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August 24, 2010

The Power of Asking Questions in Your Sales Process

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , , , , , , — afp @ 3:19 pm

question

One of my favorite sales trainers wrote an article about selling that I found interesting.  I’ve changed some of the information to relate to all industries/companies and wanted to share these thoughts.

When college coaches recruit high school athletes, they don’t waste time listing all the fine features of their university, why? Because students are only interested in what they’re interested in. They are not necessarily interested in what the coach likes about the school.

The same thinking applies to your customers. Some sales people dive right into a presentation. They “dump” all the information they can about their company and their programs, and they think they are selling.

Telling is not selling. Selling is not a one-size-fit’s-all process. Every customer’s needs, challenges, problems, budget and decision-making process is unique. Therefore, every sale must be designed and customized to fit your customer’s individual needs.

There is only one way to find out what those needs are, and that is by asking questions. Questions are a salesperson’s most valuable selling tool.   Most sales people know that in order to make a sale that they have to show the benefits to the customer.  But a benefit to one customer may be of no interest to another.  The only way to find out which benefits are important to a particular customer is to ask questions.

We have all ran into the “talkative salesperson.”  We usually remember because we found them annoying or a nuisance.  Today’s customers are more informed than ever, gone are the days when the salesperson has to take the “never-stop-talking” sales approach. 

So how do you start a relationship with a prospective customer?  You engage in dialogue up front.  You ask them questions that get them to open up and tell you what is most important to them with this transaction.  The more the customer talks, the better.  When the prospective customer talks they’re revealing clues about themselves and about their business.

There is a process to this.  The first step is to do your homework.  Find out as much as you can about the customer, their business and what their needs are.  Then start asking questions.  The more the customer talks, the better.  When you are listening, you are learning.  When the prospect talks they’re revealing clues about themselves and about their business.  Make sure you listen to the answers, take notes, really listen to understand, resist the tendancy to jump in and present your services right away.  Instead, question more.  Use instructional statements such as “Tell me more,” “Please go on,”  “Elaborate on that for me please,” or “I’d like to know more about that, please continue.”

Remember not to just fire these questions away at the prospect, think of yourself as a concerned friend, someone who is there to help them uncover their needs before you try to fill them.

Once you understand their situation, and present the options, questions are the way to firm up their level of commitment. Ask: “When specifically do you see yourself moving forward?” or  “What is going to happen next on your end? When?”

Questioning and listening are the foundations for your sales success. Increase your questions and you’ll increase your sales.

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May 17, 2010

Growing Your Business Through Referrals

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , , , , — afp @ 2:57 pm

referral_program

Every professional sales person knows that one of the greatest ways to grow a business is through referrals.  Getting referrals isn’t something that only the sales department should be responsible for though.  Many levels of employees usually deal with a customer and sometimes it is the front line employees who have the most contact and strongest relationship with the customer.  A lot of people teach you that if you take good care of your customers they will automatically give you referrals, but that is not necessarily true.  I’ll bet some of your very best customers haven’t given you one referral.  Why?  Because they are busy and have a thousand other things on their mind, just like you do.  The key to getting a consistent stream of referrals is to build the referral process into the transaction.  Asking for referrals as a sales person can be uncomfortable and can make non-sales people prefer to get a root canal at the dentist.  But, it doesn’t have to be that way.  People often make referrals difficult and uncomfortable because they ask for them at the wrong time. Wait to ask for a referral when the client is happiest, shortly after they’ve received the product or service. It is also important to remember that the sales person shouldn’t always be the person who has to ask for the referral; the sales person is not always the individual who has built a rapport with the client. The person delivering the product or service is usually the person who has built a relationship with the client. By developing a cross-functional team of sales, service, and product delivery people, you can develop a referral process that is a win-win for everyone.

Here are a series of tips that you can share with your team to help get referrals and build your network.

  • Listen and remind the customer of benefits that are important to them- be aware when clients tell you benefits during a phone call or general service call so that you can bring those benefits up during a request for a referral.
  • Describe your ideal customer- Describe some other solutions that you have provided for other companies or organizations.  It will help them start to think of other people they could refer to you.
  • Give a benefit for giving a referral- Create some form of thank you or recognition for giving referrals and make sure your clients know about it. Examples could be movie tickets, flowers, thank you notes and, of course, cash, go a long way towards motivating folks. Don’t worry so much about what, just realize that appreciation goes a long way with people.
  • Suggest They Already Know Someone- If you know of a specific person or client that you would like to be referred to, provide your client with the opportunity to mention them. Just try to avoid putting the person on the spot. Instead, bring it up and give them time to consider the referral.
  • Ask for an Introduction- Asking for an introduction is a great way to break the ice with the client and also gives you a real example of someone who has benefited for your product or service.

Just constantly remind yourselves and your employees of the benefits of asking for the referral and then just ask for it.  

