How to Lose a Sale in 10 Easy Steps

Posted on February 15, 2012 by

Losing a sale isn’t nearly as simple as one might think. If it was, everyone would be losing sales and I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. Here are the 10 most effective ways to ensure making no sales and a short career.

1. Don’t Prepare

Let’s face it, doing homework is hard. Besides, the more time you save not preparing the more time you’ll have to burn through valuable leads.

2. “Wing it”

Winging it, or as I like to call it, shooting from the lip, is easy to do when you are unprepared. A word of caution: If you are good at what you do, show any sense of urgency, curiosity or awareness you may end up with a sale anyway.

3. Don’t ask any questions

Asking questions is a sure fire way to start a conversation and dialog and we all know where that can lead. If you feel you have to ask a question or two, go with something like, “So, what keeps you up at night?”, or a ask them to tell you a little bit about their business. If you go with that one be sure to use tip number 4.

4. Don’t listen

Okay, so maybe you inadvertently asked a question or two or maybe the prospect just feels like sharing. Be sure not to listen. This is pretty easy for most people, but there is a small percentage of the population cursed with being a “Good Listener”. In the event you fall into the minuscule group—and you know who you are—try some of these proven methods: Think about what you want to say next, guess what they are going to say next or just day dream. If none of those work you can always interrupt them or talk while they are talking. Try and practice your “not listening skills” with your spouse. They’ll provide you real candid feedback!

5. Start selling early and often

Tell them everything—everything about your company, everything about your product or service. Don’t leave anything out. Be sure to let them know how great it is do to business with you! Something like “The great thing about [insert company name here] is…” or “the beauty of doing business with me is…”

6. Be sure to sound like everyone else

If you don’t sound like all of your competitors you run the risk of differentiating yourself from them. That’s bad news and might lead to a sale. A great way to sound like the competition is to respond with, “We can do that too!” anytime your prospect tells you what they get now. It is okay, however, to bash the competition.

7. Lead with price

In fact, start there. You could say something like, “I’ll get you the best deal” or “lowest price” or “Don’t worry about cost we’ll get it to where it needs to be”. Another great way is ask “Where do I need to be?”

8. Only deal with non-decision makers

Decision makers have little time and high expectations. Non-decision makers on the other hand are usually willing to take your meetings and return phone calls and emails. I can only assume this because they aren’t burdened with any real authority to make anything happen.

9. Close hard

So you made it this far without actually selling anything and you’re probably thinking, “Geez, if I go for the close they might buy something”. Ask anyway. Up to this point you’ve given the prospect no real reason to say yes. Just in case, try going with, “What is it going to take to get you to sign today?”

10. Don’t follow up

Follow up is a killer. There are some options: Do nothing, avoid setting any clear expectations on anybody’s part about what the next steps are, or only follow up with non-decision makers (you remember them from number 8 right?). Your best bet though, is to do absolutely nothing.

So there you go. I can promise you, based on 15 years of working with sellers (and more than a little personal experience), these are the best ways to ensure “No Sale”.

 

 

 

 

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Give Them What They Want

Posted on February 6, 2012 by

There are five critical factors your sales professionals are looking for in their career. Ideally, the company provides them. As a Sales Manager you can certainly provide the first four!

Respect:

Top sales professionals want to be respected by their managers, their company and their peers. They make all the right moves to earn it. They lead the way in production, professionalism and drive. As their manager, how do you show respect?

Recognition:

To sales professionals recognition is like oxygen. They need to be recognized for their contributions, both for the the tangible contributions to the organizations’ profit and growth—the life-blood of any company, and for the less than tangible contributions—like training and mentoring others.

A word of caution on recognition: don’t praise mediocrity. It’s insincere and counter-productive.

Opportunity for Personal Growth:

Don’t confuse this with “moving up the company ladder”. While that may be important to some it certainly isn’t important to all. Personal growth is exactly that—personal—personal to each individual. Personal growth comes in many forms. Being seen as an industry expert, having a higher education, etc. The list is as diverse as your team.

Positive Work Environment:

This is completely within your control as a leader. How do you create a positive work environment? It starts with you. Everything you do (or don’t do) sets the tone for the entire team.

Compensation:

Money made the list—just not the top of the list. Obviously, money is important. Without respect, recognition, opportunity for personal growth and a positive work environment it won’t ever be enough to keep top talent on your team.

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The Longest Time in a Sales Manager’s Life…

Posted on February 2, 2012 by

It’s been said the longest time in a sales manager’s life is the time from when they first lose faith in someone until the day they do something about it. That “something” is often parting ways. This happens for many reasons; you hired the wrong person, you didn’t train them properly, there isn’t a clearly defined sales process, they weren’t a good fit, and so on.

