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My Prospect Has Been Using Other Product For Years – Doesn’t Know What We Can Do. March 3, 2009

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Establishing Value, General, Identifying Needs, Objections, Prospecting, Stalled Sales.
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Our seller says: My prospect has been using our competitors products for years. It is so ingrained they don’t even know if or how our product is better or worse. They just keep using the other product. They don’t seem interested in checking us out. Plus there are some people in the prospects company who give our product a bad reputation – usually because the product was used incorrectly (not the products fault).

Answer:

In a situation like this I suggest your first objective should be to find a ‘chink in the armour’ of your competitors products. It is silly to try and sell a product your prospect has no interest in.

Your first job is to try and stimulate some interest in your product. Not by bad-mouthing or criticising your competitor (or the prospects staff) but by probing to find out what could be better.

Example: Say to your prospect… “Okay. I understand you are happy with XYZ (competitor) product. That’s great because its a pretty good product. But look, if you were to change over to another product, what would you be looking for? What would you like in that product (or service) to be even better than what you’re getting now?

Also, you can probe the current level of satisfaction by asking specific questions based around your knowledge of the competitors product. is there one or two aspects that you know customers find difficult about that product? If so, ask specifically how that aspect is affecting your prospect.

Look for opportunities to establish that your product has some extra (or different) value to offer for your prospect.

My Customer Says Their Customers Won’t Buy Our Product – Even Though Their Competitors Sell Similar March 3, 2009

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Establishing Value, General, Identifying Needs, Objections, Prospecting, Stalled Sales.
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Our Seller Asks: My customer says he doesn’t think his customers will want to buy our products (which are a premium gourmet product). I’ve checked his competitors and they sell a rival brand to ours - results seem to be good. How do I get this customer to buy from me?

Answer:

Firstly we need to make sure we have fully understood the customers situation. Do we really understand his view of his local market area? Does he know what his customers want? Has he made this sort of decision before with other products and been proved correct (or not)?

Have we asked him: Is your decision not to stock more expensive products part of a strategy to stock low cost products (sort of like an everyday low prices policy?)

If we get to the point where he refuses to cooperate with our approaches and discussion, or where he flatly refuses to stock our product we can do three things.

(1) Let him know that we are sure the market will buy our products. We can cite competitior activity and maybe similar cases in other locations as proof.

(2) We ask him directly if that is his final decision, and let him know that we will be looking for other retailers (or distributors) in his area. So he may miss out on being the exclusive stockist.

(3) We stay in touch on a regular, but maybe not frequent, basis. We need to stay in touch in case something changes his mind. After all it is up to us to sell to him.

Help! My telephone script isn’t working! October 13, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Communication Skills, General, Identifying Needs, Prospecting, Sales Basics.
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Our Seller asks: We’ve been tweaking the script we use to try and get appointments. We’ve had someone else write one for us, but can you please review it to see if it can be improved.

Answer:

It’s always tricky trying to adjust a script without seeing and hearing how it is actually being used. But here are some of my suggestions.

(1) Ask questions softly, so you don’t create a negative defensive answer.

Example:

Instead of asking… “What aren’t you happy with in your current provider?”

Try… “If there was something about the service you get from your current provider that you could improve, what would that be?”

(2) Don’t sound patronising or condescending.

Repeating the clients major needs/comments (as they have told you during the conversation) is OK. But make sure it doesn’t sound condescending or simple-minded (and therefore salesy).

(3) Don’t blow your own horn too loudly.

I don’t like the line in your script that says… “With (our company) we can offer you world class service by addressing all your concerns.”

It sounds self-important and too salesy.

Try… “Based on what you’ve told me (about clients needs/concerns) we would approach your situation by offering/doing/trialling etc etc (insert your suggested services)”

(4) Don’t ask your prospect to agree to what they don’t understand.

Your script is structured to ask the client if they agree with how your services can help them. It includes questions you should ask like:

  • Do you think our service would help to improve your process in dealing with IT concerns?
  • Can you tell me what would be your greatest benefit in using (our company)?

The client shouldn’t be expected to know this. It is really putting them on the spot – and sounds very salesy.

In fact you – as the seller – should be clearly explaining to them how you can assist, and how they would benefit, removing any doubts they may have about the value you can provide.

(5) Don’t assume the sale until you know how the decision will be made.

Your script suggests using the ‘assumptive close’ method, whereby you proceed to ask for their commitment on the assumption they will want to go ahead.

I suggest that before you assume the sale, ask about the decsion making process, such as:

  • Are you under a contract with your current provider?
  • What’s involved in changing your provider?
  • How soon would you like the changeover to take place?
  • How do we move forward to make that happen?

I say this because you need to know how to close the sale for this client before you can actually ask for their commitment.

