Number one in why closing the deal is hard, is the fear of making a mistake by the prospect.Almost certainly because of negative buying experiences (theirs or others they’ve known) in the past, over which you could have no control, prospects are understandably conditioned to be suspicious, sceptical and wary of salespeople and sales approaches. They may like to buy, but they don't like to be SOLD TO. They are afraid of making a mistake. They are afraid of paying too much and finding it for sale cheaper somewhere else. They are afraid of being criticised by others for making the wrong buying decision. They are afraid of buying an inappropriate product and finding out laterthat they should have purchased something else. This fear of failure, of making a mistake in buying your product and thus looking foolish in the eyes of others, is the major reason why people object, hesitate and procrastinate on the buying decision. Eventually, they talk themselves out of it.
The next major obstacle to selling is the fear of rejection, of criticism and disapproval experienced by the salesperson. You work long and hard to prospect and cultivate a prospective buyer and you are very reluctant to say anything that might cause the prospect to object. You have a lot invested in each prospect and if you are not careful, you will find yourself being wishy-washy at the end of the sale, rather than risking incurring the displeasure of the prospect by your asking for a firm decision. Trying to be ‘too nice’ because you fear the losing sale or coming across as ‘pushy’, has it’s own disadvantages and you need to be bold and professional enough to ask the difficult questions so that you save yourself and the prospect a lot of time.
The next obstacle is that customers are busy and preoccupied. It isn't that they are not interested in enjoying the benefits of your product. It's just that they are overwhelmed with work and they find it difficult to make sufficient time available to think through your proposal and make an informed buying decision. And unfortunately, the better they are as a prospect, the busier they tend to be. This is why you need to maintain momentum throughout the sales process and gently push it to a conclusion at the appropriate time.
The factor of inertia is the final reason that can also cause the sales process to come to a halt without a resolution. Customers aren’t always proactive and are often quite comfortable doing what they are currently doing. They sometimes need prompting and reminding of a need they weren’t aware of. However, despite this, they might feel, your product or service may require that they make exceptional efforts to accommodate the change or a new way of doing things. They perhaps recognise that they would be better off with your product,/service but the trouble, logistics and expense of integrating/using it hardly seems to make it worth the effort. They see no pressing need or urgency to stop doing what they are doing and start doing something else with what you are selling.
The good news is that everybody you meet has bought and will buy new products and services from someone, at some time. If they didn't buy from you, they will buy from someone else. You must find the way to overcome the natural physical and psychological obstacles to buying and then hone your skills so that you are capable of selling to almost any qualified prospect you speak to.You must first recognise the normal fear of making a buying mistake experienced by the customer. Give them every reason possible you can think of to be confident in dealing with you.Second, accept that everyone you talk to is busy and you are interrupting. Always ask if this is a good time for him to give you his undivided attention. If not, arrange to see him another time.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
State of mind Vs Sales Ability
80 percent of success in selling is determined by attitude. Only 20 percent of it is determined by ability.A positive mindset, or a constructive and improvement-oriented way of looking at oneself and their work, goes hand in hand with sales success in every field and in every market. The cultivation of this attitude of optimism and enthusiasm is the springboard to greatness as a salesperson, no matter what is going on around you.The 20 percent of sales effectiveness that comes from product/service knowledge and professional selling skills are also important. It is only when a salesperson is thoroughly knowledgeable about what they are selling and skilful in their ability to present it effectively that they develop the confidence upon which a positive mental attitude is based.
How we think and where we direct our focus determines the quality of our lives. If we improve the quality of our thinking and learn to control our focus, in any area, we improve the quality of our lives in that area. By using your mind, your ability to think, you become someone in control of situations rather than a victim. You move from being powerless and aimless to being powerful and purposeful. You determine everything that happens to you by the way you think about it, in advance. Ultimately, you become what you think about.
