So, with an up-to-date buyer, who has little in the way of time and resources to spend, what do we need to do to assist them to make a decision to choose us and our offering?

Well, our research has shown that there are probably a small number of over-riding drivers to decision-making that affect the majority of purchasers. We recognise that these will be used in different levels and amounts by each person, so there is no one-size-fits-all approach that can be taken.

But if we realise that most buyers tend to be influenced by these specific drivers, we can align what we say and do to match these ways of thinking.

In the modern-day buyer’s mind, what are the major factors that influence their decisions? And how can we mirror them so the buyer feels we are the best choice for them?

Firstly, and naturally, it’s Money.

But in a slightly different way to how you might have anticipated it.

Most salespeople think that when a buyer asks for a discount or a lower price, it’s because they don’t see the value in your product or service. However, it goes down to a deeper level than that. We have to remember that most of our B2B buyers want a lower price because:

1) They want to get more repeat business from their customers

2) They want to offer something better than their competition

So their rationale in asking for a lower price may revolve around their ability to offer their customers a better deal. And the reason for that could be they are looking for greater profits themselves.

The way to discuss this with the prospect is to confirm the real reason why they want a lower price from you. Sometimes it may be they simply want to get a good deal. But it probably really means they want to have lower costs so they can pass the savings onto their customers and beat their competition while making more profit themselves.

So the underlying reason is for them to make more money.

This enables you to highlight the benefits and advantages of your products and services that will enable your prospect to prosper. Discuss how you can help him to improve his profitability. Point out the benefits over the competition’s offerings that will make his company look good. Determine how your back-up and warranties will build long-term loyalty and allow your prospect to gain more from existing and new customers.

Always determine the real reason behind the request for price reduction. Most times it will be to enable the prospect to make more profits, and that ultimate goal could be achieved in different ways than simply by reducing your prices.

Secondly, a buying influencer may be Reduced Risk.

What I mean by this is that they may want to have greater confidence they won’t miss their deadlines with their customers. It could be they want greater confidence that the products they offer will actually do what they promise they will do. And they want to give their customers more reasons to use them, so their reputation increases and they become more attractive to new clients.

So, one of the areas you can highlight could be how your products and services reduce the risks they have to take in their market-place. This will give them more confidence and peace of mind when they sell. Don’t underestimate the power of risk reduction.

Another key component in decision-making may be Time.

If you are able to offer confidence to your prospect that you will be able to deliver on time, there will be less time spent by them on worrying about customer complaints and issues of inventories.

It will also give them confidence that the value of dealing with you is greater because they can trust your promises and can get on with what they do best, without worrying about what’s happening in the background.

Remember, then, to concentrate on these three key buying motives (Money, Risk Reduction and Time) so that you match the needs and desires of your prospects and don’t get dragged in to surface-level debates about costs and other incidentals that hide the real reasons why they may be buying from you.

Happy Selling!

Watch this short video blog on Robert Cialdinis persuasion technique to help improve influencing during your sales interaction.

Happy Selling!

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

MTD Sales Training

www.mtdsalestraining.com

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 your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Well, what would you say the purpose of small talk is? Let me give you three scenarios:

1) You compliment something in the prospect’s office, like their view or posters or pictures

2) You refer to a big news item so they see you are up-to-date and interested in world affairs

3) You refer to something that proves you’ve done your homework on their company or they themselves

The first two are typical introductions and make you fall into the same barrel as every other salesperson who has crossed their threshold.

The third is something that makes them feel you have their best interests at heart and that you are getting round to business, without (and this is the main point) digging deep into your products or services or putting too much pressure on.

Think of the introductions as an opportunity for you to build rapport at the professional level. If your initial discussion points revolve around the global picture of how their business is going, you set the scene for taking discussions deeper later on, and you don’t have to worry about crossing the threshold from how good or bad the weather is to talking about why you’re really there. There’s plenty of time to talk about last night’s game when you are having a natural break in the meeting.

Here’s an example of openers I like to use in sales meetings when I meet with prospects:

“I noticed from your LinkedIn profile that you used to work in the (xxx) industry. Was it a challenge moving into a new industry like this one?”

“I really appreciate that you’re taking the time to meet with me when I know things are really busy for you these days. You must be facing some real challenges with the re-organisation that your company announced recently.”

“The company results you announced yesterday must have been really pleasing for you. Were they better than expected?”

This way, you are still creating small-talk, but the emphasis is on how professional you are, and the rapport can still be built as you walk through the global issues before honing into the more detailed areas.

