#1 MYTHBUSTING THE 7 GREAT MYTHS OF SELLING.
It’s about the new sales world, the new marketplace and now we’re going to play mythbusters – here are seven myths we’re going to bust:
Myths:
- Technology means you don’t have to do as much face-to-face selling – wrong. Correctly used, technology is a marvelous aid to selling, but it must never be allowed to supersede your selling process. Businesses who use technology to cut back on face-to-face selling are like ‘retired people’s’ businesses. They operate like a cricket team without pace bowlers. Furthermore, technology has made the buyer much smarter. They’re trying to save every last cent and ask for price reductions, then faster delivery, technical support -where will it end?
- Stick to the process of selling and then close it at the end of the presentation - wrong. The truth is that hard sell doesn’t really get the same results as it used to. Buyers are smarter, they know the sales process almost as well as you do. You need to learn rote and then remote. In other words you need to learn the process and then back off from the process and let ‘you’ come through.
- Our product is unique - wrong. Your product is absolutely not unique. Other alternatives are easily available, and not only within your category either. There are multiple ways of filling every need. In this decade the competition comes from every direction, in some instances by replacing entire systems, thus making you and your entire product range obsolete overnight.
- Buyers buy from people they like - wrong. You’re living in the 80s if you believe buyers buy from people they like. That mindset goes back to the times when salespeople bought their top clients regular liquid lunches, which somehow influenced their buying decisions. People are now more arm’s length in all business dealings and are more interested in liking sales people in a business sense rather than socially. They actually buy from people they trust, respect and like.
- Sales is a volume game - wrong. That sales is a volume game is still true to a point. The person who makes the most sales calls usually makes the most sales. But there’s more to today’s customers than getting in-and-out of their office with an order. In many instances there is a potential deeper sales situation on offer because rather than dealing with many suppliers, they might see you as a one-stop shop. You must therefore make sure you do the right sales calls, to the right people and that you are very well prepared.
- As long as I stay close to the buyers they will remain loyal - wrong. While staying close to buyers is never a bad thing, it is a myth to believe they’re not constantly looking out for a better business deal. No one is ‘loyal’ any more. ‘Consolidation of purchasing’ means fewer vendors ands less costs of them doing business. So - yes - stay close to the buyer, but remember that the level of competition in your sector has never been higher. Furthermore, it isn’t hard to steal your customers.
- Giving things away just lowers your companies position and your brand image - wrong. Give to get. Some companies build relationships by using viral marketing which entails giving free samples on the web along with information. A lot of companies now are offering sampling to business-to-business or business-to-consumer. Example: Australia’s biggest business newsletter publishing house always offers free 3-month trial subscriptions before asking for a sale. In this instance the sales philosophy is: sell to a habit. One cost saving advantage in free trials, samples and other forms of freebies is that you don’t have to qualify customers. They qualify themselves.
#2 SELLING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
The 8 Things That Great Sales People Know About Selling in Today's Market
- The buyer is more educated
Technology has given buyers a lot of information that they could formerly only gain from a sales person. Now they come to you with a head full of information. The buyer is smarter, more jaded, careful about making decisions and doesn’t react well to pressure. The buyer is also much more educated. There are diplomas in procurement, the person you are dealing with may have such a qualification. Many don’t even want to see a sales person unless they have to, so as sales people we have to be smarter about how we get in there, we have to be smarter with what we say when we get in front of the customer, and we have to become more compelling. - Many products are being commoditised
Products are being commoditised because companies are not innovating quickly enough in many industries, Nevertheless products are products are products and the points of differentiation between them are fewer now. Therefore the need for a good sales team is more necessary than ever because there are so many alternatives in the market. Buyers can go anywhere to buy your product. You therefore need persuasive people who are pointing out the differences between products and giving clients good reasons why they should be buying from no one other than your company. - Multiple decision makers
The purchasing decision is becoming more complicated as multiple decision makers are more common within companies. Many companies are getting 2-3 people to cross the decisions. As a sales person, it’s up to you, to crack that network. - Consolidation of purchasing
Consolidation of purchasing is having its impact. In other words, they want less people selling to them, and they want to do deeper business with them. ‘Partnerships’ is the going phrase. I’ve seen that a lot in our office products area. It’s advantageous when you’re ‘in’ with companies because they’ll give you more business. But when you’re out, you’re out. Buyers like it because it cuts their cost of doing business. They also like it because it enables them to push for better terms, settlement discount, advertising rebates and a whole range of things. - The sales cycle is getting longer
People are finding the decision making process is getting slower and there is a longer sales cycle from the time you first make contact to the time you actually close the deal. It takes more sales calls and more strategy to create closure as the buyer hums and haws about making the purchase decision. - There has never been more choices available to buyers
Take the coffee example: it comes as short, espresso, latté, white, mug-accino, cappuccino, afagatto, iced and so on – all also available in de-caf, skim milk and soy. That’s just coffee – then there’s beer. Then music – hip hip, jazz, classical, folk, folk-rock, rock, pop, rap – I think you’ve got the point. And it’s up to the sales person to say, ‘Never mind the rest, this one is you’. Therefore, there never has been a greater need for an informed, well trained sales team. - Not a traditional sales person
Not so long ago sales people were re-named as Account Executives, Business Development Managers, in fact they were re-titled just about any which way to keep the ‘selling’ word at bay. Sales people have now got to be deal-makers, that’s what they’re employed to do. Although it will never be used, ‘Trusted Adviser’ is the best title I can think of. Microsoft is an example of newsell. Their products are sold more like an afterthought than a sales call. Their products are sold by systems specialists, trainers, software designers and installers. - Research is required before the call
The pre-work now required of a sales corps is more than ever. It is no longer acceptable to rock into the lobby area of a company unannounced and say, ‘What’s this business about? What’s your product range?’ That’s all stuff you should already know. You really need to have done your homework – get on the Internet, get corporate profiles, read the company report. The information is readily available. Strategy needs to be planned.
