Tag - sales speaker

Are Your Salespeople Riding the Wave?

August 15, 2016

best sales training, Business, Hiring, manager, Marketing, online sales training, online selling, Sales, sales leader, sales manager, Sales Speaker, sales training, selling, Top Sales Speaker

The worst seems to be over but our economy is, inevitably, cyclical. Like the rest of us, it has its ups and downs. Yet, when we are in a down cycle, do you get nervous about the economy? And do other factors external to your industry, including world events (such as elections for example) cause you to tighten your belt?

Cycles in the economy and moments of national or world uncertainty are not a time for either anxiety or celebration but a time to be realistic and acknowledge that what goes up, must come down. I certainly don’t mean to be a downer but if we learned anything in the last few years I hope we learned that you need to be lean and mean all of the time, not just when the going gets tough. Your sales team needs to be able to respond to this volatility. If it does not, the competition’s sales team surely will.

During these last few months, with things seeming to lighten up, the opportunities are more fruitful. I am sure your sales team feels pretty good about themselves lately but what is the truth? If your salespeople are accustomed to having sales fall in their laps, especially newer ones, they have yet to be put to the test.

With the buying opportunities seeming to now be coming along more frequently, are our salespeople really good or just reaping the benefits of a comeback?

Right now, your sales team could be the weakest part of your company. It may not seem that way since you have most likely seen an upswing in sales, even slightly and are feeling relieved. Well don’t!

Many salespeople are showing their feathers like a proud peacock but fail to recognize that their sales in these times simply may be coming to them along with the ebb and flow of the economy but with very little true sales ability involved.

A lot of companies wait until desperate times. Then the layoffs and cost cutting begins. Smart companies do not wait. They know that they should evaluate their sales force now, finding out who has effective selling skills to utilize in the slump that may lie ahead.

When assessing your team, ask yourself the following questions:

What are the necessary elements for selling in a good and not so good economy?
Which salespeople have those elements?
Which of your sales people may not have the necessary skills, and why are we waiting to replace them?

If salespeople are not strong enough to make it through tough times, they probably do not belong on your team at all. Evaluate their skills. Go on a sales call with each salesperson and see how he/she performs in the real world. Another option is to have them each take an assessment that shows the skills they truly have—and don’t have*.

Hold your ground and act as though the economy were flourishing. Keep in mind that the economy is cyclical. When things are good, act as if you were looking for ways to build revenues and cut costs. Do it now, that way, you are not caught off guard when things recede —which they always do. Now is when real sales professionals can shine.

For further information on this subject follow the link http://www.schulzbusiness.com/interview-questions.aspx

* If you would like to take a free assessment for a salesperson on your team, email me at greta@schulzbusiness.com and I will send you the link.

The New Normal in Business Development

May 11, 2016

Greta Schulz

B2B, best sales speaker, Business, Sales, Sales Speaker, sales training, selling, Top Sales Speaker, Uncategorized

The New Normal in Selling

What’s the new normal when it comes to developing business? This is not the old ‘ask a few questions, give your features and benefits and trial close’. The 70s wants their slick sales guy back. Today you need to be smart, curious and a true consultant to sell. Here are a few things that today are imperative in business growth.

1) Tell the prospect its OK to break up….Rejection is a result of trying to sell someone your product or service as opposed to tell them you what you are calling about, let them know it seems that because of what they do you could potentially work together, but (pull back) you don’t want to assume that you are a good fit. What you’d like to do is ask a few questions to see if the two of you are a fit and if not, we decide it’s a NO then we only wasted a few minutes? Sound OK?

This allows you to give a NO as an option right upfront. Then you have asked for it as opposed to a prospect pushing you away and that is the rejection.

2) Mining for customers is different today. Networking is the true key to finding and keeping customers but most people do it wrong. Networking events ate not for direct prospecting! Recognize this scenario?

