Students Of Success

Our world of selling is closed off from other areas of business
that continue to adopt and embrace new, efficient ideas. I was
reminded of this recently while re- reading Seth Godin’s
“Permission Marketing.” Here’s a book that was intended for
business owners and marketing executives, yet it provides a
much-needed dose of common sense that would be of great benefit
to sales organizations, especially sales managers, who continue
to cling to very old, and, in their minds, very right, ideas.
Unfortunately, our brave new world has made these old ideas very
wrong.

Seth Godin talks about Interruption Marketing versus Permission
Marketing. Interruption Marketing is traditional advertising
that interrupts your day in an attempt to get your attention and
sell you something. In other words, it is the marketing
equivalent of Cold Calling. Permission Marketing is
systematically getting prospects to give you permission to
present to them. In other words, it is marketing’s equivalent of
what I teach salespeople to do. In the book, Seth uses the
metaphor of someone trying to get married to describe the flaw
in Interruption Marketing, or Cold Calling. The bachelor goes
into a singles bar and asks every woman in the place to marry
him. When they all say no, he blames his clothes, buys a new
suit, and tries again at another bar, only to fail again and
again, just like a cold caller.

Are you getting the point he tries to make in that story? Think
about it. A salesperson spends weeks cold calling with dismal
results. The salesperson goes to the sales manager for advice on
what to do differently to start getting results. A conversation
ensues about what the salesperson is doing. A lot of old ideas
begin to surface. Ideas such as “Initial Benefit Statement,”
“Elevator Speech,” and other concepts that once upon a time were
the right answers, but have since become very wrong answers.
Working on these things is the equivalent of the man in the
story blaming his failure on the suit, changing into a new suit,
then going to a different singles bar to do it all over again.

With the business world in its present state, I really don’t see
how salespeople can afford to keep fooling away their time on
old ideas that were once right but are now fatally wrong. It is
this very feature of capitalism that is causing salespeople,
managers and organizations to fail in record numbers. Capitalism
is essentially “creative destruction.” In other words,
capitalism is a perpetual cycle of destroying old,
less-efficient businesses and ideas and replacing them with new,
more efficient ones. People and companies are clinging to old,
obsolete ideas and are being dragged down to failure by them.
Yet they still won’t let go. I think the reason they can’t let
go is simply because it wasn’t all that long ago that they
really did have the right answers. It reminds me of a story I
once heard about Albert Einstein when he was a professor. One of
his student assistants who was preparing for an incoming class
said, “Professor Einstein, what test are we giving them?” To
which Einstein replied, “The same test we gave them last week.”
Bewildered, the student assistant replied, “But Professor
Einstein, we already gave that test.” Einstein simply said,
“Yes, but the answers are different this week.”

The bottom line is that the answers are different. The rules
have changed. Time is running out for those who do not adapt to
the new rules. As Napoleon Hill put it so well, “Whenever a
nation, a business institution, or an individual ceases to
change and settles into a rut of routine habits, some mysterious
power enters and smashes the setup, breaks up the old habits,
and lays the foundation for new and better habits.”

If you’re not achieving the sales success you desire, perhaps it
is time for you to lay the foundation for new and better habits.

The best way to get a new customer is to clearly identify
who you want
to do business with and then get in front of them. They can
then see what you look
like, possibly see what your product looks like and also
examine any data or
statistics you might have. It gives you the ideal
opportunity to start building
a positive working relationship with your potential
customer.

Advertising, direct mail, web sites and telesales all have
their place but nothing beats the face to face interview.
The first challenge is, of course, getting to speak to your
prospect and arrange a meeting.

When you phone your prospect’s organisation it’s highly
possible you won’t get through initially even if you have
their direct number. There’s always an assistant, a
colleague or voice mail to deal with.

# 1 Deal with the other person

1. Always be pleasant and polite. Use the person’s name as
soon as you know it
but not over familiar.

2. Use your prospects name and your name; say - “Will you
please tell John Smith that Alan Fairweather is on the phone
for him.”

3. If you’re asked what it’s about, say - “It’s about the
contents of a letter Mr Smith has received. (More later)
Will you tell him that Alan Fairweather is on the phone for
him please!”