Consider the small-talk in the sales meeting as helping you build rapport with the client on a business level. There’s plenty of time to discuss more mundane matters after the rapport has been gained. That way, the prospect doesn’t feel that you are simply asking questions that everyone else has in order to try to get ‘friendly’. Many prospects simply see it as patronising, so get to their level quickly and decisively, showing you appreciate they are busy and want your help as soon as possible.

Being one of the main avenues for most salespeople to connect with prospects, it’s imperative we utilise this communication medium in the best way possible. Therefore, here are five of what I would consider the biggest errors or mistakes in sales emails:

1) Mismatching the tone from the prospect. Imagine you have received a message from a prospect that gets right to the point, is fairly dogmatic and demands (rather than requests) information. Many salespeople would miss the very important conversational cues laid down by the prospect, and would reply with a long-winded and detailed monologue.

No, you need to be aware of the thought processes the prospect was going through when they wrote their original missive. Highlight their main points and answer them in the same way. Match their tone…not their abruptness. Match their tempo…not their dogmatism.

2) Sending one-word answers. Yes, I’ve received many replies with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ before. It may be the other person was in a rush or had nothing more to say. But it can come across as arrogant to certain people. Even worse is the simple smiley or miserable face!

Take the time to address the issues and at least be courteous and civil.

3) Not re-reading it before pressing ‘send’. How many times have you uttered the immortal word ‘Noooooooooooooo !!!!’ as you pressed the send button and noticed that spelling mistake or grammatical error wing off into the ether without the chance to correct it? Of course, the client might not spot it. But why give yourself the worry that they might? Simply stop, check the wording and be happy that the other person will understand the meaning before you send it.

Remember, the absence of the tell-tale red line under the word doesn’t always mean that it’s grammatically right…you may have spelt the word right, but it’s not in the right context!

4) Being condescending. Too many times we see salespeople mistake humility for being servile. They say things like ‘I hope you don’t mind’, ‘at your convenience’ and ‘ if it suits you’.

These out-of-date terms shouldn’t be used as the client may think you’re being subservient. You need to portray yourself at the same level as the client. You may be serving their needs in the long run, but the impression you have to give has to be one of equality and congruence with their business.

5) Not confirming or setting the next step. Surprisingly, many emails don’t give an idea of what is expected or what will happen next in the relationship. Here are some examples of what you can place in emails to determine the next steps to take place:

• A request for a face-to-face meeting
• A link to a specific article or video that would be of real interest to the recipient
• A specific time and date to discuss a new idea
• Set an agenda for an upcoming meeting
• Create a proposal for consideration
• Agree a time for a phone call to discuss options listed in your email
• Determine when a debrief meeting can be arranged to action a specific point

These five are among the biggest mistakes you can make when communicating with email within a sales environment. Naturally, there are many more, but if you can avoid these five, you give yourself a chance to at least look and sound professional with the prospect, who may well turn into your next client.

Happy Selling!

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

MTD Sales Training

www.mtdsalestraining.com

(Image courtesy of Kookkai_nak at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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 your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

He was the CEO of General Electric (GE) from 1982 till 2001. To start evaluating his managers, Jack implemented a system of measuring performance based on characteristics that ‘graded’ them against certain criteria.

The criteria he chose were interesting in that they were different from the normal distribution of measurements within business settings. They became known as the 4 ‘E’ and 1 ‘P’ concepts, and we can compare them now to ascertain whether they are still effective in today’s critical sales world.

The first ‘E’ referred to ‘Energy’. High personal energy displayed by the sales manager is vital if their team is to follow the example. The team follow the example set by the manager, and if the energy levels are low, the lethargy is shared among the team. You need to display a hard-working attitude, yes, but the visible energy exuded at the personal level is more important to help the team keep their motivation, spirit and drive at a high level.

The second ‘E’ is related to the fact that you need to ‘Energise others‘. Naturally, you can’t do this if you don’t show energy yourself, so it’s imperative that you set the lead and example. This creates momentum for the effect of energising others to be put into place.

The third ‘E’ refers to what Welch called ‘the Edge‘. This was defined as the taking tough decisions without flinching, understanding what needed to be done and when. He recommended that, when decisions needed to be made, they were considered, determined and then acted upon. Managers who have the edge show their teams what need to be done and actively get on with them.

