Sales Tip Of The Week - SalesTrainingCamp.com

I recently wrote an article called, "Feeble Questions Can Kill Your Business". In the article, I stated that too many sales people get caught in the trap of asking low-quality questions instead of more powerful ones. Many people contacted me and requested more information on what constitutes a great question. This article will address that issue.

First, the reason it is important to ask questions is to gain a thorough understanding of each customer's situation including their needs, wants, desired results, decision-making process as well as potential concerns and roadblocks. Most salespeople understand this-at least at a fundamental level. In virtually every sales training workshop I conduct, participants nod when we discuss the importance of asking questions early in the sales process. However, in real life, they often skip through this stage in order to present their product, or discuss a solution. It's only when the customer raises an objection, that many sales people backtrack and ask questions. Unfortunately, they have the process backward.

Powerful questions can help you demonstrate your expertise. Powerful questions demonstrate that you are not an average person selling a product, service or solution. And powerful questions help you determine the best way to present your solution. So what constitutes a powerful question?

Powerful questions are designed to make your customer think. The majority of salespeople I encounter are hesitant about asking deep, thought- provoking questions because they are afraid that their prospect will find them invasive. However, the higher up in an organization you sell, the more important it is to ask these types of questions simply because executives are used to asking-and answering- tough questions. In fact, if you sell to senior level executives, it is essential to ask high-level questions. Here are a few examples;

- What goals are you striving to achieve this quarter?
- How do those targets compare to last year's results?
- What, if anything, is preventing you from achieving these goals?

However, do NOT start your conversation with questions like this because you have to earn the right to ask them, especially if you do not have an established relationship. It is much better to begin by demonstrating your expertise, industry knowledge, and understanding of your prospect's business and/or company.

- We've noticed several trends occurring in the industry lately. The two that stand out the most are.. How are these affecting you and your business?
- When I was doing some research, I noticed on your website that your company is.. What progress are you making on that initiative?

These questions are powerful because it shows that you have done some preliminary research or homework and executives appreciate that. In fact, many of them would like their own sales team to take this approach before calling on a new prospect. Questions like this also demonstrate that you know what is happening in business as well as your customer's industry.

It is critical to note that I am NOT suggesting that you spend fifteen minutes lecturing to your prospect trying to show them how smart you are. The goal is to be prepared and to demonstrate this preparation by asking key questions.

Assuming you have captured your prospect's attention you can move the sales process forward by asking other powerful questions that focus on an outcome. It is critical to understand that most people, especially business people, do not make buying decisions based on your ability to spew out product specifications and information. Instead, they want to know what result they can expect. In other words, your prospect wants to know how your solution will affect their top line (sales) or bottom line (profits).

Will they make more money? Will they gain more market share? Will they increase brand recognition? Will they be able to compete more effectively? Will they save money? Improve morale? Increase productivity? Reduce costs in a specific area(s)?

That means you need to be prepared to ask questions that focus on the future. When I talk to new prospects about sales training, I usually ask what their current conversion ratio is. In other words, what percentage of sales do they close compared to the qualified leads they generate? Then I ask what ratio they would like to reach after the training. Depending on my prospect's goals and objectives, we may also talk about the size and scope of each sale and what increase they would like to experience. This information then helps me position my solution and the positive financial impact training will have on their business. Consider these questions.

- What is the ideal outcome you would like to see or experience?
- How does this compare with your current results?
- You mentioned that you want to improve employee morale with this initiative. Can you tell me what that looks like?
- You have stated that increasing market awareness is one of your primary objectives. How will you know that you have succeeded?

Lastly, other powerful questions will help you determine the priority of this decision, how the decision will be made, and what potential roadblocks may prevent you from moving forward. Here are few examples.

- How does this project rank in priority compared to the others you are working on?
- Walk me through the process you follow when you consider decisions of this nature?
- Who else do you normally consult with on decisions like this?
- What potential roadblocks might prevent you from moving ahead with this?
- What concerns, if any, do you have about moving forward?

These may sound like difficult questions. But I have learned from experience that most people are willing to answer them if you have the courage to ask.

About The Author:
Kelley Robertson, author of The Secrets of Power Selling helps sales professionals and businesses pinpoint what they need to do differently to improve their sales. Receive a FREE copy of "100 Ways to Increase Your Sales" by subscribing to his free newsletter available at www.kelleyrobertson.com. Kelley conducts workshops and speaks regularly at sales meetings and conferences. For information on his programs contact him at 905-633-7750 or Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.

Has your personal or business bank changed names and ownership within the past couple of years? How about your mortgage company?

Has any of that caused you any frustration? The mortgage company that owned my office building loan sold the paper to another company and has caused me so much frustration in the transition with their ineptitude that I am close to simply paying it off.

A friend told me his business bank has changed owners and names. Three times. One astute bank sales rep who has been pursuing him manages to contact him after each change while the effects are fresh in his mind. Although he hasn't moved yet, the timely calls combined with the annoyance of the changes are beginning to wear down his resistance.