4. If you’re told that your prospect is in a meeting, find
out what time they’ll be
out of the meeting and ask if it that would be a good time
to call.

5. Thank the person for their help and say - “I’ll call back
at 3.30 and look forward to speaking to John then. Thanks
for your help Mary.”

None of this is easy but persevere and don’t be nuisance.
Always be friendly, firm
and courteous with Mary.

It sometimes helps to send a brief letter to your prospect
explaining that you’ll call to arrange a short meeting.
(Don’t use the word appointment). Briefly state your
product or service benefit or even a couple of questions at
the start of the letter.

But don’t make it a sales letter and don’t enclose
literature. (Your prospect gets
enough of the stuff).

# 2 Deal with voice mail:

1. Give your name, business name and phone number. Speak
slow and clear, warm, friendly and businesslike.

2. Say what you do - “Were the people who minimise
production time and cost on….. I’d appreciate the
courtesy of a return call on ……..”

3. You might want to make an appointment to call - “I
appreciate you’re very busy Mr Smith, however I have some
interesting information for you. I’ll call back at 3pm and
would be pleased if you’d speak to me.”

4. Follow up with a fax or email and make it human.

5. Leave your phone number again, slow and clear.

Again this is a challenge, however if you sound warm and
friendly and that you
could be worth talking to, then you’ll get call backs.
Always keep customer details
handy because when prospects call back they say - “Hi Alan,
its Fred I’m returning your call.”
If you made twenty calls that day you may not initially know
who Fred is, so be prepared.

# 3 Sell the meeting

Once you speak to your prospect on the ‘phone you need to do
a good selling job to get the meeting.
Most of the time they’re going to say something like - “I’m
not really interested, we already have a supplier, I’m a bit
busy at present.”

Always keep in mind that the majority of prospects are
reasonable human beings and they have nothing against you
personally. There’s also a strong possibility that they’ll
welcome a visit from you if you sound warm, friendly and
businesslike.

If you sound like you have some worthwhile information to
impart and you don’t sound pushy or manipulative then you’re
more likely to get that meeting.

Plan your call carefully and consider the following.

1. Greeting - Speak slowly and clearly using the prospects
name, your name, and your business name

2. Courtesy - Ask if it’s convenient to speak

3. Introduction - Say what you do and provide a benefit to
the prospect

4. Close - Ask for a short meeting at mutually convenient
time

5. Deal with resistance - Acknowledge what the prospect
says, outweigh with a benefit and close again

6. Don’t use the word “appointment”

7. Don’t start selling your product/service on the ‘phone
only sell the meeting

8. Don’t say you’ll send literature, say you’ll bring it
with you

9. Don’t be pushy, be persistent and pleasant

10. Have a fall-back position. If they won’t see you this
time then ask if it would be OK to ‘phone at an agreed time
in the future - and make sure you do so.

You won’t win them all however if you sound professional and
pleasant, potential customers are more likely to see you, so
don’t give up.

Alan Fairweather is the author of four ebooks in the “How
to get More Sales” series. Lots of practical actions you
can take to build your business and motivate your team -
http://www.howtogetmoresales.com

1. Sign-up to win web site awards. When you win, some award
sites publish your web site link, name and description on their
site.

2. Join online business associations or clubs. If you join, they
will usually list all their members on their web site. It will
give your business extra exposure.

3. Utilize a simple form of viral marketing. Write or have
someone else write a small report with your ad included on it
and allow others to give it away.

4. Improve your business by promoting customer feedback. Tell
them you want their honest opinions about your business, good or
bad.

5. Design your packaging so it sells your products. Utilize
colors and lettering that make your product more attractive to
your prospects.

6. Compare your product’s guarantee to your main competitors.
Find a niche were your can design your guarantee to be more
powerful.

7. Try not to assume your audience understands everything in
your ad copy. If you have words they may not know the meaning
to, define them.

8. Build alliances with other online businesses. You could trade
links or ads, create joint venture deals, cross promote your
products, etc.

