Eight rules for regular sales success

Selling is the world’s most personal profession – but not in the way you might think. In fact, many salespeople are downright superstitious. For some, it’s the way they shake hands, others are fanatical about punctuality, wearing certain jewelry or using a favorite pen.
The list is almost endless. It may be the only time of day to call for an appointment, interpreting a customer’s body language, or what to order when having lunch with a prospect. Success is all about following a salesperson’s “personal rules.” Break the rules and something goes wrong.
While all such “personal preferences” are interesting and sometimes even helpful, there are certain “actions” that may reap far more robust sales results. Here are eight to think about:
• Every prospect isn’t a potential customer. “Reading” prospects correctly is essential to know how best to work with prospects, understand their needs and problems. The goal is not to “sell” the prospect, but to decide if, at some point, the prospect can or should become a customer.
• Invest in prospects. While salespeople talk about “building relationships,” their performance can tell quite a different story. Cultivating prospects isn’t limited to spending time with them or even learning more about their goals and problems, both of which are necessary.
Salespeople often miss what is always clear to prospects: prospects know you want their money. Most are not willing to say yes easily.
One way to help overcome what we call “the dollar doubt” is by investing in our prospects. And why not? We expect them to invest in us.
What should you do? It may be as basic as investing time in helping to solve a problem, conducting a test, creating a mock up or preparing a detailed report. If you do, you may pass the test. Later, you can talk about the prospect investing in you.
• Get relationships right. There are many salespeople who seem to believe that becoming friends with their customers is the best way to solidify a business relationship.
Yet, there are indications that point in a different direction; namely, that customers want to be treated like customers. Whether it’s Apple, FedEx, Staples, Amazon or Southwest Airlines, it’s the combination of competence and performance that creates enduring customer relationships. It’s the same for salespeople.
• Follow up faithfully. Salespeople seem to find it quite easy to make promises to customers and prospects, but their performance is something less than 100 percent.
“Poor follow up” is near the top of everyone’s list of mistakes salespeople make. It may do more damage than just about anything else. Why? Because customers never forget. “Yes, Don is a great guy, but his follow through leaves much to be desired. Just be prepared to remind him what he said he would do.”
Successeludes salespeople who are follow-up failures.
• Avoid the “hot potato” syndrome. If there’s a close second to not keeping promises, it’s gone missing after getting the order. Whether they’re conscious of it or not, customers are particularly sensitive to even infinitesimal changes in a salesperson’s behavior once the sale is made: “Will she be as attentive and responsive now that we’ve signed the contract?” or “Will he drop me like a hot potato now that I’m a customer?”
This is about just one thing: commitment. By making a purchase (the amount doesn’t really matter), customers make a concrete commitment, and they expect the salesperson to be equally committed.
• Shape the way you’re perceived. This has nothing to do with a salesperson’s wardrobe, car or favorite restaurant. But it has everything to do with the way an individual thinks, particularly a person’s knowledge and ability to identify and solve problems. In other words, it has everything to do with being authentic. The objective is to avoid sending a prospect or customer mixed or misleading messages about you. Such confusion eventually leads to doubt.
First impressions are permanent impressions.
• Always make it right. Granted, there are some customers who deliberately make it their mission to take advantage of salespeople. Yet, the adept salesperson can help avoid allowing such situations to become disasters by putting themselves in the customer’s situation.
To say that “issues” can arise is an understatement, so be prepared to make it right. The consultant sent an invoice to a new client, who called and said, “I thought it was going to be half of that.” A day later, the consultant responded, “I may not have made the price clear enough. What if we split the difference?”
Making it right is always a gain.
• Never get comfortable. A pervasive myth that circulates among salespeople (and others) suggests a time comes when we’ve “paid our dues” and we have a right to such rewards as more pay with less work, access to prestigious accounts, little or no prospecting, and, of course, “special treatment,” whatever that means.
Translated, this comes down to “the right to be comfortable.”
It’s a career killer because, inevitably, we begin to act as if the time has come to be comfortable.
In spite of what we may say or think, it’s actions that determine the salesperson’s destiny. •


John R. Graham of GrahamComm is a marketing and sales consultant.

No posts to display