Sales teams all over the country are looking for the “golden answer” on how to increase sales in today’s economic situation. Successful teams are finding out quickly that there is no “golden answer” or trick play that is going to make a sales team successful in today’s economy. To increase sales in today’s economic situation, first stop looking at today’s economy as an obstacle and start finding the advantages of today’s economy.
Some well-known phrases, such as “for every pro there is a con” or “for every no there is a yes” and a favorite, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” identify how one person can see something as a negative, while another sees it as an opportunity. Well here is a new one: “The economy is always a challenge, and everything that stops one person moves another.” In short, the economy is not the problem — the problem is when a sales team does not change its game plan to win the game (known as sales). The game has changed and those that prepare, practice and execute will win, the others will be on the bench waiting for the next game.
Purposeful Questions
Salespeople across the globe have gone to sales trainings, usually called by many different names, yet all with basically the same steps. In most selling skills trainings they will discuss how to ask the right questions, how to ask open-ended questions, and how to ask leading questions. Here is what we teach: ask purposeful questions. A purposeful question is a question that will help the prospective customers understand and express their current business, their competitive position, their goals and desires, which will result in assisting the sales professionals to help them achieve those goals and desires. Questions should not be asked just to fill time, to try and hit a certain number asked, or to pretend to build rapport; they should have a purpose, and that purpose is solely to understand.
Write the Questions Down
A coach would never go to the game without his play sheet, a piano soloist would never go out to play a concert without the sheet music and thankfully a pilot would never fly a plane without a checklist. Then why do salespeople constantly go on appointments without their questions written down? Salespeople always have the same reasons: “I have the questions in my head,” or “I have been doing sales for so long I know them all,” or the classic, “If I go with questions in hand it looks insincere or unprofessional.” A salesperson should be so familiar with their questions that they don’t have to read them, but they can help keep them focused and on track. It shows the prospective customer that the sales professional cares and is diligent in their preparation. If having questions written down would increase a sales professional’s closing ratio 30 percent, would it be a good idea?
Beginner’s Luck
Ever notice that when a company has a new sales professional it seems that he or she has beginner’s luck and closes deals quickly? Is it really luck or is it that they are new and they take the proper steps to make sure they use all of the tools that are provided to them without skipping any steps? In many cases the greatest weakness of veteran sales professionals is their experience. Because of their experience, they tend to start skipping steps and winging it. Confidence is the greatest attribute of a successful sales professional, but it is also the number-one reason sales professionals stop improving. If a sales team wants to increase sales, they must remember to practice and prepare with modesty, and close with confidence. The definition of success is when preparation meets timing.