#3 SALES SUCCESS MINDSET
Deep selling is where you want to be - relationship selling, consultative selling, educational selling
This newsletter is about getting you into the right mindset to be successful in selling. I believe that half the battle is having the mindset that you’re going to make the sale. If you go in with that mindset on every sales call you are destined for success. That’s my attitude to selling.
Your hit rate will certainly be much better than someone who goes, ‘I’ll wing it and see how I go’. In other words don’t for a minute believe you’re not going to make the sale. Why waste your time getting out of bed unless you believe you’re going to be a champion?
First up, you need to decide what kind of sales job you are setting out to do. Are you:
- Plain old selling,
- Enriching the selling process, or,
- Selling to a potential partnership
Transactional selling is a flash term for plain old selling. There’s nothing wrong with it, at least you’re in the door. But the disadvantage is that buyers treat suppliers (like you) as commodities. The issues in transactional selling are often about price reduction, which is the lowest common denominator and customers don’t appreciate whatever value you may add and they don’t want to pay for it. Salesperson’s role: superficial sales. The customer asks for a product, which you supply – deal done.
Consultative selling matches the customer’s willingness to invest time and trouble to the acquisition process by adding appropriate resources to the selling effort. In this instance, the sales person is font of knowledge and acts as an adviser first, sales person second.
Salesperson’s role: deep selling. The customer asks you to solve a problem. You question the customer, offer guidance, solve it with your product and guide them through its best usage.
Enterprise selling – deeper selling - adds even more resources to the selling process. In this instance it’s not merely a question of making a sale, it is about seeking a new kind of market advantage. The aim here is to redesign the relationship and create a powerful new collaboration.
Salesperson’s role: this salesperson must carry a lot of business weight, with enough authority to do deals. This may involve make price adjustments for other concessions, it should involve everything that gives the two collaborating parties an edge in the market.
Customers are looking for more value, of a certain type. A sales force can’t fundamentally transform customers who have decided to purchase transactionally into ones who purchase consultatively or seek an enterprise relationship. At best, they can shift the balance but it’s hard work. And that’s what this chapter is about – hard work and a winning mindset. Hey, if winning isn’t important, why score?
This gives an overview of 10 things people need to do to be keen, enthusiastic and have a sales success mindset.
- Get serious – selling is like no other profession, successful sales people cannot afford to lean on their shovel. You’ve got to be attentive to all aspects of your selling relationship, otherwise you risk being squeezed out by competitors.
- Identify a skill that’s limiting your sales success. We all want to ‘improve’ in the general sense of the word. But to do so, you’ve got to work on it. First, identify the weakness, then find techniques that overcome it. Focus on those techniques at every sales call.
- Get around the right people. You don't have to hang around sales people exclusively, you simply have to hang around people who positively enhance that aspect of your career.
- Be a solution finder. Being a person with a head full of solutions empowers you in every sales situation because you can offer a range of options. And offering a choice of options is a great closing technique, because it flows so naturally from the problem.
- Visualise yourself as one of the top people in your field. If they can do it, you can too. Take yourself quite seriously as someone capable of selling better than the best. First you learn from top salespeople, then you challenge them.
- Practice positive self-talk. You can’t sell anything if you’re in the pit. Being an ‘up’ person is catching, it makes people around you feel positive. And being positive naturally feeds them into saying the yes-word at the appropriate moment.
- Take positive action towards your goal every day. Negative thoughts create negative results. So focus on making yourself better, and better, and better. Work on it, it will not happen on its own. If nothing changes, nothing changes. So push for the personal improvement which you seek.
- Accept responsibility for your performance figures. You’ve made an effort, and you’ve got a result. Accept that you probably can’t change anything but yourself, and that next month you want a better result. Work on yourself. Improve. Get up there.
- Understand your true competitive advantage over other competitors’ offerings. There’s only one way to consistently win. It’s like sport – maximise your advantage and try to nullify theirs. What you need is a game plan, and the first step to getting one is an understanding of your strengths. Always drag the game into the zone where you have the competitive advantage.
- Prepare a value proposition which cannot be matched in the marketplace. Lift your offer, best you can. It’s about making yourself available where your competitor isn’t, giving first class advice and following up. It’s about delivery, time schedules and lots of things other than price.
