ABC’s of Selling - The Art of the Close

Do you know how to close a sale?
When we think of sales, it usually conjures up images of a used cars salesman and being pressured to buy. If you have ever seen the movie Glen Gary, Glen Ross you get to take a peek into a sales world of the stereotypical sales person. In this movie there are pressures to close the sale regardless of the customer’s needs and they are willing to go to any length, ethical or not, to make sure they hit their sales targets. When it comes to selling our own products or services, many of us have gone so far the other way. If we do not feel comfortable closing a sale and our businesses may be suffering because of this.

There was a concept from this movie that I have used in to train clients how to sell, feel confident closing and increase revenues to their business. The concept is A-B-C which stands for Always Be Closing. Selling is a process with stages and if you follow a process, you will simply be closing your prospect to the next stage in your own individual sales process. Each business can take the blueprint of the sales process and customize it to their product or service. Here is a sample of a typical sales process:

• Prospecting. Sales is a numbers game. Be sure you have a steady supply of new prospects from multiply sources.
• Qualification / Needs Analysis. Confirm your product or service will meet the needs of the prospect through a series of questions to uncover whether you and the prospect are a good fit.
• Presentation / Proposal. Create your unique value proposition and pricing to meet the needs of your prospect.
• Negotiation. Be prepared to be flexible, within reason, with your new clients.
• Close. Listen for buying signals and do not be afraid to ask for the sale.
• Follow Up. This is one of the most important steps. Your new clients will turn into your new sales force if your follow up is flawless.

To use the Always Be Closing strategy means you are looking to simply close your prospect to the next stage in the sales process. Your individual sales process could be short or long depending upon what type of product or service you are selling. Outline your own individual process for your product or service then use it with your new potential customers. This takes the pressure off of you and the prospect to make decisions quickly and reduces the risk of making the wrong decision.

When you feel comfortable with your process, you will be amazed at how easy it will become to close a sale. Your new clients will be happy you took the time to make sure you are the right fit too. The bottom line is you will confidently be able to close your sales and increase revenue to your business.

To your success,

Joanne Hernon
CEO of Sales Solutions

http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com/
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com/

Closing the Sale without Being Slick

When it comes to selling skills, many people tell me that they need help with closing the sale. Although closing is an important skill set, it is at the end of the sales process. I have found that the beginning of the sales process is actually where the closing starts. If you create and follow a sales process for your business, you will be closing to each stage in your process. Utilizing the sales process will make closing the sales an inevitable outcome. At the request of several clients, I am focusing this entry on closing techniques. I will provide more details about the sales process in my next entry.

When we think of sales, many of us have an image of the aggressive sales person who is going to pressure us into making a purchase whether we need the product or service or not. This person is trying to separate us from our money. We conjure up images of used car salesmen who might say things like, "What do I need to do to see you in this car today?" Have we gone too far the other way? Are we now too concerned with appearing aggressive that we are too passive when it comes to closing a sale?

Asking the right questions is the key to closing a sale. When I first started out as a fledgling sales person, I was afraid of asking too many questions, bothering someone on the other line and appearing too pushy. My sales results reflected this fear as I had a tough time hitting quota. I made a lot of calls and talked to a lot of people but I was just nice to everyone. Now I have applied proven sales techniques and I am still "nice" but I work towards "closing the sales" always. What I mean by this is I follow the ABC's of selling -- "Always Be Closing."

Closing is not pressuring someone to buy. It is a technique to ask the prospect if they are ready to move forward to the next step in your sales process and if not, then why. Many times there may be questions or concerns the prospect has about your product or service and they simply need further explanation.

As you are in a dialog with your prospect and you are discussing the benefits of your product or service, you want to also be asking questions to gauge their understanding of your benefits as well and their interest level. Here are just a few examples of closing statements that will help you close the sale:

"How does this sound to you so far?"
"When would you like to get started with something like this?"
"Does this sound like something that would help you? How?"
"When would you be interested in moving forward?"

When customers make a commitment to buy from you, they are in reality placing their trust in you to deliver solutions to solve their problems. A customer's commitment to buy is a natural part of the sales process that must make the customer feel good about buying from you.

To compete in today's marketplace, it is important not to manipulate our customers into commitments they later regret. Long-term selling success is built on repeat customers who see results and tell other people about the positive experience they have with your business. You will also be pleased with the results of all the happy customers as well as the increase to your sales numbers.

To your success,

Joanne Hernon
CEO of Sales Solutions
http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com

Creating a Sales Culture

As I was thinking about my clients this morning, I started to think about how to create a culture of sales. A client of mine was discussing some of her staffing issues. One of her employees was too busy to check the voice mails on their general line and that got me thinking. Then there was another client who was complaining that when customers call, they are interrupting her from getting her work done. WHAT? What else could be more important than responding to our customers and prospective customers? How can a team develop a Sales Culture?

1. Team Intention

It is important for every member of the team believe that there is a bottom line mission in business and that is to make a sale. Certainly we do this with integrity but without sales, there would be no need to keep the doors open. Whether your business is selling products or services, it is all about acquiring new customers and selling to them. This needs to be communicated to your staff as well as made a priority for yourself. Whether you like to sell or not, if you are the head of your business, you must be selling.

