sales tips & articles

Many salespeople looking to improve cold calling techniques tend to focus on the mechanics of the script or how to qualify but fail to look at whether they are getting a commitment from the prospect.

Telling a prospect what want to do and them agreeing, is not commitment, it’s just them agreeing to your process. Many sales reps seem happy that someone asks or agrees to be sent information and mistakenly think the prospect is interested and fail to get a commitment to follow up or a next step. More often than not it’s because the sales rep doesn’t want to push it or ruin it by asking for clarity and commitment as to the next steps.

A quick tip – if someone has agreed to receive information, they are not interested they just know it’s the quickest way to get a salesperson off the phone!!

Successful salespeople know that to gain commitment from the first call and get buy in this early in the process tells you so much about the quality of the sale and how quickly it will progress. When a lack of commitment is shown, it sounds warning bells that the prospect may not be that strong.

It’s important to understand that commitment is not the same as someone agreeing with you. Agreeing with what you have said or outlined is simply that – agreeing. Many salespeople make the mistake that because a prospect has agreed with them or even acknowledged the process the salesperson has outlined, that this is commitment.

Commitment is defined as “the act of committing, pledging, or engaging oneself” or “a pledge or promise; obligation”

For example:

Salesperson – “I can get the application form over to you by 3pm and if you get back to me by 5pm, I’ll have it installed by Friday”

Prospect - “Ok thanks, that sounds great”

There is no commitment that the prospect will do what you have said, all they have done is agreed with you.

You could instead try this

Salesperson – “I can get the application form over to you by 3pm, can you get it signed and back to me by 5pm so I can have it installed by Friday”

Prospect - “No, I can’t get it back by 5pm but I can get it back to you by 10am tomorrow morning.”

Here are a couple more ways to ensure your getting commitment from your prospects:

Committing to receive a follow up phone call – agree to date and time

“I know you’re extremely busy and I’ve got a crazy week coming up so why don’t we make an appointment to speak again. How does (insert day and time) suit you?”

Committing to an action – they do something for you prior to the next step or you do something for them

“Ok just so we agree, you will speak to your IT manager and get a copy of the specifications and his agreement in principle, so we can begin to develop the solution when we speak next week – agreed?

Committing to the next step

“Now that you have all agreed on the solution, what are the next steps from your side?

Committing to what they will buy, before they buy it

“I think we have everything covered and I’ll arrange for the paperwork we discussed to be sent over. Once we get the paperwork out of the way, how many licences do you think you will start with?
 
BEWARE!   These techniques will mean you have a lower volume of prospects in your funnel – yes less!!! No longer will your pipeline be full of time wasting, slow and low quality prospects. Instead, your pipeline will be filled with high quality, genuine sales opportunities that are well qualified and committed to the process – so you enjoy a higher rate of sales success.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales process improvement, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page

Tweet

I've spoken in the past about the Sales Pipeline and how to use it to increase sales but now it’s time to review it again to see just what the next couple of months will look like.

A sales pipeline is simply a forecast that you or your salespeople prepare monthly which lists the customers that are likely to buy in a given time frame, the value of the sale and when it is likely to close. It is an essential tool for business owners and sales managers to identify where you are and where you need to be in order to meet budget.

Even if the forecast is well below where you need it to be, at least you are aware of it and can take steps to improve it and stay on track. Don't wait until the 2nd or 3rd week of the month when you realise that sales are slow to come in and you need more because it's usually too late.

Typically, I usually ask for a forecast at the beginning of the month and then again on the 15th of the month to see how we are tracking.

The important thing to remember is to use a 'weighting'. You may $500,000 in your pipeline but it's very unlikely that you will be successful in winning 100% of them so the forecast will be inaccurate. A weighting is simply a % that you apply terms of the likelihood of winning the sale. Here is an example of how to calculate:



Using this example, the salesperson needs to add more sales into their pipeline to ensure they reach their sales target of $100,000.

