Softer Side of Selling

Secrets of the Softer Side of Selling

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Great Salespeople Understand What They Control

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This is a challenging time for “road warrior” salespeople who like to be in control. The Corona virus pandemic has caused uncertainty in the economy. Businesses are trying to survive stay-at-home orders. Customers we had traditionally met with in person are now working from home. But yet great salespeople understand how to cope and even thrive. They know what they control and what they don’t.

Sail boat in full sail showing how the captain can control the sail but not the wind

Sailors Can’t Control The Wind But They Can Trim The Sails
Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

How’s Your Attitude?

If ever there was a time in my life to be down, now is that time. Everything I have known and practiced in face-to-face selling has suddenly changed. I should be “bummed”. But I’m not. I have been working on what I can control. Attitude is one characteristic that sets great salespeople apart. They believe they are winners. No matter the barrier, great salespeople find some way to overcome it….

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Sales Skills: Dealing with “NO”

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Great salespeople are expert and dealing with “no”. It’s part of the sales process. Not every prospect is going to want or need your product or service. Sometimes salespeople are dealing with “no” for reasons outside of the control of either the buyer or the seller. Think about a company supplying food to restaurants when they were shut down during the pandemic. Recently the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project was shut down. Something the contractors never wanted to happen but didn’t control. Airplane manufacturers are dealing with “no” aircraft deliveries since airline traffic is drastically reduced. So what do great salespeople know about dealing with “no”.

All great salespeople see NO on the way to YES

Great Salespeople Are Expert Dealing With “NO”
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay

Get To “NO” Quickly

Prospecting is the art of finding good potential customers. Great salespeople know how to determine the quality of a prospect quickly. They are skilled at asking questions and actively listening to prospects answers. As soon as they find the prospect doesn’t have a need or want the product or service, doesn’t have the budget or the decision maker is apathetic about the project the salesperson has two choices. Either drop this sales pursuit and move on or determine how to overcome the barriers to this sale. Great salespeople are expert at evaluating a prospect….

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Sales Skills: The Take Away

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Great salespeople value their time. When you hit a stonewall and feel a customer or prospect is wasting your time use the “take away” technique. Whether it’s a confirmed meeting which keeps getting put off or an offer on the table without a decision a salesperson can take it away.

When great salespeople hit a stone wall. They use the "take away" technique.

A Sales Stonewall Calls For The Take Away Technique
Image from Pixabay

The Value Of The Take Away

Each day we are blessed with only 24 hours. To be great in sales we need to use each of the working hours achieving our goals. Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where the customer or prospect just disappears. No matter how we try we never get a response. The “take away” is a tool we can use to shake up the prospect or customer. If they respond then we have rejuvenated the selling process. If not we move on and stop wasting time….

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The Best Of Selling Virtually Tips and Tricks

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Wow, every day I get at least one blog post or email about selling virtually. You know it’s now common practice for great salespeople to practice our craft in front of a computer screen instead of sitting face-to-face with a prospect. Now I’m old road warrior and the virtual meeting is new to me. Or is it? For years I’ve used the phone to find prospects, schedule meetings, do follow up and yes even close business. So now I can do the same thing but get to see the face of the prospect while we talk. Amazing!

Great Salespeople become expert at selling virtually

Selling Virtually Is An Important Skill
Image from Pixabay

I’m a believer in learning from others. My customers, colleagues, my mentor and other great salespeople. So not being the expert yet in selling virtually, I’ve been studying it. Much of what you see here comes from The Rain Group, Selling Power, LinkedIn and my millennial family members. (There are links at the end of the post) Like everything we do in selling we get better with practice. Take what you find here and make it fit your selling style….

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Sales Skills: Selling Virtually

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Every sales blog I read is tackling Selling Virtually; so I’m going to add my opinion to the discussion. Great salespeople know there is a fundamental selling process to winning and keeping good customers. That process doesn’t change just because we can’t meet in person. The challenge for salespeople during this pandemic is to practice the fundamentals while selling virtually.

Two characters popping out of laptop screens and shaking hands showing success in virtual selling

Virtual Selling Wins Business
Image from Pixabay

What’s Different Now?

Depending on how you sold the answer ranges from “not much” to “everything.” If you were already mostly selling virtually then the difference is minimal. But for the road warrior sales team now required to work from home it’s a major change. Even as the economy opens up companies are limiting face-to-face contact. Selling virtually, that is using video conferencing and the telephone to find, win and keep customers has become the new normal for old road warriors.

But we can learn from the Millennials who grew up in the digital age. Communicating online is their normal. As they move into decision making roles with their digital comfort we old road warriors need to change. The pandemic has just accelerated the change….