More often than not, sales managers have a hard time pinning down the root cause. I hear a variety of reasons why it takes so long to take action. “I don’t want to be too hasty.” “I want to make sure I afforded them every opportunity…” or the one I hear most; “If they fail I feel I have failed”.

The failure typically happens in one of two areas, people or process—sometimes a combination of both. You may have hired the wrong person. They aren’t a good fit for the demands and activities the job requires, or the sales process isn’t clearly defined.

When it comes to hiring and training sales people, too often sales training takes the form of product or service knowledge. The actual sales process is often referred to as “soft skills”. They either have “it” or they don’t. You may have hired the right person: someone with the right attitude, someone with an ability to learn. You taught them about the product or service and application. Little or no time was spent training on the various steps of the sales cycle. Then you turn them loose on prospects and things unravel. You can’t put your finger on exactly where they come up short.

All sales transactions follow the same basic cycle or process:

Lead Generation: Finding those people most likely to need or want your product or service.

Connection: Understanding what the other party is trying to accomplish and why it is important to them.

Motivation: Discovering the prospect’s motive to take action or not take action.

Anchored Value Proposition: A proposition anchored to what the prospect values.

Communicating Value: Reinforcing in the prospect’s mind that they are getting the best possible return on their investment.

Asking for the Business: Most commonly referred to as closing.

What if you could assess a persons understanding of the sales cycle regardless of the product or service you sell? Before you hire them?

What if you could quickly and accurately pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses, as it relates to the sales cycle, of your existing team?

What if you knew exactly where to go to work when training and coaching your people? Would it be worth pursuing?

Now you can! Sales Coach International can help you assess your team as well as prospective candidates. Within minutes you’ll know exactly how strong a person’s skills are in PROSPECTING, CONNECTING, QUALIFYING, PRESENTING, INFLUENCING and CLOSING.

Take the guesswork out of coaching and focus your efforts where you’ll get the highest return. Contact our office TODAY for an introductory offer on this invaluable tool.

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3 Worst Habits of Sales Managers

Posted on November 30, 2011 by

Leading a team of people to produce at a high level is no easy task. Sales Managers receive little to no training. Usually promoted from within (typically top producers) they are tapped to lead the tribe. “Just show ‘em how you did it”. This is a response I’ve heard too many times to count from senior management when asked about management training. The result? Sales Mangers who struggle to get results from their people.

Consequently Sales Managers fall into three habits that inhibit real sustainable sales growth.

Attached to their own agenda:
Agendas take many forms. Moving up the ladder, getting recognized, hitting personal goals, meeting quota, the list goes on. As a sales coach there should be one agenda…the success of the people you lead. Abandon your agenda when working with your team and the results will follow.

Driven by fear:
Fear is a killer. It’s debilitating. Fear can’t be led or managed. Fear is the future not the present. When the management team lives in fear, or uses fear to manage a team at best you’ll meet the minimum expectation of the company—in a word mediocre. Worst case you’ll have high turn over, a shaky customer base and a staff who just get by.

Living in the future:
Sales goals, or quota’s, set by senior management then passed down through to Sales Managers, become the mantra. Constantly looking toward the future, or end result—“Where are the numbers at the end of the day, week, period, quarter?” Having all of your focus here is a trap. It’s living in the future not in the present. It’s also typically the result of not having a clear and concise sale process.

When there’s a clearly defined sales process, along with the appropriate sales tools you can live in the present and focus on the process (living in the present) instead of the results (living in the future). It’s the process that produces the results. Manage to the process. Train to the process. Coach to the process

Whether you sell products, services or both all B2B sales follow a basic cycle.

Connect—Connect with your prospect, customer or client and build rapport. Not by asking about their personal life, or taking about the weather. Build rapport by focusing on their business and career goals.

Motivation—What are they trying to accomplish in their business and why is it important to them? What are their pains, fears and desires?

Anchored Value Proposition—A proposition from you—anchored to what THEY value.

Communicate Value—Reinforce the return on their investment.

AFB—Ask for the business, but only after you have earned the right. In any sale you’ll need to ask for the order, or gain agreement on the next step(s).

This model can be adapted to any sale. What questions will you need to ask? What answer will you need to listen for? What tools will you use throughout each step in the cycle? The answers to those questions will create your process.

True sales coaches and leaders live in the present, focus on the their customer, their seller, and know that fear is the irrational emotion of what might happen tomorrow.

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Between Passive & Aggressive

Posted on August 29, 2011 by

There are three ways you can try to close a sale…

 

You can be passive.