As a guide to the Probability you could use

Initial Communication - 10%
First Meeting/Presentation - 20%
Proposal Given - 60%
Negotiation/Verbal Commitment - 80%
Closed - 100%

Most CRM/Database packages (I use ACT or Salesforce.com) include Sales Pipeline management but it can be as simply as listing them on an Excel spreadsheet. Here are a couple of examples from Excel to get you started

Solutions Sales:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-s/templates/TC011457101033.aspx

Product Sales:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC011457181033.aspx

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

13
tweets

Did you know that the majority of sales leads and enquiries do not get followed up more than once (which could be why your business has a low conversion rate*)?

To improve your sales or that of your sales team, develop a system to regularly check where each one is at and when they were last contacted. If you hold sales meetings, doing it at the beginning or end of each month is perfect.

Here are some statistics that I'm sure you will find most interesting:

• 48% of sales people never follow-up with a prospect
• 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
• 12% of sales people only make 3 contacts and stop
• Only 10% of sales people make more than 3 contacts
• 2% of sales are made on the first contact
• 3% of sales are made on the second contact
• 5% of sales are made on the third contact
• 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
• 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

To ramp up some sales in the next couple of months, go through all the leads you have received over the last 3-6 months and either you or your sales people pick up the phone and call them. You will be surprised how many people haven't done anything, simply because no one has bothered to follow up and they have simply been too busy to do anything about it.


* Your sales conversion rate is how many enquiries you receive vs. how many you convert into customers over a specified time frame. To calculate your sales conversion rate follow this simple formula

Total No. of Sales/ Total No. of Enquiries x 100 = Sales Conversion

e.g. 80 sales / 120 enquiries x 100 = 66.67%

For for every 3 enquiries you will be successful in 1 sale, so you need to have 3 times the amount of your budget (or number of required sales) in your pipeline at any one point in time.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach, Strategist and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.
 

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here

For many people just the thought of ‘asking for the business‘ or closing the sale, brings about paralyzing fear of rejection and feelings of being too pushy. So what happens? It gets avoided at all costs and that doesn’t help anyone.

The problem with letting fear get in the way is that sales drag on way to long and they often get lost as a result of not following-up. Remember if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

Interestingly, it’s very rare for someone to be annoyed with you for following-up, if they have been meaning to call you, you’re doing them a favour by saving them time. If they haven’t made a decision, that’s OK just ask them when you should call them back (so your not bothering them unnecessarily in between).

Closing is many things, it’s not just about winning the sale; closing is moving the sale through the process and getting agreement at each step, for example:

• Agreeing to a next appointment
• Agreeing to prepare a proposal
• Agreeing to a demonstration 
• Agreeing to the next step 
• Agreeing to get started

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, the more work you do in the early stages of the sale to understand their ‘needs’ and their buying reasons, the easier and quicker the sale will be. Here are some tips and techniques that you can follow to make the process easier

1. Spend more time asking questions that uncover needs and any problems, challenges or frustrations they may be experiencing. Businesses pay money to fulfil needs and solve problems. If you have a clear understanding of the problem or the need you can match your solution to it.

2. If you can’t uncover any of these reasons, I would suggest there is no reason for your prospect to buy it and the sale will be difficult to close.

3. Ensure that both you and your prospect understand and agree on their needs or problems and the value they will receive when you help them solve it.

4. When your prospects clearly understand “whats in it for them” it’s makes their decision easier and quite often they want to buy from you.

5. Tailor your presentation around their needs and “whats in it for them” Great presentations communicate this clearly and gets your prospect into ‘buying mode’

6. Rcognize when people are ready to buy. They might indicate or show they're ready by asking questions about the product or the buying process: "How long will it take for delivery?", "How does that work?" or "Where to from here?". Other signs include positive body language and comments such as "we could use it like this?" or "that’s a good idea."

When it comes time to ask for the business there are 3 different techniques you can use. I find the ‘assumptive’ close tends to work best for me but it’s important to find a technique that works for you.

