The word “fanatic” caught my eye in a book I’m currently reading and I instantly thought about sales people who are fanatical. During my career as a sales trainer and keynote speaker, I have encountered many fanatical sales people.
Here are seven clues that you might be a sales fanatic.
Preparation
Fanatical sales people don’t leave their sales calls or meetings to chance. They invest the time properly preparing. They do the necessary research before their face-to-face meeting. They plan their opening. They anticipate objections and plan appropriate responses. In short, they never, ever wing-it!
Attention to detail
Sales fanatics make sure they spell names correctly. They double-check their work. They review their email before pressing send. They make sure they have all the necessary items required to delivered a great sales presentation. And, they seldom forget to follow-up or follow through after initial appointments.
Constantly learning
The sales fanatics I have met tend to be life-long learners. I was recently speaking to someone who has been selling for more than 30 years and he still reads sales books and considers how he can improve his approach.
Listen more than they talk
Sales fanatics know that sales aren’t closed when their mouth is open so they listen intently to their prospects and customers. They ask tough, penetrating questions and listen for unspoken clues and messages. And when they hear something that doesn’t make sense or needs clarification, they ask more question and listen carefully.
No shortcuts
Sales fanatics avoid trying to short-cut the sales process because they know that each sales conversation moves at its own pace and that taking short-cuts are trying to rush the process will prevent them from developing a high level of trust with the prospect.
Energy & enthusiasm
Sales fanatics possess a powerful sense of energy. This doesn’t mean they run from appointment to appointment or jiggle their knee up and down during a meeting. Their energy shows through in their actions and the passion in their voice when they discuss possible solutions with their prospects.
Productivity
Sales fanatics are easy to spot because they don’t waste time standing around the water cooler talking about the economy, their “unrealistic” sales targets, or the big deal that got away. Instead, they make the most of their time and keep productive all day.
So, are YOU a sales fanatic? If so, do you possess or display another trait that I neglected to mention here? Feel free to add your comment.
Planning a sales meeting, conference, or training program? Need some ideas to get the most from your event? Feel free to contact me and we can discuss ways to inspire and educate your team. 905-633-7750
Bad habits have a way of creeping up on people and it’s no different for sales people.
I don’t believe that sales people intentionally decide to use an ineffective approach or tactic; however, there are several bad habits that sales people develop over time that prevent them from closing more deals and increasing their sales.
Here are eight bad sales habits you need to eliminate.
1. Setting low goals
The best sales people I know set high, ambitious goals. They don’t wait for their manager, boss or company to set targets and quotas; they are proactive in determining what they want to accomplish in a given month, quarter or year.
I know you don’t want to set yourself up for failure or have to set an even higher goal for yourself next year. But, top performers constantly push themselves to do better and achieve more. As a result, they usually do. And for sales people, this leads to making more money.
2. Making excuses
“Our competitors are cheaper.”
“The economy is bad.”
“My territory is too big, too small, too spread out, etc.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of making excuses why you’re not hitting your targets. But the bottom line is that it is your responsibility to find a way to succeed. You will seldom catch a top sales person complaining about things that are out of their control. Instead, they focus on what they can do to achieve the desired results.
Here is a post with more excuses sales people need to stop using.
3. Pitching before understanding
Walking into a prospect’s office and firing up your laptop, iPad, Tablet, etc. and launching into your sales pitch before you have solid grasp of their unique and specific situation is one of the worst habits that sales people make.
Although it is essential to be prepared with a solution, you also need to validate or confirm your understanding of the prospect’s situation BEFORE you start your sales presentation. As Stephen Covey so wisely states, “Seek first to understand.”
Effective preparation includes knowing as much about your prospect as possible, planning your sales call opening, outlining the key points you plan to make during your meeting, and anticipating potential concerns and objections.
5. Inability to handle sales objections
Objections are a natural part of the sales process. However, how you handle and respond to sales objections will determine your sales effectiveness and influence your ability to close sales.