9. Design your web site to be a valuable resource for people.
Include original content, links to other interesting web sites,
ebooks, software, etc.

10. Compete with the highly branded businesses by practicing
good customers service, strong product quality and speedy
service.

“Thanks For The Rejection!”

By

Dr. Gary S. Goodman  2004

Author: The Law Of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable

It sounds a little masochistic, but I actually appreciate being
rejected. No, I don’t needlessly relish the sting of reproach,
or eagerly welcome scornful criticism, per se. But, as a writer,
a salesperson, and an entrepreneur, I have come to appreciate
that there is a strong correlation between the frequency of
rejections that I withstand and the amount of success I
generate, especially in my career. Every professional writer can
wallpaper a mansion with rejection slips. In fact, I read
somewhere that the famous novel, The Yearling, was submitted
under a different title as an experiment, and it was rejected by
scores of publishers AFTER it had won incredible acclaim.
Curiously, the original publisher rejected the work, too.
Salespeople are taught that there is a math-of-success. They
have to withstand a certain number of no’s before they can earn
a yes. And few entrepreneurs succeed after trying only one
venture. Typically, it takes several attempts and even when one
initiative prevails, its lifespan is limited. As I write this
article, in fact, I’m probably not experiencing ENOUGH
rejection. If I want to get more done, to appreciate the thrills
of more achievements, I need to put myself on the line, more and
more. I have to ASK for what I want and need, and of course when
I do so, I’ll be giving people the power to say NO. Let me ask
you this:

What could you achieve in life if you decided to become totally
and blissfully impervious to hostile criticism and to rejection?
What careers or hobbies would you pursue that you’re just too
emotionally brittle to engage in, now?

For instance, a friend of mine is a professional actor. He is
among the 10% of thespians who actually finds a considerable
amount of work in the field. In fact, just this year he appeared
in four motion pictures, and a few were highly publicized, and
did fairly well at the box office. But he has to constantly
trawl for work and he is a tireless self-promoter. He even asked
me if I could send a note to visitors to my web site that would
tout the brilliance of his most recent film! Though he hopes
that one of his roles will become a breakout success and will
attract even more roles, he doesn’t assume this will occur. On
the contrary, he hustles day in and day out, answering every
casting call, and networking like crazy to hear about roles that
he might play. He behaves like a kid who is struggling to get
into the business, and he’s grateful for every break he gets. He
speculates that most people don’t make a living in the acting
field because they become worn down by rejections. They stop
believing in their skills, and as a result, they try less and
less. And by trying less, they succeed less. If they would just
work the numbers, and eagerly go for every opportunity, they’d
work more, polish their skills, and they’d stay busy doing what
they love. Success would then become inevitable. I’ve been
giving considerable thought to the fear of rejection, and here’s
one of my conclusions about it:

It isn’t the rejection that is intrinsically disturbing. It’s
the interpretation we make about it that drives us nuts and
prevents us from realizing our potential.

What do we tell ourselves? In essence, we draw the wrong
inferences and make inappropriate generalizations from these
experiences. For one thing, we tell ourselves that the
rejections will be pervasive. If X rejected us, so will Y and Z.
Another tendency is to believe that today’s rejection will be
permanent. If X said no yesterday, he’ll definitely say no today
and tomorrow. Finally, we tell ourselves that rejection is
personal. It’s about us, as individuals, and it reveals
fundamental flaws about our character, our skills, or our
attractiveness.

When you read these things, they instantly seem foolish, don’t
they?

For instance, on what authority, we have to ask ourselves, do we
KNOW that if X rejected us, Y & Z will follow suit? We fear that
will be the case, and we may suspect it will be so. But by no
means is it conclusive, until we make it that way by failing to
keep trying. Likewise, on what basis can we assert that today’s
rejection will recur tomorrow? When I was a salesperson, working
my way through college, I contacted a fellow who LOUDLY rejected
my offer, to say the least. Actually, he got unhinged and
declared, “Never contact me, again!” I remember this episode
vividly, because it was so exceptional. Anyway, the very next
day, by mistake, I phoned him. (Apparently, I forgot to strike
his name from my list.) My error only became apparent to me
after I got him on the line and asked him how he was. At that
second, I thought, “Oops!” To my surprise, he replied, “I’m
fine.” I had no choice but to continue with my sales spiel,
fully expecting him to reject me, even more loudly and
emphatically, at any moment. Imagine how shocked I was to ask
him for his order and to hear him cheerfully respond with,
“Okay!”

