After finishing up three intense days of showing professional salespeople how to be more persuasive and consultative in their selling. It was a great session with lots of energetic and dedicated participants who are truly interested in maximizing their business-to-business sales.
So this month, I'm going to share a synopsis of the participant's greatest issues in selling more during these economic uncertain times within a Q/A format. Here's hoping that you'll get some answers that will increase your sales, too!
(Oh, and at the end of the Q/A newsletter, read on to learn what these participants said about the sales training session.)
Q: What's the best way to sell to multiple decision makers? It seems that buyers are taking less and less responsibility for making a commitment these days.
A: Your buyers see their companies being downsized and many people are nervous about preserving their jobs. In a buyer's mind, one way to preserve job security, is not to make a mistake. Shared decision-making reduces this risk. We all know that the more decision makers there are, the longer it takes to make a decision. You must have a plan in place by meeting with all buyers, understanding their buying styles--appealing to those on an individual basis-then knowing how to gain a commitment from each person involved.
Q: How can we speed up the decision-making process?
A: First, you must truly know what motivates your customer to buy your product/service. Once you know that, focus on the timeframe of their deadline and their goals to achieve results. All decisions are based on motivating benefits and they boil down to just six different ones; which are universal in all industries.
Q: We're finding that the competition is getting stiffer. Not only that, but today's customer's are much better informed than they used to be. We're hardly ever the experts anymore! What can we do to overcome this selling obstacle?
A: Be realistic! Acknowledge that your customer's are much more buyer-savvy and because of the Internet, more global competition, buying groups, and more, your customer's are better informed. However, well-informed buyers are still making intelligent purchases based on value and not just price. Value consists of the relationship, service, ability to fulfill future needs, quality, and many more factors. The salespeople who are very clear about these concepts-know how to sell value persistently and develop relationships-are the winners in this competitive selling environment.
Q: What are the three greatest mistakes salespeople make?
A: One: They don't understand their customers' real needs because they aren't focused on strategically qualifying their buyers. (i.e. most
salespeople talk too much)
Two: They aren't persistent enough and give up way too soon.
Three: Some salespeople are so busy concentrating on making their monthly sales goal, that they lose sight of the customer's timing.
(Which is better-getting the sale later, or not getting it at all?)
Here's what some of my participant's said after the session:
"I thought I knew a great deal about sales, but found out that the selling environment keeps changing and I had a lot to learn!"
"Renee presented the new concepts in a practical and usable manner so that I now know how to sell in a rapidly competitive industry. Thank you!"
"Great session! Renee was enthusiastic and I was never bored!"
"The exercises were invaluable! Thank you! I found out that I haven't been asking enough of the right questions to get to the close. Now I understand why I'm not closing enough sales."
"After hearing Renee explain how to get calls back, I now know how to set up appointments over the phone without fear of rejection. This was training time well invested." (c) Renee Walkup, SalesPEAK, 678 587-9911 www.salespeak.com
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