Most sales people encounter several objections yet very few people take the time to prepare effective responses to these concerns. I once worked with a sales person who developed excellent rebuttals to every objection he encountered. Not surprisingly, he was one of the top performers in the company.
6. Not gaining commitment
Not every sales interaction is going to end in a deal. But, every conversation should conclude with some form of commitment for the next steps.
Unfortunately, many sales people leave the door wide open and say something like, “Okay, Mr. Smith, I’ll get that information to you by tomorrow and follow-up with you next week.”
In their eyes they are moving the sales process forward. However, this approach does not confirm a specific day and time to reconnect with their prospect. As a result, they often fail to connect with that person and lose the sales opportunity.
7. Not clarifying vague statements
Prospects often make vague statements such as;
“We’re not on track to reach our targets.”
“Traffic is down.”
“Productivity is lower than it was last year.”
In many cases, the sales person takes these comments at face value and interprets them differently than the prospect intended.
Top sales people assertively clarify vague statements to gain a deeper and more accurate understanding of the prospect’s thoughts and concerns.
8. Interrupting
Sales people often interrupt their prospects in mid-sentence to interject their own perspective or comment or to pitch their product or service. I have to admit that I’m guilty of this bad sales habit usually because I feel compelled to comment on something my customer has said.
Close more sales and earn more respect and credibility by eliminating these bad sales from your approach.
Planning a sales meeting, conference or retreat? Feel free to give me a call and we can discuss how to help you get the most from your meeting. 905-633-7750 or email.
Ever arrived a few minutes late for a sales meeting or appointment? Or called a prospect a few minutes after the scheduled time?
Time is a precious commodity for busy decision makers and even showing up a few minutes late can negatively influence the outcome of that meeting.
During a sales training workshop I recently conducted, one sales person expressed his frustration when he showed up almost 10 minutes late to an appointment and learned that his prospect would no longer see him. He felt that this was unfair especially since a traffic jam had caused his delay.
What he didn’t realize is that corporate executives are extremely busy and many feel that tardiness is a sign of disrespect.
Decision makers don’t care if you got caught in traffic or were delayed by construction. They have many projects on the go, a jam-packed schedule to content with, and dozens of emails and voice mails waiting for them at any given time.
When you arrive late you, in effect, indicate that your time is more valuable than theirs.
So, how do you contend with unexpected traffic delays?
The approach that I have found most effective is to allot about double the time you think you need. For instance, if the average drive time to a prospect’s office is 35 minutes, I would allow approximately 60 minutes. The reason I suggest this is because it is rare to encounter any delay that will double your travel time.
Of course, you may be thinking, “That sounds fine, Kelley…but what do I do with the extra time if I don’t encounter any delays?”
Easy…
Practise your opening, asking your questions, reviewing the key points you want to make, and your call-to-action. Use that time to review your PowerPoint presentation and to anticipate potential objections and your responses. Or, at the very least, review the key objectives for that meeting and how you will know if you have achieved those goals.
Arriving on time may seem like a small detail but it’s one that can make or break your sales opportunity.
My philosophy is that if you don’t arrive or call exactly (or a few moments before) the scheduled time you are late.
In my opinion, late is late.
Need a speaker a sales meeting, conference or other related event?
Sure, they are stressful, unpredictable, and challenging but I enjoy the interaction with prospects and learning more about their business and/or an industry I’m not familiar with.
However, that’s not why I really love face-to-face sales calls…
I love the challenge each meeting with a new prospect presents.
Let’s face it, every sales call is completely different from the last one which give us the opportunity to learn, grow and improve our skills. And my favorite part of meeting with new prospects is being able to move the sales conversation forward and, eventually, capturing the deal.
Here are three ways you can ace your next sales call with a new prospect or existing customer.
1. Be prepared for the sales call.
The Boy Scout’s motto is particularly relevant in today’s sales environment.
