Did you sell something today? 5 Areas that can improve sales! Click here for PDF File:
Joe had a full day with 9 appointments. He comes back to the office with his head hung low, feeling rejected. The boss asks, “Did you sell something today?”
“Not one dang thing”, retorts Joe, “The competition is killing us!”
I wonder how many salespeople and sales managers have had similar days.
A recent list of statistics on salespeople from www.JustSell.com is as follows:
62% fail to earn the right to ask for a commitment!
86% ask the wrong questions and miss opportunities!
82% fail to differentiate themselves from competitors!
99% do not set the right objectives for the sales call!
95% talk too much and listen to little!
They did not supply the source of these statistics; however I suspect the vital numbers are accurate. I am constantly in conversations with business owners and their management team hearing similar concerns being expressed.
Let’s just assume the numbers are accurate. Agreeing to that; let’s take each one examining the cause, then the cure.
62% fail to earn the right to ask for a commitment!
What does a salesperson needed to do to earn the right to ask? Maybe it’s as simple as understanding the customer, the value of the product proposed to the customer and most importantly becoming a resource to the customer instead of just another salesperson.
When the majority of the new sales staffs are hired, what is the first order of business? They are bombarded with product knowledge and absolutely no selling skills. Another source indicates 80% of first year salespeople will fail from lack of selling skills.
The new salesperson’s only choice is to overwhelm their prospects with product knowledge because they have nothing else at their disposal. Even the more experienced people simple puke their product knowledge without regard for the needs and desires of the customer because that’s all they know. By the way, who might be responsible for a salesperson performing this way?
First they must earn the trust of the customer. This can be accomplished in several ways such as genuinely listening and understanding the customer and their situation. This creates trust, understanding and creates the basis for a business relationship. Now that there is some level of understanding and trust, the salesperson has the basis for asking.
Conducting pre-approach research can also help. It is amazing that even with the vast internet capabilities available, most sales calls are engaged with absolutely ZERO preparation. In preparing for a recent call on an executive, a salesperson invested one hour on the web. He found the executive’s home address, wife and children’s names and ages, the marathons he had ran recently, the colleges he attended, where he was born, his high school, several recent news articles that quoted him along with other information. This actually bothered the sales person that he could find that much information, but there it was! How did this change the sales call?
86% ask the wrong questions and miss opportunities!
This is the most common area of needed improvement I see in our training programs. We take a group of skilled salespeople, place them into a mock sales interview and in evidently, it becomes product puke or 20 simple questions. For whatever reason our society, education and culture doesn’t seem to develop the art of questioning. Yet the very basis of effective communications develops the understanding of the other party. What is the most efficient and effective way to gain understanding? Without question, it is Questioning!
If we look at other professions such as Doctors, Attorneys, Accountants and Service People, they all have to ask questions to determine the proper actions. Yet the majorities of salespeople ask a few simple, and many times, obvious questions and figure they’ve done their job in finding the root cause of pain for the client.
Effective questioning requires preparation, thinking of how to engage the customer. Can we get them thinking about something in a different way and have them react to the question with actual thought? When this happens, the customer is engaged in new thinking and the opportunities roll out for both the customer and salesperson to discuss and develop a plan of action, providing a win-win scenario.
82% fail to differentiate themselves from competitors!
A consumer engaged in the task of purchasing a washing machine for the home faces many choices. If all the machines seem to be the same, what will be the main decision factor? Most likely it will be the price. If any of your customers see your company and product the same as your competition, they too make a choice only by price.
Many times there are organizations selling products that are very similar and even the same brand as ours, we must come up with ways to differentiate ourselves from the competition! This requires thinking and discussion time amongst ourselves to focus on the unique offerings and capabilities we have to offer.
This seemingly tedious task could be some of the most valuable time invested. This is why we introduced the concept of Reverse Engineering the Product. It causes sales people to view their products in a very different way and most importantly from the customer’s prospective.
99% do not set the right objectives for the sales call!
“If you don’t have a plan, any road will get you there!” The same could be said of having the wrong plan. Far too many times the only objective is to sell something. What happened to discovering if the customer is right for our company? What about new or different opportunities we haven’t uncovered? Are we talking to the right people? Could we discover a need, thereby creating a new product or service? Just imagine the possibilities
The key is to understand that there is a sales process and flow the customer goes through. The task of the sales person is to take the customer through the process to a conclusion. This can create multiple purposes for each call, not just selling a product.
But if all the salesperson hears is “Go out and sell something today!” their focus is on product, not on developing customers. What should be asked is, “What can you do today that will create and sustain a long term profitable customer?” Now you have a game plan and a reason for your actions.
95% talk too much and listen to little!
This is the big one! If this is addressed the previous four would change dramatically. In our training I run a test which even the most experienced sales people do not pass the first time. (Pete was the first in almost 5 years) It’s a simple test that requires one to carry on a conversation about anything by asking only open ended questions. Most only make 4-6 questions and we ask for 20. The challenge seems to be the listening ability. Instead of listening to the other party, they are thinking about the next question. The secret is simple, listen and the other person will give you the next question!
The vast majority of the salespeople we work with find questioning the most challenging aspect of the training. Yet when they understand the importance and the results of effective questioning, it stops being work and becomes fun.
We invest 25 hours of our 40 hour program on questioning, the Socratic Method of Questioning, the 5 Levels of Questioning and Reframing Questions are introduced. All are important skills for not only salespeople but also managers, executives and basically anyone that works with people.
A very smart sales manager said to me the other day, “I can give them the product and business knowledge, but I’m not equipped to give them the questioning and relationship skills.” An effective skills program that emphasize questioning, listening and relationships can counteract the five problem areas above.
For more on Reverse Engineering the Sale, The Socratic Method and the 5 Levels of Questioning, check out the web sites at www.BusArc.com or www.Hgoergerassoc.com.
Thanks for stopping by!
Harlan Goerger, National Training Director
