Highlights of my sales career:
- Red Wheel Pizza Sales while fundraising for my 4-H Club
- Cashier at the local hardware and farm supply store during High School
- In college sold old, non-moving, space-intensive inventory on eBay for my technology impaired boss
- Having a date to prom both Junior and Senior year (a true sales job, I’m talking ketchup popsicles to white gloves)
This body of words below obviously does not come from a
trained, professional sales person. But
I do consider myself a student of the sales experience. I’ve been on the buyer’s side of the table
both as an individual and in business to business for products/industries
including group health insurance, P&C and liability insurance, IT,
retirement plans, automobiles, livestock, housing and many more. From big dollars to small dollars, I love the
process of buying and selling things and thinking about why people buy and how
people sell. So from one young
professional to another, use this insight for whatever it’s worth… even if
that’s the “circular file,” I’m okay with that.
Don’t sell to people
you don’t know. “Uh… but I’m just
out of college, and I know about 4 people that can afford this life
insurance. If I can only sell to people
I know I’ll be out of a job in about 30 days.”
If you must try to sell people you don’t know, think of it
like dating. You have two themes you can
base the date on:
- Long lasting committed relationship between you and your future client
- Short-term transactional customer, with no regard for a future together.
Which type of a base do you want your portfolio to reflect,
1 or 2? If 2 sounds okay to you, push
that little red ‘x’ at the top corner of your monitor. I’ll give you a second to find it… Good, we just got rid of your competition.
Back to that first date, your first contact with the
prospect. It’s no different than the
first phone call between young men and women looking for a date. A huge impression will be left, it might go
well or it might go poorly, but what really matters is will it lead to
something more?
“Hey, I’m with Joe’s Insurance and I’ve got something you
need. Let’s get together and talk about
how I can solve the problems that I know you have.”
….uh???? We just met…
on the phone… You don’t know anything
about me or how I assess risk, much less how I manage it. How do I know that I can trust your
intentions to help me achieve my goals when you don’t even know my goals?
So what would make a great first date? Sidebar: women in the sales professional
should be great at this. How would you
like to be pursued if someone wanted to ask you out on a date? That’s how you should approach a prospect,
that same attention to detail and level of respect and honor that tells you
that this suitor is worthy of your time.
To borrow a line from Deana Carter, prospects should never have to
proverbially ask themselves, “did I shave my legs for this?”
These are the things your customer wants from you on the
first date, those first phone call impressions, and if things go well your
first meeting:
- Be genuinely interested in me, make the effort to learn about who I am. I can’t trust if you don’t know and understand me.
- Have low expectations for getting something from me in return, preferably no expectation for anything until we’re more comfortable with each other.
- Surprise me by providing value for free, upfront, without being asked for it.
Be genuinely interested in me:
This is as much for you as it is for the prospect. This is an opportunity for you to screen
prospects. By actively listening you can
hear the prospect telling you whether he or she will be a good client. If you’re not listening, you’ll never hear
it. Maybe they don’t need it, can’t
afford it, don’t understand it, whatever the reason, just like dating, not
every couple is a match. Don’t waste your time on prospects that aren’t a good
match. That’s time you could be investing
in keeping your clients and finding new GOOD ones.
If all you care about is a transaction, an in and out and on
to the next, fine and good luck. I, in
the words of Jeff Probst, “got nothing for ya.” (Surprised you got this far,
you should have x’d out about 45 minutes ago [those dudes are slow readers]). But if you care about a long-term client
relationship, invest your time where it will produce a return for both of you. If that time doesn’t help both of you, it’s
short-term only and unsustainable.
Low expectations for getting something:
The earlier you want to get something from the prospect, the
shorter-term of your focus. A long-term
client-based relationship takes time to know and understand your client, your
partner in this relationship. Don’t
pitch on the first date. One meeting is
not enough time to sufficiently know the details of the situation. Unless you fully understand their needs, by default, your focus is
more on what you need and cannot be a
sustainable long-term relationship.
If you ever find yourself saying “probably,” you probably don’t fully understand your
client. It’s a given that you need to
know your product inside and out (as well as your competition’s). But before you’re ready to recommend a
solution, you need to learn the client so well that you can see their situation
from their eyes and only then combine it with your knowledge to choose a
solution. Never be so quick to choose a
solution that you risk having a “but you never told me about that” or “if I’d
have known that, we have done something different” situation come up later. If you only “probably” know what they need,
you don’t know what they need.
Surprise me:
The secret that you know, and they might not, is that you
need them more than they need you.
Products with no competition don’t need salespeople. You can choose to compete on price or compete
on value. Part of your comp package is
commission based, right? Do you want
that number to be higher or lower? I
thought so.
If you’re in B2B sales, you’re likely trying to get access
to a CEO, a CFO, someone who can make a decision, and more likely than not has
a business background who cares about the bottom line. (Even if you sell to individuals, these
people make great clients) This type of
prospect fully understands their economic situation and all investments,
whether money or time, are made with the goal of seeking a return. Conversely, if the return is known, working
backwards can determine how much an investor is willing to pay for that return. So if you bring something valuable upfront,
with no cost and no request, did the justifiable price for your product just go
up or down? (HINT: same direction as
your commission check)
I’m not talking about a BPA free water bottle with your
company logo that smells like industrial plastic. It requires creativity and diligent
homework. It doesn’t need to have a high
price tag, but it must be enough to justify this person spending more time with
you. Your goal is that prospect
(consciously or otherwise) associates spending time with you and receiving a
return on time invested.
This is hard, but don’t make it too hard. Maybe you find out I like to invest and trade
a stock or two now and again. Ask what
industry I think is strong and send me an article you read in a respected
newspaper (“saw this and reminded me of our discussion the other day, see
article linked below from WSJ”). Or you
find out I have a dog that pees when the doorbell rings, send me a link to a
YouTube video of a training tip to be the pack leader for my little
leaker. Find a small problem and help
solve it for free now to earn the right to help with a bigger problem at full
fee later.
In summary, if all other things are equal, would I be more
likely to buy from a friend or a stranger who found me on LinkedIn? Why not try to be my friend first; it
certainly can’t hurt your chances of getting to pitch me later.
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