He bought from me, the very day after telling me to never
contact him again!

Please believe me when I tell you it was a mistake that I had
called him back. Given how poorly the first call went, I was in
no mood for a repeat performance. But by erring in this way, I
accidentally proved the point that rejection isn’t necessarily
permanent. Today’s no can even be a precursor, and a necessary
one, to tomorrow’s yes, if we only get our minds around the
concept. This story also demonstrates that rejection isn’t
necessarily personal. The day before, when this guy bit my head
off, he was probably overwhelmed by something that had nothing
to do with me. Yet, when many of us are being spurned, our
impulse is to blame ourselves and to feel sullied by the overall
experience. We feel awful, and beat ourselves down before the
next person can do it to us. So, what can we do to conquer
rejection and to actually learn to invite it?

Four things:

(1)Tell yourself it is isolated; (2)Tell yourself it is
temporary; and (3)Tell yourself it doesn’t pertain to you,
personally. In other words they may be rejecting your idea or
offer, but they aren’t rejecting YOU. (4)Prove these truths by
actively seeking more rejections. If you hope to publish that
novel or to get that screenplay into the right hands, send them
out more widely. Give more people the chance to say no!

This is one of the great secrets of the Law of Large Numbers. Do
more of anything, and you’ll make success inevitable!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a popular keynote speaker, consultant,
and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books. He
is the author of the Nightingale-Conant audio program, The Law
Of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable. Gary teaches
Entrepreneurship and Consulting at UCLA Extension, and he is
President of Customersatisfaction.com and The Goodman
Organization. When he isn’t being rejected, he can usually be
found in Glendale, California, where he makes his home. He can
be reached at gary@customersatisfaction.com.

A client with a creative business called me one day and asked the following question. It’s a question I get asked frequently, so rather than write an entire article, I decided just to tell you exactly what I told her.
Kirstin,

“I never know what to say when a potential customer calls and asks ‘How much do you charge? What are your fees?’
I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot by quoting something too low, but also don’t want the caller to hear a number that they think is too high and hang up.
What do I say to them so I don’t put them off, but also don’t immediately take myself out of the running to get their business?”

-Ann P., Philadelphia, PA

Ann,

Don’t feel compelled to blurt out a number or hand over a price sheet. Calmly and confidently tell the prospect, “It depends.” Follow up with, “Let me ask you a few questions….” Then proceed to ask the prospect questions that will help you learn about her needs, uncover her concerns, understand her methods of measuring success, and determine how to show the value of your services.

Without knowing the basic information above, you are not in any position to be quoting prices and fees. Do yourself and your potential client a favor and don’t rush into discussing pricing until you have all the facts, m’am.

-Kirstin

Kirstin Carey is the author of “Starving Artist No More: Hearty Business Strategies for Creative Folks.” Kirstin knows how much most creative people hate sales, contracts, and discussing money and she consults creative people on the business side of creativity so they make more money, get better clients, and still love what they do. She put together a resource full of proven strategies and insider secrets guaranteed to help creative types get the business help they need so they don’t have to starve anymore! Go to http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com

No one can deny that sales closing techniques are absolutely
vital in face-to-face selling. But often, people ask me if they
can apply my powerful closing techniques to online marketing. My
answer is an unequivocal, “Yes!”

Of course, there are some closing techniques that are more
applicable to the Web than others — but I’ll show you magical
closing secrets that can dramatically increase your web sales,
and rapidly increase your online income. This works best on
direct response websites - i.e., those that focus on getting an
immediate response in the form of an order or lead.

Before we get started, I must emphasize that much of the sale is
made in the presentation. The close is largely determined by how
well you’ve presented the product to the prospect. Your
objective, then, is to take the prospect smoothly past the point
of closing, making it easy for him or her to come to a buying
decision. You can accomplish this with the strategic use of
questions.