1. Prospects can be particularly vulnerable after their existing vendor is acquired, merged, or undergoes some other type of change.

2. Capitalizing on it requires you to track who a prospect uses and buys from, be on top of changes, and then be able to sort your database accordingly, and then place an effective call.

Exactly What to Do

1. Set up a Google News Alert with the names of your top competitors. http://www.google.com/alerts When anything happens with them and it appears online, you will be notified based on the keywords you enter. 2. Set up a Current Vendor field or group in your contact management program. Of course on every future call find out who prospects are buying from if if it is not you. Then it's a breeze to do a quick sort of all the prospects who have the competitor's name in the field, and plan strategically-timed contacts when changes make it appropriate.

(Speaking of contact management systems, the one I use is amazing at automating the follow-up process and putting marketing on auto-pilot. See their fr#e SpecialReport on Effective Follow-Up Marketing at http://crm.infusionsoft.com/go/efm/artsobczak)

3. Call with value. When calling these prospects, naturally you don't phone with an attitude of, "So I see your vendor was just acquired. I bet things are a mess there!"

Instead, treat the call just like you would a normal follow-up. But, be prepared to ask questions designed to get them to tell you the problems and pains they might be experiencing as a result of the change.

"Mike, you're still with AB Vendor, right? I see. With the recent acquisition, some of my other customers have noticed some changes in the promptness of getting orders delivered. If that is an issue for you, we have some options that might be worth taking a look at. What has been your experience?"

Again, be sure your opening here is not viewed as the "Just checking in with you" type of call, or one that falls into the many categories of mistakes reps often make with their openings. (To see all of these mistakes, and exactly how to create an effective opening, see my teleseminar on opening statements: http://businessbyphone.com/teleseminar.htm )

Every prospect you have not sold is affected by change at some point. Be the person who can turn that into a a win-win for you both. .

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are."
Bertold Brecht

About the author: Art Sobczak, President of Business By Phone Inc., specializes in one area only: working with business-to-business salespeople--both inside and outside--designing and delivering content-rich programs that participants begin showing results from the very next time they get on the phone. Audiences love his "down-to-earth,"entertaining style, and low-pressure, easy-to-use, customer oriented ideas and techniques.

He works with thousands of sales reps each year helping them get more businesses by phone. Art provides real world, how-to ideas and techniques that help salespeople use the phone more effectively to prospect, sell, and service, without morale-killing "rejection."

Using the phone in sales is only difficult for people who use outdated, salesy, manipulative tactics, or for those who aren't quite sure what to do, or aren't confident in their abilities. Art's audiences always comment how he simplifies the telesales process, making it easily adaptable for anyone with the right attitude.

Consumers today are more sophisticated, well-informed and knowledgeable than at any other time in history.

They are better educated about the products and services they desire, more affluent than generations before them and have a greater ability to purchase what they want, when they want and on their own terms.

Knowing that your customers know what they want doesn't guarantee you'll be able to sell to them, however. With the wealth of selection in the global marketplace, it's easy for your product or service to get lost.

Globalization and the internet have redefined the way products and services are bought and sold for entire industries, adding a level of choice for consumers and competition for producers never before imagined.

How then can you stand out from the competition? Certainly being the biggest or the best in the industry has its advantages but what if you're neither?

The good news is that in a global economy with so many consumers, it isn't necessary to be a behemoth to gain a significant market share. You just need to understand your customers - what it is they really want from you - and understand them better than anyone else in the industry.

To gain understanding, research is key. Whether it's finding studies of the demographic most likely to use your product or service or reading trade magazines and other industry publications, you'll need to do your homework. Keep abreast of trends - in your industry and in the overall economy - in order to understand what your customers are buying - and what they're not buying - and what economic factors effect those decisions.

"The power of individual choice has never been greater and the reasons and patterns for those choices never harder to understand and analyze," said Mark J. Penn, author of "Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes."

"The skill of microtargeting - identifying small, intense subgroups and communicating with them about their individual needs and wants -- has never been more critical. The one-size-fits-all approach to the world is dead," he says.

With the analysis of Microtrends comes a new way of thinking: Bigger isn't necessarily better. One of the major trends of the last five years is the phenomenon of customers gravitating away from the "big box" stores to smaller, more specialized outfits. Nowhere is this principle better illustrated than in the recent slip in the influence of retail giant Wal-Mart.

"Rival retailers lured Americans away from Wal-Mart's low-price promise by offering greater convenience, more selection, higher quality, or better service," says Gary McWilliams in his Wall Street Journal article "Wal-Mart Era Wanes Amid Big Shifts in Retail". "(With) the country's growing affluence, Wal-Mart has struggled to overhaul its down-market, politically incorrect image while other discounters pitched themselves as more upscale and more palatable alternatives. The Internet has changed shoppers' preferences and eroded the commanding influence Wal-Mart had over its suppliers."

