I could have used this post last week. :) Learn how to ask the right questions that will help you complete each sale like a star. Typically, when I talk with my students on a one-to-one basis, they ask me a lot of questions about how to close sales. That's to be expected because it's the positive end result all salespeople seek in any contact with potential clients. In most situations where sales aren't closed, it's usually because the salesperson didn't ask the right question. In all my training, you'll hear it repeated over and over that every answer you need to get in order to meet someone, qualify them as to their needs, get permission to give a presentation or close a sale will come to you if you only ask the right questions. Sometimes, it's not just the question that matters, but how it's presented. You may have to set the stage or tell a story leading up to the question that helps the client rationalize the buying decision. No matter how good your lead in or story is, however, you won't get the sale if you don't ask for it. Let me give you a few closes that have proven successful for ...

Here are eight steps to make your software sales calls more effective: Before the Call STEP 1. Rethink your role. A software sales call is not an opportunity to “pitch” – a monolog that attempts to convince a customer to buy. Instead, a software sales call is a rapport-building dialog between the right salesperson and the right customer. The subject matter of the call should be how your software can address key business issues – not the software and its features and functions. STEP 2. Do your homework. You’ll never understand – or be able to articulate – your prospect’s business problems unless you do your homework. Before each sales call, learn everything that you can about the potential customer. There is a wealth of information available on the Internet about virtually every company. Here’s a rule of thumb: you should never have to ask the customer a question that’s answered somewhere else. STEP 3. Create an agenda. An agenda positions you not as a salesperson asking for a sale but as a consultant or advisor. This is particularly important for software sales situations, because software sales always deal with business solutions and opportunities. This allows you to credibly position yourself as much more ...

"Start seeing your customers through their eyes instead of having a one-size-fits-all strategy," says Debbie Allen, international professional speaker, author and president of Allen and Associates Consulting. "People like to be treated differently." How do you diversify your selling strategies? Allen provides some tips. Develop a stronger customer focus. What are the buying influences of different genders or age groups? Before you speak with your next customer, do some research. Learn the buying triggers by reading their publications and watching their TV shows. Then listen and pay attention to them. Develop a strong understanding of different genders. What's important to women versus men? "Women want to build trust and a relationship first," says Allen. "Trigger things that touch women's emotions. Make a connection. Take it slow and nurture the sale. Don't go for the close too soon." On the other hand, says Allen, men want to know that you're the expert. "Men want the details so talk about features," says Allen. "Men are also very mission oriented." Develop a strong understanding of different generations. "If you are communicating with different generations, you've got to know how they communicate," says Allen. "There's nothing wrong with asking them. For example, doing business with the senior market ...

Of course price is important to buyers, but if your product isn’t the cheapest on the market there are ways of getting around the price objection. The next time you hear your price is too high, use one of these strategies to prove that you and your product are worth it. Determine needs to establish value. The better you know your prospect’s needs, the better you can explain how your product will meet those needs. Address price objections at the end of the presentation, after you have already discussed needs, value and benefits. To tackle the price issue effectively, remember to view it from your buyer’s perspective. When the price objection comes up early in the call, you can try to postpone answering it by saying, “I appreciate your concern about price, and I assure you we will discuss it completely, but before we do I’d like to be sure my service meets your needs.” Example: “Can we review for a moment why this is the best choice for you? First, you will have higher productivity. Second, it will save you $75 per hour in service. Third, you will have our three-year warranty. Doesn’t that cover all of your needs?” Use the lowest common ...

Exceptional sales professionals do the opposite of what most professionals do -- and often break the rules of traditional selling to achieve their success. I have devoted 25 years to studying what top sales professionals and their leadership teams do to achieve exceptional levels of success, answering some key questions about what makes them so extraordinary at what they do. How do they develop such strong relationships, how do they build trust and convey the value of their products and services in a way that builds credibility and allows them to avoid last minute pressures on price? by paul goyette One of the most interesting characteristics of exceptional sales professionals is that they often are doing the opposite of what most sales people are doing. The encouraging news is that while their behavior may be different than we expect, it's not super-human or destined for a select few. Furthermore, it's not rocket science and it can be learned. Let's start with two examples of how exceptional sales pros break the rules of traditional selling and achieve success. Exceptional sales professionals... Protect their customer's self-esteem. Many salespeople are unknowingly caught up in a conventional sales approach and inadvertently end up self-sabotaging their best efforts by trying to impress ...

