Black Sales Journal

2013 is still going, but as we get to mid-October it is obvious that you have just under three months to make goals, and possibly save your job, or make additional gains which might also give you a financial boost.

You almost want to tell your prospect or customer: “It’s the Fourth Quarter, Do You Want to Buy or Not?!!!!”

Three months is far from an eternity, but it is enough time to make some things happen.

It is a tough economy out there so some customers are not making decisions with the timeliness that you might need, but that is the way that the last quarter goes.  I am going to pose some basic actions that might make it more clear what your opportunities are, and maybe even help give results when you need them most.

It’s Not Now or Never – But Now Would Be Better!

I once was buying for a large social service organization.  Having had a sales background I marveled at how many of the sales professionals (some more professional than others) tried to get me ‘off the dime’.  In many cases they did not realize some of my limitations, such as the funding cycles of a not-for-profit.

As a buyer, and as a sales professional and sales manager, I recognize that the more you know about your customer, and their liberties or limitations, the better you are.  Remember as well that everything pivots off of the relationship.  If you have a strong durable relationship, you can approach topics that others might find more difficult.

Stay in front of your buyer – But with a purpose! – Face-to-face is the always the best way to put the gentle pressure on to close a deal.  For customers who appear slow to make a decision you will want to set-up last quarter meetings to discuss any number of items (customer satisfaction, upcoming year needs, recaps of services during the current year, etc.).  If you set up these meetings at mid-year, it puts you in front of the client at a crucial time…decision time.

Use tact and probes to determine objections. – This is no time to ‘jelly foot’ around.  You need to use your probing and interview skills to determine why you can’t close this one.  Be tactful and direct in determining what the objections are, and realize that getting to the bottom of this is easier than finding a new prospect.  Something is keeping the customer from making a decision; your job is to make sure that it is not some aspect of your product, organization, or you.  If you don’t have the right product-price combination, get your customer to tell you without negotiating against your own organization by cutting the price before you know if that is the problem.

Add something of value! Move to close. – I am not into ‘smoke and mirrors’, but you may have to find something that has either service or economic value, and ‘sweeten the pot’.  You can’t let the offers hang out there indefinitely, but you probably don’t want to retract them.  A suggestion is that you can try adding  things to the offers for a limited time.  Make sure it is something that you can afford to give, and remember that you should be able to put some value on it, because if you cannot, your customer will assume it is of little value.  An example would be, a financial products sales professional indicating telling the customer that if he/she consummates the deal that in the months of November or December that they will receive a retirement planning session for free.

Keep Score

Nothing is worse than believing in the unbelievable.  Make a list of your prospects/customers that owe you answers and grade them.  Just being honest with yourself is worth bundles.  Spend your time making the most probable ones happen, and move down the list from there.

Don’t leave stones unturned and questions unanswered. Tie up the loose ends and by all means, be the professional.

Your comments are welcome.

It is well known that your ability to communicate will help to give you a solid base to be an exceptional sales professional.  It won’t make you the consummate professional, but it will enhance your ability to perform.  I feel that the professional, in sales or otherwise, who communicates well and also has a “fire in the belly”, has the potential to outperform other professionals.

We will spend a couple of posts over the next few weeks talking about communication.  It is an art that will never abandon you as you go forward, and it will also transform your confidence levels. In this post, we are going to make a suggestion that you find comfort in your ability to “stand and deliver” by rehearsing and practicing frequently.  Know well your strengths and weaknesses and improve to a level that puts you on another level.

Practice, Practice, Practice

I bet that you feel the most boring activity that you feel that you can do is to repeatedly practice your verbal delivery, but I am compelled to advise you to do it.  What I am saying is that you cannot perfect something without the requisite practice.  As a sales professional, everything from your introduction, through your ‘elevator pitch’ (Black Sales Journal 8/11/2011, Know Your Elevator Pitch), to your proposal and your close should be smooth.  There should be no fillers and little chop to your delivery.

So what am I saying?  Do everything necessary to improve your delivery.   Videotape yourself using digital cameras, web cams or otherwise giving speeches and presentations until you have solved you’re your need for ‘fillers’ and until you have reduced any ‘choppiness’.  We have all heard the suggestion that we should be able to sell any object using feature-benefit selling, now is your chance to practice.  Not knowing your material lends to more pauses and fragmentation.  Here is your chance to, while in private, present and evaluate your delivery, and improve.

You can bet that if you videotape, you will find things that you will want to change.

These may include:

• Frequent use of  “Umm” as well as “and uh”
• The annoying use of the phrase “You Know”
• Frequent starting of sentences with “Well…”
• Improper usage of the word “like”
• Talking at “break speed”
• Exhibiting an “I” problem (talking about yourself too much)
• Inclusion of slang and even obscene language

In a very short time I have seen professionals remove “you know” from their delivery even without the videotape.  Consciousness is important, and you will become even more aware if you use your phone, your computer webcam, or a video camera as your observation tool.

With the help of your recording session, you will become quite conscious and truly internalize it, reducing annoying habits, and improving delivery.  It is worth the experiment.

Who Do You Like to Hear?

There are many great speakers out there, and you may find one that you want to model after.  If you are just the best YOU that you can be, that should work for you.

The basic objective of this exercise is to improve your delivery during the sales process, and you will find that it will carry over into your personal conversations as well.

It is sound to model after someone, but you must be realistic.  Almost all great speakers have some weakness or flaw, no matter how accomplished they are.  You are looking to improve the quality of your delivery.  You don’t want to preach, but you need to be able to deliver the ‘word’.  You don’t want to sound like a professor, but you want to sound intelligent.  Lastly, you don’t want to sound like a funeral director, so you must use some personality, humor, and personality.

Almost as good as the videotape for the sake of monitoring is a “partner” or even a listening coach could do the trick if the right person is available.

The Result

There was a sales professional I worked with for several years ago.  He had a nervous, high-pitched laugh that became pronounced when he got …nervous.  He could not hide it, or at least it appeared  he had no chance of controlling it.  We had a call together, and as the account was a big one, and he felt pressed.  I can remember the call as if it were yesterday, the laugh echoing in my ears.  I was only hoping that the buyer was not as negatively affected by it as I was.

When it was over I thought about it over and over, and decided that I needed to talk to the individual as we, undoubtedly would be on a call together at some point in the future.  He did know that it was happening, and did not know how often he was doing it.  I could not put into words for him how much it was happening.  There were few video cameras, and cell phones did not possess the abilities that they do now.  I limited the calls with our clients when possible for this individual, as there were no remedies out there.  This laugh was not going to stop.  Yes…I am saying that some things are deeper than just an ‘I know’, but most can be remedied.  After our discussion he made some changes, and sounded much better.  Maybe at this point in his professional career he has conquered this issue.

Practice definitely makes perfect!  Smooth your delivery and sharpen your skills.  Your relationships and sales will show it!

Your comments are welcome.