If customers aren't moved by low prices, then what does move them? We are now seeing a shift in consumers who are more interested in quality - in the products they buy and in the shopping experience as a whole. While many customers will always look for the lowest price, there are just as many today who place quality far higher on their list of priorities - and who are willing to pay for it.

Lowering your price just to try to make the sale, per the old model, not only devalues your product or service, it simply does not make sense anymore. In today's marketplace, don't underestimate the affluence of your customers. Many customers don't trust "cheap" prices. Understanding this mindset will help reframe how you relate to these kinds of clients.

An example is the meteoric rise in the popularity of organic products. Once only available at small, local grocers and community markets, shopping organic has become a multi-billion dollar industry. What was once a cottage industry of a few individuals seeking a back-to-the-farm respite from chemically treated food now stands to revolutionize the way millions of average Americans eat and the way food is produced and marketed in the United States.

As a 2007 IBM study of 6,000 U.S. grocery consumers reveals, a staggering number of customers - 73 percent - feel antagonistic toward or have no loyalty to their local supermarket. Despite stiff competition among grocery chains to offer low prices and special deals with customer loyalty cards, consumers are unhappy. Meanwhile, organic markets, and sales of organic items within grocery chains, flourish.

"Specialty stores fine-tune their operations to the specific needs of the community, offer local assortments and are better equipped to develop truly personal relationships," says Fred Balboni, IBM Global Retail Industry Leader, IBM Global Business Services.

Grocers, just like any other retailer or service provider, need to learn more about who their customers are and what they want so that they can understand how best to serve them. Consumers who patronize the specialty stores are looking for one-on-one interaction and personalized attention.

They want to be asked what they want and given an opportunity to provide feedback. They want advertising and promotions that appeal to them personally and above all, they want the shopping experience to be part of a relationship, not just a business transaction. If the large chains can replicate this experience, they can reclaim their lost clientele.

Companies that focus on building those relationships with customers will reap the benefits. In a marketplace where even the giants can fall, we see a greater opportunity for those with the right product or service, the right attitude toward customer service and the right frame of mind to succeed in ways that were never before possible. You don't have to be the biggest to be the best, you just have to understand your customers, build relationships with them and strive in every way to give them the quality they desire.

"Building differentiation with today's savvy and vocal consumer requires a whole new approach for businesses (and) business operations," says Balboni. "Applying them in a personalized and tailored way will build strong advocates and loyal customers."

About The Author:
ROY CHITWOOD is an author and consultant on sales and customer service. He is the former president and chairman of Sales & Marketing Executives International and is president of Max Sacks International, Seattle, 800-488-4629, www.maxsacks.com. If you would like to subscribe to his free Tip of the Week, "You're on Track," please e-mail contact@maxsacks.com.

Is cross-selling in your 2008 future? If not it should be. It is the easiest way to make more sales. That’s because you have relationships and if you know how to use them, it translates to easy sales, better pricing, elimination of any budget issues, and no competitive involvement.

Now for the bad news - most sales people don’t know how to cross- sell effectively (not that they will admit it), and most sales managers don’t know how to coach sales people to cross sell (not that they will admit it either).

So here are 4 cross-selling tips to help sales managers and sales people.

1. Spend 3 times as much time with existing and old customers as you do chasing new customers. Relationships require maintenance time and you should also be spending time meeting new people in existing accounts.

2. Ask questions that are customer focused. Get customers talking about their issues and concerns as it relates to your solutions’ portfolio. Asking, “How do you feel we are doing?” Or “What can I do to help?” are not customer focused. They are you focused. So learn what and how to ask.

3. Don’t use your relationships as an opportunity to show, brag, or demonstrate all your other products or services. Rather bring them up as a tease after the customer has expressed his issues. For example, “You know you didn’t say anything about yada yada yada. Is that a concern to you?”

4. Listen effectively. When the customer starts talking in response to your customer focused question, listen for key words that point to opportunities. This is where you have to know the key phases that apply to your cross-sell services and products.

For example, one of my services is screening potential new hires using a very accurate screening tool for sales people and managers. So when I ask my client about his sales issues for 2008, I am prepared to listen not only for keywords around “hiring new people” but also for dissatisfactions, or difference among his sales producers. This can lead to a discussion of turning over poor performers and replacing them with sure winner.

The big hook is getting the various people in the account to tell you their issues and then fitting your services to them. I’m not trolling with my whole tackle box. Unlike fish, prospects can tell you what they are biting on – if you know how to ask and listen.

Ferreting-out prospects’ interests and issues, and offering suggestions without getting rejected requires skills most sales people and managers never learned. If you agree, you might want to talk with me about what can be done to make your selling team better cross-sellers. Mail to: sam@sammanfer.com

Sam Manfer is a sales force development expert and makes any sales manager or sales person feel comfortable and confident getting to and talking with powerful decision makers. For his free “Selling Wisdoms” e-zine and articles on overcoming all the problems with C-Level Selling visit www.SamManfer.com .