“Hey do you guys use promotional products? here’s a sample, we can really help you!!”..” NO! Instead I say go to an event and look for Strategic Alliances, people that you can refer business back and forth to as opposed to hitting your potential prospects so hard. We all know building business on referrals is the best way to do business so lets network for good alliances that you can refer business to and that is a good source for your referrals.

3) Research should be used for credibility. Research is essential today before you pick up the phone and call anyone. No excuses! The most important reason to do your research on their web site, Google etc. is to create good, quality questions to ask them to engage your prospect in conversation and truly understand their needs not to tell them that you’ve researched their company and since they do this, we can sell you that…

4) If you need to discount to get the business is almost always a result of onof these things. a) The customer doesn’t truly trust you/your product or service so there is only price to use as a differentiator or b) you haven’t truly understood the need for the product. I know need seems simple but it isn’t.

What are they trying to say? What impression are they trying to leave, howdo they want to be seen? What are they using it for? There are lots of questions to not only understand what a prospect needs but the true deep-down ‘whys’. Asking questions will let you also gain credibility and trust but not Selling and truly asking and listening….

5) Listen and shut up!! Wow! If I could teach people that are in sales/business development to ask questions and listen there would be a lot more success in business!

Telling isn’t selling…but it comes from a good place. We are excited about what we represent and want other to be excited too but excitement doesn’t sell, questions and true engagement does.

Long ago we were taught to ask a few questions and when you hear a “ buying signal” jump in and tell them you can help with that and how. NO!

When you ask a question, wait for the answer and whatever the answer is, especially if it may be something your product or service can help with, the best next question is, “tell me about that”, then SHUT-UP!!!

Greta Schulz is President of SchulzBusiness, a sales Consulting and Training firm. She is a best selling author of “To Sell IS Not To Sell”. One of the Best Sales Speakers, She has a Second Edition “To Sell is Not To Sell” Out NOW

! For more information or free sales tips go to www.schulzbusiness.com and sign up for ‘GretaNomics’, a weekly video tip series or email sales questions to greta@schulzbusiness.com

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New Book, To Sell IS NOT To Sell, 2nd Edition!!

SELL NAKED/ Telling isn’t Selling!

January 18, 2016

Greta Schulz

B2B, Business, Sales, Sales Speaker, Top Sales Speaker

Jim arrived at the office of Bob Simmons, President of the ABC tool and Dye Company early so he could sit in the parking lot and review in his head what he wanted to say. Jim practiced each step of his presentation in his head and exactly what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. He knew that his power point slides were perfectly in order and were just want he needed to land this account. He knew what this company needed because he has called on other companies like this and helped them just like he can help this one. Jim took a deep breath and walked into the building, “I’ve got this one down” he thought and proceeded in the door.

Once the pleasantries were over Jim got right down to business. “Mr. Simmons, I have been with my company for the past 3 years and our company has been in business for over 50 years. We are the leader in our industry and have worked with lots of companies like yours and have been able to meet the needs that you have”.

“Well, that’s why I agreed to meet with you, Jim. We do have a need for a product like yours and this might be a good fit” stated Bob Simmons.

“I’m glad you did” Jim said proudly. “Our product line has the best reputation for least failures on the job therefore downtime is at the lowest in the industry which will keep you up and running more efficiently”.

“Great Jim, but our service department isn’t sure if they can retrofit your model into our existing equipment”.

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about that we do it all of the time and with companies who have bigger problems then yours. As a matter of fact I brought a power-point presentation that I believe will help you understand why we’re number one in the industry”.

After the presentation, Mr. Simmons said, “Thanks for the presentation Jim but I am still a little concerned about our existing equipment and the retrofit we’ll need to do. We can’t afford any downtime with the change or production could be compromised”.

“Mr. Simmons, I understand that is a concern but we do this all of the time and don’t worry we can handle it.”

