82. What is the sales process for a new customer presentation?
Do you know the difference between the two distinct types of selling?
The single call close is when you have one opportunity to make the sale. For example, home remodeling. In one 3 or 4 hour period you build rapport, present your product, overcome all the objections, close and leave with the check.
The multiple call close is when you may have to call on a potential account for weeks, or even months, before you are able to build rapport and present your products.
They are two very different types of selling. If you apply the principles of the single call close in a multiply call situation, you will be perceived as "pushy." If you apply the principles of the multiply call close in a single call situation you will starve to death.
If you follow this process to the letter - you will open more new business than you can handle.
You will make more money for you and your family - you will be recognized at the sales meetings - you will win the contest - and you will get your sales manager off your case.
New business is the life of your business. There is no faster way to exceed your sales plan than to aggressively go after new accounts.
If you are having difficulty getting new business it will ALWAYS BE DUE TO ONE OR MORE OF FIVE REASONS.
Learn what they are - work with them - and you will reach your goal.
The sale MUST be made in five steps.
Jump ahead - skip a step - and you will not make the sale.
As I said, if you apply the PRINCIPLES of the single call close to a multiply call close situation you will be perceived as too aggressive and visa versa.
However, the PROCESS is the same.
Here is the PROCESS - THE FIVE STEPS YOU MUST TAKE.
1. YOU MUST SELL YOURSELF FIRST.
As a buyer - if I don't like YOU - I don't care how low your price is - I don't care how well known your company is - I don't care what products you sell. If I don't like you I will not buy from you.
How do you sell yourself?
You have to express more interest in the buyer than anyone ever has. You have to be more interested in them than their own mother. You have to research their business. Find out what their goals and objectives are. Find out what they do in their spare time. Learn the name of their kids and their dog. Find out what their hobbies are. Find out how long they have been in business - how did they get started - what challenges did they have to overcome to reach the level of success they now have.
Until the potential customer feels comfortable with you, don't make the mistake of jumping ahead to the next step. Any attempt to sell a person who is not sold on you first will end in failure and frustration.
This first step may be accomplished in 15 minutes or 15 weeks.
Lets take a lesson from our friends in the car business. If a customer enters the show room and the sales person has not built rapport WITHIN FIFTEEN MINUTES the sales person will pass the customer over to someone else. They know a car will never be sold unless they make it past the first step.
Here are two perfect example of something that happened to me this year - one at a restaurant - one at a store.
My wife and I stopped to have breakfast a few days before Thanksgiving at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. The waitress asked us if we were having company over for Thanksgiving dinner. We said we were having a only few people over. She then suggested that we bring them to the Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving and save all the work.
She did a perfect job of selling herself first by being interested in whether we were having company rather than simply trying to jump into her pitch about their holiday dinner. It only took her about 15 seconds.
Here is the second example.
I really enjoy a fireplace - but I hate to clean it up and take care of the wood. I stopped at a gas company to ask about a gas burning log they were advertising. As the sales person approached he asked if I had been to Alaska. I didn't realize I was wearing a shirt I had bought while working doing a sales seminar in Alaska. I said yes and for fifteen minutes he asked me questions about my trip.
I was thinking to myself that I really like this guy - he is actually interested in my trip. He sold himself long before we ever started to discuss the benefits of a gas fireplace.
Remember, no one will pay you a penny to listen to your sales pitch. However, consultants are paid thousands of dollars to ask questions.
Don't go into a potential new account and try to sell your company or products until you sell yourself.
2. SELL YOUR COMPANY.
Don't bypass this second step by assuming the prospect knows all about your company. For the prospect to even consider buying from you he or she has to weigh your company against your competitor. They have to make a comparison. They have to know the things that make you different. They need solid facts, not fiction.
Instead of asking, "Are you familiar with our company?" ask, "Do you know much about our company?" Even if your prospects are familiar with your company, they usually don't know much about it. Now you have the opportunity to tell them.
You must be like a lawyer presenting your case to the jury. Don't build your presentation on weak points.
Here you can take a lesson from the folks who sell software. Look on any software box and you will see a "grid." You will see a list of features along the left column. On the top you will see the names of their competitors. By going over this comparison list the potential customer will be presented FACTS AND PROOF that will help them make the decision you want hear.
Never use statements like "we are the biggest" or "we are the best." As soon as you blurt out one of these over used phrases you have immediately unsold yourself. They are thinking, "says who?"