Now once you have the referral, you have to know how to turn them into a client.  Make sure that even though you were referred to them by another customer or friend that you just don’t assume that they know about your business and how you can help them.  People want to buy from businesses and individuals they know, like and trust.  The referral may have some trust for you since they know the person who referred them, however, they need to fully understand what benefit you can offer them.  The greatest way to turn a referral into a client is through education.  Take time to understand their business and their needs and educate them on how they can benefit from your product or service.  Trying to close a prospect, even a referred prospect, before they really understand the value you can provide them is like asking someone to marry you without going on a date. 

Create a referral system in your business for who and how you ask for referrals and then once you have a referral in your hands, educate them on how your product or service can benefit their company.  And once they have become a happy client, ask for a referral!

Visit our website at www.financewithafp.com or call us at 877-237-7287 to learn about our Friends & Family program.  We’ll give a $100 cash referral gift to anyone who refers a customer to us that results in a closed deal!

May 10, 2010

Tell me a little about your company…

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , — afp @ 9:00 am

salesman-431

How do you answer a potential customer when they say, “Tell me a little about your company.”  If you are like most salespeople, you view this as an invitation to rattle off your 35 minute PowerPoint on your history, management, value propositions, and top it off by giving them several reasons why they should work with your company.   When your customer asks you this question, they are not really interest in hearing what you have to say.  They aren’t lying to you or having bad intentions, the problem is they never learned how to buy and they just don’t know what else to ask you.  When they are asking this question, they aren’t at all interested in your story, they want to hear their story.  How your company is going to help their company.  This mid-understanding can send many a sales person down the path of literally talking their way out of the sale. 

So the question is how do you answer their questions by bringing them back to their own company?  You shouldn’t embarrass a customer by ignoring their questions or refusing to answer the question, but you should find a way to quickly turn the conversation back to them.  Once they start talking about themselves and their company, you have the opening to show them how you can help their business.  This is similar to product selling where you give the customer a sample versus telling them of the product’s features.   Examples include having them lay on the mattress if you are selling mattresses or giving them a chip if you are selling salsa.  Actively listen when they are telling you about their company and their issues, include examples of how you have helped other customers in their same situation.  Show them why they should do business with your company, don’t tell them.  Actively show the customer how your business and/or product can fit into their company. 

Let your competitors sell by telling their story.  It won’t work very well because the only story the customer is interested in is their own.  Find a way to work your company into their story.  Don’t talk your way out of the sale.

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April 15, 2010

Vendors: Are You Losing Business Because You Don’t Offer Financing?

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , , , , , , — afp @ 8:56 am

money

Research indicates that more companies are seeking and securing vital financing from their vendors as other forms of credit remains tight.

According to the National Small Business Association’s (NSBA) 2009 Small Business Credit Card Survey, 30% of business owners said they relied on vendor credit over the prior 12 months, compared to roughly 18% who did so prior to the credit crisis.

Not all vendors are willing to take the risk of extending interest-free pay cycles to 60 or 90 days, but vendors are seeing that type of request more frequently, The Wall Street Journal reported.  Vendors shouldn’t have to take that “finance” risk.  By partnering with one or multiple leasing companies, vendors have the option to offer competitive finance and lease programs to their customers to help increase sales.  Many of the vendors I talk with today are losing sales because people simply can’t afford to pay cash for the equipment, they don’t want to spend their cash on equipment right now or their bank can not finance them.  Vendors also run the risk of not being paid or being paid slow by the customer once the equipment is delivered.  Leasing offers many benefits to the customer, but also benefits the vendor by offering upfront payment to the vendor in some cases and more importantly, definite payment. 

I’ve seen vendors lose deals to competition because the competition offers financing and they didn’t.  Offering a finance programs doesn’t cost you anything and if it can help you make or save a sale, why not?

If you are a vendor and do not offer a finance or lease program today, or at least have a company you can refer your customers too, it is time to consider making a change.  In the market we are in, anything to help you make a sale should be something considered and sought after.

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February 5, 2010

Persistence Wins

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , , — afp @ 10:29 am

Persistence-2

There is a lot we are all unsure of heading into 2010.  I hope some of these business principles can help you as you work to grow your business in 2010:

1. Customers buy people as much as products.

2. Building relationships by being a dedicated consultant rather than a slick salesman is the ONLY way repeat business and loyalty is earned in ANY enterprise in my experience.

3. Any sales person in any industry demands a good understanding of their clients’ business and their personal goals and unique challenges and attributes.

4. Every contact is like gold.  Every phone call you spend with a contact helps build the probability of EARNING their business and loyalty. 

5.  Sending flowers on birthdays, holidays and simple Thank-you Cards are sales 101 fundamentals but many of us forget to send them.