Top salespeople have an abundance mindset – they think 'if someone doesn’t buy from me, there are plenty others that will'. They also are calm, because they are focused on a settled purpose, which moves them emotionally to overcome difficulties that would frustrate and defeat most people. They are therefore confident, positive and have high, but realistic expectations. They feel good about themselves and they have absolute faith that everything they are doing is contributing toward their inevitable success. They may not necessarily enjoy doing the difficult things like: prospecting/cold-calling, asking difficult closing questions, risking persistent failure over and over again. However, what sets them apart from the 80 percent who struggle is that they force themselves to do these things because they are prerequisites to being successful and their settled purpose is far more important to them than avoiding short –term failure, setback and discomfort.When this attitude is truly internalised, what will happen is that you will start to feel relaxed and happy about your career and for the potential for great things to happen. You’ll KNOW you are truly good at selling, not ‘like to think you’re good’ and your clients will notice this too. You must have a settled purpose, a goal that moves you EMOTIONALLY that you are willing to do and experience the uncomfortable in order to succeed. Without this you will not summon up the will to persist when the inevitable difficulties occur.
You must also begin to take complete control of your focus and direct it in positive, constructive ways, by becoming solution-oriented with every difficulty and setback. When you find your will sapping away after yet another ‘no’, you MUST ask yourself (do these out loud if possible) a question, and a solution-focused one such as: “What can and will be done better?” “What do I need/am I going to do to change things?” Notice how the wordings of the questions are in either PRESENT or FUTURE TENSE. This is crucial. A good question, focuses on the current and future situation, NOT retrospectively e.g. “why did he/she say no?” “Why was he rude to me?” etc. Look to learn from every call and see them as opportunities to improve and get progressively better. Hold this mindset, the focus and hunger before you. And that’s when the big commissions might just start coming in!
How we think and where we direct our focus determines the quality of our lives. If we improve the quality of our thinking and learn to control our focus, in any area, we improve the quality of our lives in that area. By using your mind, your ability to think, you become someone in control of situations rather than a victim. You move from being powerless and aimless to being powerful and purposeful. You determine everything that happens to you by the way you think about it, in advance. Ultimately, you become what you think about.
Top salespeople have an abundance mindset – they think 'if someone doesn’t buy from me, there are plenty others that will'. They also are calm, because they are focused on a settled purpose, which moves them emotionally to overcome difficulties that would frustrate and defeat most people. They are therefore confident, positive and have high, but realistic expectations. They feel good about themselves and they have absolute faith that everything they are doing is contributing toward their inevitable success. They may not necessarily enjoy doing the difficult things like: prospecting/cold-calling, asking difficult closing questions, risking persistent failure over and over again. However, what sets them apart from the 80 percent who struggle is that they force themselves to do these things because they are prerequisites to being successful and their settled purpose is far more important to them than avoiding short –term failure, setback and discomfort.When this attitude is truly internalised, what will happen is that you will start to feel relaxed and happy about your career and for the potential for great things to happen. You’ll KNOW you are truly good at selling, not ‘like to think you’re good’ and your clients will notice this too. You must have a settled purpose, a goal that moves you EMOTIONALLY that you are willing to do and experience the uncomfortable in order to succeed. Without this you will not summon up the will to persist when the inevitable difficulties occur.
You must also begin to take complete control of your focus and direct it in positive, constructive ways, by becoming solution-oriented with every difficulty and setback. When you find your will sapping away after yet another ‘no’, you MUST ask yourself (do these out loud if possible) a question, and a solution-focused one such as: “What can and will be done better?” “What do I need/am I going to do to change things?” Notice how the wordings of the questions are in either PRESENT or FUTURE TENSE. This is crucial. A good question, focuses on the current and future situation, NOT retrospectively e.g. “why did he/she say no?” “Why was he rude to me?” etc. Look to learn from every call and see them as opportunities to improve and get progressively better. Hold this mindset, the focus and hunger before you. And that’s when the big commissions might just start coming in!
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