Tag Archives: Business

Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching – 3 Ways to Simplify the Solution

Selling services can be confusing and complicated for the potential buyer. It’s a simple truth that a confused buyer will not buy. They can’t make a “yes” buying decision because they aren’t sure what they’re saying “yes” to, and the long-term implications of that “yes” decision.

Combine the complexity of the prospects circumstances with the sophisticated available choices, and a prospect is likely to throw their hands in the air in utter confusion. That means you have to take the complex and sophisticated and guide the prospect through a process that makes it easy for them to understand so they can make a decision. You’re job is much less about “selling” than it is about being the trusted advisor/advocate that the client needs.

There are 3 ways you can make things easier for the prospect to make a “yes” decision. And when you incorporate all three ways into the sales conversation you’ll have a mutually engaging highly productive sales conversation. These three ways address the learning styles of your prospects.

People are dominant in one learning style: visual learning, auditory learning, and kinesthetic learning. No big news flash there we’ve known this for a very long time yet many salespeople act as though they’ve never heard about this by the way they hold a sales conversation. For the visual learners use flow charts, tables/graphs, and pictures to demonstrate similarities/differences and consequences/benefits between the best three options for the prospect. You can simplify things for the auditory prospect by relating stories, providing lots of examples, using analogies all to simplify what you’re telling them. And for the kinesthetic prospect it’s important to get them physically engaged in the process perhaps having them write things down, arrange or rearrange options, even stacking options they like/dislike.

And what’s happening when you’re using these different approaches to simplifying the available options? You’re engaging and involving the prospect in the sales conversation. You’re getting them to open up and share their thoughts. You’re getting them to make small “yes” decisions. And you’re helping them to persuade themselves that the decisions they’re making are the right decisions. You’re coming to a mutual conclusion that benefits both you and the prospect. How easy was that?

Enjoy the time and financial freedom you deserve: “7 Secrets Top Producers Know that You Can Put to Use in the Next 9 Days” [http://increasesalescoach.com/]

Get a daily boost to increase your sales: the blog for Top Producers and Future Top Producers [http://increasesalescoach.com/blog]

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/980053

Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching – 3 Skills to Focus On

A sales professional’s success is determined by your willingness to invest in yourself. There are two areas for personal development that most will invest in, and one area only Top Producers invest in. Those who aren’t Top Producers never even think to invest in themselves in this way.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t invest in all three areas because you should. The two areas you’re familiar with are self-improvement and sales process training. The area you may not be so familiar with is customer focus.

Self-improvement development is designed to help you to increase your personal productivity, enthusiasm, and energy level. Yes, you need to be focused on doing the things that directly lead to business with enthusiasm for what you have to offer and with an energy level that reflects your commitment. Salespeople who are lacking in these areas tend to be very busy doing lots of “things”, but have little production to show for their efforts.

Sales training development is essential. There’s no question you need the skills to prospect, present, overcome stalls and objections, and close the sale. Without proficiency in these key sales skills you struggle only landing the occasional easy sale.

Client focus development is the critical difference between the average salesperson and the Top Producer. When you’ve developed your client focus skills you’re able to: clearly understand the clients goals and get the client to openly share those goals with you, you’re able to work with the client to develop a plan for the accomplishment of those goals in a mutually engaging on-going conversation, and you’re able to develop a relationship with the client based on integrity and accountability leading to repeat business and referrals.

Enjoy the time and financial freedom you deserve: “7 Secrets Top Producers Know that You Can Put to Use in the Next 9 Days” [http://increasesalescoach.com/]

Get a daily boost to increase your sales: the blog for Top Producers and Future Top Producers [http://increasesalescoach.com/blog]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/980091

Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching – 9 Mistakes That Will Cause You to Fail

I work with and am friends with a number of financial advisors. In a recent conversation with a veteran in the business we discussed the main reasons new advisors don’t make it. Truthfully your odds of making it in the business are pretty slim if you just do what they tell you do to, but your actions determine your results and your future.