6. It is hard not to put a dollar amount on each prospect and only service them according to their immediate ability to line our pockets.  We forget how many times small deals with happy customers have led to unexpected bigger referrals.

7. You know you are born for this sometimes exasperating, but very rewarding, sales career when like the Irish poet William Butler Yeats said “You Can’t Separate the Dancer from the Dance”.

8. This recession will reward applied expertise, patience, resilience, persistence and most of all dedication to a customer’s long term goals. 

9. Most of us are working much harder to earn much less.  History is nothing if not cyclical.  This too, will pass.

10. Money isn’t everything.  Loving your work makes up for much of the temporary financial shortfall.

“Persistence is the twin sister of excellence.  One is a matter of quality; the other, a matter of time.”  Author unknown

Visit my profile on Linkedin:  Carrie Radloff

January 21, 2010

Sales Tips

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , — afp @ 12:17 pm

IncreasingSales

We are always looking for ways to generate more sales for our businesses whether that means diversifying into another product line, increasing our marketing or just plain and simple making more customer calls or visits.  Sales is what drives an organization and the sales levels affect everyone in an organization.  It is something that people think about and worry about on a daily basis.  Today we are seeing a heightened sense of businesses trying to increase their sales as many companies are still trying to dig out of what the recession did to them.   I am a firm believer in continued self improvement and no matter how long you have been in the sales field, it never hurts to continue to learn and refresh what you have learned once, twice or multiple times before.  So with that I wanted to share Adrian Miller’s Top Ten Sales Tips for Sales Success (http://www.adrianmiller.com/). 

  1. Don’t do the bulk of your business prospecting during prime business hours. Often the call that is placed at 8AM or 6PM will be received by a decision-maker that has more time to talk. And don’t underestimate the value of leaving voice mail messages at night. These will be the very first messages that your prospect will hear in the morning, thereby increasing the odds of them placing a returned call.
     
  2. If you want to present products and services that are of value to the prospect and that meet their needs, you have to ASK questions. Ask the right questions and the prospect will tell you what they want and how they need to be sold.
     
  3. Too many sales reps launch into a conversation by discussing the features of their products and services. Features never sold anyone. The only thing that a prospect cares about is what these features will do for them. In other words, speak in terms of benefits and your prospect will be more pre-disposed to listening to your presentation.
     
  4. There’s no magic bullet. Prospecting takes time and if your sales pipeline isn’t always filled with prospects in various stages of being worked, then you are in for a future sales slump.
     
  5. Don’t underestimate the power of faxes. In these days of email, faxes have taken a back seat. Because of that, faxes get noticed. Carefully position faxes as part of your prospecting efforts.
     
  6. Follow-up and follow-through are keys to prospecting success. Just like gardening, if you don’t water the seeds, the garden will languish. And so it is with prospecting… if you don’t remain in contact, you will never break through.
     
  7. Give a prospect something for nothing. An article that would be of interest and value, information that you received online etc. and transferred to the prospect with a note “just thought you might be interested in this” indicates that you are thinking of them and wish to be a resource.
     
  8. Periodically tape-record a random sampling of your cold calls. Listen to the tape and assess your tone and voice. How did you sound? Would you want to speak with a person who sounds like you? What about your words? Were they clear and benefits-oriented? Taping gives you the opportunity to self-correct your presentation.
     
  9. Pace yourself. Prospecting is a very time-consuming and arduous task. Allocate a specific amount of time each day (week?) and keep to the schedule. It is always easy to put something ahead of the prospecting activity but make an appointment with yourself and don’t break it.
     
  10. Last but definitely not least, maintain a good sense of humor. Make the prospect smile and you’re halfway there!

And to conclude, I will share one of my favorite quotes from Adrian, “In today’s competitive business world, only the excellent survive.  Be excellent.”  Good luck with your selling in 2010!

Visit our website at www.financewithafp.com.

January 18, 2010

Back to the Basics

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: — afp @ 2:47 pm

shake hands

2009 created quite a tail spin for how businesses had grown to operate.  Business started with people doing business with other people.  It slowly evolved into some sort of heartless operation where people wanted more for less.  Now I don’t mean or believe that everyone was doing business like that, but I saw first hand many that were.  It continued to grow and lose control and is the reason our economy crashed into the worst recession in history… we got greedy.  People were looking for the best deal with the least amount of information and sometimes didn’t do the homework they should have.  We all got offers for things that seemed too good to be true.  Well, what we have found is that most of them were.  People stopped doing business with people and were doing business with the best deal and whatever option put the most money in our pocket.  As we are all trying to recover from the difficulties of 2009, I think it will be important to get back to the basics… people doing business with people.  I have always been a believer in doing business with people.  Not the best deal or the lowest rates, but the company who works hard to build a relationship with me, the company who gives me and my customers the best customer service levels and the company that I know will have my back in the future and will be there to continue to support me.  The lease/finance industry like many others saw a lot of change in 2009.  Some of the largest leasing companies in the nation went out of business or stopped offering financing.  The leasing companies who survived the storm were the ones who kept their customer service strong and who didn’t fall into the acts of offering rates or programs that just didn’t make sense.    

