Many years ago a business colleague, we shall call him John, was attending a training seminar featuring the greatest sales trainer of all time, Doug Edwards. During his training Doug Edwards taught what is known as “The Benjamin Franklin Close.” John was young, had some sales experience and had great potential. However, another characteristic of John at the time was his cockiness. At this point in the seminar, John raised his hand as if to ask Doug a question. When Doug recognized him, John said that the “Ben Franklin Close” did not work. Doug asked why he thought so. John ...
Some salespersons sell products that lend themselves very well to “add on” sales. For the purpose of this article, I define “add on sales” as additional products or services that may be of value to a buyer of a new item. In this article I will use the sale of a 54” High Def Flat Screen TV as the primary purchase. This product is currently listed at about $2000. The two “add on” items I will use are a stand to hold the TV and a Five Year In-Home Service Warranty. This stand would sell for approximately $200 ...
When closing a sale, sometimes it takes to. No, I did not misspell that last word of the first sentence. I really meant to write “t” “o”. Those two letters are the initials for one of the most long-practiced sales techniques we know. They stand for “Turn Over.” The “T.O.” is used in sales environments where the salesperson has other salespersons or sales managers nearby when they are presenting to prospects. This would usually be in a retail setting or perhaps a group sales presentation of some type. The “T.O.” is the technique of “Turning Over” a prospect to another ...
There are times when a prospect will give us an objection that catches us off guard. We may not have heard this objection before. We may have heard it before but did not handle it well in the past. We may have heard it before but do not recall how to respond. This is when a great sales technique of stalling for time is very helpful. For example, a prospect gives us an objection and we immediately are aware that we are not prepared to handle it well. We need some time to think … and … ...
As salespersons we know that occasionally (really more often that we like) we are going to get an Objection. The question is, “When do we handle those objections.” For many years professional salespersons have followed a practice of handling objections at four different times in the sales process. Understanding exactly which objections should be handled at which places in the sales process is another of those great sales techniques. The four times to answer an objection are: (1) before it comes up, (2) immediately when ...
Why Doesn’t a Qualified Prospect Buy Now? It is not uncommon for a thoroughly qualified prospect to stall on making a buying decision after he has heard a perfectly delivered feature, advantage and benefit presentation on a correctly priced product/service that is exactly what he wants/needs. Read on and find out why? Often after a prospect has heard a presentation and has been asked to buy, he puts up some resistance to buying at that time. Very often what he says has a tendency to cause the salesperson to lose momentum and ultimately bring the sales process to a halt. ...
Often we as salespersons become disheartened due to the number, frequency and sort of objections we receive from prospects. Some salespersons may even begin to feel a form of personal rejection. In an attempt to help clarify what is really happening when a salesperson is given an objection, I would like to begin by getting rid of the cancer of personal rejection. I was fortunate to learn at a very early point in my sales career exactly why I should never take an objection as a
[caption id="attachment_193" align="alignright" width="225" caption="It is a Warning, NOT a stoplight."][/caption] Many years ago, I can recall as a new salesperson, how disappointed and frustrated I was when confronted with Objections. Fortunately, very early in my sales career, my company sent me to a sales training course. It was taught by a man named J. Douglas Edwards. I was to learn that he is considered to be the greatest sales expert ever. Doug Edwards actually created many of the great sales techniques that professional salespersons use today. Tom Hopkins, ...