Before any sales call, meeting or appointment it is important to have a base understanding of your prospect’s critical business issues. If you’re not sure what these issues are, you need to prepare a few questions to uncover them.
You need to anticipate potential concerns or objections your prospect may voice during your meeting AND you need to be prepared to address them.
The more preparation you do before a face-to-face sales call, the less likely you will be caught off-guard by something. It may sound like a fundamental concept but too many sales people are still under-prepared for their meetings which means you can stand out from your competition.
2. Be patient during the sales call.
Avoid the over-whelming urge to immediately launch into your sales pitch or presentation. Instead, ask your prospect a few questions to gain a deeper knowledge of their situation and to validate your understanding.
An effective way to do this is simply say, “Mrs. Jones, before I tell you how we can solve your employee turnover issues, let me ask you a couple of questions.”
This approach sets you apart from competitors who fire up their fancy PowerPoint presentations and recite a memorized sales presentation
3. Tailor your sales presentation.
Now that you have more insight about your prospect’s situation, problem, pain point, etc., you can deliver your solution.
However, if you really want to ace your meeting, it is critical that you tailor and adapt your presentation so that it addresses each key point. Avoid the common sales blunder of launching into a canned sales presentation or sales pitch; otherwise you end up sounding like every other sales person your prospect has met with.
Follow these three seemingly simple steps and you will make a powerful impact with your prospect; providing of course that your solution is relevant to their situation and that it will help them solve an existing problem.
BTW: I’m discussing this topic in detail during a webinar I’m conducting next week. It’s called, “You’ve Got the Appointment, Now What?” and it’s totally free. You can get the details and register here.
Could your team use some help with this? Maybe they could benefit from a hands-on, interactive workshop. Contact me and we can discuss: 905-633-7750.
A little while ago I was conducting a sales training workshop and we were discussing the importance of asking high-value questions. A participant piped up and said, “What difference does it make what questions we ask? The prospect isn’t going to tell us the truth anyway.”
I have to admit that I was somewhat taken aback from his statement. But… it did make me think.
There’s no doubt that some people will not tell you the truth during a discovery conversation. However, I strongly believe that this is caused by the sales person and his or her actions or behaviour.
Here’s why…
Prospects are inundated by people trying to sell them the latest and greatest product, and in many cases, they have heard a similar sales pitch from other sales people.
In my experience, many sales people ask questions that either could have been answered by a quick visit to the prospect’s website or by doing a few minutes of research. Or, they ask self-serving and useless questions such as;
“What do you know about our company?”
“Can I tell you about…?”
“If I could show you how you will (save money, increase sales, etc.) would you be interested?”
“What will it take to earn your business?”
In today’s business climate, the people you’re trying to sell to are incredibly busy.
They don’t have time to waste on frivolous conversations. They expect you to do some research BEFORE you contact them so that you can get to the point and offer something that will help them improve their overall business results.
Too many sales reps still follow the “show up and throw up” approach. They believe that telling is selling. If they actually ask questions they either ask the wrong questions or they ask them at the wrong time. Or, they ask questions that are designed to get a buying commitment from the prospect.
Here’s the simple truth…
The main reason prospects don’t tell you the truth is because they don’t trust you.
If you want prospects to open up and tell you the truth you need to create an environment of trust.
This means using the right tone and manner during your conversation whether it’s on the telephone or during a face-to-face meeting.
It means resisting the temptation to pitch your product until you have an accurate understanding of how it will actually help the prospect you’re talking to.
It means putting your agenda on the side burner and focusing 100 percent of your attention on your prospects’ problem, concern or situation instead of thinking how you will try to close the sale.
If you can achieve this then it is more likely your prospect will be straight-forward with you and you will no longer have to worry about them lying to you.
Looking for speaker for an upcoming sales meeting, conference, or other sales related event? Feel free to contact me and we can discuss what type of program would help you get better results. 905-633-7750
