In a sales conversation with a prospective client, I offered several solutions to his particular situation. I had asked him several questions, and upon determining his needs, presented a variety of different answers.
I told him about the sales training programs I had available.
I recommended one of my public workshops.
I suggested that he register for my newsletter and I asked him to complete a questionnaire that would help identify where he and his team could improve.
When I hung up the phone, it dawned on me that I may have presented too many solutions, too quickly. Sadly, I was guilty of fire-hosing my prospect.
Fire-hosing occurs when you overwhelm your customer with too much information or too many ideas in an effort to close the sale.
Here is another example:
A homeowner I know met with an interior designer for some consultation on improving the appearance of her home. During their first meeting, the designer suggested several different options and ideas and at the end of the meeting asked for a deposit so she could begin the job. Although the ideas and solutions she presented sounded good, the homeowner was hesitant to make a commitment to move forward because he needed time to digest and consider the multitude of ideas that had been presented. It was evident that the designer had fire-hosed the homeowner.
Many sales professionals, particularly SME’s (Subject Matter Experts) make the mistake of fire-hosing people.
They have the best intentions and truly want to help their clients and prospects but tend to get carried away. As a result, they offer all the solutions they can think of believing they are helping their customer. However, in reality, they actually make it more challenging for customers to make a decision.
Sales people don’t realize how often they do this.
They become so accustomed to telling people everything about their product or service they forget that too much information can actually be detrimental. They also forget that most people can only absorb a certain amount of information in a given period of time.
I remember looking for a new bed with my wife many years ago. We visited four or five stores and in each store we were told that we should look for something different in a mattress. The sales people told us all about the features of the beds they sold and by the end of the day we were completely confused and didn’t know what factors we should consider in our purchase.
Customers look to you for help.
They rely on your expertise to help them make a buying decision.
However, when you overwhelm them with information or solutions you actually make it more difficult for them to decide. You need to be careful how much information you give people, especially in preliminary conversations and particularly if your product is highly technical in nature.
Keep your answers brief and to the point. Avoid giving too much information, too many answers, or too many solutions.
Remember that telling is not selling.
I do more than write about sales. I conduct sales training workshops and deliver sales keynote presentations at conferences and sales meetings. Contact me to find out how I can help you with your upcoming sales event.
During a recent client project I had the good fortune of observing a face-to-face sales call from both the seller’s perspective and that of the potential buyer.
The seller had previously dealt with one of the two decision makers although it had been a few years since that prospect had purchased from the seller’s company.
The sales person invested a few minutes on social chit-chat before getting into the heart of the meeting. He asked good questions that prompted one of the buyers to say, “That’s a good question, I hadn’t thought about that.” However, he did veer off topic several times to tell a story and he tended to spend too long on matters that were unrelated to the actual meeting.
After a 90 minute meeting (he did not confirm how much time his prospects had available at the outset) he determined the next steps and got confirmation from his buyers.
However, as soon as he left, one of the prospects looked at her colleague and said, “Was he ever going to shut up and leave? I didn’t plan to spend an hour and a half in this meeting. Didn’t he see that I was ready to go at least 20 minutes ago?” Her colleague said, “Yeah, he does that all the time.”
Here’s the interesting thing…
When I spoke to the sales person afterwards, he too, expressed his surprise that the meeting took so long. However, he had absolutely no idea that it was his fault. He was completely unaware that his stories and explanations prolonged an otherwise productive meeting.
I questioned him a bit further and he explained that he thought his stories were relevant and that they helped him establish rapport with his potential buyers. He also said that since it had been a while since he had seen the one person he had done business with in the past, that it was important to invest time catching up and creating a dialogue.
With all due respect, he was wrong.
Establishing rapport IS important but it is more important to respect the time of your prospects and customers.
That’s how you create rapport in today’s hectic business world.
The sales person should have picked up on that when one of the buyers said, “We’re in back to back meetings all day.” When that comment was made, he should have said, “We scheduled an hour for today’s meeting, does that still work for you?” Assuming it was, he then needed to make sure he stayed on track and on schedule.
Regardless of the relationship you have with existing customers or new prospects, it is critical to recognize that time is a precious commodity and your prospects don’t have time to waste. It is far better to end a meeting early than to go into overtime by talking about non-related topics.