The All-Important Opening Question

When you’re selling online, you don’t have the benefit of
interacting with your prospect the way you would in face-to-face
selling. Therefore, the first thing you say in your web copy has
to be something that breaks preoccupation, grabs attention, and
points to the result or benefit of the your product.

At any given moment, your prospect’s mind is preoccupied with
dozens of things. Therefore, a well-crafted question will cause
the prospect’s thinking to be directed to what you have to say.

Your opening question must be aimed at something that is
relevant and important, and at something that your prospect
needs or wants. What do sales managers, for instance, sit around
and think about all day long? Increasing sales! Therefore, if
your target market consists of sales managers, here’s an example
of a question you can use as a headline or as the first part of
your copy: “How would you like to see a method that would enable
you to increase your sales by 20% to 30% over the next 12
months?”

When you ask such a question, the first thing that pops into the
mind of the prospect should be, “What is it?” - whereupon you’ve
captured his or her attention, and you can then begin to
articulate how your product or service can solve the need posed
by the question.

Plan your opening question carefully. If your opening question
fails to break your prospect’s preoccupation and grab his
attention, he will click away before giving you the opportunity
to present your product or service.

Questions That Keep Them Involved

Questions are equally vital during the presentation, i.e., in
the body of your web copy, for clearly explaining how your
product or service solves your prospect’s problem in an easy,
fast, or cost-effective way.

Therefore, install questions within your sales copy that capture
attention. Keep your prospect involved, and keep his mind from
wandering off in a different direction by using intriguing
questions that grab his lapels and jerk him toward you. For the
length of time that it takes a prospect to answer a question in
his mind, you have his total attention. The prospect is drawn
more and more into the sales process as your questioning
proceeds. If your questions are logical, orderly and sequential,
you can lead the prospect forward toward the inevitable
conclusion to purchase your product or service.

Tip: Never say something if you can ask it instead! Think of how
you can phrase your key selling points as questions. The person
who asks questions has control!

Closing Questions that Presume the Sale

Just as questions are important at the beginning and the body of
your web copy, they are even more vital at the end in gaining a
commitment to action.

The key to asking a closing question is confident expectation.
You must skillfully craft your question to convey that you
confidently expect the prospect to say, “Yes” or to agree to the
sale.

For example, you can pose the following question in your web
copy: “When would you like to start using to multiply your
profits?” In other words, you don’t ask if they want to buy your
product, but when. This way, you’re asking for the sale
expectantly, and the more confidently you expect to sell, the
more likely it is that you will sell.

Tip: In crafting your closing question, include the benefit that
your prospect will get from your product.

When you ask a compelling closing question, you diffuse the
tension that normally creeps up on your prospect at the “moment
of truth.” A prospect’s tension leads to the hesitance that
kills so many sales - both online and offline.

To be truly persuasive in the selling process, learn to use
questions judiciously throughout your web copy. Instead of
trying to overwhelm your prospects with reasons and rationales
for doing what you want them to do, ask strategic questions
instead. When you take the time to plan the wording of your
questions, your prospect will become more interested in your
product — and consequently, you will make more sales.

There are legitimate wholesalers who will work with and for you to help get the merchandise and support you need in a professional manner. You need to know the facts about wholesale trade, wholesalers and middleman, and finally know the resources to explore in order to get started.

Wholesalers exist for the primary reason of moving the goods between the manufacturers and retailers. They normally take care of the logistics and shipment of the goods between the factory and those who sell them.Often wholesalers are the primary distributor for the manufacturer and may have an exclusive relationship with them. The most important fact to realize about most wholesalers is that they do not advertise. You will not find them listed in many search engines, or if they are listed, they are buried deep within the results. In addition, a wholesaler will not normally advertise in any media.

