anyone, nor would I want to.

Belief
First, I can only sell something that I truly believe in and the fact is that I do not believe in every product in the world. Quite simply, there are some products on the market that I believe are a waste of money and do not deliver value to the buyer. There are, no doubt, people who have the desire to purchase such inadequate or substandard products. However, I will not assist them in doing so. In my opinion, as a professional sales person, my job is to provide a true service to the client. My obligation is to help the prospect solve a problem with the proper needed solution. My objective is to help people buy—not to sell them. To talk or persuade someone into buying something for which they have no use, is not providing a service. In fact, it is tantamount to malpractice (to put it mildly).

Yes, I strive to improve my prospecting skills. I diligently work on asking better questions to help uncover real problems to expose need. I constantly work on sharpening my communication skills to help motivate people to take action to solve their problems. I also, continuously practice helping prospective clients overcome their own objections so they can make better decisions.

However, I cannot sell anything to anyone.

I would not want to.

Happy Selling!

Sean

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

MTD Sales Training

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