Here are some guidelines that will definitely improve your gross
sales, and quite naturally, your gross income. I like to call
them the Strategic Salesmanship Commandments. Look them over;
give some thought to each of them; and adapt those that you can
to your own selling efforts.
1. If the product you're selling is something your prospect can
hold in his hands, get it into his hands as quickly as possible.
In other words, get the prospect "into the act". Let him feel
it, weigh it, admire it.
2. Don't stand or sit alongside your prospect. Instead, face
him while you're pointing out the important advantages of your
product. This will enable you to watch his facial expressions
and determine whether and when you should go for the close. In
handling sales literature, hold it by the top of the page, at
the proper angle, so that your prospect can read it as you're
highlighting the important points.
Regarding your sales literature, don't release your hold on it,
because you want to control the specific parts you want the
prospect to read. In other words, you want the prospect to read
or see only the parts of the sales material you're telling him
about at a given time.
3. With prospects who won't talk with you: When you can get no
feedback to yours sales presentation, you must dramatize your
presentation to get him involved. Stop and ask questions such
as, "Now, don't you agree that this product can help you or
would be of benefit to you?" After you've asked a question such
as this, stop talking and wait for the prospect to answer. It's
a proven fact that following such a question, the one who talks
first will lose, so don't say anything until after the prospect
has given you some kind of answer. Wait him out!
4. Prospects who are themselves sales people, and prospects who
imagine they know a lot about selling sometimes present
difficult selling obstacles, especially for the novice. But
believe me, these prospects can be the easiest of all to sell.
Simply give your sales presentation, and instead of trying for a
close, toss out a challenge such as, "I don't know, Mr.
Prospect - after watching your reactions to what I've been
showing and telling you about my product, I'm very doubtful as
to how this product can truthfully be of benefit to you".
Then wait a few seconds, just looking at him and waiting for him
to say something. Then, start packing up your sales materials
as if you are about to leave. In almost every instance, your
"tough nut" will quickly ask you, Why? These people are
generally so filled with their own importance, that they just
have to prove you wrong. When they start on this tangent, they
will sell themselves. The more skeptical you are relative to
their ability to make your product work to their benefit, the
more they'll demand that you sell it to them.
If you find that this prospect will not rise to your challenge,
then go ahead with the packing of your sales materials and leave
quickly. Some people are so convinced of their own importance
that it is a poor use of your valuable time to attempt to
convince them.
5. Remember that in selling, time is money! Therefore, you
must allocate only so much time to each prospect. The prospect
who asks you to call back next week, or wants to ramble on about
similar products, prices or previous experiences, is costing you
money. Learn to quickly get your prospect interested in, and
wanting your product, and then systematically present your sales
pitch through to the close, when he signs on the dotted line,
and reaches for his checkbook.
After the introductory call on your prospect, you should be
selling products and collecting money. Any callbacks should be
only for reorders, or to sell him related products from your
line. In other words, you can waste an introductory call on a
prospect to qualify him, but you're going to be wasting money if
you continue calling on him to sell him the first unit of your
product. When faced with a reply such as, "Your product looks
pretty good, but I'll have to give some thought", you should
quickly jump in and ask him what specifically about your product
does he feel he needs to give more thought. Let him explain,
and that's when you go back into your sales presentation and
make everything crystal clear for him. If he still balks, then
you can either tell him that you think he product will really
benefit him, or it's purchase be to his benefit.
You must spend as much time as possible calling on new
prospects. Therefore, your first call should be a selling call
with follow-up calls by mail or telephone (once every month or
so in person) to sign him for re-orders and other items from
your product line.
6. Review your sales presentation, your sales materials, and
your prospecting efforts. Make sure you have a "door-opener"
that arouses interest and "forces" a purchase the first time
around. This can be a $2 interest stimulator so that you can
show him your full line, or a special marked-down price on an
item that everybody wants; but the important thing is to get
the prospect on your "buying customer" list, and then follow up
via mail or telephone with related, but more profitable products
you have to offer.
If you accept our statement that there are no born salesmen, you
can readily absorb these "commandments". Study them, as well as
all the material in this report. When you realize your first
successes, you will truly know that "salesmen are MADE - not
born".
No comments:
Post a Comment