Prospecting, as we use the word in sales, is looking for potential buyers. But sales prospecting is also about screening out those who will not likely be viable prospects, at least not this time 'round.
Keep in mind those prospectors out west in the Great Gold Rush of '49. They spent months and years
The nature of work may be changing, suggests Michael Luo in The New York Times, as work may be "becoming more temporary and project-based, with workers increasingly functioning as free agents and no longer being governed by traditional long-term employer-employee relationships."
Michael Sinclair, featured in the article, speaking of his role as an independent contractor in the
Continue reading Independent contractors, consultants, free agents: article in New York Times
The five-step model approach in responding to objections and questions: Explore, Listen Well, Restate (if appropriate), Respond, then Move on.
1. Explore. Ask questions to get the person talking about what they really mean by the objection, and why it's important to them. (Why do you feel that way? will do if nothing better comes to mind.)
2. Listen well to their response. You may have heard this objection a dozen times already this week, but this person may put a different twist on it. Don't be too quick in cutting off the Prospect's response in order to interject your response. The more you know about the Prospect's needs and mindset the better you can target your response. Sometimes, the Prospect will actually respond to her own concern, and say something like, Never mind, I think I've answered myself. That's really not so important, after all.
3. Restate, if appropriate. In many cases, it can be helpful to both yourself and the Prospect to paraphrase your understanding of the core of the Prospect's response. For one thing, it forces you to listen closely, so you can restate it clearly. Second, it forces the Prospect to listen to you in turn, to ensure that your restatement is accurate. Further, in some cases, by restating, you may be able to defuse, or take the edge off, the customer's concern.
4. Respond to what they have actually said. There may be a deeper meaning behind the objection, so focus on that. Example
“You say that your firm has already tried using consultants, and isn't interested. But I'm picking up a deeper message that your dissatisfaction was with the work of one particular consulting firm that didn't work out for you. I'd like to explain how . . .”
5. Move on from there; don't get bogged down in your response. Respond to the objection, then go on with your sales call.
If you say too much in response to an objection, you may blow it up into something larger and more significant than the Prospect originally had in mind. If you bog down on it, repeating and elaborating your reaction, the Prospect will think this really must be a major concern, and take that as a reason not to buy.
Conversely, if you treat the objection as a small issue not very important, you are send the subliminal message is that it is just that— minor, not a significant concern, not an issue that could possibly stop the sale.
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The content in this post has been adapted from my books, How to Sell Face to Face: Survival Guide, and Selling 101. They are available in various e-book and paper editions; see below:
Survival Guide: Order paperback edition via Amazon
Survival Guide: Order e-book as Amazon Kindle (Amazon offers free apps that enable you to read it on your PC, Apple I-pad, I-pod, Blackberry, and others)
Survival Guide: Order e-book via Kobo, usable on various kinds of e-readers
Selling 101 (third edition): Order e-book as Amazon Kindle (Amazon offers free apps that enable you to read it on your PC, Apple I-pad, I-pod, Blackberry, and others)
Order as e-book via Smashwords, available in various formats including PDF, E-pub, and others.
Finding sales prospects, first basic rule: You can make a sale only if you deal with the person who can say Yes to what you offer.
That’s obvious enough, especially if you’re selling to individuals.
But it’s more difficult if you’re selling to organizations. The selling skills you use in finding prospects within organizations in both the public and private sectors is more complicated, as
Customer care and follow-up. Your first sale to a customer may be profitable, but it's the follow-up sales that really help.
It's an instance of the 80-20 Rule: 80 percent of your profits and revenue will come from just 20 percent of your customers. Implication: your present customers probably offer the greatest potential for profitable repeat business.
Just what IS a buying signal?
A buying signal is some kind of often subtle signal that the mood has shifted and the other person is now ready to agree . . . or at least to be open to what you propose.
In other words, a "buying signal" may signal readiness to . . .
Buying signals from the gatekeeper or screen: What kinds of cues should you be alert for? (For the record, gatekeeper and screen are usually interchangeable terms, and may apply to anyone from the guard at the gate, to the secretary, to the Decision Maker's personal assistant.)
Continue reading Buying signals gatekeeper: cues to be alert for
"Starting over at 55" — title of the article by Stephen Greenhouse, part of a New York Times special section on retirement.
Some interesting case studies on early retirees who used their skills and experience to start-up new
Continue reading “People 55 and Older Start Own Businesses in Growing Numbers,” NYTimes
Celebrate national Read an E-Book Week!
We're teaming with Smashwords to bring our How to Sell Face-to-Face: Survival Guide for you to read or download online FREE! Yes, Free Sales Book! Free Sales Training book! Free stuff!
What's the catch? It's on Smashwords, and it's this week only— March 7-13, 2010.
Here's the link to get a free e-copy of How to Sell Face-to-Face: Survival Guide
But NOTE: VERY IMPORTANT: to get this special offer you must use the code RFREE at checkout. The offer expires March 13,2010.
Want a paper version? You can get that at Amazon, but — alas — t'ain't free. See the side panel.
"COLD CALL SALES AND PROSPECTING CHECKLIST: 14 PRACTICAL STRATEGIES WHEN COLD-COLD CALLING" which had been here in four parts is now a short E-book, available via Amazon.
You can read it on a Kindle, or in various other E-reader formats, including your PC. Amazon offfers free apps to enable you to do that.
Order e-edition of Overcoming objections: why prospects DO NOT buy