The direct close
This is the most direct because you actually ask for the order. For example “should we get the product ready for tomorrow?” or “Would you like to place an order”

The indirect close
This is where you summarise and re-state the benefits and then ask for a decision. For example “having spoken to some of our clients and heard about the benefits they have been enjoying as a result of our service, are you ready to place an order”

The assumptive close
This is the one I use all the time and it assumes that the customer has made the decision to buy your product. Instead of asking them for an order, you ask them to complete the first step to get the service started or goods delivered. For example “if you need to have delivery next week, I need the order from you no later than tomorrow” or “when would you like us to get started”

If the client is unwilling to move ahead, perhaps you haven’t addressed all of their concerns or perhaps they have a misunderstanding about your product or service or fail to see the benefits of what you offer.

If your stuck read my article on “handling objections” or “what do to when the sale stalls” to get some helpful hints.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach, Strategist and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.


If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here

* quotes were supplied by K. Rosen at allbusiness.com

Looking at your business from a sales perspective and most importantly understanding your business from a client perspective, is one of the most important first steps in sales.

Most people hate being sold to but love the feeling of buying; so the clearer you can explain how your business helps and “what is in it for them” the easier it makes prospective customers to make a buying decision.

The consultative/problem solver approach qualifies and listens to the customer and helps them to buy what they need. The consultative approach focuses on the needs of the customer and how you improve or benefit them in some way.

Every potential prospect that you meet with has a different reason for meeting with you and may also have a range of reasons for using your products and services. These reasons are known as ‘buying reasons’ for the client and are related to what difference you can make.

You cannot see a prospect’s needs; they are inside the prospect and only they can tell you what they are. However, you can be reasonably sure they have a need when they use language like the following:

• I want
• I need
• I’d like to
• We are looking for
• We are interested in
• I wish
• I hope
• What matters is
• It’s important to
• We must

When you have an appointment it is important to listen for and recognise these needs. If you don’t, you risk making incorrect assumptions about what the prospect is looking for and waste time talking about things he or she isn’t interested in. It might sound obvious, but you need to get the prospect talking and you listening, rather than the other way around. I am constantly amazed at how many salespeople sit in front of someone for the first time and never shut up ! A simple measure of how good you are at this is to analyse your appointment; who talked the most?

Remember, if your product, service or business can't

• Improve a current situation
• Saved time or money
• Solve a problem, challenge or frustration, or
• Fulfila need or desire

Why would I want to buy it?

Think of a prospect you are dealing with at the moment, using the reasons above, why would they want to buy your services?

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach, Strategist and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here

Objections are simply reasons or concerns that a prospective client has as to why they won't make a decision when you want them to. You will hear statements such as:

• Sounds good, let me think about it
• It sounds great but not just yet
• We do this already
• We don’t get any complaints
• Our reps do that
• I’m really busy at the moment and just haven’t had a chance to look at it
• I need to speak to my partner before I can make a decision
• I’ll have a look at it and get back to you in a couple of weeks.

There are many reasons for objections and they are not always negative. Objections are a great indicator and qualifier as to whether you will get the sale - depending on how you handle them at the time. The best way to avoid objections is to ensure you ask the right questions in the first appointment that uncovers your prospect’s real need. This ensures that you are making the right recommendation and can talk about the related value and benefits this solution will address.

The more work you do up front understanding their needs and what they would like to achieve, the less you will have to deal with objections.

Firstly, hear them out don’t interrupt or try and answer their concerns before they have a chance to finish. When they have finished, acknowledge the concenrn by saying "I complete understand how you feel. Some of my best clients felt that way also" or “I completely understand how you feel, this is a big decision and it makes sense for you to think about this."

Secondly, you need to be sure that the objection they give you is 'really' the reason and if you provide a solution to that problem, they agree to buy from you (this way it's a win/win).

For example: “The Price is Too High”

“I understand you might feel that way. If you don't mind me asking, if price wasn't an issue or we can agree on a price that suits your budget, do you feel this is the right solution/product/service for you?  or  “if we can agree on price, is this something you could order today?”

Additionally, if they seem reluctant to move ahead, keep asking questions to find out why. You might say something like:

• “Is there something else we should talk about?”
• “Is there anything else I can do to help?
• “What needs to happen before you’ll be ready to make a decision?”
• “Can you tell me what your hesitation is?”
• “When do you think you will have a chance to look at it?”
• “If I don’t’ hear back from you by Friday, would you mind if I give you a call?
• “A couple of my clients thought the same thing, would you be interested in speaking to some of our clients to see what difference we are making to their business?