Client Commits to Try, But Nothing Happens July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Closing the Sale, Decision Makers, Establishing Value, Identifying Needs, Objections, Prospecting, Sales Basics, Stalled Sales.
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Our seller says: I visit a mine with a new product. The Maintenance Supervisor loves the product and asks about price and availability. He commits to running a trial or converting on next shut down. But nothing happens. He didn’t start the trial.

Answer: A number of factors might be at work in this situation.

  • Did the prospect really understand the value of using the new product?
  • Did the prospect need to get approval from someone else to install the new product?
  • How close is the prospect to the incumbent supplier?
  • Does the prospect have time to order and manage the new product vs using the same one as they have used before?

It is great that our seller managed to get the commitment. But more important is to maintain ongoing contact to ensure the trial actually goes ahead.

Maybe the seller should have confirmed othet details (as suggested above) to determine if other people are involved. Maybe further meetings are necessary to convince those other influencers.

Maybe it was simply a timing issue and the prospect was too busy to organize the new product to be installed. If so, is there something our seller can do to make sure the trial stays on track as planned?

These situations reinforce the need to fully explore the prospects situation using all the tools and techniques presented at Selling With Confidence. We don’t want to be caught out with a stalled sale after putting in all the hard work to get the original commitment to proceed.

Clients Don’t Know What They Want. July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Decision Makers, General, Identifying Needs, Prospecting, Sales Basics.
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Our seller says: It is difficult to get a sale when the client doesn’t know what they want.

Answer: Be careful not to waste your time on ‘maybe one day’ prospects. Find prospects who know what they want.

Or better… create a series of questions (as taught at Selling With Confidence) that will quickly identfy whether this prospect has potential for you – and whether you can help them.

Some prospects don’t know what they want because the buying situation is new. Or they aren’t sure how to make a decision. Or they don’t know what options are available.

These prospects may be good clients if they are ready to make  decision.

But many other prospects don’t know what they want because they are indecisive. Or they really just want to ‘look’ not to ‘buy’.

It’s OK to be nice to people and to help them out by providing answers and information. That is part of selling.

But make sure you aren’t wasting time on prospects who will never buy.

People Want Cheaper Services Than We Provide. July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Establishing Value, General, Price, Relationships, Sales Basics.
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Our seller says: I find that a large number of people call our office looking for free or cheaper services than we provide.

OK – first up let me say, in this case we must assume the prices for services provided are at a fair market rate for what they are.

When prospects are calling you for the first time your job is to qualify them. Will they be a good client for you? Do you have your qualifying factors pre-arranged? (This technique is covered during the Selling With Confidence workshop)

Then you can ask a few questions to try and quickly establish whether they will be a good fit for you. Such as:

  • Do they have a problem you can solve?
  • Do they want your ‘level’ of help?
  • What do they expect to pay?

If the people calling you want cheaper or free services, think about this…

  • What is your marketing message saying to create this expectation?
  • Do you want to waste your time talking to them if they wont be buying?
  • How can you quickly sort out those who are serious?

Don’t waste your time on people who are not a good fit and will never make a good client.

Seriously… suggest they go to another provider who is better suited, or send them to your competitors!

Customer is Waiting for Finance. What Can I Do? July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Closing the Sale, Establishing Value, Objections, Sales Basics, Stalled Sales.
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Our seller says: My customer is looking for a new machine and I have convinced him mine is the best one for his needs. However he is waiting to sell a car before he can buy the machine. He doesnt want to finance the purchase. It has been several weeks and I have not progressed any further. I have no idea how to move it along.

Answer: This is a tricky situation as the client has expressed a desire to buy, and has openly expalined how he will be paying for it. But this sale may still not be finalized. If we cant get closure soon the client may not end up buying.

  • He may not be able to sell the car.
  • He may not get the price he wanted for the car.
  • He may decide to stick with what they have now, and not buy the new machine.
  • A competitor may gain influence over the prospect.

During the Situation and Opportunity Question phases of the sale (this is taught at Selling With Confidence) you should have found out things such as:

  • The reason for buying the new machine.
  • The impact on the clients business.
  • The real value/benefit they will achieve from using the new machine.

So, you need to go back to the client and remind them of the real value they are delaying by not finalizing the purchase. Don’t push your own ideas… use the information they gave you about their situation and their benefits.

You should also have asked about how they would be financing the purchase – and be prepared for this sort of delay, hopefully avoiding it from the start if possible by reminding the client of what they can achieve as soon as they start using the new machine.

However, this still may not get action. The client may insist on waiting to sell the car before buying the machine.

Rather than pushing the client too much and risk losing the sale altogether, a better approach would be to set a time frame for follow up and make sure you stay very close to the client until the purchase is finalized.

My Prospect Gets Bored and Doesnt Want to Answer. July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Closing the Sale, Identifying Needs, Prospecting, Stalled Sales.
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This graduate asks: I meet my prospects and don’t have a problem asking them Situation Questions and can quickly build a conversation this way. But when I try to identify problems or opportunities (trying to establish the value of their problem), my prospect isn’t interested and the conversation dies. What can I do?

