communication

Sales Skill: Build Trust

08/23/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

So you have done the research on a prospect. Determined they would be a good customer worth pursuing. Fought your way past the gatekeepers. And now you have a meeting with the decision maker. What’s the most important sales skill you need to have perfected for this meeting? Great salespeople know that getting the prospect to trust them is paramount to eventually closing the deal.

First Build Trust
Image by InspiredImages from Pixabay

What Is Trust?

Trust is developing the relationship where the prospect has confidence in you. When the prospect knows you have their best interest in mind, they will cooperate with you. And you need their cooperation to get answers to your questions. Those answers will lead you to the perfect proposal to win the business….

Sales Skill: Understanding Buyer Stress

06/28/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Life in the US is looking like it’s returning to normal. Restaurants are opening, movie theaters, too. Travel for business and pleasure is picking up. People seem a bit more relaxed as the social restrictions are lifted. So that’s all great. But did you hear about the container ship blocking the Suez Canal? How about all those companies with supply chains spread over the world? Ships are in short supply and there are not enough containers. Demand is up but the capability to supply product is in trouble. And there is buyer stress all over the place. What’s a great salesperson to do?

Manage Buyer Stress
Image from Pixabay

Be Customer Focused

Great salespeople put the customer first. They are always in communication with the customer to understand their needs and problems. Some customers are going gangbusters. The demand for their products is high but the challenge is getting the material needed to meet the demand. Be honest. Buyers need salespeople with integrity. Someone they can trust. If you can’t meet the demand tell them then help them find another source. Or maybe an alternate product. Or offer to change the mode of shipment. Perhaps you are a supplier to retail stores. Be listening to your customers about product demand. Then pass the information on to operations so they can shift product mix. By being customer focused you reduce buyer stress….

The Salesperson And The Commencement Address

06/21/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

My wife and I recently attended the graduation of our oldest grandchild. Listening to the speeches I was struck by how a commencement address reflects on the life of a great salesperson. The messages congratulating the students on their success in high school and encouraging words about the future outline what every great salesperson believes.

Commencement speeches will motivate salespeople too.

Salespeople Learn From A Commencement Address
Image by AdrianMedia from Pixabay

Students, faculty and administration all had similar message. “We survived and indeed thrived COVID-19. And it formed the character of all who lived this unique high school experience.” Great salespeople too have overcome the challenges of the pandemic. So think about the common commencement address themes: vision, passion, humor, kindness, and continue learning. And, of course, to acknowledge and honor achievement….

Sales Skill: Getting to “NO”!

06/14/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

What you, great salesperson, are shocked that a sales skill is getting to “no”! Think about it. Do you win every sales pursuit? Do you want to convert every prospect to a customer? And aren’t you the one advising those new salespeople that selling is a numbers game? So the sooner you get all those “no’s” out of the way, the quicker you get to “yes”. There are three times in the course of getting the order when getting to “no” is important: Qualifying, Confirming and Presenting.

Go For The “NO”
Image from Pixabay

Qualifying: Looking For The “No”

Great salespeople know they have a qualified prospect when they have rapport with the decision maker, they have a problem you can solve and the budget is there. Any one of these is absent, then you don’t have a qualified prospect. So great salespeople ask good open-ended questions to qualify the prospect. If you can’t build trust and comfort with a prospect, chances are you won’t get good answers. Better to move on. When the prospect doesn’t have a problem they want you to help solve. Time to look for another prospect. No sense waiting to the close to find out they can’t afford your product or service. Get to the budget “no” quickly. Now you see that in the qualifying process getting to “no” quickly saves time.

Confirming

When great salespeople ask good open-ended questions, they hope for answers to lead them toward the successful conclusion of the sale. But we don’t often hear it right. So we ask confirming questions. These questions validate to the prospect we are listening. Confirming questions also help salespeople better understand the prospects mind. In short sales pursuits a confirming question can lead to the close: “If I can get it in blue, would you buy it?” Getting a “no” here gives the salesperson a chance to go on selling by asking other questions about color and other product features. In long sales cycles the “no” along the way offers insight in what it takes to get the “yes”.

Looking For “No” In The Closing Presentation

Now, Crawford, you’ve really lost it! Why put all the work into qualifying a prospect only to hope for “no” in the closing. Good question. Great salespeople are deaf to “no” during the closing presentation. It’s not they don’t hear the word but they interpret it as: “I have a question.” “No” is often an objection. In other words, an appeal for a clarification. So salespeople can find out the reason behind the “no” and go on selling.

The favorite outcome at the end of a sales pursuit is the “yes”. But the least favorite is not “no”; it’s: “I want to think it over.” The salesperson lives in limbo waiting for the prospect to think about it. And most times : “I want to think over” is a polite way for the customer to say “no” without hurting the salesperson’s feelings. Better to have the prospect agree at the beginning of the presentation to tell you “no” if they aren’t going to buy from you. But great salespeople work hard to get the “yes” and they understand the value of “no”.

What You Can Do Right Now Getting To “NO”!

Understand “no” is not personal
Realize “no” is a time saver for you
Treat “no” as an appeal for more information

To learn more sales secrets see Chapter Thirteen, Getting The Order, in Secrets of the Softer Side of Selling. For even more sales encouragement, join our FREE Sales Club! “See” you next week.

Good selling!
Don Crawford

Your Most Important Sale: Me, Inc.