Fifteen minutes later Jim said goodbye to Mr. Simmons and promised him a proposal in a few days. After he left, Mr. Simmons buzzed his assistant and said when that proposal comes in just round file it.

What happened? Jim ignored the real issue that Mr. Simmons wanted addressed and kept telling him what he felt was important. Guess what? No one cares what you think is important, only as it applies to them. Jim missed lots of opportunity to really deeply understand what his prospects issues were and assure him that not only he could solve the problem but help Mr. Simmons understand how.

The result? Jim may very well have the best product for Mr. Simmons but he didn’t see it that way. When a prospect gives you a hint of a need address that need by asking really good pointed questions for example;

Tell me more about the retrofit concern?

Have you had that issue in the past in looking to change products?

What happened?

What did you do it address it at that time?

How did it effect production and at what cost?

These types of questions would not only have given Jim a real insight to the issue it would have also given Mr. Simmons confidence that Jim knew and could address HIS issue.

Quick wrap up;

Stop telling about how great you and your company are (no one cares)
Ask what some of their concerns are and then dig deeper to truly understand the issue
Don’t be so quick with a solution, even it if is correct, you haven’t earned the right so early in the process to give one.
Listening is you best sales tool, not your product knowledge

Like this? Want some short weekly tips??

Click here for a list of great questions to ask!!

Don’t Take Shortcuts with your Sales

October 22, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Business, online sales training, Sales, Sales Speaker, Top Sales Speaker

Ryan, a software sales rep, had been having a rough day. He’d been bombarded with questions from several customers and had gotten behind on work that he needed to finish before the end of the day. Then he got a call from Wayne, a prospect who introduced himself by saying, “I’ve heard great things about your engineering software package. I saw a demo about a year ago, and was not in a position to purchase it at the time, but since then it’s become very apparent that I need to integrate it into my system.”

“Wow,” thought Ryan “This will be easy. It’s about time something went right today.”

Then Wayne said, “I need to know about the cost, the tech support and how soon it can be installed.”

Ryan immediately went into his pitch. He discussed tech support in detail, covered availability and other options, and explained that the price was $12,000 with 30-day terms.

Wayne’s response was unexpected. He said that $12,000 was quite a hefty price tag and he needed a couple of days to think about all of this more carefully. He’d call Ryan back next week.

Ryan did a double take. “What just happened?” he thought. “This sale was in the bag, a sure thing, he really needs it and now he’s thinking it over? He said he needed the software right away.” And that was the end of the call.

So what happened? Ryan got lazy, plain and simple. He thought Wayne was sold. All he had to do was give him the info he needed, then write it up. He got fooled into assuming the sale without doing the work. He never got Wayne to talk about why he was looking now with seemed now to be a real priority about buying the software. The entire transaction was conducted at the intellectual level without any real understanding of the true need.

So what happened? Ryan was lured into taking shortcuts. He mistakenly thought the prospect’s enthusiasm was as sure as a sale. No matter what, you need the time to qualify the prospect and make sure he’s real before giving out your information or making your presentation.

In Ryan’s case, a couple of questions would have made a world of difference. He might have said, “Before we discuss pricing, help me understand why this software is so important. I want to make sure the application is correct for you. Would you mind if I ask you a couple of questions?” Of course, you’re digging in to find out what is really going on. This is so important to gather before you discuss price so you can truly have an understanding of not only why they want the software but the consequence of not installing it.

Once you give away your information, whether on the phone, in a presentation or in the form of a proposal, you have given up any form of control and are literally at the mercy of the prospect.

Remember it’s not about the sale, it’s about the process.

What is Value?

September 7, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Sales

Business people standing with question mark on boards

You know when I ask that question in a group of people, I get lots of different answers. Most of the people in the room tell me things like ‘we give great customer service; we give people a very competitive price; we have knowledge that others don’t; we’ve been in the industry for a long time; we’ve always been rated number 1 or number 2 in our industry rating.’