Wholesalers are in the business of moving large quantities of the goods to resellers and other retail outlets. Moving small quantities of goods creates overhead for them, as they are not setup to deal with that type of business.This is not to say they will not sell smaller quantities, but you may find that you will have to negotiate and pay a higher price per unit. Given all this, an honest wholesaler will work with you to find the right channel for you to buy the merchandise if you are willing to work with them. Often they may direct you to local distributors whom they sell too depending on the quantity involved. You should not get discouraged if they do this as it is normally the best way given the quantity involved.

All too often people will come upon middlemen passing themselves off as a wholesaler. Middlemen often do not carry any inventory and merely enter your order into the system so the goods can be shipped to you. They charge a markup, often between 30-50 percent, and offer no value added service for you. These are the people you will find cluttering search engines and advertising using every available method.They do not have your business interests in mind and are only there to push as much merchandise as they can while maximizing their percentage. To put it another way, they are like dialing the operator to make a long-distance call. Sure, you will get the call to go through, but you will pay a high premium over dialing direct.

So how do you go about finding a quality wholesaler? The best place to start is with the manufacturer of the product you are interested in.They can often refer you to their distributor and/or wholesaler. From there they will determine the best channel for you to purchase the goods through, whether it is from them or through a local or regional distributor. Remember, manufacturers want to get their product out there and have sales departments that assist you in such matters. Don’t be afraid to go directly to the source, you may be pleasantly surprised!

To get started making wholesale connections there are a few questions you should ask of yourself and your business. These will help define not only what you need for your business to grow, but also will help the manufacturer and wholesaler get the products to you:

·What volume will I be doing? Is it ten units or ten thousand units?

·What facilities do I have available for delivery and receipt? Wholesalers often ship in pallet quantities via commercial trucking and do not deliver to home addresses.

·How often do I turn over inventory? You don’t want to have 10,000 units of an item sitting in inventory for months or years.

·What is my market area? Don’t underestimate the answer to this. Wholesalers and manufacturers are very strict when it comes to what area you are marketing in because of contracts with other retailers and other financial agreements.

If you are just getting started in establishing a relationship there are a number of online sites that can help you understand the basics of wholesalers and purchasing. However, be very careful of using any type of search engine to gather information. They are flooded with middlemen and others who have nothing to do with wholesale trade and will often lead you down the wrong path before you even get started.

Some of the resources we recommend include:

·National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors

·American Wholesale Marketers Association

·Manufacturers Association Directory

·The National Retail Federation

Wholesaler-Buyer relationships can be difficult to establish, but with a little bit of research and a lot of dedication to tracking down the details you will have a profitable relationship for both you and the wholesaler.

Joaquin Reveron is the President of Video Games Mystery Training Center and wholesale marketing consultant for online and offline purchases. A Video Games Distributor is one of the topics discussed at http://www.videogamesmystery.com

Here is a method you should pay attention to for your online company… accept credit cards. Whether you’re promoting digital goods or physical goods through online routes, your business should be able to accept credit cards to make sure the widest customer base that is feasible. The magnitude of the ability to accept credit cards cannot be denied. Being capable of accepting credit cards makes your internet business more available to a larger number of prospective clients and customers.

You’ll Gain Massive Benefits If Your Internet Business Accepts Credit Cards

Credit cards have been tagged as ‘plastic money’ since they have become acknowledged as a fine substitute to real cash. Many people favor real world businsses who accept credit cards. They would prefer to shop in stores that accept credit cards above those that don’t accept credit cards.

A similar rule applies in online dealings. People seek out eCommerce sites that accept credit cards, predominantly those that accept credit cards which they own. You can accommodate these people by crafting your online business to accept credit cards; you’d easily be able to boost the quantity of prospective clients you could gain.

In addition, by constructing an online venture that could accept credit cards, you will be able to take payments in a more suitable and secure manner. If your internet business would accept credit cards from paying clients, you’d be enabling them to buy more of your products easier.

Defeating a Significant Barrier By Accepting Credit Cards Online

Unfortunate to say, however, that there are quite a lot of people who are scared of online business transactions, even if your business would accept credit cards. There have been stories of so many scams and deceitful transactions Online, and genuine businesses which accept credit cards are the ones that have to endure such shame.

