After listening to a series of questions from a salesperson recently, I wondered how many other salespeople have this disease – Asking Dumb or Stupid Questions with Customers or Prospects. And, after talking to a few at a sales meeting, it appears there are more than I thought asking these questions.
So here are three questions I hear often:
Here is some valuable information:
“Knowing What to Do is Separate from Actually Doing It!”
I am continually amazed by comments from leaders of organizations who announce “my people know what to do.” And, then when asking questions about the outcomes and results – I get non answers or corporate speak. (Corporate speak is the sterile response to a tough question that contains no emotion, no action and no commitment.)
Why does this happen? Because the “knowing-doing” gap is in action or really inaction. The Knowing-Doing gap is a fatal condition that allows people with excellent information and knowledge to limit their actions or worse – take the incorrect actions.
I had a sales manager tell me that he was concerned about his team. They kept telling him – usually when they lost a potential sale or customer – they knew they did something wrong – even though they were trained to do it correctly. He told me that he was hearing this too often and he knew he had to take action or his team could fall short of their goals. Continue reading ‘Knowing What to Do is Apart from Actually Doing It’ »
Today’s tip is for sales people and leaders. It’s a simple concept that works its magic with no pain or ill feelings. It’s all about focusing on the other person. Here how it works.
Ask a question of a customer or employee, listen to the response and then ask another question for clarity on the topic answer. You use a simple phrase:
“Help me understand…(fill in the blank based upon the previous answer).”
This three little words will open up the flood gates of information flow. Your responsibility is to continue to listen to the flow of information and possibly new ideas. There are three things you need to do:
Asking questions and listening to the complete answers, then asking follow-up questions without bias or assumptions facilitates real understanding. And, a greater benefit of these methods is the customer or employee becomes committed to helping you – because they feel respected.
To learn more tips for sales or leadership, contact us at InnerActive Consulting Group – 901-757-4434. We look forward to hearing from you.
One of the most common questions asked by sales people is: “Which Customer do I spend time with to make a sale?” and the second most common question is – Which Customer has a high sense of urgency to buy? Both questions relate to the same point. How do you recognize if a customer is someone that you should invest your time in order to make a sale?
While there are several additional factors to understand in this situation, there are four triggers to observe. Using questions, you must find out the relationship between the current results and the desired results for each customer. Then based upon this information, you will have the necessary information to decide how much time to spend with each customer.
Okay, here are the four triggers: Continue reading ‘Which Customer has a High Sense of Urgency to Buy?’ »
The fourth strategy is to get the officials to call the game early and close the deal now. Using a football game analogy, this is the same strategy that football teams take to kill the clock by having the quarterback take a knee and have the clock expire. Another analogy is the 10-run rule in softball whereby the official calls the game over since one team is leading by more than 10 runs after a certain number of innings have been played. Continue reading ‘Getting the Officials to Close the Deal Now.’ »
Okay, the third strategy to closing the deal when you are ahead is based upon learning how to burn the clock as fast as you can to close the deal. This means you remain in contact with your customer and influencers and coaches during the end stage of the sales process.
Be available to answer questions. Treat each question like it could be a deal-breaker, because it could be a deal-breaker if you ignore it. The key here is to listen to every question, listen to what is said, listen for what is not said that should have been said based upon your experience. Ask clarifying questions to gain a true understanding of issues or concerns held by your customer. Continue reading ‘How to “Burn the Clock Faster” to Close the Sale’ »
The second strategy for the sales person who is ahead in the sales process is to continue to use the same game plan that got them to this point – all the way to the end. In fact, this plan will work most of the time unless the sales person gets too aggressive with certain people in the customer’s organization. Aggressive or assertive styles will get you ahead in many situations, this style will become too risky in the end game of selling.
The key for a sales person’s success is to continue to focus on the goal of the customer winning. This focus on the customer rather than on you – will allow for continuity of actions. These actions should always be focused on the customer’s improvement and growth. Focus and clarity of actions will keep you error-free during the end game of the sales process. Continue reading ‘Using the Same Plan to Close the Sale’ »
You are ahead in the sales game. The first strategy is to do nothing. Here the sales person is counting on the system to take care of him or her. This is a high risk approach that assumes your competition will take no action to overtake you. This is what we call an errant assumption. Meaning that incorrect assumptions lead to all bad decisions.
Your competition will be working harder than ever to find any opening to delay the decision, or reopen the sales process with new specifications, new information, or new situations that will change the playing field dynamics.
Losing sales people use the “do nothing” strategy too often. This is a passive approach is caused by several factors. One, they have low self-esteem and sometimes feel they are unworthy of success. They actually feel the only reason they are in front is luck! And since they believe in bad luck, they are now waiting for the proverbial “other shoe to fall” canceling the order.
The second reason is one of arrogance. This deadly attitude can cause a sale to fall apart at the last moment. When a sales person shows arrogance to either the competition or their customer, the ball is set in motion for an upset. When the customer senses this attitude, their trust level drops and uncertainty enters the game.
The most common tactic used by the customer when arrogance is recognized is the sudden stall in the sales process. The clearest signal is missed deadlines at critical closing milestones. Other people begin to enter the playing field for the sale, usually for the first time, and the sales person takes no action to meet these people or learn about any new issues or concerns. Then, someone else wins the sale!. It happens because the sales person lost focus at a critical juncture of the sales game.
There are four strategies for closing the sale when you lead in the sales process. These are the most common strategies and tactics used by sales people to close a sale. It is similar to having a two minute game plan in college football. How do you burn the clock faster and win the game?
This is the same thing that sales people must deal with everyday. When they are the front runner, the leader in the game to close the deal – what can the sales person do to get it done. Over the next four days, I will into each strategy in more detail to explain what is happening in the background to speed up or slow down a sales process.
Here are the four strategies for Closing the Deal when you are ahead in the sales game:
Each of these strategies will lead you to victory, eh, to closing the sale. Remember, in sales being in second place is a really bad thing. Pick the right strategy for your situation and get the contract signed.
There are eight questions that you -as a salesperson- should know the answers about your customer. An added benefit is to learn the answers regarding your own company. Then and only then, will you be in a position of strength. Where does this strength come from – understanding the financial health of your customer.
Let’s exam the eight questions that hold the answer to your customer’s financial health. The eight are as follows:
![[Ask]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/ask.png)
![[BlogBookmark]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/blogbookmark.png)
![[Bloglines]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
![[del.icio.us]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Faves]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/faves.png)
![[Google]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[Newsvine]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/newsvine.png)
![[Reddit]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[Squidoo]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/squidoo.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Technorati]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://insights.inneractiveconsulting.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)