If the customer is willing to move forwards but at a slower pace, you can propose a lesser commitment than the one you originally asked for. Try to get the best commitment that customer is willing and able to make that day.

If you can’t get a customer to make a decision or commit to a next step, try to get a date by which a decision or commitment will be made.

Reminder:

The notes you made on the first appointment will be critical to the objection and closing process and I strongly recommend you have those on hand for each meeting with the prospect. These notes give you the ability to remind the client of the benefits they were looking for by implementing your product or service as well as other information such as problems and challenges that they were hoping to reduce or remove altogether.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here

Many people in business and in sales find discussing price very confronting and very uncomfortable, yet it' one of the most important aspects of the sales process and can be a significant indicator as to whether you will be successful in winning the business. Whether you prepare a written proposal or a simple one page quotation, whatever you do, don't try and avoid discussing the number that is on the page or skip over it onto something else. It's is one of the most significant factors that influences the buying decision and you want to make sure that your prospective client understands what tangible and intangible benefits they are getting for their money.

I have compiled a list of tips that will help you win more sales and to win them quicker but also to help reduce any anxiety or discomfort when talking about price.

1. Avoid nasty, uncomfortable surprises when the price is discussed or when you ask for the business. Before you start discussing the proposal, ask if anything has changed since your last meeting.
2. Insert a “Current Situation” or “Executive Summary” to the beginning of your proposal. A short summary of the first meeting to demonstrate your understanding of the business and what they would like to achieve
3. Where possible, present your pricing in person rather than sending via email. It may seem like a waste of time but it gives you the ability to read an immediate reaction to your proposal and your price. It also saves you the time and hassle of having to phone them later and ask if they would like to proceed.
4. Take a copy for each person in the meeting, however, have ONE copy that is not stapled or bound.
5. Present one page at a time to the person or the group, taking the time to reinforce the key points in each section. This allows you to talk about the value you can offer and the benefits of dealing with your business, before it gets to price.
6. Close the sale. Don’t let the opportunity go by because you feel pushy or are worried they might say no. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Besides, they might have been meaning to call you but have been caught up.
7. If you are uncomfortable asking for the sale, use an Assumptive Closing technique. For example: “to get started all we need to do is” or “if you could send over the files, I can go through them” or “I’m free on Wednesday, if that works for you”.
8. Read a book on Body language. Having the ability to read a person’s reaction through their body language is very useful when presenting pricing and negotiating. You can immediately see a positive or a negative reaction to the price.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here

In today’s economy, marketing budgets are being stretched, messages are getting lost and we are getting bombarded with advertising and marketing messages, so how can you really stand out and attract new business on your website?

In reality there are so many things that can be done with a website but I have decided to just focus on one, which came about from a business associate was telling me about the success he's had with some of his clients in relation to video... in short "Video Works Bettter"

Information supplied by Ajit Singh from Rocket Productions

Did you know that online video ads get around 500% more clicks than photo ads online? Or that around 78% of Australian internet users download and stream video and audio online (CGM)? Showing the benefits of your product or service on your website is typically done by photos and text and considerable investment is put into these mediums, however, video actually attracts more people and emotionally engages decision makers, often better than photos and text. We know that the greater a prospect’s desire is, for your specific product or service, the more likely they are to buy from you instead of someone else.

Standing out is critical in today’s market. Communicating with imagination and making your audience sit up and take notice of you, delivers the ‘wow factor’ better than traditional mediums. Professionally produced video content delivers better outcomes than the homemade handycam option, so it is always far better to get an experienced professional to make sure your content looks fantastic and does the job well.

Click here to find out more.’

Questioning or probing as it is also known, is most of the most important skills you can learn when dealing with customers and one of the most powerful. The ability to ask questions that uncover important information about a customer’s needs, current supply and willingness to change is a strong characteristic of a ‘consultative’ sales approach.

Most importantly, when you ask great questions it can help you to win new business much quicker and with fewer objections. When we help prospects to think about the needs of their business and to really think about current or potential problems or challenges they may face, they start to see us differently and understand the value we can add to them or their business.

