| Quick Sales Tips |
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No one can deadpan like George Clooney in the movie, "Men Who Stare at Goats". Early in the film, he plays a defense contractor employee for DeWitt who's stuck in a desert. When approached by a reporter, impressed with Clooney's employment at DeWitt, Clooney is asked, "What's your pitch?" His answer? "We're real cheap."
I sat in my hotel room and laughed. How many times have I heard that from our clients? "Well, boss, we lost the sale this time because THEY'RE real cheap." Well, sometimes we all just talk way too much to close the deal. In fact, Clooney's new reporter-friend never knew when to just stay silent. Clooney's response was, "Keep your mouth closed. You lose a lot of water with an open mouth." I loved that one too, but maybe I'm just easily entertained on a snowy night in upstate New York. This silly movie provoked the inspiration to write this week's newsletter. You see, with all the virtually inescapable negativity around us in the media,maybe we need to consider the fact that customer's aren't always motivated by "cheap". In fact "cheap" can be a de-motivator. Like the chatty reporter in the movie, many people, especially customers, may think that all salespeople do is spend time telling, telling, and more telling. However, we all know that the best salespeople are those who listen best. If you are finding customers who are telling you they want cheap or even free (as I experienced earlier today) here are a few questions you can put to them after hearing the "no money"complaint: 1. "Joe, if you didn't take any action on this, what will the ramifications of that decision look like for you a year from now?" 2. "Joe, considering the economy, what is the likelihood that the prices will go down on this product/service later in the year?" 3. "Joe, we've spent a lot of time going over the options, so this initiative is obviously important to you or you wouldn't have invested the time up to this point. On a scale of 1-10, what is your risk of not taking action?" 4. "Joe, a lot of people seem scared to make a buying decision right now. In our business, we are hearing that those who are failing to MAKE a decision to invest are those who are failing miserably. What are your thoughts about that?" 5. "Joe, you know you need this. I know you need this. Why don't we move forward so you can sleep at night knowing you are investing to grow your company?" P.S. My new book is OUT. Email us or go to amazon.com for a copy of "The NAKED Salesperson" and find out how to close more sales. (c)Renee Walkup, All Rights Reserved, SalesPEAK, Inc., www.salespeak.com, 678 587-9911 |
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