As I had mentioned in the previous post The Matrix: Lessons in sales, I recently had something short of an epiphany while having a conversation with my boss. The conversation reminded me of the scene in The Matrix where Neo was sitting in the room with Morpheus for the first time. Walking away from the discussion I started really thinking about 'who' I am at work and not so much with 'what' I do at work. I've always been an overachiever but walked a line that kept me from being all I could be. I had a conversation with a friend of mine that pointed me in the direction of a book called Strengths Finder 2.0. I ordered the book from Amazon and was eager to get the results. The book is based around an online test of approx 75-100 questions that took about 20-30 minutes for me to complete. The answers to the multiple choice questions were going to identify my top 5 talents and explain where my strengths are. Once the test was done the answers were calculated and the results were given to me. My Strengths Achiever Maximizer Relator Focus Self-Assurance Out of 34 "themes" a person could fall into, these were identified at ...

Finding new customers every month is just the name of the game in sales. One of the best ways to go about this is understanding trigger events and how they apply to your industry. Trigger events are specific events in a company that are key drivers for buying or not buying products and services. By asking the right questions you should know fairly quickly if you have an opportunity or not. Now getting a sale is another story but at least you know that if a company meets specific criteria then they are worth spending some quality time with. photo credit: pfala Consider that salespeople require answers to these fundamental questions: How am I going to find my next customer? How can I differentiate prospects from suspects? Can I avoid the uncertainty and inefficiency of cold calling? How can I determine my customer’s needs and wants without assuming? How can I know if my customer is ready to buy? How can I get to presentation and closing faster? Salesopedia has a good article that explains this a bet ...

Drew Stevens PhD knows how to dramatically accelerate your business growth. He recently wrote an article that other sales professionals should read. A growing concern for many sales and marketing managers is optimization of sales leads. Each year selling professional's get a plethora of business development leads unfortunately unearthing less than 47 percent. Worse, over 50% remain dormant. Managers postulate but to no avail. The numbers barely move. In recent research for this article, several clients utilize the Internet for sales leads with less than 5 percent reaching closure. To develop and optimize a productive lead generation program sales and marketing leaders must formulate a B2B strategic plan. The following information is meant initiate dialogue. Content is King. Since the dawn of the Internet information has proliferated our society. Present clients obtain more information about your organization then you realize. Press releases, news stories, earnings even advertisements all provide analysis of the organization. When a lead finally does reach a selling professional, research illustrates that 87% of selling professionals reiterate known content. Solution Sales and marketing must formulate strategic client questions that provide client value. Rather than rehash features and claims, new leads are taken through an analysis to better understand needs. An ...

Everyone has experienced the sales blues, when everything seems perfect and you are confident the sale is going to close until you hear the words, "sorry, we're going ahead with someone else." It is important that we take the emotion out of the sales loss and learn something for it, in order to learn from our mistakes and create more successful closes in the future. Always remember that you cannot always control what happened to close the lost sale, but you can chose your response. The success of your sales future is made by these choices, it is important that you make the right ones. photo credit: gerwitz When you've lost a sale, it is good to go through the following steps: 1)Be a hero-try with lots of digging to save the sale, if possible until you've determined that the deal is dead. Amazingly, studies indicate that 75% of deals lost can be resurrected if the salesperson will continue to be upbeat and persistant. 2)Find out why. This information is essential because it can help you get better and make the loss give you a return on investment for your future deals. Be direct with the customer and ask: "What could I have done ...

Although having a successful business sounds great, it is not for everyone. Some people lack the necessary traits to run their own business. You don’t have to be particularly smart to have your own business, but you need certain other qualities. Following is a list of the 7 traits of success that most business owners possess. photo credit: shlomp-a-plompa 1. Motivation. You have to be motivated to be successful. Most successful individuals are driven to succeed and make money. They feel a need to do more and become better. 2. Competitive Nature. Almost all successful entrepreneurs are competitive. They want to be among the biggest, best, and most successful. Being just average is not good enough. 3. Self starter. There is no one standing over you with a whip when you have your own business. You have to work long hard hours, particularly when you are just starting out. Successful business owners know what has to be done and they do it, no matter how long it takes. 4. Decisive. Most entrepreneurs will quickly analyze a situation, decide on a course of action, and get to work. They don’t have the time or patience to research a situation for weeks before making a decision. 5. Optimistic. Most successful business owners ...