Softer Side of Selling

What is the primary role of the professional salesperson? Win more business! How is that done? By getting prospects to change their buying behavior. Great salespeople know selling is a disruptive process.

 

The Buyer

Let’s look at a typical buying process for a manufacturing business. The production line needs raw material to make the product. The buyer’s responsibility is to get the raw material delivered on time. Once the buyer has invested time into selecting a supplier who continues to meet the demand, he can relax and move on to some other task. As long as production doesn’t complain the buyer is happy….

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Here where we live the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, agriculture is thriving on small family farms. Some are modern and some are still farmed using horses by Old Order Mennonites. Corn and soybeans are grown, poultry raised and dairy cows milked. Plus organic vegetables of all sorts for the local food-to-table market. Think about how these family farmers are like great salespeople.

Preparation

For crops to grow the soil must be prepared. The farmers here in late fall and early spring spread manure from dairy farms fertilizing the fields to be planted. Great salespeople also prepare for making sales calls. They research the industry and companies to understand their needs. Like farmers, great salespeople plan based on knowledge of markets impacting their business. Unique selling propositions and value statements are crafted and rehearsed. Qualifying questions added to the sales call plan. Goals set for each sales call and campaign. Great salespeople build rapport with prospects forming bonds of mutual trust and respect….

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Do you measure your goal achieving time? Are you always stressed about not getting enough done? When did you last look at how you spend your day? Does your time investment match your plan to reach your goals?

Two Kinds Of Time

Many years ago I heard Earl Nightingale speak on time management. I’ll never forget the way he defined time. Earl said there is only two kinds of time: “goal achieving time” and “stress relieving time”. And we need to not only balance those times but also not confuse them. Goal achieving time is intentional to what needs doing to be successful. Right now I’m writing this blog post in goal achieving time. Stress relieving time is “time off.” That’s the time we take to pause and refresh. Last evening Lois and I watched a movie during stress relieving time….

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Are you asking good questions to keep the sales process moving forward? Do you use active listening responding to the answers? When seeking information from your prospect do you use open-ended questions?

Better To Listen Than Speak

I have often heard it said: “God gave you two ears and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you speak.” Great salespeople are very good at active listening. They ask open-ended questions designed to keep the prospect talking. When the prospect tries to change the conversation to get the salesperson talking, great salespeople use the reverse technique to maintain control….

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Do you use a purpose driven sales call process? Or make a sales call to just check in with a prospect or customer? “Hi Carly Customer I’d like to stop by to just touch base with you.” Does this sound like your approach to scheduling a sales call? Don’t just touch base. Stretch for the next one.

(I’m not a big fan of sports analogies. Probably cause I’m not good at them. But practice makes perfect so here goes.)

Make Each Sales Call Count

Some companies use the baseball diamond analogy for the sales closing process. Just stopping by to touch base wastes your customer or prospect’s valuable time. Have a compelling reason to meet with them each sales call. Everybody is busy these days, including you, champion salesperson. Just touching base leaves you exactly where you were in the sales process. It didn’t move you closer to the close. Using a purpose driven sales call process challenges you to have a compelling reason for each sales call….

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Have you ever had a perfect sales call? One where everything went just like you planned? Spoiler alert: There is no perfect sales call. But with planning and preparation great salespeople achieve their sales call goals every time.

Do You Plan Your Sales Calls?

I’ve been reading The Seller’s Challenge by Thomas Williams & Thomas Saine (Tom & Tom for short). On page 31 they begin a discussion of “harsh realities of the sales call.” Tom & Tom encourage sellers to plan the sales call. If you have been reading my blogs for a while you may remember my favorite quote from General Eisenhower: “In planning for battle I have found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

I agree with Tom & Tom that the perfect sales call begins with a plan. Great salespeople know what they want to accomplish during the sales call and how they plan to reach those goals. But they are also students of history and know every sales call will take off in unexpected directions. Nevertheless, great salespeople are diligent planners….

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Do you have a mobile device? Of course you. Do you use it to make telephone calls? I hope so. The telephone is a salesperson’s most valuable tool.

Mobile Devices – Not Just For Surfing The Web

Yes, today’s mobile devices are more powerful than computers were just a few short years ago. But for the great salesperson, the telephone feature is still the most valuable. Telephone conversations are real time dialogs. You can hear the nuances in the voice. And react to your prospects comments immediately. The phone is a salesperson’s most valuable tool because phone conversations move the qualification and sales process along quickly. You can create interest and desire real time using a phone. Often a successful phone conversation is the beginning of a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship.

Are You Successful In Reaching The Decision Maker By Telephone? Prospecting is the art of finding good customers. Great salespeople realize the phone is a salesperson’s most valuable tool to begin the qualifying process. They have a script outlining their compelling reason for calling. Great salespeople either have a referral to the prospect or know who the decision maker is. They call with the intention to create interest and schedule a meeting. The prospecting phone call is one step in the selling plan to close a sale. Done well it will set up the process to convince the prospect to buy from you….

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Are all of your customers the “Best Customers”? Of course not! If you have a typical sales territory, a few customers provide most of your business. And you devote most of your selling time to them, right?

Who Are Your Best Customers?

Take a look back over the recent 12 months. Which customers have given you the most business? If you sell business to business generally you have a small number of best customers in your territory. These are companies where you have built a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship. I call this my “A” list.

All the “A” list customers have traits in common. For example when I sold custom fabricated architectural metal work to construction companies, the best customers:

• Had branch offices in major metropolitan areas,
• Focused on large custom designed projects,
• Worked with architects who included high end metal work in their projects,
• Appreciated high quality and attentive service,
• Would negotiate price and
• Paid on time.

…

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What do you know about your customer’s business? Do you know how their products are made and used? Who are their customers? What are the challenges for the market they are in?

Why Care About Your Customer’s Business?

Great salespeople understand the business model of their customers. They know what drives their business decisions. They follow the markets their customer serves. Great salespeople keep track of their customer’s competitors.

By getting to know your customer’s business you can anticipate their needs and changing needs. When you can be …

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Do you flit from one task to another? Are you easily distracted? When you set goals are they actionable and achievable? Great sales people focus on their goals and do the activities necessary to achieve their dream.

Three Steps To Achieving Great Things

In a previous post, Manage Your Day In Sales, I listed these three steps to achieve success:

1. Decide what you want to achieve – your dream
2. Determine what it will take to achieve your dream
3. Dedicate yourself to achieving your dream without distraction

Most of us do the first step and many do number 2. Where we fail is …

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