Answer: This seller is doing a good job of getting to meet new prospects and opening up the conversation. But then the prospect gets bored. Why is the prospect bored? I say its because the product being sold is more of a commodity – and is not interesting for the prospect to think about (In this case the product is a specialty hand cleaning product for industrial use.)

In a situation like this you need to get to the point. FAST! You don’t want the prospect to get bored and shutdown before you are finished getting your answers, or getting a commitment to buy or try.

So, I suggest still using your Situation Questions to find out what they are now using, how much they are using, where do they buy it from etc etc.

Then… before the prospect gets that “I’m so bored” look in their eyes… switch to asking for the order. That’s right, jump ahead and admit that your product isn’t real exciting. Empathise with your prospect.

Say… “I know I can get excited about this product. That’s what I focus on. I know how good it really is. But I realize it must be pretty boring for you. So let me get to the point.”

And then say something like…

“What can I do to get an order from you today?” , or

“What do I have to do to get you to order a trial quantity?” , or

“How can I be part of your next order?”

And if they still don’t want to place an order, create an opportunity to leave a sample. Saying something like…

“OK. I understand you wont be ordering now. But I know how good this product is. And I’m sure you’ll like it much better than what you’re using now. So how about I leave you with a sample for your team to use.”

The bottom line is… never let your prospects gets so bored they want to get rid of you. Keep an eye out for the signs of boredom and then quickly move the sale forward to reach a decision.

After initial consultation meeting the client does it on their own. June 30, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Establishing Value, General, Identifying Needs, Presentations, Prospecting, Sales Basics, Stalled Sales.
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The seller asks: “After spending a number of hours in very positive, healthy discussion, consultation and demonstration, the prospect decided to go it on their own – without using our services. What went wrong?”

This sounds like a classic case of the seller giving away ‘unpaid consulting time’.

Service professionals (such as consultants and professional advisors) often fall into the trap of giving prospects all the information they need to solve the problem during the first meeting. They make it look easy.

Whilst this may seem sensible to the consultant – they have seen the same situation before and can quickly diagnose the problem – it undermines their ability to actually sell their professional services.

Many prospects will not recognise the experience required on behalf of the consultant to explore, evaluate, identify and recommend solutions. They will just see the consultant come up with a ‘quick answer’.

Surely that answer can’t be very valuable if the consultant thought of it just sitting there during the sales meeting? (Or so the prospect may think.)

This is why successful consultants have a process they take their prospect through. So the client can see the complexity of their situation, and recognise the fact that they can’t handle/resolve the situation themselves. Otherwise they wouldn’t have called in the consultant in the first place.

Of course I am not advocating making the situation more complex than it is. Or overselling a solution. It is simply a matter of making sure you can demonstrate the real value you are offering – as an expert in your field.

How do you achieve this? Create a series of questions like the one taught at Selling With Confidence that will give you the knowledge you need to make a powerful presentation to each client.

Clients hesitate to commit when I explain fees. June 30, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Closing the Sale, Establishing Value, Objections, Price, Sales Basics.
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“At the end of a meeting with a client, when fees have been explained, they seem hesitant to commit. What should I do?”

Asking for a commitment should be a seamless transition from the preceding discussion, to the beginning of the implementation/delivery phase.

If clients hesitate to commit then you need to ask yourself:

  • Did I focus on presenting relevant value for the client?
  • Did I identify and remove likely objections?
  • Was I speaking with the decision maker?
  • Did I pro actively create trust?
  • Did I confirm the budget available, and the clients expectations of cost?
  • Did I expect to get a suitable level of commitment?

The most likely causes of lack of commitment is often the first and last points above.

Relevant Value

Did I find the most important factors for the client, and ensure the benefits I spoke about were focused on those factors? Too often sellers talk generally about a variety of factors that ‘may’ be valued by their prospect/client.

Don’t guess at what your prospect might think is important.

And don’t confuse your prospect by introducing a range of luke-warm benefits you think ‘may’ be of interest. This only waters down the value of the true benefits, diminishing their value in the eyes of your prospect.

Ask the right questions to zero-in on what is really driving their decision.

Suitable Commitment

What did you expect the outcome to be? Immediate agreement, approval to submit a proposal, arranging a meeting with other decision-makers, running a trial?

Was this a likely outcome to be expected by your prospect?

Sometimes we , as sellers, can expect too much from a sales discussion. For complex situations, or when multiple decision makers are involved, we need to carefully map out the series of discussions we will need to undertake.

It can be helpful to discuss that discussion map with your client during the initial meeting.

Jumping the gun and expecting too much from your prospect can make you look unprofessional, naive, or overly pushy.