Honestly, I believe this is one of the enormous motivations (by fear mostly) for many salespersons out there. Maybe it's not a motivation per se but more of an action borne out of motivation.
Like I said earlier, most of it comes from fear.
Why fear?
Fear of the sales managers who haunts like hungry wolves...
...fear of losing commission or incentives or bonus...
...fear of losing sales job because of bad performance previously.
And a thousand and one other fears.
Some said "fear" is false emotion appears real:
From the look of the thing, it is genuine for these salespeople.
I've been into many situations whereby I need to hurry, so I press forward and on and on.
The funny thing is:
The more I hurried, one thing is going to screw the whole thing up, and I will be left to pick up where I had left, usually far from where I intend to finish.
Just the other day:
I was racing with my daughter to finish building a figure from Lego and wanting to finish things off as fast as I could, I missed one connection, and boom! ...
... The whole lower part came crumbling down.
My daughter wins our small race, and I had to bite the bitter lesson.
No, it's not never to race with children when building Lego but never to hurry.
And for sales lesson?
I recall a specific occasion when a new product formulation was launched, and the company wants more than 80% take up in a HURRY.
What happens then?
The end user was not ready (they're quite stable with the current formulation), and the customers were not prepared too (due to end users were not made). The 80% figure was not achieved in such a hurry, and in one area, the buy-in was less than 1%.
That's the end result of trying to make sales in a hurry.
No matter what reasons that seem to drive the "pressing on," when dealing with sales situation remember 2 things:
1) For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction
2) If anything can go wrong, it will.
Speed, but do not hurry.
Presenting Solution In Selling: When To Do It?
I'm a huge believer in the concept that successful salespeople present their solution later in the sales process.
Features dumping, benefits stuffing are really the things of the past, but some people still cling to them like their lives depend on it.
Some people still think those were the best ways to win sales and push products.
To be honest, I've had enough:
The reason why I'm typing these words is that I'm frustrated.
I'm amazed at what people still practice in selling these days, in particular with promoting solutions to prospects.
I don't advocate that people start chasing after the next best thing in sales strategy.
It used to be:
consultative selling, selling to common styles, patients focus on trading, NLP, hypnosis, and many sales strategies created to appear more trendy and sophisticated.
The main reason: "Sales have become more complex."
That's what they say.
Imagine a sales rep, make it as a senior rep, went out to call on the customer with his manager. The sales manager, as usual, asks for the call objectives and what to be achieved for that call.
The rep answered.
There's nothing peculiar about that. That's what sales manager supposed to do.
Inside the prospect's room, sales manager take the lead.
Of course:
He didn't have to, but he took it anyway.
If we think about it, that's the right thing to do since the sales manager comes to see prospects once in a while. It could be the best opportunity for the sales rep to learn a few things from the manager.
I believe it's called coaching.
The manager talked. He asked a question. His purpose, maybe, was to engage the prospect. He asked more questions. Perhaps, he wants to get to the bottom of the issue. Perhaps he's discovering needs, answering objections and so on.
Pause:
If he were to pause and look at the expression of the prospects, he would have guessed that he was doing a pretty good job 'annoying' prospect.
If he has any knowledge about asking the question at all, "situational" questions are best asked outside the premise, during pre-call planned.
The answer to these questions can be obtained from the receptionist, database, etc.
This is "what not to do during the sales call" lesson to me.
The senior rep, on the other hand, employed a different strategy:
He's worked more with "bonding" with the prospect because he knew:
It is better to know something about the opportunity than to know everything about the product.
He lived by such a principle.
It has taken him this far, perhaps it could have taken him even further, in his career.
The rep worked on building rapport because that's the pre-requisite for building trust.
People buy from people who they trust.
That's another principle the rep live by.
People like to buy, not sold to.
Many salespeople still don't get this, and it has tainted the sales profession for decades, only because it makes salespeople appeared as "self-centered."
If only the manager understood that:
"Prospect, don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."
Did the sales manager care enough?
When the prospect said:
"I don't have enough patients to put on your product."
why it's always treated as a "smokescreen objection"?
Words might not be enough to convey the right message, so, has the manager listen to the intonation and other body signals?
Are they congruent?
Even if they not congruent, what's wrong with treating the statement with respect?
Skip the clever:
"I understand how you feel Doc. Many of our customers felt the same way too. But when we introduce our patient support program, blah, blah, blah..."