It’s disturbing to me when a sales person says to a prospect, ‘we work with lots of clients like you’ or ‘we’ve worked in your industry for a long time and we’re specialists in that industry, so we know what you need.’ That is extremely presumptuous. And I think when you say that to someone, you are immediately putting him in the category of ‘there’s nothing special about you and your business is just like everyone else’s.’ The fact is that maybe that is true, but as soon as you make someone feel that way, it changes the consultation and immediately turns you into ‘just another sales person’.

There is actually only one answer to the question, ‘what value do you bring?’ And the answer is very simple – it depends. It depends on the perception of value from person that you are speaking to because value does not come from you. Value comes from the other person that you’re speaking to. This is why features and benefits selling doesn’t work anymore, because the benefit of a particular feature that you have may have nothing to do with what your prospect believes the benefit or value is to them. The receiver of the benefit will perceive it’s value. They will decide if it’s a benefit or not.

How do you get value? How do you understand what is valuable to another person?

You have to ask them some really good questions. For example, one question you might ask is, ‘what is your biggest challenge when it comes to ________? If you have success with a new product or service in that area, what would that success look like?

What would be the advantage if you could utilize a product or service that would allow you to ________?

The questions that we ask, number one, allow people to talk about what they deem is most important to them. Number two once they are telling you the points of importance you can then give back to them a “customized” solution that is based upon what they said they wanted. So what have you done here. Well not only have you truly listended to the prospects issues and concerns, you have come up with a solution based on those paerticluar needs as THEY see them, not you. So when someone asks what your ‘value’ is, or what makes you better then the next guy, don’t answer that question until you fully understand what they want. And even if you do understand, don’t answer it anyway, the information they tell you will deem much more valuable if they have told it to you and then from that information, you come up with a forgone conclusion.

Don’t Take Shortcuts in Sales

August 28, 2015

Greta Schulz

B2B, Sales

Tim, a software sales rep, had been having a rough day. He’d been bombarded with questions from several customers and had gotten behind on a proposal that he needed to finish before the end of the day. Then he got a call from Gene, a prospect who introduced himself by saying, “I’ve heard great things about your accounting software package. I saw a demo about a year ago, and was not in a position to purchase it at the time, but since then it’s become very apparent that I need to integrate it immediately into my system.”

“Wow,” thought Tim. “This will be easy. It’s about time something went right today.”

Then Gene said, “I need to know about pricing and availability. And tech support is important, too. Tell me how that works.”

Tim went into his pitch. He discussed tech support in detail, covered availability and other options, and explained that the price was $8000 with 30-day terms.

Gene’s response was unexpected. He said that $8000 was quite a hefty price tag and he needed a couple of days to consider the purchase more carefully. He’d call Tim back next week.

Tim did a double take. “What just happened?” he thought. “This sale was in the bag, a sure thing, and now he’s thinking it over? He said he needed the software right away.” And that was the end of the call.

Diagnosis: Tim got lazy, plain and simple. He thought Gene was sold. All he had to do was give Gene the info he needed, then write it up. He got conned into doing a presentation without getting Gene to demonstrate why he was so excited about buying the software. The entire transaction was conducted at the intellectual level.

Prescription: Don’t be lured into taking shortcuts. Don’t mistake the prospect’s enthusiasm for your product or service as a sure sale. Take the time to qualify the prospect and make sure he’s real before you make your presentation. In Tim’s case, a couple of quick questions would have made a world of difference. He might have said, “Before we discuss pricing, help me understand why this software is so important. I want to make sure the application is correct for you. Mind if I ask you a couple of questions?” Of course, you’re probing for pain and one of the most important things to find out is the financial impact of not implementing a solution. Having discovered the financial impact and, assuming it was significant, you will find that the cost of the solution disappears as an objection.

Don’t take shortcuts! Don’t assume anything. Get the prospect involved at an emotional, not an intellectual, level. Use the system, qualify completely, and get the sale.