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Sales Skills: All Buying Decisions Are Emotional

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“Yeah, right!” You’re thinking this is a bunch of hooey: “all buying decisions are emotional.” “My customers give a lot of thought about what they buy from me.” Or “It’s how I present the opportunity to prospects that convinces them to buy.” Or “When the price and benefits align, that’s when the customer buys.” These are all true statements. But think back to the beginning of a successful sales event. Didn’t you first have to earn the respect of the prospect. Wasn’t your first encounter all about building rapport; getting them to like you enough to be comfortable answering your tough questions? Great salespeople know prospects don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

*A NOTE ABOUT SELLING DURING A PANDEMIC

All Buying Decisions Are Emotional

Even Remotely Great Salespeople Connect Emotionally
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

All Buying Decisions Are Emotional

Yes, that’s true. It took a while for my “engineering mind” to understand it. But think about it. For consumer products marketing works hard to make an emotional attachment to a brand. I like Coca Cola. The real one made with sugar and sold in glass bottles. Now my ability to taste is not particularly well developed so I couldn’t discriminate between Coke or Pepsi in a blind taste test. In fact all colas taste pretty much the same to me. But I only buy Coca Cola made with sugar in glass bottles. This is emotional attachment to the brand is it not? Ever bought a home or a car? Didn’t how you felt about the vehicle or house tip the decision? True after you made the selection, then the rational mind cataloged all the reasons it was a good decision. Still wondering whether all buying decisions are emotional?…

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Sales Skills: Make A Great First Impression

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For the next several months my blog will focus on the attitudes, behaviors and knowledge that makes a great salesperson. Great salespeople know selling is a process. It begins with the first impression you make on a prospect and results in a mutually beneficial long-term relationship. You only get one chance to make the first impression. Whether by phone, video conference, written correspondence or a networking meeting, be prepared to make a great first impression.

Great salespeople make a great first impression

First Impressions Are Very Important
Image From Pixabay

*A Note About Selling During A Pandemic

The Importance Of Rapport

Prospects don’t care how much you know about a problem until they know how much you care about them. This first step in the selling process is called “rapport”. Great salespeople know the importance of the first impression. They are diligent in the preparation for the first meeting. Even before making the phone call to schedule a meeting, salespeople have done research on the company and the prospect. They seek to know whether there is potential opportunity here and the role the prospect has in the buying process. Armed with this information great salespeople are equipped to begin a dialog. Done well the rapport step builds respect for the salesperson and confidence they have the best interest of the buyer at heart….

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Sales Skills: Customer Management

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Great salespeople know about customer management. They have the skill to deal with customers upset with service, quality or price. An email from the Smithsonian Curiosity Council, presented the graphic associated with this blog post. It illustrates results from a survey of members when asked what they would most likely do once the stay-at-home order is lifted. The larger and bolder words indicate the most responses.

A list of words in different font sizes and colors reflecting patrons desire to do after stay-at-home is lifted

What Is The First Thing You Will Do When This Is All Over?
Source:Smithsonian Curiosity Council May 2020

While this blog usually focusses on face-to-face professional sales, I realized that helping customers regain their business is important. So we need to use our sales skills to help our customers reopen. The quicker our customers open for business, the sooner they resume purchasing.

In a recent discussion with the staff of our local Small Business Development Center the question came up of how to treat customers who object to the rules allowing businesses to open. So let’s think about the sales skill of customer management which great salespeople do well. Since this is a skill widely needed by all who interact with shoppers and diners we can help our customers with their customer management….

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Sales Skills: Agile and Adaptive

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Wow, what a challenge for great agile and adaptive salespeople today! Here we are in most places still working from home. Some regions are slowly opening businesses for customers. But health and safety of employees and customers is paramount. Other businesses are on the brink of collapse. Yet many businesses survive and some even thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic. We know the challenge of disruption is not new. Great salespeople have always been agile and adaptive whether the change was gradual over time or catastrophic.

Great Salespeople are expert at dealing with disruption in sales

Rise To The Challenge Of Dealing With Disruption In Sales
Image by Vektor Kunst from Pixabay

What Makes A Salesperson Agile?

Great salespeople are always on the lookout for new opportunities. The fundamental skill making salespeople agile is asking good questions to understand customers and prospects. Agile salespeople are interested in the hopes and dreams of their customers. They use open ended questions to determine the wants and needs of their customers. Having good information about the customer or prospect, the agile salesperson learns how to be responsive to their needs. And finding out there is no problem they can solve is just as important. Then agile salespeople move on to another more promising opportunity….

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Sales Skills: Buyers Need A Compelling Reason To Change

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For the next several months my blog will focus on the attitudes, behaviors and knowledge that makes a great salesperson. I believe that these are fundamental qualities of a great salesperson. And fundamentals are the basis of successful sales whether we are in “normal times” or dealing with a pandemic. Great salespeople know buyers make a decision when they have a compelling reason to change. One of the most valuable skills a salesperson has is the ability to help the buyer find a compelling reason to change.

Great salespeople Find or create the Pain a prospect sees in the current situation

Prospects Buy When Salespeople Show Them The Pain
Image From Pixabay

First Understand The Buyer’s Habits

We are all creatures of habit. Buyers keep placing orders with suppliers who they have come to trust because it’s easy. For years I went to the toothpaste display and grabbed a tube of Crest. Never gave any of the other brands even a glance. Then I developed tooth sensitivity. My dentist recommended I change to Sensodyne toothpaste. I now buy that brand. Think about your own purchasing decisions. What compels you to change? How can you relate this to changing a prospects buying habits?…

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