And the reason is…

by Scott Howard | Sep 2, 2014 | ScLoHo Sales Tips

I read articles from sales trainers on a regular basis, and the radio station I work for is a member of the Radio Advertising Bureau which sends a daily email to their subscribers. One element that is a daily sales tip that often applies to anyone who is in a sales profession.

Like this one:

Know why you are calling 
Business coach C.J. Hayden 
Sounds obvious, but we have all been guilty of making a call just because it was on the list, having long since forgotten why we were calling. Or worse, never calling at all because you aren’t sure of your reason.

Make it a habit to keep a note with each person’s contact information about where you left off in your last contact and what is the appropriate next step.

The most productive calls are about something you know or suppose the other person wants from you, rather than something you want from them.

Not So Easy

by Scott Howard | Aug 26, 2014 | ScLoHo Sales Tips

If fast food employees can ask for the upsell, so should sales professionals.

“Do you want fries with that?”

From RAB.com:

Closing too quickly 
Sales consultant Mark Hunter 
It’s always rewarding to close a sale and immediately have the new client sign the documents to secure the sale. No matter how many years in the business, this always feels good. We all have stories about new customers who have “fallen into our lap” and bought quickly. For some reason, we can’t seem to forget the great rush that occurs from these new clients. I’m here to say that as good as the rush might be when we allow a sale to occur too quickly, we wind up leaving money on the table.

When beginning to talk with a new customer, the salesperson and the customer invariably have the intent of doing so with a specific product in mind. It may be any number of products you sell. The initial interest expressed by the customer always guides the discussion. Once the discussion turns to a specific product, the customer’s focus becomes even more closed to any other products. The real danger comes when the customer agrees to buy. At that moment, the customer feels the process is over, and their mind moves to something else, usually something totally unrelated to your business or products.

To avoid a situation like this, the salesperson needs to ask the necessary exploratory questions early to determine the customer’s other needs. By asking exploratory questions early, you are able to assess which additional products may interest the customer. If you wait to ask these types of questions until after the initial sale is complete, you will always be behind. This is the whole principle of not closing too quickly. You need and want enough time to explore and determine all of the customer’s needs.

What if You Could Not Fail?

by Scott Howard | Aug 12, 2014 | ScLoHo Sales Tips

Sales is tough.  I know. I’ve been doing it for years.

But I’m going to try something crazy and you can try it too.

One of the cliches out there is that the only ones who fail are the ones that stop trying.

But it’s more than a cliche, it can also be the truth, if you adopt that as a lifestyle.

So what am I gong to do that is so crazy?

I’m going to invite everyone that I can to do business with me.

Everyone.

Because I am in the advertising, marketing and media business, I collect leads all the time.

But I don’t act on them.  They sit in a file, or a pile.  They are notes in a notebook, or a collection of business cards.

They are the newspaper ads, the junk mail, the magazines that pile up.

And I haven’t even mentioned my social media contacts.

Oh sure, we dig into these leads, but not with the passion and gusto we could.

So for the rest of this year, I am going to contact every single one of these potential clients in an organized manner.

I’m not going to over-organize, that can bog us down too, right?

But I’m making a list and checking it regularly to see who needs following up.

Here why this is different from what sales people usually do.

We make judgement calls.  We often decide who to call on and who not to call.

When I was a sales manager, I urged my sales staff to not judge, instead ask.

And now I will take my own advice.

Check back with me in a few months and let’s compare notes.

Let Them Talk

by Scott Howard | Aug 5, 2014 | ScLoHo Sales Tips

Good advice today from my RAB.com email:

 Let the Prospect Talk 

When you encounter objections, be quiet. Don’t jump in right away with questions, because if you interrupt the person who is explaining their objection or you try to pounce with answers, you’ll look defensive. The prospect may interpret that as you trying to justify or defend a position, and that can get their hackles up.

If your prospect says to you, “Your price is too high,” or “I’m not the right decision-maker,” or “We need more time,” don’t panic. The sale isn’t drifting away. Instead, give that prospect enough room to talk and give yourself an opportunity to listen carefully to what they are saying. In the vast majority of cases, the prospect will feel compelled to jump in and give you more information. In many cases, they’ll even answer their own objection within that little vacuum of silence!

Source: Sales consultant/strategist Colleen Francis

One Way to Compete?

by Scott Howard | Jul 29, 2014 | ScLoHo Sales Tips

This is not something I can recommend without a few disclaimers.  Read it first and then I’ll explain:

Making a List 

From a customer’s standpoint, how does your service stack up compared with that of competing sales reps?

You could invite customers outright to make the comparison. Or better still, work up an item-by-item checklist for buyers to fill out. It can be revealing on the one hand and show customers you care on the other — plus it can suggest areas for potential improvement.

Source: Business author Ray Dreyfack

This was from one of my emails from RAB.com this month.

I really don’t want to position myself against other radio stations in my city, unless that is where the real battle is.  I used to do that because I worked for some small niche stations.  But today I work for the most listened to station in town and when you are number one, you don’t berate the smaller guys.

Instead I congratulate them on using radio to invite customers to do business with them.  Sometimes that is the first hurdle, “Have you considered using radio advertising?”.

Think about your business.  If you Chevy cars, do you really want to berate the other Chevy dealers in town or do you think it would be better to simply demonstrate superior customer service compared to all the dealers in town?

I also believe you need to know everything you can about your direct competitors, so you will be prepared when someone asks you why you and not your direct competitor.  But it has to be the “whys” from a buyers perspective, not yours.

What do you think?