2. Clearly Defined Sales Goals

I cannot tell you how many times I start working with a new client and when I ask them what their monthly goals are, they tell me that they don't have goals. Or maybe they have goals and when I ask how they are communicated to the team, they say they do not talk to their staff about these goals. Annual, quarterly and monthly goals should be communicated to everyone on your team. In addition to this, the progress of reaching these goals should also be announced so that your team can get excited about reaching these goals. Make sure that the goals are attainable and that you communicate the strategy of how you will reach them. A detailed sales strategy will build your credibility with your team and in turn they will get behind you and the company mission.

3. Ongoing Sales and Business Training

Ongoing training is essential to develop your team. Sales training should not be reserved for only the sales staff. Sales training as well as providing training in areas such as customer service, problem solving and even listening skills are critical to your business. Your employees are your number one asset to your business. However, providing training courses to your employees does not have to be cost prohibitive. It could be as simple as finding a book that resonates with you and providing that to your employees.

Whether you are a solo-preneur or are a large business, when you focus on sales, your business will weather this storm and thrive. Continual effort and intention needs to be applied to your selling to ensure that your revenue goals are met. Lastly, make it fun. Selling can be fun and the more you and your team are making it fun, the more success and results you will see in your business.

To your success,

Joanne Hernon
CEO of Sales Solutions
http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com

Embracing Sales: Utilize Your Competitive Feminine Edge

Many women entrepreneurs and small business owners seem to have an aversion to selling or don’t realize it is imperative that they hone these skills. When I introduce myself as a sales consultant and trainer, women often say, “I hate selling,” or “I don’t need to sell in my business.” This tells me that women don’t understand that every entrepreneur has to “do sales” and more importantly, they need to embrace it!

As an entrepreneur, many day to day tasks are indeed sales related. Everything from applying to the bank for a line of credit, to hiring new employees, is a “sales job.” The top executive of any business has to be the top sales person in the organization, whether the business has 1 or 1,000 employees. With some sales training and education, women can excel in sales and see their business grow dramatically. However, many of us have a preconceived idea of what sales is all about. Think about this. If you were guaranteed to increase your income, would you spend some time and money to polish your sales skills?

When we think of sales, it usually conjures up images of a used car salesman and being pressured to buy. If you have ever seen the movie Glen Gary, Glen Ross you get to take a peek into a sales world of the stereotypical salesman. In this movie there are pressures to close the sale regardless of the customer’s needs. They are willing to go to any length, ethical or not, to make sure they hit their sales targets. When it comes to selling our own products or services, many of us have gone so far the other way that we do not feel comfortable closing a sale, and because of this, our businesses may be suffering needlessly.

When I was working in corporate software sales, it was a man’s world. Having to compete with men who were more aggressive and competitive, gave me the drive to become the top sales person. By utilizing my unique female characteristics and skills, it gave me the competitive edge.

Listening is the most important skill of a good sales person.
Women have a natural ability to listen, as we have been socialized to do since we were children. Our ability to converse comfortably for hours is exactly what selling is. Listening for information or clues the customer is telling us, anything from their interest in our products, to stories about their children or hobbies, all help with the selling process. There is a famous sales quote from Brian Tracy, “If you are telling, you are not selling.” By doing what comes naturally, you will gather important information about my customers’ needs and build trust and rapport.

Women tend to be empathetic, which is another essential skill in selling.
Listening is the first part of the process, but being able to put yourself in the shoes of the customer is key to selling. In finding out specific details about the customer, and their needs, you’ll be able to inform them how your product or service can help them. The one and only thing that is important to the prospect, is how you can solve their problems; what features and benefits your product delivers to fit their unique needs. Throughout the sales process, you want to be confident that your product is the right fit for them. With this approach, you can be assured you will create happy customers as well as hitting your revenue goals.

Listening to your own intuition can help enormously.
Of course, both men and women have intuition, but in general, women tend to depend more on it. Any time you have a gut feeling or a sense of someone without knowing them yet, that is intuition. So how can you capitalize on this skill to assist in sales? By utilizing intuition you get a sense of someone within the first few minutes of meeting them. Use that information to predict the likelihood that this prospect can or likely will become a customer. Knowing the typical profile of your clients will help move the process along.

It is important to focus time and effort on the prospects that are most likely going to buy while allowing the others to find another company that is better suited to their needs. Today’s best salespeople no longer try to close someone by the force of their personalities. Modern selling approaches rely much more heavily on forming connections with their potential customers. Even car salesmen now have a much more passive approach. Frankly this may be the impact that women have had since entering the world of professional sales.

Remember, sales doesn’t need to be intimidating. In fact, if you’ve ever been successful at convincing your toddler to eat broccoli, or your girlfriends to try rock climbing, you have a proven track record already! As women we can utilize our natural skills combined with a little training to be successful and grow our businesses exponentially.

To your success,

Joanne Hernon
CEO of Sales Solutions

http://www.breakthroughsalessystem.com
http://www.salessolutionsusa.com