Lots of people enter the industry and only are rare few are still in the business after five years, and even fewer are successful. As we spoke we shared our experiences as to why so many people with so much potential fail from the perspective of the veteran who has seen people come and go like a revolving door, and the coach who works with the elite few who are committed to making it. By the end of our conversation we had a list of 9 mistakes those new to the business make that lead to their failure:

  1. you still have a wage earner mind-set and lack the entrepreneurial drive to make it work no matter what
  2. you think you’re selling products
  3. you don’t understand that it’s all about the relationships you’re able to start and build
  4. you lack focus, direction, and commitment causing you to get off track going in the wrong direction changing directions to chase the next great idea
  5. you think you’re different that you’re a super star, but you’re actions don’t back up your bravado
  6. you have a scarcity mentality and you’re afraid to invest in yourself to develop the skills you need to succeed
  7. you think you know what to do, but you don’t know how to do it
  8. you don’t know what you don’t know and you aren’t trying to figure out what you don’t know or how to know it
  9. you confuse activity with results and burn out with little to show for your tremendous efforts.

 

Did you recognize any of those fatal mistakes in yourself, or are you thinking you aren’t making those mistakes but you know others who are? I know the list is pretty harsh, but review it again and be harshly honest with yourself. If you aren’t headed where you want to be it’s pretty likely that one or more of those mistakes are getting in your way.

So what do you do if you confess that one of those mistakes is making things difficult for you? Congratulate yourself because the first step to removing any challenge or obstacle is recognizing it exists. You have the opportunity to both strengthen your sales skills and your sales results.

If you were sitting with a potential client and they identified a problem how would you proceed? Would you get them to identify all the problems or challenges they face, and then help them to prioritize the top three? After you agreed on the most important problems wouldn’t you help them to choose one of perhaps three solutions? Then wouldn’t you help them to take action(s) based on the selected solution? Hmmm, do you suppose that would work for you too?

Enjoy the time and financial freedom you deserve: “7 Secrets Top Producers Know that You Can Put to Use in the Next 9 Days” [http://increasesalescoach.com/]

Get a daily boost to increase your sales: the blog for Top Producers and Future Top Producers [http://increasesalescoach.com/blog]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Cheryl_Clausen/56791

 

Sales Coaching

Professional Sales Coaching – 5 Hidden Objections

You “hear” objections on a daily basis. The problem is the objections you “hear” are rarely the real objections that are preventing prospects from buying your solution. When you understand the five hidden objections you can proactively remove them.

The 5 hidden objections are based on human frailties:

 

  • Resistance to change
  • Lack of focus
  • Selective listening
  • Assumptions
  • Negative attitudes

 

No matter what the prospect tells you one of these is an underlying factor inhibiting you from moving forward. People don’t like to change unless there’s a powerfully motivating reason to do so, and fear of change or the need to be right even if being right is causing you harm keeps many prospects from being able to accept your solution.

Keep it simple sweetie when it comes to presenting your solution. If your solution can’t be succinctly and simply presented you’re losing sales because the client is getting lost in your story, and their attention is wandering. They’re confused and a confused prospect can’t make a “yes” decision.

You’re just as guilty of selective listening and assumptions as your prospects.

Selective listening is hearing what you want to hear, and then making assumptions about what you thought you heard to your advantage. If you keep your solution simple enough that the prospect can explain it back to you you’ll avoid the frustration of misunderstandings that damage your relationship.

Most people have a negative attitude even when they proclaim they don’t. That means that the whole time you’re talking about your solutions the prospect is thinking, “I can’t …this won’t work…this is too good…etc”. Accept that people are people and they will suffer from one or all 5 of these human frailties, and plan how you’ll address and overcome them as they silently creep into your sale conversation.