The fourth ‘E’ drove people to the top of the pile. Welch referred to it as ‘Execution‘ and considered it to be the most important of the four, or at least the catalyst for the other three to be effective. It requires a manager to be proactive, identifying where things are going wrong and formulating plans before they have an impact on results. The Execution manager recognises how he or she should take ownership of the matter before they have to make excuses for failure.

And the ‘P’ stood for ‘Passion’. Welch referred to having passion as the essential quality that kept the four ‘E’s working well. Without the drive, the motivation, the passion for excellence, managers fall at the first obstacle.

So, there you have the five key components that Welch stated were needed for top performing sales managers. I don’t believe anything has changed since his day and recommened we all follow that advice.

Happy Selling!

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

MTD Sales Training

www.mtdsalestraining.com

( Image courtesy of renjith krishnan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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 your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Watch this short video for a 5 step guide for dealing with buyers who have no authority.

Happy Selling!

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

MTD Sales Training

www.mtdsalestraining.com

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 your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

It’s the concept psychologists talk about when they refer to us building unconscious rapport with another person. They talk about matching their unconscious body language and gestures so that they feel at ease in our company.

They also refer to matching or mirroring the words they use to describe their experiences. By using similar words, we are able to match the feelings they may be experiencing and are able to appeal to their deeper level of communication, commonly referred to as the unconscious level.

Are you aware of why this actually works? A recent finding will explain all.

Scientists have found a network of neurons in our brain that refer to as ‘mirror neurons’. These demonstrate how we are all interconnected with each other and the world in general.

In one experiment in Italy, they wired up a single neuron in a monkey’s brain to observe what was happening with it. One day, a researcher lifted his hand to eat to a nut.

He noticed that the monkey’s brain cell or motor neuron had activated. These motor neurons are the largest in our brains and deal with movements and action.

The monkey didn’t actually move…only the motor neuron fired. Further experiments showed that when an arm movement was made by the researchers, the monkey’s arm movement neurons moved too. After much excitement, the published paper (Rizzolatti, Fadiga, Gallese & Fogassi – Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Brain Research, 3(2) pp131-141, 1996)) showed the following implications:

* We are connected to other people around us via these mirror neurons

* We move into synchronicity when we are with other people, firing similar brain patterns

* Being on the same wavelength isn’t imaginary…it’s biologically real

What this means is that when someone makes a specific movement, we are programmed through mirror neurons to copy the movement, if only in our minds. And as our minds can’t tell the difference between something real and something imagined, the feeling we get inside is as if we had actually carried out the movement.

So, we can mirror our client’s intentions, looking forward to something that may happen in the future. If you talk about something that would happen if the client used your services, you get them to imagine a future with your company. Their mirror neurons fire off to see the picture as you see it.

We pick up how people are feeling and our minds start to mirror it. Remember that this is at a subconscious level, so you may not actually make the person match your movements, but it will be certainly easier for them if they do.

Mirror neurons have been strongly associated with how people learn. We ‘model’ other people’s ideas and so pick up ways of doing things ourselves. Have you ever felt embarrassed for someone when they make a mistake? That’s because your mirror neurons have seen the situation and imagined yourself in the same place…they determine how you would have felt if you had been in their shoes.

This explains how matching and mirroring really works. You and the other person are firing off these neurons every moment without realising it. If you can bring it to the conscious level, you can create rapport consciously with whoever you are with. You can encourage people to be on your wavelength and help them match your thought patterns.

We’ve known that embedded commands can work at a deep unconscious level for some time now. These findings of how mirror neurons work explain the reasons why.

Happy Selling!

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

MTD Sales Training

www.mtdsalestraining.com

(Image courtesy of cooldesign at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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 your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Here’s an acronym that should help you achieve that clarity at all times. I’ll keep it simple and use the word ‘CLEAR”.

C) This reminds us to Communicate effectively with the client. This means we need to ensure the information we obtain is precise, concise and meaningful. Quality communication makes things clear and unambiguous. It ensures correct understanding with little chance of misinterpretation.

Assess your communication skills and ensure they are as effective as they can be.

L) Listening is a fundamental skill that should be practiced every day. Frustrated clients should be allowed to vent, as it lowers the emotional connection to a situation and lets you hear exactly what the meaning is behind a particular stance they may be taking. This creates rapport between you when they realise that someone is taking a real interest in what they are saying.

Take the opportunity to practice your listening skills whenever you can, outside of a sales situation. That way, you will learn a lot and be able to show this necessary skill in the clutch moments when you might be emotionally charged.