There are 2 common types of questions you can ask: ‘open’ questions and ‘closed’ questions:

1. Open questions usually result in longer answers and are aimed at getting your prospects to think about the answer.

For example: “What plans does the organisation have to achieve...”

2. Closed questions can be answered with a yes, no or one word and are used to qualify the response to an open question.

For example: Do you have any plans at the moment?

The challenge in questioning is to ask more open than closed questions as it is easy to fall into ‘interrogation mode’ by asking lots of closed questions rather than a few strategic open questions.

Over the years I have met many people who are looking for help to close sales quicker and/or easier and the first thing I ask them is “what happened in the first appointment”, “what needs of the prospect are you meeting” and “why would this prospect want to buy your product or services?”

When we discuss their questions they are usually very surprised to find out that they are asking the same stock-standard questions that most people ask and they typically aren’t that interesting either. Imagine how repetitive and un-interesting it is for your prospects to be asked the same questions over and over again?

Ask yourself, “are you asking questions that all your competitors are asking or are you making your prospects think?”

Here is a quick test you can take to see if you are asking the same questions as your competitors or whether you are making them think. In your next appointment:

1. Does the prospect start to give you a summary of the information you need before you have the chance to ask any questions?
2. When you do ask a question, does the prospect answer it relatively quickly or do they take a moment to think about their answer?
3. How often do you hear your prospects say “that‘s a great question, I hadn’t thought about that?”

As I said, asking great questions isn’t easy but once you start you will really notice the difference in your appointments. Spend 5-10 minutes before your next appointment thinking about the questions you will ask and write them down so you don’t forget them in the meeting!

Here are some to get you started:

1. How will these issues impact the organisation in the future?
2. How do they impact you?
3. What do you look for in a potential supplier (or partner)?
4. What do you like about your current supplier?
5. What do you like about them?
6. Is there anything that you don’t like?
7. What would make you change suppliers?
8. How would you like to see it working (perfect world)?
9. What is your decision making process?

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here


This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

Want to increase your sales and grow your business but worried you will come across as a pushy sales person? Not sure what to do or where to start to ensure your business is a success this year? The key to success, particularly in sales, is planning ahead and always be willing to try something new.

1. Review the previous year

Did you make enough money? Did you reach your goals? Compare your sales month to month. When were the good times and when were the quiet times?

2. Learn from your successes and your failures

And reinforce the actions and tools that generated results and those that didn’t. Maximize the good times and minimize the quiet times

3. Know who and what your best source of business is

Was it client referrals or word of mouth and if so, who were your best referrers? What networking events generated the greatest amount of business or provided the best opportunity to meet your target market? How many enquiries were generated from your website?

4. Develop a sales target

Takes into account your personal and professional goals and ask “how will this be achieved?”

5. Improve your sales and business skills

Not just your Industry and product knowledge. If you would like your business to change and grow, how will you and your staff need to grow and change?

6. Know your target market

Create a profile of your ideal client including what they care about, what challenges they face or what they would like to improve. If you know what you are looking for it’s easier to find them.

7. Ask for referrals

Tell your clients and your business network what type of clients you would like to work with and ask them if they know anyone that fits that description. Reward those clients that send you successful referrals.

8. Up sell your existing clients

How many of your clients know about all of your products and services?

9. Increase your networking activity

Expand your contact sphere and go out and meet more people. Networking can be the best form of advertising for your business because you are the promoting it.

10. Follow up, follow up, follow up

The last and most important point. So many sales are lost simply because no one bothered to follow up. It’s not about being pushy and arrogant to get the business; it’s about helping that client make a decision that will benefit them in the long term.

This sales article was written by Karen Andrews, Director of Shine Sales Solutions, a Sydney based Sales Coach and Sales expert that works with businesses to increase their sales through strategy development, sales coaching and mentoring.

If you liked this article, subscribe to our monthly Sales Success ezine. You will learn...

* Easy ways to increase your sales and grow your business
* Simple strategies to sell yourself, even if your not in sales
* How to generate sales easier and quicker!

Enter your details at the top of the page or click here