My focus in life is helping sales people avoid mistakes like this one. If your sales team could use help call me 905-633-7750 or send me an email.
B2B, B2C, Handling Objections, Prospecting, Sales Conversations, Sales Presentationstags: creating compelling sales presentations, increase your sales, opening a sale, sales blunders, sales conversations, sales mistakes, sales objections, sales presentations gone bad, talking too much
Apr
15
During a recent sales training workshop, we were discussing the importance of being able to deliver a clear, concise message when you first meet with a prospect and we agreed that a quick, thirty second introduction would be an effective approach. A participant challenged me, saying that an introduction of this nature sounded canned and rehearsed. As he recited his opening message, I fully agreed with him—it did sound canned. Not to mention extremely difficult to understand.
Unfortunately, he made one of the fatal mistakes that many sales people make when they first introduce themselves to a potential customer or client. That mistake is to barf on them.
Not figuratively of course. But verbally.
Too many sales people mistakenly believe that they should open their conversation with a background and history of their company. Or, a complete description of their products, services, or solutions. It’s seems like they can’t control what comes out of their mouth once they open it. They puke. They barf. They spew all over themselves.
A great opening message or introduction follows a few key criteria.
- It focuses on the other person.
- It conveys how you help your clients and customers.
- It is easy to understand.
- It does not contain an excess of adverbs or adjectives.
- It intrigues the other person.
- It must be delivered in a conversational tone.
Most sales people start talking about their products or services instead of focusing their attention on the customer. The best way to do this is to state the benefit of your product or service and how it relates to your customer. Here is an example,
“Mr. Adams, I’m Pat from Geeks R Us. We specialize in helping small businesses like yours fix computer problems. The reason I’m calling is to see if you ever have experienced computer problems, and if so, how they have affected your business?”
Notice that this introduction briefly describes the sales person’s business while clearly describing the problems they solve. It is brief—forty-two words in total—and it takes less than fifteen seconds to state. That means it is very easy to understand.
Your introduction or opening should be scripted. However, one of the challenges of creating a script is that it must sound like something you would actually say. I don’t know about you, but most of the people I know don’t use many descriptive words when they speak. And, very few people write the same way they speak. The individual in my workshop had memorized a written statement that described the services he provided. He wrote something that he thought looked good on paper but it ended up sounding forced and stilted when it was spoken. Part of this was the number of adjectives and descriptive words he used. Limit your use of descriptive words. The shorter and more brief, the better.
Here’s the caveat…
While I believe in the use of scripts, they cannot and must not, sound like a script when you recite it. Your opening or introduction MUST be delivered in a conversational tone if you want it to achieve the intended results.
Consider the difference between a highly trained actor and a typical telemarketer who calls you in the evening. The actor portrays the emotion and feeling while the telemarketing simply reads the words. This means that you need to practise reciting your opening or introduction so it sounds natural.
Relaxed.
Conversational.
If you’re not sure how your message sounds, ask someone you trust to evaluate it for you.
The barf factor also applies when you are delivering a presentation about your products and services. Instead of talking without taking a breath during the presentation of your product, pause after a few moments and make sure that your customer is still following you AND paying attention. It never ceases to amaze me how often a sales person actually speeds up when they notice that their customer is tuning out or no longer paying attention. As if that’s going to keep the other person’s attention!
Lastly, be careful not to barf on your customer when he or she expresses an objection. It is far more effective to empathize with the customer and check to make sure that you fully understand their concern BEFORE you present a solution. I have watched hundreds, if not thousands, of sales people in my workshops barf on their customer as they try to overcome objections. They ramble on and on trying to convince the customer why they should make a buying decision instead of making one key point and checking to see if that makes sense to the customer.
Barfing shows a lack of control. I mean, you can’t usually control this bodily function when you are sick. And when you barf on someone during a sales conversation, it shows the same lack of control. Demonstrate your superior skill and ability by controlling what you say and how you say it.
Looking for Help to Increase Your Sales?
Kelley helps sales people master sales conversations so they can win more business and increase their sales. If you’re planning a sales meeting, conference or event and need an engaging & informative speaker, call him at: 905-633-7750 or Kelley@Fearless-Selling.ca. Here’s Kelley in action: http://bit.ly/ef5P5l
When you show up for a sales call, meeting or presentation, do you ever throw up? I’m not talking about the queasiness some people feel before a big presentation or speech. Instead, I’m referring to the amount you talk.