I have always been a fan of Dale Carnegie’s books, trainings and courses.  I wanted to share Dale’s list of principles on “Becoming a Friendlier Person” which is from his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”  I think these can remind all of us how to get back to the basics.

  1. Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
  2. Give honest, sincere appreciation.
  3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
  4. Become genuinely interested in other people.
  5. Smile.
  6. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
  7. Be a good listener.  Encourage others to talk about themselves.
  8. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
  9. Make the other person feel important- and do it sincerely.

So I say let’s get back to the basics and remember that we are all people running on emotion and we all want to do business with people we like and can trust.  And I will end with a quote from Dale Carnegie:  “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” 

Visit my profile on Linkedin at http://www.linkedin.com/pub/carrie-radloff/b/43/900

December 28, 2009

Give Your Customers a Year-End Review

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , , — afp @ 12:45 pm

As you sit back and reflect on 2009 I’m sure all of us can think of some great things we did for our customers.  We have all bent over backwards before to earn a customer’s business or to keep a current customer happy.  You remember these occurrences, but does your customer? 

A year-end review to your top customers can be a tool to not only remind them of all of the great ways you helped them personally or professionally throughout the year, but it can also start conversations about how you can continue to help them in 2010.  You want them to share their business goals for 2010 with you and involve you in the conversations of how they can get there.  You can provide insight as to how your business can help them achieve those goals.  Be their partner and make sure they know you want to continue to have a presence in their business in 2010.  Here are some ideas to cover in your year-end review with your customer:

1)       Detail every project or program you completed for them along with the financial benefits they recognized from it

2)       If you can, note how the above project/program helped them grow their business.  For example, if you manufactured a machine for your customer and it helped them to gain a $2 million account, make sure you point out that it was your machine that got them that account

3)       Remind them of any other tools or services you provide that help them in their business or help make their lives easier.  Maybe you helped train an employee or referred them a customer. 

4)       Year-over-year comparison

5)       Future partnership plan:

  1. Walk through the customer’s future business objectives and find out how you can help
  2. Ask your customer what their expectations are for your future partnership

As you are walking through the ways you have helped their business, now is the perfect time to ask them for a testimonial.  Have them write-up a testimonial on how you helped their business and post that on your website or in your marketing material.  Since you are looking to create a true partnership with your customer, tell them about your company goals in 2010 and where you see them fitting into your goals.  See if they have any ideas to help your business.  Sometimes your customers can provide the best insight on things they see you could improve on in the future.

November 9, 2009

November 6, 2009

Telephone Tips #4- Other Prospecting Ideas

Filed under: Sales Tips — Tags: , , — afp @ 11:25 am

This week I have highlighted some of my favorite ideas for people who prospect and sell primarily over the phone.  These ideas came from the book titled “Telephone Tips That SELL!” by Art Sobczak.  I’m going to close out the week with some final ideas for people who prospect and sell over the phone.

  1. Whenever a satisfied customer raves about your company, products, or services, write down the comments, or have a “Testimonial” file.  Or, ask them to send you a letter.  Use these on calls.
  2. When asking for referrals, help them brainstorm, “Who else do you know… maybe people in your trade association, perhaps some of your other suppliers, how about other divisions of your company?”
  3. With your letters, write like you speak.  No one ever says, “As per our conversation,” “Please advice,” “Enclosed please find…” So don’t write that way either.
  4. Write on the outside of large envelopes of literature.  For example, “Pat, here’s the catalog we discussed by phone.”  This helps your material stand out, plus reminds them of what you spoke of. 
  5. Instead of saying “How are you today?” at the beginning of the call, TELL them how they are:  “You sure sound great day!”
  6. Be sure you use a P.S. in your sales follow-up letters.  The P.S. is often the first part of the letter that is read.  Make it benefit-packed.
  7. Make a point to call one inactive customer per day.  Mention the fact you’ve done business before, question to uncover needs similar to the ones that lead them to buy from you before, and then offer something of value.  Calling 250 inactive customers in a year will likely get you FIVE TIMES more business than the same number of cold prospecting calls.
  8. Overdeliver on your promises.
  9. End every call on a positive note, regardless of the outcome.  You enhance your image, you feel good, they feel good, and you leave the door open for future contacts.
  10. Zig Ziglar says, “What you do off the job determines how well you’ll do on the job.”  Invest if yourself.

As Lou Holtz said, “If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven’t done anything today.  And when you’re through improving, your through.”  Continue to invest in yourself as Zig Ziglar says… read books, go to classes, educate yourself.

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