HOW TO SELL...coz ya gotta these days!

I started life as a sales person and I am grateful I learnt those skills every day with marketing. Because they really are a marriage made in paradise.

I have some bad news and good news people – selling will always be about people buying from those they like. The fastest way for them to know if they like and trust you is to speak with you over the phone or in person. Yep – that’s the plain truth of it. But the good news is that MOST people are hiding behind social media and emails, so you have very little competition in the skills of old fashioned selling methods!

Firstly, a bit about my background. I started selling when I was a kid, where I encouraged all the boys in the neighbourhood to have tree climbing competitions.

You might be asking, how is that selling – well it is because they hadn’t of thought of the idea, possibly didn’t even know they wanted to do it, but with a bit of influencing, a bit of showing them how it could be…I had them all lining up to go into my little notebook ready to have their times recorded and aim for first place! 

NUMBER ONE LESSON – Sometimes customers don’t know that they want what you are selling until you sell it to them

For real, though I started selling as a commission only sales person for the Cycle Warehouse in the 80’s which was unheard of in NZ. It was funny, as this is where I learned the difference between sales people who sell with their heart and their values and those who don’t. Needless to say I was their number 2 sales person, number one did anything to get the sale.

NUMBER TWO LESSON – Always sell with heart and truth. Don’t sell if they don’t want it.

From there moved to Avon as a sales manager for one of the 20 regions in NZ. We had to phone people around NZ and encourage them to become reps, then train them and encourage them to become the best sales people. I remember the first week, the experienced sales managers saying things like ‘don’t call anyone on a Friday, they are not interested’ – I nodded my head in agreement then ignored them. I rose to be Australasia’s top Sales Manager 3 years in a row and ended up getting my photo in the Hall of Fame in New York. Why? Because I listened to those who were selling, I encouraged and trained them to be the best at selling. 

NUMBER THREE LESSON – Don’t let others tell you what you can’t do (especially if it is only their fears – try it yourself, do what is right for you.

From there moved into radio sales for a very short amount of time – we won’t even talk about this, but I will tell you this – in the mid 90’s in some industries it was total madness. Media was filled with everyone shagging everyone, people getting drunk all the time and rude bosses. I had a boss who wore a large belt as a skirt, and that was that. She smoked the entire day in the office, and would yell from her office – “Lisa, get ya f**&n arse in here” – yes that wasn’t a very positive place to work. I lasted about 3 months (and that was a push)

NUMBER FOUR LESSON – Don’t work for people who speak like that to you including customers!

After a couple of Bus Development Roles I moved to a role at Eftpos NZ as their Corporate Account Manager – which was selling eftpos solutions to large retail chains around NZ – similar roles to all the others except now I had to have big lunches, had higher commission structure, had to put together large proposals and had to travel a lot.

NUMBER FIVE LESSON – All selling is the same whether you are in a small retail shop, a consultant, a commission only hard sales environment or a corporate business role.

It’s about the same thing: people buy from people they trust and like.

After running a good sized team for an event business for 8 years, I moved into business consultancy and found that most businesses, small medium or large needed sales training. If you are consultant you need sales too. So, I found myself training people on selling and of course marketing and I haven’t moved far from there.

Enter Marketing via social media, mailchimp, remarketing – WOW that has certainly made its mark. And for quite a while people have mostly stopped selling by phone or in person. THIS is GOOD news as the path is clear to make sales ‘the old way’.

Why you may ask - well social media has taken an ugly turn and it is getting tougher and more expensive to capture new clients via social media. For the very reason why marketing people cant have good things – they ruin it by thrashing it! With the remarketing, retargeting, advertising over social platforms, social influencers – it’s all got a bit much for certain audiences. Unless you are selling to the millennial market or have lots of money for social media, you need some sales skills.

SELLING YOU

This is key, you need to be sure about who you are and what you stand for and don’t negotiate with those. I often get clients to do a values and behaviours exercise. This is mainly from a company perspective as opposed to a personal perspective. You will find that you only want to do business with people with similar values (and employ people too with the same values).

So here are the basic step by step process on how to sell!

KNOW who your customers are: where are they located, what are their functional, economic and emotional requirements to buying what you are selling. Make sure you have categorization of the different client types. ‘A’ Clients pay on time, make quick decisions, spend more than X per year etc

WHEN YOU RECEIVE AN EMAIL – your aim is to make a time to ring them or meet with them NOT sell over email. People sell to people – once they meet you, you both know whether you want a business relationship.