Did the manager really listen?
Or did he just care about what the company he represents has?
Sadly:
This is the way most of the sales call going on.
Personally:
I'd love to see change, massive change if possible, in treating the prospect right.
Some smart brains devised the "Platinum Rule":
It's slightly better than the Golden Rule because, in the golden rule, you treat people as YOU want to be treated. In plat rule, you treat people the way THEY want to be treated.
That's the whole idea behind social styles selling strategy.
But treating people right requires common sense, and not scientifically devised tool.
It demands respect and understanding.
That includes introducing the solution later in a sales call.
In fact, the sales call may have only one aim:
To get to know the prospect better.
And to care.
When we represent our company, we want to consistently convey the impression that we care and we want to work together with you, and we respect you. You probably don't have to like us, but we still can work together, nonetheless.
Believe it or not, care, respect, and common sense allow you to swim with the sharks without being eaten alive.
I believe a book with the same title has already been written ;-)
Sales Can Happen In A Chance
I always believe that:
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
I also believe that:
"Chances preparation gets chances results."
But there's something about chances that I can't deny:
If I were not given an opportunity, I couldn't make it happen.
There was a name on my customer's list that I could not see for the past few years. It was tough to see her. Not that she's super busy or something, but she refuses to see. I was kept wondering about the reason.
One day:
My supervisor and I came to visit her.
This time, like magic, she agreed to see both of us. I suspect it was my manager's business card that becomes the key to our entry. But that's just my guess.
When we see eye to eye, I asked her questions about her practice:
who she sees, what they want, what they look for, what kind of solutions and price ranges
She asked me questions about our solution:
what're the advantages, what's the price like, how it's different from others, etc.
Can you see what happened here?
I was given a CHANCE.
I was given the opportunity to:
discuss, bounce ideas, and argue about what I have and what she wants.
We close the gap ...
... We try to understand each other ...
... We devise a way to move forward.
And finally, she said, "Send me 5 units of your product."
That's what happens when you give people a chance.
Can you see sales (or anything else for that matter) happen without a chance?
Can it happen with a chance?
Sales can indeed happen in a chance.
So, what's my take-home message here?
Give a chance and learn to take the opportunity you have.
Chance can come in disguise.
Chance often comes in the form of difficulties and hard work.
Persistence is an immediate remedy ...
... Just like my case with the reluctant customer.
Why Selling With Social Style Would Not Work?
In the past:
I've told you why selling strategy according to typical style adds to your bottom line.
But:
Today I'm going to say something different, in regards to joint style selling, because I don't want to trap salespeople into believing that this particular strategy works like a magic pill.
It WON'T!
You need two other ingredients that were not mentioned anywhere in the strategy.
Here they are:
1. It takes a considerable amount of time to understand social style
Understand this:
Many people have mix styles, and it takes time to really pin down, which is their DOMINANT style.
You don't want to work with the wrong approaches once you have identified a style for a particular prospect but to be able to do that, you genuinely need to read between the lines.
You can't speed read out of this either:
If you're looking for something faster, I suggest you look elsewhere.
If you want your business to last longer, getting to the right approach by identifying the right social style can give you that.
2. It takes a lot of personal and company's energy to get it right
I deliberately include company there because:
Selling, these days, is not a single sales rep effort.
It's a combined effort of many and at a different level:
managers, executives, and administrative.
The more parties involved selling, the more effective the outcome.
But it's not a secret that getting these parties, except for yearly meeting, in one place is not easy. The energy involved in bringing them together is enormous, but it's worth the effort.
On the final note:
I don't want people to think that general style selling is the answer to low sales performance, most importantly, if they want a fast response to jack up performance.
A Relationship Selling Model Tip
One 'unspoken' perk you might get from a sales job interview is when you get to ask a question, and from there you discover something useful that many paid good money to get.
The interview I went to yesterday was a good example:
The interviewer, a Regional Sales Manager, was telling me about how he wants his team to approach sales.
He said:
"I want my sales team to be seen not as salespeople. There are four levels of relationship that can be created: Vendor, Problem Solver, Partner, Adviser. We aim to be Adviser because that means customers had put a very high value on the relationship."
I see myself at the Partner level with most of my customers.
It appears that my current best can be made better.
What level do you see yourself are with your customers right now?
If you've got no answer:
You've got a lot to do my friend!
PS. It probably helps if you start wearing the skirt (wink!)
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