5 Sales Myths and What's the Real Truth

I know I’m in a business that many people gag when I tell them what I do. I can see it in the faces when I tell them that I provide sales consulting and training. Then when I tell them that I actually LOVE sales, they give me an even weirder look. I promise you. I’m not crazy.

In every country and in every moment, sales is happening whether you are in a bazaar in Turkey or the boardroom of a Fortune 100 company. So why do we despise or dismiss it so much. I have a saying which is, "If your business isn't selling, are you in business?" At the end of the day, the entire purpose of a business is to sell something.

So let's dispel some myths and get to the truth about sales.

1. You have to be aggressive and arrogant to close a sale.
False. I think this may be the number one reason why we despise sales. Somewhere along the line, someone has been too aggressive and we were turned off by that. It can be one bad sales experience that makes some people make a decision about all sales people. Without a doubt, being aggressive is one way to close the sale but it does not build long term relationships. In the new world of selling, it’s about building long term relationships with the right clients for your product or service. By focusing on this, you will build sustainable revenue streams with loyal customers.

2. Sales is all about playing golf and smoozing the potential customer.
False. Sales is not just about playing golf and having fun. I’ve heard employees not on the sales team think sales is all fun and games and may even have resentments about it. Selling does take skill and technique. It’s about building relationships not about entertaining people. It’s about communicating value in a powerful way that compels the potential customer to buy. The value needs to be communicated as it applies their needs and problems otherwise they will hear, “Blah blah blah.” Do this right and you will have a happy customer, golf or no golf.

3. If I sell someone, they may not like me.
False. Okay, at the risk of sounding sexist, this one may apply more to the women out there. Selling does not need to be an uncomfortable process. You can actually learn to enjoy it as I have. How can someone not like you if you are authentically listening to their needs and problems? How can they think you are being pushy if you are making sure your product or service is the right fit for them? When you shift the paradigm from chasing your potential clients to developing a relationship built on mutual respect, your new clients will love you.

4. Sales scripts will make me sound slick.
False. You have to be prepared. You have to know what is unique about your product or service. This starts by understanding your business from your mission and vision to developing your Unique Selling Proposition. I’m not suggesting that you write out an entire script that sounds like the callers trying to sell you long distance. Breakdown your services into bite sized benefit phrases. Then you can mix and match the phrases that meet the needs of your potential client. And if you have a sales team, you will want your entire team to know these phrases so they can present your solution consistently.

5. Using sales tactics is bad. My product / service will sell itself.
False. People have actually said this to me. They have completed all their marketing and now they are going to wait by the phone for the orders to come in. Oh how I wish that were true. Sales is necessary in every business. Yes, the internet has made it much easier to make a transaction without having direct contact with the customer but that is not the only person you will be selling to. You will need to sell your investors, partners, employees, etc.

Sales is critical to every business. Let’s set aside the couple of bad experiences and think of all the good ones we have had too. Every single thing around you right now is something that was sold to you, so sales can’t be all that bad. Shifting the sales paradigm can happen right now…with you.

Your success is our mission!

Sincerely,

Joanne

ph: 888.856.3185
fx: 415.663.4183
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com/
http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com/

How to ask the right questions to help you close the sale

When I was a fledgling sales person selling computers to the government, our sales trainer would say, “The quality of your questions determine the quality of your paycheck.” This was a commission only position but asking the right questions eluded me and therefore, I was struggling.

I was so anxious to get my pitch out that I did all the talking. Plus I thought if I asked a lot of questions, I might bother the prospect. So I made a zillion calls and through the force of this volume was able to make and exceed my numbers.

I took additional sales training and finally learned a systematic approach to asking the right questions. The reason you want to ask the right questions is to:

1. Build Rapport
2. Develop trust in the relationship
3. Show the potential client that you are interested in their needs
4. Qualify the potential client to see if they are right for your business

When your goal is to understand the needs of your prospects to ensure that your solution is right for them, these questions will be critical to this goal.

To give credit where credit is due, this is the Dale Carnegie Questioning model and it works extremely well,

1. Ask “As Is” questions
“As Is” questions are questions about their current situation. Some examples are:

What are the challenges you are currently facing?
Why did you select your current vendor?
What are you hearing from your customers?

2. Ask “Should Be” questions
Should be questions are what the prospects is hoping to achieve.
Some examples are:

Looking forward 6 months, where would you like to be?
If you could wave a magic wand, what would be different?
What do you want to hear from your customers?

3. Ask “Barrier” questions
Barrier questions are what is blocking them from achieving their goals. Some examples are:

What’s preventing you from achieving these objectives?
What is holding your company back from making the transition?
What is the level of urgency for making this change?

4. Ask “Pay Out” questions
Pay out questions invokes emotion from your potential client by asking them to imagine they have achieved their goals.

If you were able to…what would that mean to your company?
What would it mean to you?

Okay, now that we have gone through this questioning model, I am going to give you my secret question. This question allows people to feel comfortable telling me everything important to them. I don’t have to remember all the questions above because of this question. Here it is:

Tell me about…(your company, your goals, etc.)

Then be quiet. Quiet your mind as well as don’t interrupt. Take notes if you need to and come back to fill in the blanks. This question is selling magic!

One last note here, if you have not developed rapport from the beginning of the relationship, your prospect will not feel comfortable answering your questions. You will need to ask permission to proceed and earn the right to ask these questions. Once you have mastered this, your sales success will explode.

Your success is our mission!

Sincerely,

Joanne

www.salessolutionsusa.com
www.breakthroughsalessystem.com

The difference between being a pest and being persistent

Have you ever wondered how many times you should contact a hot prospect but worry you might be perceived as a pest? We have all heard that persistence in selling is important but when is it too much.

The standard statistic for the number of “touches” is between 7 to 10 times. The average sales person will stop at 5. This means that you can set yourself apart with the additional touches. A “touch” can be a call, voice mail, email, etc. However this type of persistence works best when you are in the beginning of the sales cycle or the prospecting stage. The goal at this stage is to find a qualified prospect who is interested in learning more about your product or service.

Make sure that you bring value to every touch. This means you will have to get creative. You can send information or articles that could be pertinent to their industry, congratulate them if they have won any recent awards or provide them with some new ideas of how you can help their business.

When can these touches go from being persistent to being a pest? Here are a couple examples:

1. When you leave the same voicemail over and over.
2. When you call too many times in a short period of time.
3. When you do not build rapport and seem to be interested in them
only for a sale.

In order to avoid being a pest once you are further along in the sales process, you will want to also follow a few rules:

1. Be sure to always set up a follow up action and set a date for next call while you are still on the phone.
2. Ask questions about when they will move forward.
3. Ask questions about the factors they will be considering to move
Ahead with your product or service.
4. Be straightforward. Let them know that you want to be sure that becoming your client is the right choice for you and the prospect.

You can be persistent without being a pest when the approach is thoughtful and smart. Don’t be afraid to be direct and let your prospect know that you are excited to work with them so you will continue to stay in touch. Your new clients will appreciate your honesty and your persistence.

Your success is our mission!

Warmly,

Joanne

ph: 888.856.3185
fx: 415.663.4183
www.salessolutionsusa.com
www.breakthroughsalessystem.com