PREPARE for client visit or phone call – research their website, their personal linkedin (but be aware they know you are looking), google. Find out what’s happening in their work world. Put this into a decent client database, even better a good sales pipeline.

THE PHONE CALL – the objective is to get a chance to meet with them! However, treat it like a shortened version of a face to face meeting below. If for any reason you feel like you are losing control or feel uncomfortable in a phone call, stand up! When you ask questions, don’t speak first, let them answer. If you are uncomfortable with the silence, put a finger over your mouth! Stay calm, slow but determined to achieve your objective.

LISTEN to the client when you meet with them, take short notes, find out their hot buttons, scan the conversation, what do they want and understand their business goals.

SELL YOURSELF - Ask what they know about what you do, tell them why you do what you do, share briefly your values and of course other clients experiences

POSITIONING STATEMENT – Let the client know what you want to achieve for them based on the meeting you have just had and let them know you are enthusiastic about helping.

INTRODUCE YOUR PROCESS – these will differ depending on your own process but are generally; working within their budget, your terms of business, your communication style and process etc.

TRIAL CLOSE - Would you be happy to work with me/us on this basis?

MEETING ENDS WITH COMMITMENT (A L W A Y S )

Either with a date to start work, for a quote, for another meeting.

OBJECTIONS - Understand objections and ‘stalls’ fully, then handle them.

Objective Objections:

PROBLEM: Client doubts or does not understand how your service will satisfy their needs.

SOLUTION: Provide evidence through testimonials, awards or statistics or through photo or media proof.

Subjective/Perceptive Objections:

PROBLEM: Client has an emotional reaction and a perception of your service which has been created from some experience in the past. (Client would use words like “I don’t feel…” or “I don’t believe…”). This is also when they are fearful they will look silly or make a wrong decision to use your service.

SOLUTION: Don’t offer solutions too early. Ask open questions. Ask feel, think or show questions. 

Timing Objections:

PROBLEM: Objection based on time issues.

SOLUTION:  Use “what if” suggestions for example “what if I came back to you with a creative solution that you may want to use now or later on”, would you be interested?

Malicious Objections:

PROBLEM: These could be aimed at the company, the salesperson or at a colleague or past employee.

SOLUTION: Check for facts, look for solutions from facts, don’t take it personally or seriously.

No value in Change:

PROBLEM: client cannot see any value in either changing or using your service, nor any value in taking it on.

SOLUTION: Spend more time building desire, find out what they are looking for when changing. Get them to recall improvement from previous change. Then use the “now with that in mind”.

Minor Point Objections:

PROBLEM: One or two small points which may prevent them from buying.

SOLUTION: If you can, change to accommodate. Package the minor point in with other greater benefits.

Unspoken Objections

PROBLEM: Hard to identify as the client has not voiced their objection and still won’t buy.

SOLUTION: Aside from the fact you think it may cost too much Bob, what else could be a problem for you? Ok, what else, ok, what else. When they have run out of the objections, concentrate on answering the last one as this will be the real objection.

List Ditch Objections

PROBLEM: Client has no real reason left not to buy, but they still need help to actually make the decision.

SOLUTION: Use last minute empathy with a tight close, for example; Would you like to talk with someone else before making a decision.

Price Objections

PROBLEM: All clients consider price when purchasing, it is only an objection when the customer makes it one.

SOLUTION: If it comes up early, try to delay it. Focus value issues. Justify with sound reasons (key word is BECAUSE). For example, “The reason our labour charge appears to be high is because we know from experience, it actually takes longer than…and naturally our overheads are factored in to this price also. Sandwich the price. Compare it with the cost for the company to do it themselves. Break it down to the smallest common denominator.

In a nutshell, just be yourself. Do business with people you want to do business with. Feel the fear and do it anyway. The truth of the matter is, no company can survive without sales. Reputation alone will only get you so far. Book in the time EVERY DAY to sell, make it a habit. It will get easier and easier.

Oh...and because I am a sales person, check out Boxfish Research...I am doing lots of selling and marketing stuff for this very cool (down to earth), intelligent Kiwi underwater drone company!