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Larry, what do I do? His response: Refuse their
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compliments. You see, when you do not accept the
compliments, the debt still exists.
How do I do that, Larry?
Say to your prospect something like, If I were that
good, we would be doing business together. Or, If I
am going to be successful, I need to be better able to
communicate the benefits of my proposal to you. I am
sorry, but I don t deserve that compliment. He con-
tinued, Now, when you get a compliment and an
order, say Thank you very much. This one piece of
advice helped more in my sales career than dozens of
the books I read and seminars I attended. Don t let
your prospect off the psychological hook that easily.
What you want and need is business, not validation,
approval, acceptance, or appreciation.
Turn It Around
Create psychological debt through service.
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MISTAKE #51: Lacking a Precise
Call-Back Approach
Earlier I introduced the subject of failing to do the
essential follow-up (see Mistake #41). Over the years,
when I have followed up with a prospect who has been
considering my services, I have heard more often than
I can state, Thanks for getting back to me. I had
every intention of calling you, but have just been too
busy. Let s get this program rolling. Why don t sales-
people follow up? And what are the benefits of an
effective follow-up strategy? Taking the time to fol-
low up and having an effective follow-up strategy are
two critical issues that will determine the success of
salespeople. What are some more reasons salespeople
don t follow up?
1. They are too disorganized and are not even aware
that they should follow up.
2. They lack confidence in themselves or their
organization and its services or products.
3. They believe their competitors are going to get
the business anyway.
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If you are guilty of any of these, here are a few ideas
to consider for your next follow-up sales call:
1. Don t open with a closed-ended question like,
Have you made a decision yet? Instead ask,
Where are you in the decision process?
2. Don t ask, Did you get the information that I
sent? Instead try, What is your impression of
the information that I sent?
3. Don t ask, When can we get together to discuss
our next step? Instead suggest, Let s get togeth-
er next Monday to&
What, then, are the benefits of an effective follow-
up strategy?
1. You ll see increased sales.
2. You ll look more professional.
3. You ll beat the competition.
Turn It Around
Have an effective follow-up strategy.
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MISTAKE #52: Not Asking for Referrals
It is easier, less stressful, less costly, and less time-
consuming to sell to qualified referrals than to any
other source of prospects. It is amazing how many
salespeople fail to make asking for referrals a regular
part of their selling behavior. Getting referrals is not
rocket science. Although there are several methods to
generate referral business, the best way I know of is
to just ask.
I have surveyed my sales audiences for over twenty-
five years by asking them, How many would like to
have more referrals? I always get a unanimous show
of hands. My next question is, Why don t you have
them? and the answer is always, I don t ask.
Referrals can come from anywhere: customers, non-
competing salespeople or suppliers, friends, relatives,
your banker, or your neighbor.
There is no wrong time to ask for referrals. Many
salespeople feel that to ask for referrals from cus-
tomers, they must have first provided the service or
product in a satisfactory way. Why wait to ask? Every
minute you are not creating a referral-awareness in the
minds of your customers or other sources is one more
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minute your competitors might be one step ahead of
you.
Timing is important in selling. Every minute you
lose discovering a new prospect that will benefit from
your product or service brings you closer to missing
out on additional business.
Don t wait. There are several ways to generate
referrals. You can call, write, email, fax, or visit a cus-
tomer for the sole purpose of asking for referrals. Set
some specific goals to generate a certain number of
referrals every week for the next several weeks until
the habit is a permanent part of your regular selling
routine.
Turn It Around
Ask every customer and prospect for referrals.
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MISTAKE #53: Not Using a
Prospect Profile
Prospecting has two basic elements: identification and
qualification.
Identification is finding potential customers who
have the need, desire, and ability to pay for your prod-
ucts or services, the willingness to see you, and who
can either make the buying decision or contribute sig-
nificantly toward it.
Qualification is: a) the strategies used to determine
which of the prospects you have identified are the best
prospects in whom to invest your time, energy, and
resources, and b) discovering the information needed
to develop a sales strategy and approach that will
enable you to tailor your presentation to the needs,
desires, problems, concerns, and buying style of your
prospect.
If you sell a product or service to the general
consumer, the identification process can be a time-
consuming and difficult one. Of the thousands of peo-
ple you could see, which ones from a cursory first
look would make it past the qualification process?
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If you sell to the business community, health care
industry, government, or any other major business seg-
ment whether regionally, nationally, or globally the
identification process is as easy as perusing a directory,
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