Posts Tagged ‘Prospects’

Three Basic Reasons Why Prospects Buy In this article I will not be addressing why people buy essentials, such as food and medicine.  People buy food because they need to eat.  People buy medicine because they are ill.  This article is more about the three basic reasons why people buy non-essentials, such as furniture or jewelry. The three basic reasons why prospects buy are: fear, recognition and self-actualization.  Let’s begin with the definition of each of these three motivators as applied in the case of buying motives.  Fear is the primary motivator in a purchase when the prospect is trying to ...

Have you ever noticed the “pitch men” on the television commercials?  The next time you see one, do not dismiss the commercial.  Pay close attention!  If you listen carefully, you will likely hear some “great sales techniques.” For example, have you ever heard one of these “pitch men” saying something like this?  “If you order two boxes of our “Super Suds” dishwasher detergent today we will give you a third box free.”  Or perhaps you have heard something like this.  “Call within the next 10 minutes and we will include ABSOLUTELY FREE our handy dandy, super absorbent, long lasting, specially imported, ...

What is a Good art of Handover, Customer walks in and explains to me and I have to handover to one of my sales guys.

24
May

Do you have any advice on how to craft a really dynamic "elevator speech"?  I'm in a Business Networking International (BNI) group, and we have our 60-second "manager minute" that we do each week.  How can I make it most impactful, keeping in mind I'm selling THROUGH, not TO the group?

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 ...

Sometimes when we do a good job of giving a Feature, Advantage and Benefit presentation we just don’t get the excited “buy in” we are looking for from our prospect.  There could be any one of several reasons for a less than exceptional reaction.  For the purposes of this article, I am going to concentrate on just one reason and explain how to fix it. Read the following benefit statements aloud. “Mr. Prospect, the new management skills that your managers will have at the end of each monthly session will help them improve productivity and profitability.” “Mr. Prospect, the new tread design on ...

The great sales trainer, Larry Wilson, taught that before we could sell our prospect, we needed to “warm them up.”  He recommended using an ember.  Now don’t get the wrong idea!  He did not mean we were to set them ablaze.  In this case Larry used ember as an easy to remember acronym.  E.M.B.E.R. stands for “Establishing a Mutually Beneficial Empathic Relationship.”  Some salespersons today might say that we need to create a “Win Win” relationship with the prospect. For both the salesperson and the prospect to believe that the purchasing ...

The great sales technician and trainer, Doug Edwards, said “people buy emotionally and then justify their purchase logically.”  Salespersons have been proving this statement true for decades through their own experiences.  Since we know that our prospects are very likely to have their emotions involved in their buying decision; that should affect how we present the benefits of our product.  As professional salespersons, we know that a presented benefit tells the prospect what the product “helps them gain” or “helps them avoid losing.”  Should we present our benefits positively or negatively?  The answer is “Yes.” Studies over many years have determined ...

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 ...

The Sale After the Sale … Getting Referrals. Referrals have always been the single most valuable commodity a salesperson can acquire.  The more referrals a salesperson is able to collect, the more income he is going to make.  After we have created a new client, it is time to start selling again.  We must sell the new client on giving us some referrals. In my 30-plus years of selling and coaching salespersons, I have noticed that most salespersons are very poor at getting referrals.  There may be a number of reasons.  If a salesperson is having a “run of success,” ...