Counterintuitive as it may sound, cheap products are the hardest to sell — for both businesses and their salespeople. The assumption that “lower price equals easier sale” is a dangerous myth. Salespeople who blame price for poor results will be surprised to know they’re not entirely valid. And businesses that focus on being the cheapest
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Toxic customers come in many forms. This one punctuated every sentence with the f-word while liberally sprinkling its older profane siblings. Customer facing staff at the bank would cower the moment he walked into the branch. Each of his foreign exchange accounts were funded in the tens of thousands at any one time. This particular
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You would rather lose the sale for lack of sales knowledge than product knowledge. This simple truth is at the heart of effective sales language. Product knowledge alone does not sell. True. This speaks to the inability of translating product features into customer benefits. Sales knowledge that is not informed by product knowledge runs the
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Facts inform; emotion moves. You know this. So, why are you still leading with facts? Leading with “Our revolutionary fuel has additives,” is fact. All good to know. But not good enough to close. You may say that excitedly, and indeed, being ‘revolutionary’ you are personally moved to sell it, but that’s you. And you
If you are of a certain age, you are familiar with the song, Living Next Door to Alice by Smokie. For the uninitiated, the chorus explains the song: “Twenty-four years just waitin’ for a chance, to tell her how I feel and maybe get a second glance, now I’ve gotta get used to not living
To avoid high pressure selling, salespeople should take a page from the playbook of doctors when it comes to engaging with customers. Think back to your last visit to a doctor. As a percentage of the duration you took, what would you give for how long he took to prescribe? Better still, split the engagement
Embrace resistance from prospects as a norm in selling. It is the rare prospect who opens his arms wide to be sold to. Even when wearing the prospect’s hat, a salesperson acts in that precise fashion-he resists. Examples of sales resistance include the customer avoiding you, or declining your request for appointment. It can also be
“If they are not there by the time I arrive, cancel the contract!” So fumed the Operations Director of the shipping line that was also this travel agent’s largest client. The salesperson knew the consequences of losing this contract. He’d lose his job too. (A (non) fun fact. If you are a salesperson, there are
Have you ever met a complete stranger and you immediately hit it off? The conversation flowed effortlessly and so too the silence. Most probably you have; and no, assuming it was the opposite sex, it wasn’t love at first sight. No. You had just experienced raw, pure, unadulterated rapport. The dictionary defines rapport as, ‘a
Do you believe in the phrase the customer is always right? Don’t! Wake up! You have been dreaming. You have been misled. The truth is, he rarely is. The customer is not always right! The notion that he is, could be costing you sales, and worse, you (mis) leading him down the wrong path. Walk