E) Showing Empathy might not always be top of your list of priorities when with a client, but you’d be surprised how effective it might be.

A 1999 experiment entitled ‘Can 40 seconds of empathy reduce patient anxiety?’ researchers found that giving just 40 seconds of uninterrupted compassion and empathy to a patient actually reduced their visible anxiety levels. Just 40 seconds. Imagine if you were to show empathy for a client’s current situation for that amount of time, and the rapport was built up between you. You would then be able to make suggestions that would be in the client’s interests and probably receive a listening ear!

A) It may seem obvious, but taking Action is often the most neglected part of a salesperson’s day. Picking up that phone to make a difficult call may not be top of your list of likes for the day, but when the action is taken and the results achieved, you feel so much better about yourself and the day starts to seem just that bit better, as you are carrying out promises to yourself and feeling more confident.

Actions are the end result of effective planning and organisation. Without proper planning, you will find yourself doing for the sake of doing, and it will never achieve what it could have done if you had been ‘up for it’.

R) The end results of proper communication, good listening, showing empathy and taking action are the Rewards you achieve. Whatever you carry out or don’t carry out, you will end up with outcomes. As the saying goes, whichever road you take will take you somewhere so you might as well choose which direction you will go, or someone else will choose for you.

You can choose the rewards you want by committing to achieving the goals you set for yourself. Apply the CLEAR motto on every occasion and you’ll soon find yourself benefiting from the outcomes.

Happy Selling!

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

MTD Sales Training

www.mtdsalestraining.com

(Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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 your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

Making sure we hit our targets, create opportunities and maintain client loyalty occupies our business minds and we are continually seeking better ways to achieve.

However, sometimes we miss the basics. By that I mean we may forget to do the real essentials that will get us the results we crave for, while we search for the one answer that may get us more. One of my heroes, Jim Rohn, was famous for saying that ‘there are no new fundamentals…truth is eternal’.

He was right, and it would be sensible to bear in mind that the ‘essentials’ he was talking about never change. Let’s revisit four of them and make sure they are always at the forefront of our minds.

1) Establish what is most valuable to you and stick to those values. Many salespeople we develop talk of money as being one of their key motivators. Yes, it is a driver and rightly so, or we wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning. But what of those values that actually mean something in the long term, things like integrity, time-keeping, service, creativity, health, giving of oneself?

Values are things that are intrinsically right for you. You’ll instinctively know when you hit the right values, as they will simply make you feel good about yourself, each and every day.

2) Stretching and Challenging Goals. How do you measure how successful you are day-by-day? What in your world gives you that feeling of success? What makes you satisfied, gives you some sense of purpose, takes you in the direction that you really want to go?

There are many goals we can achieve in life. But if their not your goals, if they’re goals that have been set for you, or are outside your control (like company goals?), then you won’t feel complete or achieve what you specifically want to achieve.

3) The right strategy to achieve your overall goals. This ‘basic’ is the key to making everything you want to happen, happen. Knowing you want to have a better standard of living is a good start, but having the strategies to achieve it involves planning, organisation, control, self-discipline and the willingness to take the action needed to succeed.

So, what are the action steps you need to take to go in the direction you need to go to achieve the goals that you plan to achieve? Plans without actions are merely pipe dreams and will not make you feel good about your self.

4) The desire to improve every day. It’s been said that to become a master at any skill, you need to devote yourself to it, learn from your mistakes and create opportunities for advancement at every opportunity.

Learn to learn from every contact you make. What went right? What could have been tweaked to make it even better? How would you change things if you had the time over again?

One of my main values is that of curiosity. I’m always intrigued by what makes people do what they do. This helps me improve, just fractionally, in everything I do, as I learn from others and vow never to make the same mistake twice.

Improving by 1% per day may not seem out of reach. But if you do that, in a little over three months you have improved by 100%!

Now that’s something to aim for! Endeavour to improve a little bit each day and you’ll see those imperceptible stretches achieve significant results in a short time.

So, there are my four basics that you should be committing yourself to every day. If you do, they will help you achieve your goals without having to search too far.

Happy Selling!

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

MTD Sales Training

www.mtdsalestraining.com

(Image courtesy of Master isolated images at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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 your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…

How do we insure that we are making the prospect confident that they are making a good decision even if they are indecisive?

Watch this short video to find out the 7 steps on closing the deal with an indecisive client.

Happy Selling!

Sean McPheat

Managing Director

MTD Sales Training

www.mtdsalestraining.com

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 your very existence as a sales person is in doubt…