I define passive as going through the sales cycle, regardless of how well, getting to the end and not asking for the business. Or asking in a passive manner. Let’s say you did a great job throughout the sales cycle. You qualified your prospect, you connected with them, you discovered their pains, fears and desires. Then you present your product or service as an Anchored Value Proposition. A proposition of value anchored to what they value. You communicated the value and overcame any objections. Then, instead of asking for the business with a well prepared closing question, you ask “So do you have any questions”? or worse “So what do you think”?

Passive. You earned the right and didn’t ask for the business. This is the number 1 reason a sale doesn’t get made. The seller, whether they’ve earned the right or not, fails to ask for the business.

You can be aggressive.

This is the close that gives sales professionals a bad rap. The seller asks too soon (no transfer of trust), or they ask too many times (pushy), or they say something like “So what’s it gonna take to get you into this baby today”? (lame). Aggressive is asking for the business before you’ve earned the right.

You can be assertive.

Assertive lives between passive and aggressive. You qualified, connected, uncovered motivation, presented and communicated value. Once these steps are complete you’ve earned the right to ask in an assertive fashion. You ask the the prospect something like “Do you see any reason we shouldn’t move forward”? or “So what’s our next step”?

So which type of closer are you going to be?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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LinkedIn or LeftOut

Posted on June 1, 2011 by

Recently I presented a 90 minute training session for sales professionals entitled LinkedIn or LeftOut, How to Prepare, Prospect, Connect and Sell in the Social Media Revolution. The following is an excerpt from that presentation.

Top 10 LinkedIn Strategies of the Top Sales Pro’s

The Top Sales Pro’s…

1. Make connecting and updating part of their day.

One of the most common mistakes LinkedIn users make is going “Dark”. Popping in and out of LinkedIn with no rhyme or apparent reason. It’s much more effective to spend a few minutes of quality time at the beginning of your day to post a meaningful update and read your network’s news feed. Then end your day connecting, via LinkedIn, with anyone you met during the day.

2. Give recommendations freely!           

LinkedIn gets the law of reciprocity. Want more recommendations? You go first!

3. Use LinkedIn for Pre-Call Preparation.

The things that happen before a sales call trump what happens during a sales call. A few minutes reading the profile of your prospect can make the discovery and connection process go much faster.

4. Always give value first!

The quickest road to frustration with LinkedIn is to use it exclusively to sell your stuff. Just like a “face to face” meeting—nobody really wants to buy your stuff! They want value.

5. Know that spelling counts!

Great content is easily ignored with one misspelled word or poor grammar.

6. Treat their contacts like gold!

No IDK. No spam. No blatant selling. Treat your connections they way you’d treat your best clients.

7. Have something to say.

Something of value—something your market place will value. If you don’t have your own content it’s okay to share other people’s content. Make sure you give credit where credit is due. Make sure it’s relevant to your connections, and add your own insights.

8. Listen to, and engage with prospects & clients.

Your customers are out there. Telling you, and everybody else, what’s important to them! What their challenges are. Listen and engage with value.

9. Use LinkedIn to leverage their personal brand.

When you combine a strong headline, a well written professional summary page (written about you in terms of your customers) then add relevant content you create a powerful one-stop landing page for your prospects.

10. Know LinkedIn is free, but success requires an investment!

An investment of time and of self. Time invested in building a compelling profile. Time invested in adding value. Time invested in connecting. You don’t have to invest—you could just cold call some more!

You can connect with Les @ LinkedIn.com/in/LesLent

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Nobody Likes a Quitter – Not Even Your Prospects

Posted on May 4, 2011 by

There are some interesting statistics out there about the number of calls a sales person will make on a prospect before throwing in the towel. These stat’s have been quoted by a number of reliable sources.

>48% of sales people quit after 1 call
23% quit after 2 calls
12% quit after 3 calls
6% quit after 4 calls
<10% make 5 or more calls

Now compare that to the average number of calls needed to close a sale:

2% close on 1st call
3% close on 2nd call
4% close on 3rd call
10% close on 4th call
81% close after 5 or more calls

The first set of statistics (quitting too soon) is driven by being told “No”. The reason they said “No”? More than likely because the first call should never be a sales call! The first call on a prospect should be about them; their needs, their pains, their fears and their desires. The first call(s) need to be question based. Asking the prospect about what they are trying to accomplish and why it’s important to them. Unfortunately most sales people start telling (selling) so early in the game the prospect just says “No”. It’s easier that way—for both parties.

The other reason sales people quit too early? After just one or two calls they run out of things to say. They spent the first call telling the prospect about themselves and their company. They have no plan for future calls because the prospect didn’t respond to the first one!

One of my clients came to this realization recently. They stated it this way;

“If I want them to give me a 36 month long commitment (the length of their contract) the least I can do is spend the first few hours learning about them and their needs”.

So start off  on the right foot with your prospects. Ask them about their business, and if you ask the right questions the sale will make itself.

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