| |
| |
|
Sales Training Information |
|
|
|
Finding the Need is Only Part of the Sale
Many of us in sales are taught to believe that the most important job of the salesperson is to 'find the need' of our prospects. If we can uncover 'needs' then our job is easy; we just need to show our prospect how our product or service fills that need. Right? Well, the problem with that approach is that it only addresses part of the pie. Think about it. What do you do when YOU need something? Let's say you need to buy a new computer; do you sit around and wait, hoping that a computer salesperson is going to call you? NO, of course not; you go out and you fulfill your need. So, as a salesperson, if people really NEED your product or service they will pick up the phone and call you to place an order. If that's the case, why aren't you selling more??? Oh, you say, they're buying from your competitor. Or, you might tell me, 'Well, they just don't KNOW that they need my product or service; my job is to 'find the need' and to 'build their pain.' Let me give you another way to think about this?suppose, just suppose for a moment, that instead of just focusing on 'needs' we broaden our thinking: as a salesperson you want to find out about what people DO. Your job is to find out and understand what they're doing now, how they're doing it, who they're doing it with, when they're doing, why they're doing it that way, and then to help them do it better. Makes sense, right? When you adopt the DO philosophy over the NEEDS philosophy, your thinking and the questioning will become much broader. By asking 'do' based questions you get better information from your prospects, which in turn allow you to make a proposal that will make much more sense to the prospect. And the only reason people buy something is because it makes sense to them. By asking 'do' based question you are creating a conversation which engages your prospect. When performed at its best, selling is an extended conversation; it is not an interrogation by the salesperson, and neither is it a 'product dump' where you aim to tell your prospect anything and everything you can about your services. What are some examples of 'do' based questions? Well, here are a few: ? 'What are you currently doing about _______?' ? 'I'm just curious, what made you decide to do it that way?' ? 'How did you decide to do that?' ? 'What are you hoping to accomplish in the next quarter, year, three years??' ? 'Tell me exactly what you do here?' Or, 'tell me what your key areas of responsibility are?' ? How was this decision made in the past? ? Will the decision process be the same this time around? Take some time to make a list of questions that you can ask that are relevant to your business. Some of the questions may not seem to have a logical or direct tie to your product or service; that's OK. In fact, that's good! By focusing on what your prospects do and how they do it, you are opening up the whole dynamic of your sales call into a true conversation; one that will help you better understand the goals, objectives, and needs of your prospect. By broadening your conversation in this way you are then able to make the proposal or recommendation that will make sense to your prospect. And, in the end, the only reason people buy something is because it makes sense! Mark Dembo and Thomas J. Baskind are Managing Partners in DEI/Lexien of Greater New York, a sales performance improvement and management consulting company. They both have over 20 years of management and consulting experience in a variety of organizations. They invite you to visit their website, http://www.lexien.com/, and welcome your comments and inquiries.
MORE RESOURCES:
Sales-Training - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Sales Skills are Life Skills I love the art of selling. LOVE IT. In Sales, Words Just Don't Compute In studies conducted by Motivational Systems of West Orange, New Jersey, researchers found that 72% of the 12,000 participants reported that, in first time meetings, non-verbal communication carried significantly more weight than a verbal message (words). Only 6% of the respondents paid the slightest attention to what a person said at a first time meeting. The "Finding Common Ground" Sales Technique, Is A Myth! Almost every book, manual, workshop or tape series teaching selling skills, will at one point suggest that you need to find something in com-mon with your prospective customer or client, in order to produce a trusting relationship. The thinking behind this suggestion is that if you find you have something in common with a decision-maker, somehow a bond or trust will be formed from a shared interest or mutual acquaint-ance. Practice Building: Create a Powerful and Targeted Call to Action for Your Prospects A "Call To Action" is an invitation for your prospective clients to actively engage you in some way- directly or indirectly.Most prospective clients, even if they are very interested in working with you, often need a way to build a relationship with you in bite-sized pieces to work up to engaging your services. Win More Sales With a 5-Step Sales Process Facilitating the buying process can be very straightforward and fairly uncomplicated. Yet most professionals have no idea what it takes to guide a potential client through a decision making process. The Art And Science of Closing - How To Close More Sales Right Now One of the questions I often get asked as a sales coach by sales people and business owners alike is, "How do I close sales better? What closing techniques would you recommend?"In my experience, closing is one of the three most feared areas of the sales process. The other two are fear of canvassing and fear of objections. Dont Close Your Eyes Or Let Deaf Ears Fall Upon You To listen to your customer is important, and to hear your customer is critical. But, to see what actions they take is the lifeline to your business. Really WINNING Over Customers Three qualities are needed to sell anything in life. They are:1. Resistance Training for Sales People What was the quickest rejection you ever got? 2 minutes into your call? 1 minute? 15 seconds, 3 seconds?Resistance comes in many forms in sales. Buyers may resist from the beginning of the presentation to the very end. The Multiplying Factor In Sales Success Mark has an attitude! Mark had worked in an operational capacity in the plant of a mid-western uniform company for over eighteen years. He had held almost every job in the production end of the business, from janitor to purchasing. Qualifying vs closing The art of effective question asking (qualifying) determines the effectiveness and the success of the "close".EXAMPLE: Let's assume you're a candy sales rep. How to Spellbind Your Prospects in 10 Seconds! You've got yourself 10 seconds to HOOK your prospects or LOSE them!If you can't make them interested in 10 seconds, there's a good chance you'll lose them forever. So, you'd better shoot it right and "grab" their attention -- fast -- if you don't want them to go to your competitors!And how do you do this?**Just write HARD-TO-RESIST headlines!It works just like dating online. How to Maximize Sales by Minimizing Windshield Time During the late 1980's I was a field sales representative for a computer distributor, selling computer systems and peripherals in and around Los Angeles, California. The traffic was horrendous, and the time I wasted driving to and from appointments just drove me crazy (no pun intended). Sales and Closing Techniques One essential criteria of being a successful salesperson is the ability to be able to close a sale effectively. You don't have to be a salesperson to do this, yet you do need to put at least some of your focus on sales to be successful, whether it is yourself doing the closing or are someone you hire. The Changing Role of the Sales Consultant "Leadership rests not only on outstanding ability. It also rests on commitment, loyalty and pride. A Great Sales Technique: Be Aware of Sales Myth #5 A myth can best be described as somebody or something whose existence is or was widely believed in, but is in reality fictitious. Based on this description I have created a series of articles entitled: Sales Myths. Turning Sales Techniques Into Sales Success! The goal of all sales training is not just to teach solid selling principles and techniques, but to actually help participants increase the number of new accounts (products and/or services) they sell and improve their multiple sales ratios. Unfortunately, many sales and service industry professionals gain an intellectual awareness of the methods of selling from the sales training they receive, yet fail to improve their bottom line sales results by systematically using the concepts in their daily transactions. How To Master the Art of Super Salesmanship Mastering the "art of selling" is simply knowing how to present whatever it is that you're selling, to the buyer in such a manner that he feels buying it from you will solve his problems or fulfill his dreams. Selling online is really no different than selling in person, face to face with your prospect. Sales Marketing: 5 Fantastic Secrets To Attract New Customers Now If you have problem attracting new customers, the sales marketing secrets that I am going to reveal to you below will make you smile all day.Read on:1. Visual Science of Selling Statistics state that 55% of people judgments are made based on what is seen visually, as opposed to 38% based on voice and the message you give. That means what you promote using images is the most important factor in making the right connection.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
