To what extent does the product service mix, or service product, mix affect your selling? You see, your product attracts your prospect, but your service retains your customer. A majority of products carry with them an element of service but in varied degrees. The hospitality industry, for instance, has a heavy dose of both. Take
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Ask for sales referrals. Prospects don’t volunteer them unsolicited. A sales referral is perhaps the most powerful weapon in a sales person’s arsenal. A sales referral happens when an existing customer or prospect gives the name (that is, refers) of another potential buyer, to the sales person. This means that asking for referrals is a
If they don’t buy you, they won’t buy what you are selling. You are as much a product as the one you are selling. So sell yourself first. One day, I asked my plumber to refer me to an electrician and he did. Only problem is the fellow arrived smelling body odour. And when he
Ask. Just ask for the sale. Ask for the meeting. Ask for the cheque. Even ask for the referral. Ask. Just ask. And be specific when asking. It is tragic that many sales fail simply because the sales person did not ask. He did not ask the right questions, or worse, did not ask for
Differentiating yourself on price is a race for the bottom. Who hits bottom first, wins. And be dammed the cost. All else lose. Differentiating yourself by ethically selling doubt is more productive. But how to sell doubt, you wonder? Well, read on. First off, doubt triggers pause. Doubt triggers introspection. Doubt triggers attention. And all
Convert internal training to customer understanding to thrive in selling. Why? Because, unfortunately, internal sales trainings are company, not customer, focused. They focus inward, not outward. They focus on the science of the product, not art of selling it. If only companies knew just how accurate the term internal is when it comes to their
What is an example of commoditizing a product? This is: “Our debit card will allow you to pay for services at no extra cost. All you do is swipe. Our bank account has no ledger fees. You will also access your account online or an app.” The prospect yawns: “What’s new?” he wonders. Indeed, what’s
To begin with, money motivating sales people does not work unendingly. In other words, increased monetary rewards are not guaranteed to incentivize all salespeople. Even human resource personnel admit that money in itself is not a motivator. “How?” you wonder. “But money (present or absent) is a central theme in everyday discussion!” Well, that’s not
How does creativity contribute to sales success? How do you become creative in selling? Well, lets learn from these three sellers. Creativity in sales by reframing The owner of the construction was going into depression. He had miscalculated the cost of the construction and now was stuck with several units none of which were finished.
How do you determine what the customer wants, if he himself doesn’t? Or, doesn’t want to divulge it? Explore. To begin with, if only there was a list of customer wants. (Sigh!). Alas! contrary to popular belief, customers don’t know what they want. So that list would be constantly evolving. A seller who takes this