One of the most difficult thing to get new (and even some seasoned) salespeople to remember is that sales is not about pitching. It’s not fair to say pitching rarely works because it does and there are instances where it is perfect. Example of this are the county fair and TV infomercials. In that environment Pitching is perfect you have anywhere from 5 seconds to 2 minutes to make your sale or you will never see your customer again. In that instance I say pitch away…. Really it’s all you’ve got.

For the rest of us it’s time to Ditch the pitch! I have a secret for you… Top salespeople are smart! The key to getting on top and staying there is learning your product inside out. You have to be creative, interesting, and free thinking. Most important you need to engage your customer.

Selling in today’s marketplace means asking questions. It means learning about your client, where they are now, what issues they are facing, and where they want to go in the future. Only after you have done all of that should you start formulating solutions.

This is easier said than done, because so many people are trained (by bad sales people) to expect a pitch. It is common to here “Just give me your pitch” or “How soon can you get me a proposal?” from clients. This is the ONLY time I’ll pitch and I still do not pitch on my product! I pitch based on my need for more information. Basically my “Pitch” is a longer version of this conversation: I have hundreds of solutions, how can I give you a proposal when I have no understanding of what your REAL issues are, what you have tried so far, and what you are ultimately trying to accomplish. My real version of this pitch is more like a 3-5 minute conversation and any reasonable person should be able to understand why this data is important. If they don’t… I move on. I am simply not willing to waste my time writing proposals where my chance of winning is similar to winning the lottery. I don’t want to guess what the right solution is, I want to KNOW. Refusal to participate is the final portion of my pitch and believe it or not it frequently turns the situation around for me. If this approach does not change the tide for me I would rather move on to someone else interested in solving their problems, invest my time there, out perform my peers, and win the deal!

I’m interested to hear what others think about pitching, and the processes they use to avoid falling into that trap. If you have a story to share or some thoughts on the issue leave me a comment and I’ll get back to you ASAP!

-Brad

Popularity: 11% [?]

Hearing customers’ objections is a day-to-day occurrence for many salespeople. No matter how refined your sales approach, customers will still express concerns (objections) that can act as an obstruction to the closing of the sale. The wildly successful salesperson understands how to handle these objections so that the selling process can move forward, and ultimately, the transaction will close.

Here are six important sales behaviors to make sure your customers’ objections don’t derail your sales progress:

1. Preempt objections.

Skilled salespeople can anticipate many, if not most, buying objections. Doing so allows them to be preempted even before the prospect has voiced them. Preventing the objection is always be more effective than waiting to address an objection after it’s been announced by the customer.

2. Relax!

Handling objections can be one of the most challenging points in the path to achieving a sale (notice those sweaty palms?). But don’t let your anxiety affect your prospect.

If you chill out, your prospect is more likely to chill out. Handling an objection is challenge enough; trying to do so with a tense customer elevates the challenge.

Whereas most salespeople physically sit forward toward the prospect when “confronting” an objection, the opposite approach will help manage the tension in the room and encourage your prospect to continue engaging with you. Sit back (not forward), slow down, and take a cleansing breath!

3. Validate your prospect.

Most salespeople verbally confront an objection immediately upon hearing one. They go into convincing mode to try to change the prospect’s mind.

But convincing mode can actually reinforce the customer’s objection. Validating your prospect can have the opposite effect. Make sure the first words out of your mouth after you hear an objection be validating words. These could be as simple as, “Thank you for sharing that information with me.”

I absolutely love to surprise customers with a validation statement when they least suspect it, as in the following example:

Prospect: “I want to get some other bids just to see how your pricing compares to your competitors.”

Salesperson: “It’s great to see that you are doing your due diligence as a consumer. That’s fantastic!”

While this approach may seem counter-intuitive to achieving a closed sale, it will often take you farther with your prospect, because validation works for two reasons:

(1) It is a surprise to the prospect, because they expect a rebuttal from the salesperson (their history of contact with salespeople has taught them well!). When a customer hears validation for what he’s just shared with you, he experiences an immediate sense of relief. Since human beings like to feel relief, and your prospect is most likely a human being, you will have been responsible for fostering a positive emotion in your prospect;

(2) This sense of relief can be leveraged into longer hang time with your prospect (hang time is the amount of time a prospect is willing to continue to discuss your product and their purchase after they have stated an objection). If the customer awards you with sufficient hang time, you can have additional conversation about the prospect, his needs, and his reaction to your proposal. More conversation equals another opportunity to close the deal.

4. Ask for permission to discuss the objection.

After validating the customer, ask for permission to continue the conversation, saying something like, “Can we talk about that?”

Customers will almost always say “yes,” which is your green light to continue conversation. An engaged customer is more likely to buy from you than a disengaged customer, so keeping the customer actively involved in conversation is key.

5. Remember, some objections are false objections.

I believe over half of the objections that are verbalized by customers are false objections: they’re either objections created by the prospect’s automatic response mechanism (we all have this mechanism; this is the mechanism which makes us say “I need to think about it” automatically) or they’re conscious lies. Beware! Treating all objections as gospel truth will get you nowhere.

One way to determine the validity of an objection is to isolate the objection. For instance, if your customer just told you he wasn’t buying because the prospect’s spouse has to be in on the decision, you could ask the following isolation question:

“If your spouse was here and said yes to this purchase tonight, would we be writing it up this evening?”

It’s at this point that you’ll either get a clear affirmation of the objection from your prospect (which often indicates that this objection is a genuine objection), or you’ll hear an additional objection. And this is often the real objection! (Example: “Well, it’s more money than we had planned on spending.” Bingo! That’s the real objection!).

6. Ask for the sale again.

After handling the objection, don’t forget to ask for the order again. It’s surprising how many salespeople leave the objection dangling without bringing it to closure.

Popularity: 21% [?]