While at Spinnaker Software Chris was asked to give a
sales training to the rest of the sales force in Boston, some 30 or so people. Chris
came up with these thoughts during the flight out from San Francisco and presented them
the next day. They still hold true for Chris to this day.
Integrity, Effective Cold Calling, Qualify, Qualify & Qualify, Build Relationships, Devil's
Advocate, Style, Get to NO Quickly,
Handling Objections, Stir
Lots of Pots, Have Fun
Understand your customers needs and how they are
positioned in the marketplace. Know the positioning of your own products
and other products in the market place. Think of yourself as a having the function
of "cross-pollinating" the market place with products and ideas for
making more money for yourself, your company and your customers. Give your customers
useful PUBLIC information on market trends that they may not know about.
Your customers will always take your call if you can give them useful information.
Otherwise, you run the risk of being perceived as a useless and pesky sales person that
people want to get rid of. So act as a consultant to your customers, and come from
your integrity to always provide value to them when you are taking up their
valuable time.
Twenty seconds to gain interest or they hang up. Have an
interesting lead in. Introduce yourself in a manner that hooks your customers
into trying to sell to you. Don't start out by immediately going into a pitch
on your products. Most people are looking to sell their own products. A well
thought-out introduction could motivate a prospect to respond to you as if you were a
customer instead of sales person thereby giving valuable qualifying information that you
may not have gotten had you launched into a sales pitch. Quite often you may never
want to talk to this person again. "Do you supply systems to the
Price Clubs, Circuit City, direct mail, etc.?" They might think you are a buyer and
launch into their own sales pitch thereby continuing the conversation and giving you
information that allows you to qualify the business. Establish mutuality. Get
initial interest and trust, and then turn the situation around to ask questions.
Ask Questions, be quiet, and listen. Don't be so quick to sell. The
best sales people listen more than they talk. People relax when they
hear the sound of their own voice. People enjoy talking about their jobs, their
passions and their businesses.
Stubborn Non-returned calls: Leave this message:
"My manager told me to call you. Give me a good reason why our two companies should
not be doing business together, and I'll have a good reason for my boss when
I'm
asked why I didn't get your business. Then I can quit bugging you with my phone
calls." Most of the people you call on are managers themselves and understand
that you have a job to do and must report to someone.
Try to find a reason your customer won't buy. Ferret out
deal killers up front before investing too much time. How many total units will they
sell this month, this quarter, this year? What numbers are they planning to build up
to? Is the number that they are giving you a current run-rate or is it their own
quota or their managers number? Do they believe in the number? Do they bundle DOS
and Windows now? Where do they get DOS & Windows? Is it included with their CPUs
or do they get it through distribution? If they get it with the machine, they probably
have much more to spend on applications. Are they bundling fax-modems and currently
bundling fax software? Where do they get their hardware? Is it name-brand or no-name?
Who do they consider to be their competition, and are they currently bundling any
software? What is their value-added in the market place? You need information
from them to justify a large discount. Explain that everyone wants a discount. Tell them
that Ingram Micro buys thousands of units each month and gets only a 50% discount.
Turn things around. Make them sell you. MAKE THEM EARN THEIR DISCOUNT!!!
Don't make any promises, and don't send any literature or
product till you know that your customer deserves to do business with you and your
company.
If I could do this, would you do this? Do your part. Then
get them to keep their promises. If they don't eventually follow through,
assume that they have hidden objectives or have misstated their business objectives or
were insincere with you. It's OK to drop them and move on.
Respect your time. Respect yourself -- or Give
and Take ---- Sales requires building relationships that are give and take.
Don't be afraid to tell people no. Take the lead in relationship building, but
don’t invest too much more time in the relationship than your customer does.
Ask your customers to do something in return, that when done, shows commitment on their
part. If your customer follows through on their promise, invest more time in
them and ask for more commitment which leads to a stronger relationship.
Long Term Relationships---Be appropriate. Treat
everyone you encounter as though you are forming a long term relationship with them. That
may take the form of your actively disqualifying your prospect as a possible sale.
QUALIFY, QUALIFY, QUALIFY - AND MOVE
ON!!!
Trust yourself. Follow your own instincts and first
impressions.Ask yourself at all times, "What could kill this deal?"
When you can no longer kill the deal in your own mind, then it's probably
going to close.Trust yourself. Follow your own instincts and first
impressions.Ask yourself at all times, "What could kill this deal?"
When you can no longer kill the deal in your own mind, then it's probably
going to close.
Sanity checks ---
Take time out to go over your list
of current prospects to quantify the size of business and probability of attaining that
business. Trust yourself, and follow your own instincts and impressions.
Reduce the probability of getting the business, or identify that unanswered question or
take them out of your prospect list. You will see just how little business you
really have on your platter, and this will motivate you to search for more business rather
than wasting your time on people who will never buy.
Be Yourself. Don't try to be like anyone else, or you'll
feel awkward and wind up being inappropriate. Don't worry about what people think,
because in the long-run people are so caught up in themselves that they have more
tolerance for imperfections in your delivery. What people don't tolerate is insincerity,
dishonesty, or being inappropriately overly friendly. Brainstorm with
your peers. Gather ideas from everything and everyone around you.Be Yourself. Don't try to be like anyone else, or you'll
feel awkward and wind up being inappropriate. Don't worry about what people think,
because in the long-run people are so caught up in themselves that they have more
tolerance for imperfections in your delivery. What people don't tolerate is insincerity,
dishonesty, or being inappropriately overly friendly. Brainstorm with
your peers. Gather ideas from everything and everyone around you.
SO YOU CAN GET MORE YES'S!!! Don't be afraid of no's
or negative responses from your customers. The sign of a good sales person is someone who
has experienced many no's. Chances are that the sales person who has experienced the
most no's has had more yes's along the way as well.SO YOU CAN GET MORE YES'S!!! Don't be afraid of no's
or negative responses from your customers. The sign of a good sales person is someone who
has experienced many no's. Chances are that the sales person who has experienced the
most no's has had more yes's along the way as well.
The sale has just begun when you are getting objections to
your product or service. The trick is to find out what piece of your product or
service will work for your customer and tailor the product for their needs. Your
customers need to feel comfortable enough with you to tell the truth, and this is where a
style of good listening skills really comes into play. OEM partnerships and the
resulting deals are not "cookie cutter" and vary according to the market
positioning of each of your OEM customers.
Don't count on "big" deals. Assume
that anything and everything will happen to possibly delay or even kill your deals.
Don't let any one deal become too important to you, because your self esteem can suffer if
you have no other "options".Don't count on "big" deals. Assume
that anything and everything will happen to possibly delay or even kill your deals.
Don't let any one deal become too important to you, because your self esteem can suffer if
you have no other "options".
Don't forget what you enjoy about the sales process.
And, if you're not having fun, take some time out to play a little at something that takes
your mind off of work.
