“If you don’t have a selling system of your own when you are face-to-face with a prospect, you will unknowingly default to the prospect’s system. The prospect’s system never says: “Sold.’ It says: ‘Salesperson loses.’ “ ~David H. Sandler
When first starting out in sales, the system that is learned was to “tell” the customer why they wanted to buy my product by forcing the wonderful features of the product on them. After all, there were marvelous benefits to each of those features. That system included for us to give as many presentations about those features and benefits as possible and so that eventually, someone would buy.
Sure, we asked questions, but all of the sales pitches were rhetorical and would lead the presentation back to the features and benefits of the product we represented. I got a lot of “think it overs” and would have to make multiple attempts to get the sales that I got. Many times I only had one shot, never to see the prospect again. The result—lots of presentations and a very tired and frustrated sales rep.
Is this similar to your system? Do you feel that the buyer gives you the run around or you have multiple hoops to jump through (including discounting) to get the sale?
Here are 4 "rules" that every salesperson finds himself playing in the "Sales Game" and what to do about each.
- The prospect lies to you. Yep, it is a forgivable sin in the game of sales. The prospect is not a bad person. They only do this as a defense against the salesperson’s "moves." We have all grown up with the mindset that the salesperson is only out for their own interests. Setting expectations about the elements of the sales call and the responsibilities each of you have in that call will help eliminate this feeling of untrust.
- The prospect wants to know your trade secrets. We call this “free consulting.” They know that salespeople are so desperate to get the sale that they will often times give away too much. Prospects know that salespeople provide value in terms of solutions and why pay for it if they can get it for free? Additionally, salespeople provide information useful when negotiating agreements with current vendors. Get a commitment for a next action before divulging too much.
- The prospect purposely misleads you. There could be many reasons for misleading a salesperson. The more they mislead you to think they will do business with you, the more information you may give them. It also could be that they may not be a “qualified” prospect to begin with in terms of budget, decision-making timetable, or that your product or service is not a solution that could benefit them. Qualify the prospect and set a clear future for what will happen next. Make sure you follow through on your part!
- The prospect doesn’t answer the telephone or won’t return your messages. When they go DARK, it is not to be rude. It is another tactic that the prospect has learned because it is easier than telling you “No.” With the traditional sales methodologies, when a prospect says no, the salesperson comes back with a strong arm or pushy approach. The prospect wants to choose the path of least resistance. We have very successful techniques on how to get a return phone call, which we teach our clients in our training and coaching sessions.
The Secret is if you have an effective system for selling, you will be able to predict the outcome of most sales calls. You save time and have the ability to qualify or disqualify an opportunity early in the process. Why waste time chasing non-opportunities?
We train our sales reps and managers to recognize non-productive behaviors and how to navigate the sales game with equal business stature. We have many no-obligation opportunities to see what our services are all about.
