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
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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
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
Accept sales rejections. Being shouted at like that has happened to many experienced salespeople. And many reasons abound for this. “You! When I see you here disturbing my people I will kick you out!” So, thundered the Senior Human Resources Manager at a firm with 4,000 employees. All of them, potential prospects for this bank
The prospect feels heard, listened to, assured. These are the qualities that exercising patience when selling yields. And they dramatically increase customer retention. Patience. (Pause and digest that first). Patience isn’t just a virtue. Patience is a sales virtue. Exercise patience when selling. Many sales are lost because the potential buyer (prospect) felt rushed and
He’s the CEO. Don’t fight this if you want the sale; align to it. He is used to giving direction and making decisions. Let him. It’s not for him to adapt to you. He won’t. It’s you that should adapt to him. And no, this is not about becoming a yes man. It’s about selling
Are customers rational or emotional? They are both. Sticking to the rational needs only will get you an agreement but unlikely the sale. I like how this 20-a-day for two decades smoker explains her journey to quitting: “I had meant to give up smoking for years. Yet, despite all the horrible labels on cigarette packets
Does hiring pre-trained salespeople, work? What do you think? To begin with, thinking, ‘Hmm! How much does it cost to hire a salesperson?’, some companies seek plug and play salespeople. They want fast food. Not to slog away buying the different ingredients from the different places. Then, again, slogging away in the kitchen, mixing a
In a country woven together by SMEs, folding a business stating, “I can’t sell” can kill the economic fabric. The more, given solutions exist. “I started a business but it failed because I don’t know sales.” (Or, “I can’t go into business because I can’t sell”). I have received this lamentation in different variations, usually
“I want you to train my sales team. I’ve recently started a business and I handle the technical aspects. It’s why I started the business. Selling is not my thing so I want you to train my team.” If only it were that simple, I silently think. You see, contrary to what it’s screaming, this