Enjoy the time and financial freedom you deserve: “7 Secrets Top Producers Know that You Can Put to Use in the Next 9 Days” [http://increasesalescoach.com/]

Get a daily boost to increase your sales: the blog for Top Producers and Future Top Producers [http://increasesalescoach.com/blog]

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Cheryl_Clausen/56791

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/953071

Sales Coaching

Sales Coaching – How to Turn a Shopper Into a Buyer – Taking a Sales Lead

Shoppers don’t yet know what they want to buy so how do you turn them into quality sales leads?. This is how a person’s mind is working when they are shopping for, say, a new kitchen. “I know I want a new kitchen, but I don’t know which style to choose; I don’t know how much I can afford; I don’t know what kind of sink, or taps, or oven, or worktop, or fridge, or … to choose? You may find this kind of response is familiar for shoppers in your industry.

Do you send them off with a brochure? Do you take the lead anyway in the hope that the prospect would have “got themselves sorted out” by the time the sales appointment comes round? Do you try and help them make a decision on product ranges before you take the sales lead? Do you dismiss them as time wasters? Most of these responses to a shopper will generally develop into a sales lead that does not sell.

Buyers, on the other hand, will generally know what they want and spell out or list the ingredients of their required purchase. Their mind is working in a more focused way and slight changes to their original order can easily be made to the final sale through the introduction of “value added” products and services such as labour saving equipment and insurance backed guarantees, etc.

A few qualifying questions asked of a buyer are quickly answered. They are open to suggestions based on new technology or better quality materials. They want to get to the next stage of their buying cycle as quickly as possible. However, they are still looking for one more ingredient to turn them as a qualified sales lead into a satisfied buyer and customer. If you are thinking … discount or special offer, you are way off the mark! Before this question gets answered, let’s go back a step and look at a few tips on how to tell a shopper from a buyer.

Shoppers:

  • A shopper will meander around a display area and will probably be trying to compare ‘apples’ with ‘pears’ from your product portfolio.
  • Physically, a shopper will walk and touch things more hesitantly.
  • Shoppers will generally wait to be asked if they need help.

Buyers:

  • Alternatively, a buyer will be more focused at what they look at from a product point of view.
  • A buyer is more likely to read point of sale information.
  • A buyer will ask more in-depth questions and will probably relate these questions to specific circumstances – their reason for wanting the product.
  • Buyers generally approach or walk towards a product or sales assistant more confidently and will be more likely to open the conversation.

 

For the person taking the sales lead, it just needs them to watch the customer’s activity and change the opening comments or questions to fit their assessment. However, the opening question can be the making or breaking of converting the shopper into a buyer. Although these are generalisations, it is a basic human characteristic of how knowledge, or lack of, affects the psyche.

Now for the answer to above comment of what additional ingredient is required to turn a buyer into a qualified sales lead and subsequently a satisfied buyer and customer. This is also the same ingredient that helps shoppers become buyers. It is confidence and you will never get anywhere near the completion of a sale with any prospect until you have installed this characteristic into the shopper or buyer.

Taking this a stage further … if you agree with the precept that people buy people first and the product after, the feeling of confidence from a prospect must be in the sales person not necessarily the organisation they represent although this may be a consideration later.

Getting the “first contact” right every time means understanding how this element of the sale forms an important part of the complete process that takes a sales lead to a successful sale. However, there are many companies that sell their products and services direct to the public that do not successfully link the sales lead with the sales presentation and, as a consequence, will always be working on the wrong aspects of conversion ratios.

Ian D Ludlow helps sales and customer service people and organisations in the business-to-business, direct sales and retail environments to improve their current performance.

As a Master Practitioner of NLP and Accredited LVT Practitioner, he uses fun and creative techniques to change unproductive behaviours and to help individuals and teams THINK FASTER and REACT QUICKER to ever changing market conditions.

He states, “If you carry on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Ian’s specialism is knowing what to change and how to change it with minimum effort and maximum return.

Ian helped improve the average sales value for a retail business by 14% which added £34M in sales revenue over one year from 320 stores. He also helped increase the sales conversion ratio by 7% through quality sales training and lead generation programmes for a kitchen and bathroom installer; increasing sales by £24M over one year.

Ian D Ludlow can be contacted on +44 (0)1795 55 56 83 whilst his website is under construction.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Ian_Ludlow/104607

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/725949