04/18/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year when new college and high school graduates are looking to the most important sale: getting that great job. This year is a bit different as the economy opens up and many who were unemployed during the COVID pandemic are wanting to get back to work. And some of you are seeking a better job. Whatever the reason basic selling fundamentals can win you the job of your dreams.

the most important sale is the one you make to get your dream job

Use Sales Skills for ME, inc.
Image from Pixabay

Three Important Qualities of Me, Inc.

To make your most important sale you need attitude, behaviors and knowledge. Let’s look at each of these traits of a great salesperson.

Attitude

You must have a positive attitude to make your most important sale. Be confident but not cocky. Believe you will be hired. And be prepared at each step of the search process. Your attitude will be most obvious in the interview. Whether video, by phone or in person you need to be self-confident. Remember the company is interested in learning about you. And you are deciding whether you really want to work at the company….

Sales Skill: Cold Calling

04/05/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Well great salespeople I’ve been doing cold calling lately. Since the pandemic hit I’ve been working with our local Small Business Development Center. When a new program to help small manufacturing businesses was offered, I agreed to recruit companies for the initial cohort. So here I am again doing sales calls to create interest in the Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program for Existing Enterprises. I’m a sales professional who relies on the fundamentals of good selling. I’ll tell you how I prepared for this new challenge.

Be Happy! Make Cold Calls!
Image From Pixabay

What Is Cold Calling?

Great salespeople have lists of prospects matching their current best customers. They have done some research about the person they are about to call. There is a purpose to the cold call. Then they dial the phone. For the salesperson it’s part of their days work. For the person you are calling, it’s intrusive. I know the person who answers the phone is not sitting around idly waiting for my call. No when they pick up the phone and realize it’s a “cold call” they usually feel ambushed. That person on the other end of the phone wants to escape from this call as politely as possible. And you great salesperson, want to achieve your purpose for calling….

Sales Skill: Choose The Right Word

03/14/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Great salespeople always choose the right word. The words we use when speaking with prospects and customers determine the outcome of the sales pursuit. It’s not only the meaning of the words we use but the emotional effect on the buyer. Think about and carefully choose the words you use to improve sales.

Sales people choose the right word to win a sale.

Great Sales People Choose The Right Word
Image from Pixabay

Proposal vs. Quote

Are you after a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship? Sounds a lot like marriage. Do we “quote” to the one we love or “propose?” A quote is just a document with a list of items and prices. A proposal includes all the information a great salesperson has learned about the buyer and their situation. It is a summary of the conversations between the salesperson and buyer. A proposal demonstrates the salesperson’s interest in the buyer. A “quote” says: “here are my prices.”…

Sales Skill: Buyer Listening Style

03/07/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Your buyer has a preferred listening style. And you do too. Great salespeople know how to determine the buyer listening style. Then they use that style to make it easy for the buyer to understand the message. In a previous post, Fundamental Communication Styles, the four basic styles in which people communicate. In this post I focus on how best to present information so the buyer understands it.

Everybody has a preferred listening style

Know The Buyer Listening Style
Image From Pixabay

The Buyer Listening Style

Many studies have shown each of us has a preferred listening (or learning) style. Some of us prefer listening and speaking. We are known as auditory learners. When we learn from illustrations, graphs, written words, we are visual listeners. We learn best by seeing the information. Sometimes we learn best by actually touching or experiencing the information. Then we are kinesthetic or tactile learners. Kinesthetics learn best by doing. Great salespeople know when they present to buyers in the way they learn best they are more likely to favor us….

Sales Skill: Sticking To The Sales Process

03/01/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

Every great salesperson knows sticking to the sales process is the way to win the sale. The fundamental elements of the sales process are: building rapport, finding the pain, determining the budget, understanding the decision-making process, making the presentation, asking for the order and following up on the sale. Each of us has adapted the fundamental process as our own. We use the process in ways that fit our personality and skill set. So let’s explore ways to stick to the sales process.

Salespeople win sales by sticking to the sales process

The Sales Process Yields The Win
Image from Pixabay

Building Rapport

People buy from those salespeople who they like, respect and trust. So salespeople set about building rapport with buyers by getting to know them as a person. Everybody has dreams and goals. Your job as a salesperson is to find out what drives the buyer. At the same time building a relationship with them so they are comfortable with you. As an integral part of the sales process, each encounter with the buyer is well-planned. A salesperson who hears the buyer say: “I’m not interested” has a response planned. Perhaps it’s: “OK. Since you agreed to meet can we talk about (insert something of interest to the buyer)”. Great salespeople are prepared to respond to anything the buyer might say….

Sales Skills: Great Salespeople Are Adaptable

02/19/2021 By Don Crawford Leave a Comment

That salespeople are adaptable might seem like an obvious statement in light of what we have had to do since the Corona Virus pandemic created chaos. But weren’t we great salespeople always adaptable? The Corona Virus has affected the whole world. But for as long as there have been buyers and sellers, there have been disruptive events changing the status quo. Some events affected whole populations. How many of us now have a land-line phone in our home? Other events are more narrowly focused. Have you ever had to deal with your favorite buyer leaving a great customer only to be replaced with one who wanted to make their own mark?

Salespeople Adapt To Change
Image by PixelPixieStudio from Pixabay

What’s It Mean Salespeople Are Adaptable?

The world changes daily. Some changes are small others cataclysmic. Great salespeople understand the implications of the changes affecting them. And they react to accommodate them. But they also know the fundamentals of the selling process never change. How those fundamentals are applied and who the buyer is may change but the fundamentals are, well, fundamental. We say salespeople are adaptable because they continue to apply good fundamental selling practices even when the situation changes….