Make a list of at least 20 things you and your company will do for this person once a mutually beneficial program is put together.
3. SELL YOUR PRODUCTS.
Never fall into the trap of giving a price on something when you are in step one or two. Your prospect will probably ask for a price on a specific item. Don't give it to them. Tell them you don't know the price. Tell them you must first learn about their business. You must look at the overall picture. Present your products as solutions to their problems. Always have examples and success stories of other customers who are successfully using your product line.
4. PRESENT YOUR PRICING.
After you have asked a dozen questions and the time has come to suggest products, don't fall into the price trap. If you are more expensive be prepared to JUSTIFY RATHER THAN IMMEDIATELY DISCOUNT.
If your prices are slightly higher than your competitor FIND OUT WHY. What are they leaving out or putting in that is changing the value.
This is the point where you need to know how to negotiate. All buyers want to feel good about making a purchase or changing vendors. You must know how to make them feel good about their decision to change.
5. THE TIMING IS NOT RIGHT.
If you have done a good job of going through the first four steps and the prospect says the timing is not right - then the timing is not right. Find out what their time frame is. Ask for a specific date and time for you to call them back. Don't leave without a follow up plan. If you have NOT done a good job of going through the first four steps THE TIMING WILL NEVER BE RIGHT.
Comments:
I think # 1 is probably the most important of the steps. I guess that stands to reason, if you can’t accomplish that one the other points are moot. IF you can accomplish it the others will follow, all the way down to # 5. Sometimes you get a “no” that isn’t really a “no”, its more like a “wait a minute”. It can be frustrating but it is a good idea not to push too hard here.
I have know particular reps at the company I have worked for who spent YEARS getting into an account. They had plenty of time to work on # 1 thru # 4 and all it cost them was a little time. They also established a sense of familiarity and trust that led to those particular accounts being very profitable once they came on board.
Chris Chase
I definitely need to be reminded about the sales process from time to time. It seems like I sometimes skip around and miss steps just to get to the point. I just get excited about the possibility of a new account that I miss things, but I guess this is all a part of being in a sales profession.
Jason Kirouac
I don’t believe I ever looked at it as two types of sales calls, single call and the ‘farming–planting those seeds’ calls. And thank you for taking all those parts of a sales call and placing them in five basic parts of a call. WOW! Those five steps in their right order is what you have to do to make the sales happen.
David Vize
I think, by far, that selling yourself is the most important step. If you are liked you are given more opportunities, more leeway on details of the sale and tolerance for mistakes. I once worked a customer very hard but got nowhere until I realized we had a mutual friend. The door opened and the customer’s whole demeanor changed. We had more to talk about and the customer had received a good reference on me. The same thing happened with another customer when I discovered we had the same hobby. Quite a change. These are immediate changes but people can slowly grow to like and trust you over the years after doing business with you. This is the kind of relationship that all salespeople should strive for.
Crocker Smith
When listing the 5 steps, it seems so rigid, but when you read each of the steps in the process of your presentation, it really makes sense, and with a little planning, your prospect won’t even realize that you are following them. Instead, they will come out of the call feeling like they just had a really productive conversation with a person/company that is truly interested in helping their business.
Laura J. Czajka
If you cannot sell yourself you it would be very difficult to be a successful sales person. The customer has to buy into you before they buy into what you are offering. If they don’t like you, then you are out the door before you can even present anything.
Next step is Sell Your Company. Very important. Need to have the client understanding how great and wonderful your company is before you even present anything else.
Sell Product: Time to let them know why you are there and what you are able to offer. Also at this point very important to listen to the companies needs are. ****In all steps you have to listen to what their needs are.
Pricing: Need to be competitive, but by this time you usually have them understanding you are better than everybody else and whatever rate you are quoting you have to make them realize that Ambassador is worth it. Believe in your product.
Not Right time: Ask when the right time is. Hopefully by this point in the process you will understand their needs and make another appointment to come back when they are ready. Follow up!!
Danah Parmley
This is one of those lessons that I might need to review from time to time. To remind me, all potential accounts you walk into are different but the 5 basic steps remain the same. I think the most important one to remember was " if the timing isn't right then the timing isn't right". Wow have I seen that one mishandled.
Dominick Yarnal
"There is no faster way to exceed your sales plan than to aggressively go after new accounts."