#4 FIND OUT WHAT 95% OF SALESPEOPLE ARE DOING AND DO THE OPPOSITE
I remember seeing Zig Ziglar (renowned Sales Trainer from the USA) on the platform a number of years ago here at the Melbourne Town hall when he opened with this line.
He was referring to the fact that we need to be a contrarian in sales, to swim upstream, to get a different result.
So many Salespeople have a “herd” mentality and get the same results that most of the sales team get. They do the same number of hours, take on the same mindset and yet expect a different result.
So what does it take to be a contrarian thinking salesperson?
- Make a decision as to whatever you want to be in top 5% of salepeople or are you happy to be around budget?
- Take on a ‘Contrarian Mindset’ by adopting a new set of standards and behaviour.
- Start focusing on a new Sales Role Model. Who can you model that you admire who gets consistent results?
- Set your expectations higher than what is expected of you. Your budget is only a guide- set your own budget.
- Work when others are Not working! If everyone goes home at 5pm, go home at 6pm and get the jump on the next day. Send out emails and plan your prospecting in the ‘Golden Hour’ in the office.
- Do what you say you will. Most sales people I have worked with let themselves down by not following through on the promises they make. Be careful, this goes to the core of your integrity.
- Start your week on Sunday Night. Great salespeople have already started to plan their next week by Sunday so they know what to work on when they arrive at the office on Monday morning.
First Meeting Strategy
The impression we make in the first meeting with a customer can affect the whole sale. Here are four powerful ways to begin the first meeting with a new prospect.
- Gratitude
‘Mr customer thank you for your time today. I appreciate you are busy so I will be brief and to the point.’ - Build Expectancy
‘Mr customer you are really going to enjoy what I have to show you today.’ - Reversal
‘Mr customer I am not here today to sell you anything. I am here to get some information about your company and see if we can help you achieve your goals.’ - Start with a problem
‘Many companies today have discovered that they are paying 25% too much for their operating costs in this area. We have a system that solves that problem.’
Any one of these four options is an excellent way to show your prospects that you are a professional and they should take you seriously.
#5 MILESTONES
These are eight basic milestones in the Business to Business sale process. They can be grouped together on some calls and spread apart in others.
- Product Service Identification
a. What does my product or service do?
b. What problem does it involve?
c. What need does it satisfy? - Prospecting
a. Finding qualified prospects.
b. A qualified prospect must need, can use and can afford your product or service.
c. A qualified prospect is capable of buying soon. - Information Gathering
This is at the core of all professional selling. You can gather information before, during and after the interview. - Problem Identification
No sale is made until you and the customer reach the point where you both know a problem exists. - Presentation of a solution
- Resolving concerns
Unanswered concerns can sink a sale. They key to resolving concerns is a strong relationship. - Gaining commitment
This is where you get commitment to take action. - Follow-up and follow through
This includes resales and referrals.
#6 MAKE IT HAPPEN NOW
Making it happen means taking responsibility for your own outcomes, which means making decisions, making the choices and taking the chances, having the authority to fulfil the promises and – yes – taking the blame, if it comes to that.
So make it happen now, don’t hesitate.
- Take control of your day. Find a time management system that suits you and utilise it. To-do lists are usually invaluable, and diaries essential. It’s up to you to figure out a personal way of maximising your day.
- Seek a better way. Seek a better way to work on all procedures, systemise it then keep looking for another better way. Ask your team, ask your colleagues, they know the job. Doing this improves your efficiency and encourages a system of continuous improvement.
- Get yourself into balance. Play a bigger game! The process is as follows: (1) How I organise and manage my life is developed by my goal setting system, (2) Which goals I live by are determined by my priorities, (3) When I reach my goals is determined by my planning, (4) Life is what the process of working towards my goals is called, (5) Establish: where am I right now?
- Throttle the bottlenecks. Get control of your phone calls. Stay up-to-date with your paperwork. Keep things moving through the system. Don’t keep your customers waiting. Never disappoint.
- Outsource as much as you can. Outsourcing removes the temptation to become a jack-of-all-trades. That’s not you. You are nothing more and nothing less than a peak performance sales person, and everything else is a distraction.
Achieving a peak performance sales focus starts with you doing some work on yourself. Before we move on to selling techniques, get yourself in shape which requires self management, time management and client management.
Hey, you keep hearing that word ‘management’ rather a lot – well, you should be, do you know why? Because the essence of this book is that you approach your sales job as a business-within-a-business, and with that in mind, you are actually your own manager. And it’s up to you to take control of your immediate environment.
The confidence you will evoke from this refreshing attitude will spill into the sales situation, and customers will see that they are dealing with someone who can make things happen for them. And that’s the kind of person buyers like dealing with!
Brad Tonini is the Author of the above articles. Brad Tonini is Australia's Sales Strategist.
His boutique consultancy Tonini Group Australasia is a leader in showing sales people, sales managers, and SME CEO’s how to increase sales and build bottom line profits. He can be reached on
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or go to www.bradtonini.com