To facilitate and curtail the wave of this fear, businesses that accept credit cards should ensure the following things:

• Businesses that accept credit cards should ensure that its payment processing page is embedded with Secure Socket Layers (SSL) of at least 128 bit.

• Those that accept credit cards should also guarantee that such SSL encryption is displayed on the bottom right side of the user’s browser window, in the shape of a padlock icon.

• Also if you accept credit cards you should establish a reactive customer support system that can and will respond to the requests of your clients.

By setting up your internet business to accept credit cards you can only increase your customer base and improve your earnings for years to come.

For more information on how to Accept Credit Cards and increase your profits using a merchant account visit: Free Merchant Account Articles

Understanding The Sales Process To Close More Sales

You may not have put much thought into it but if you are a
business owner and sell products and/or services to consumers
or/and businesses then you are a sales person. Have you spent
enough time understanding the sales process and what it takes to
close more sales for your business? If you haven’t this October
Newsletter will help you understand the sales process, how your
prospects think and how you can close more sales.

There are two things in your business you need to master and
those are marketing and selling skills.

Most marketers don’t give a lot of thought to the buying
processes of their clients. That’s very unfortunate. Paying
attention to the buying process can have a dramatic effect on
your revenue. It is extremely important to understand that
although people inquire about your products/services, it doesn’t
mean they are the ideal prospect. There are many reasons why
people may not buy your stuff which has nothing to do with you.

Each and every one of us goes through some sort of buying
process when we make a purchase decision. At times the process
is long as when making a big purchase. At other moments it
happens almost without thought when buying an inexpensive item.
Sometimes we may be seeking information on a products or service
but that doesn’t mean we are ready to buy right away. May be we
need to be convinced that we are making the right decision.

It is very important that early in the sales process you
differentiate the prospect that is on the market to buy and the
one WHO DOESN’T KNOW WHAT HE WANTS. Don’t spend much time on the
second one; you will be wasting your time and energy.

Generally speaking, the buying process consists of four steps.

Do they really need it?

During this step, shoppers realize they WANT or MAY need
something. They realize that they have a problem or a desire,
and they choose to find a solution. If this need is strong
enough chances are that they will make a quick decision and buy
from you or your competition. If the need is not really there,
they will just shop around and won’t be making a quick decision.
That decision could be made in a few months or may be never. It
is extremely important that you identify the real prospect to
the undecided shopper. It can be very frustrating to deal with
those undecided people. You should focus your energy on the real
buyers. I consider this stage interview the most critical part
of any sales process. The interview is the stage where you try
to get to know your customer’s needs, concerns, issues,
objections, and real desires. It’s from the interview that you
have enough information to determine how to present your
products and services.

Information Search

Once the choice has been made to fill a need or want, the
prospects begin to search for information in order to make the
best buying decision that is in his/her best interest. Make sure
you give all information necessary to help them make a buying
decision. You should offer some way for the prospect to remember
you, such as brochures and catalogs, a way to bookmark your
site, newsletter etc.) Free samples, test drives, free report
and other means of “trial” work extremely well to guide the
prospect through the information search stage and onto the
evaluation and purchase stages. In this particular state of the
buying process make sure to educate the process as much as and
make sure you differentiate your company from the competition.
In that particular stage you will need to do two things. Educate
your prospect and create an interest.

When educating your prospect on your products/services, be sure
to present reasons for them to buy. Remember…solve a need,
problem, or improve a current situation. The Key: Give them
reasons to buy. Your recommendation shows the customer your
personal efforts and interest in helping him. He will be able to
compare your products and services to the competition, and see
the difference (if there is any). This should bring out his
final objections, giving you the opportunity to answer all his
questions.

Your recommendation should be designed to relate value to your
customer. Here is where your product or service begins showing
logical and practical solutions to the customer’s problems,
needs, and goals. This is where you lay out your plan of action
and explain how the process will work for your prospect. This
step will also uncover and give you the opportunity to handle
objections.