Too many sales people have the nasty habit of talk, talk, talking while they mistakenly believe that if they don’t tell their customer or prospect EVERYTHING there is to know about their product, service or offering, they won’t close the deal. Unfortunately, when you throw up on someone, they very quickly lose interest in what you’re saying. Not to mention that it shows a complete lack of self-control.
The best way to prevent this from happening is to focus on your prospect, instead of yourself. Ask them a few questions to get them talking or ask “What’s changed since we past spoke?” if you are delivering a scheduled sales presentation.
The most effective sales presentations focus on what is important to the prospect or customer and top sales reps deliberately leave out information that is not relevant to each prospect’s situation.
Eliminate the desire to throw up on your customer and concentrate on highlighting just the key points of your product that will help most help your prospect.
Lastly, I once knew someone who actually vomited every time he had to give a presentation. Nasty!
During a recent workshop we were discussing the importance of being able to deliver a clear, concise message when you first meet with, or call, a prospect and we agreed that a quick, elevator pitch would be an effective approach. A participant challenged me, saying that an introduction of this nature sounded canned and rehearsed. As he recited his opening message, I fully agreed with him—it did sound canned. Not to mention extremely difficult to understand.
Unfortunately, he made one of the fatal mistakes that many sales people make when they first introduce themselves to a potential customer or client. The mistake is to barf on them. Not figuratively of course. But verbally.
Too many sales people mistakenly believe that they should open their conversation with a background and history of their company. Or, a complete description of their products, services, or solutions. It’s seems like they can’t control what comes out of their mouth once they open it. They puke. They barf. They spew all over themselves.
Most sales people start talking about their products or services instead of focusing their attention on the customer. The best way to do this is to state the benefit of your product or service and how it relates to your customer. Here is an example,
Mr. Adams, I’m Pat from Geeks R Us. We specialize in helping small businesses like yours fix computer problems. The reason I’m calling is to see if you ever have experienced computer problems, and if so, how they have affected your business.
Notice that this introduction briefly describes the sales person’s business while clearly describing the problems they solve. It is brief—forty-two words in total—and it takes less than fifteen seconds to state. That means it is very easy to understand.
Your introduction or opening should be scripted. However, one of the challenges of creating a script is that it must sound like something you would actually say. I don’t know about you, but most of the people I know don’t use many descriptive words when they speak. And, very few people write the same way they speak. The individual in my workshop had memorized a written statement that described the services he provided. He wrote something that he thought looked good on paper but it ended up sounding forced and stilted when it was spoken. Part of this was the number of adjectives and descriptive words he used. Limit your use of descriptive words. The shorter and more brief, the better.
While I believe in the use of scripts, they cannot and must not, sound like a script when you recite it. Your opening or introduction MUST be delivered in a conversational tone if you want it to achieve the intended results.
Consider the difference between a highly trained actor and a typical telemarketer who calls you in the evening. The actor portrays the emotion and feeling while the telemarketing simply reads the words. This means that you need to practise reciting your opening or introduction so it sounds natural. Relaxed. Conversational. If you’re not sure how your message sounds, ask someone you trust to evaluate it for you.
The barf factor also applies when you are delivering a presentation about your products and services. Instead of talking without taking a breath during the presentation of your product, pause after a few moments and make sure that your customer is still following you AND paying attention. It never ceases to amaze me how often a sales person actually speeds up when they notice that their customer is tuning out or no longer paying attention. As if that’s going to keep the other person’s attention!
Lastly, be careful not to barf on your customer when he or she expresses an objection. It is far more effective to empathize with the customer and check to make sure that you fully understand their concern BEFORE you present a solution. I have watched hundreds of sales people barf on their customer as they try to overcome objections. They ramble on and on trying to convince the customer why they should make a buying decision instead of making one key point and checking to see if that makes sense to the customer.
Barfing shows a lack of control. Let’s face it, you can’t usually control this bodily function when you are sick. And when you barf on someone during a sales conversation, it shows the same lack of control. Demonstrate your superior skill and ability by controlling what you say and how you say it.