Find out about their objections

Often the trial close will lead to objections. You might say,
“So which program do you feel most comfortable with?” (That’s a
soft form of the trial close.) Your customer will probably
respond with objections (e.g., price, features, delivery, no
time, or no need). During this step, don’t’ try to counter the
objections. Continue the interview and learn all you can about
their objections and challenges. You need to help them make a
decision and they need to be reassured they are making the right
decision. Try to learn whether the objections are honest or made
up because the prospect doesn’t want to hurt your feelings, or
genuinely isn’t interested in buying at this time.

Handle objections

Your options are to rebuttal an objection, change your offer, or
provide other incentives. But make sure you do the homework and
actually follow up with the prospect. Occasionally, you will
find an objection is legitimate and you really can’t meet the
prospect’s needs. Be honest, wish him luck then walk away. Don’t
waste your time with undecided people who do not know what they
want.

Evaluation

After your prospects have collected all the information they
feel is necessary and you have answered all their objections,
they begin to evaluate their options and narrow their choices
until they finally pick the one thing that they are comfortable
with, and that they can afford. This is the time to follow-up
with your prospects. Is there additional information they need
in order to choose your company? Did they have any issues with
the free sample that can be corrected? Your presence during the
evaluation stage is important, so do your best to retain
customer contact information in order to offer any additional
information the buyer might need.

Purchase

Once all the information has been evaluated, a purchase is made,
and your customer walks hopefully happy.

Why people really buy.

People buy for their own reasons, NOT FOR YOURS. Until you know
your customer’s reasons for wanting, or not wanting, to buy your
product/service…you are in the dark! It doesn’t matter how
many reasons you give for believing your product/service is a
great buy, they will mean nothing unless your customer has VERY
GOOD reasons to buy from you. Customers face new challenges
every day that can alter their needs for your products/services.
The key is to stay in contact with your prospects…and ALWAYS
ask questions to learn where they are in terms of needing your
product/service.

If a prospect avoids making the decision to buy from you, it’s
typically because they have no sense of urgency to buy or they
may not be convinced that your products/services will solve a
problem they have. Your challenge is to prove to the prospect
that buying now is best for them and you must be able to offer
support and real reasons why. What will they miss if they wait
even one more day? What will they miss if they don’t buy from
YOU? Make sure you emphasize on the potential opportunities if
they go ahead and get started on the program NOW. WHY is it
important for them to buy now? In other words, what’s in it for
them? Remember…the reason a customer buys your product or
service is because of what it can do for ´them´. JUST TELL THEM.

Know Your Competition

We all have competition. When you call on a prospect, you will
likely encounter a situation where the prospect knows your
competitors. In order to sell all the reasons why YOUR product
or service is best for the prospect…you need to know as much
as possible about your competitors. This allows you to explain
why your product/service is better than the rest to solve a
specific need of your client.

Why is my product/service best?

In order to make a decision to buy your product and/or service,
a buyer will need specific information about you, your company,
your products, services, etc. Provide them with specifics on
your reliability, special features of your products and services
and where you stand in your industry. Tell a complete story of
why they should buy from YOU rather than your competition.
TESTIMONIALS ARE POWERFUL. CREDENTIALS ARE IMPORTANTL. If you
belong to a specific organization such as BBB, it may help you
tremendously close a deal.

What about those prospects that is not ready to buy?

Simply follow up regularly with them through direct mail, phone
calls, or newsletters. That allows you to build credibility
which you may not have been able to build earlier. Many
individuals are not ready to buy right away but after, 6, 7, 8
follow up they may be ready. Understanding each step in the
buying process can help you structure your selling process and
your marketing materials to cater to the prospects. Take the
time to consider what your customer goes through when making the
choice to buy, and alter your business accordingly. In doing so,
you will increase your chances of making more sales.

In the sales profession you are the company, the product, the
service. What you do and how you do it will impact your success.
Perfect your sales skills by asking and answering questions,
overcoming objections, and provide reasons to buy your
products/services. Tell your story, create a need, solve a
problem, handle follow-up procedures correctly and you will be
on your way to great success.

Golden rule: PEOPLE BUY FROM PEOPLE THEY LIKE AND TRUST.

Andre Plessis Author & Marketing Expert SmartBizConnection
http://smartbizconnection.com The Smartest Way To Grow Your
Business!

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