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My Prospect Has Been Using Other Product For Years – Doesn’t Know What We Can Do. March 3, 2009

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Establishing Value, General, Identifying Needs, Objections, Prospecting, Stalled Sales.
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Our seller says: My prospect has been using our competitors products for years. It is so ingrained they don’t even know if or how our product is better or worse. They just keep using the other product. They don’t seem interested in checking us out. Plus there are some people in the prospects company who give our product a bad reputation – usually because the product was used incorrectly (not the products fault).

Answer:

In a situation like this I suggest your first objective should be to find a ‘chink in the armour’ of your competitors products. It is silly to try and sell a product your prospect has no interest in.

Your first job is to try and stimulate some interest in your product. Not by bad-mouthing or criticising your competitor (or the prospects staff) but by probing to find out what could be better.

Example: Say to your prospect… “Okay. I understand you are happy with XYZ (competitor) product. That’s great because its a pretty good product. But look, if you were to change over to another product, what would you be looking for? What would you like in that product (or service) to be even better than what you’re getting now?

Also, you can probe the current level of satisfaction by asking specific questions based around your knowledge of the competitors product. is there one or two aspects that you know customers find difficult about that product? If so, ask specifically how that aspect is affecting your prospect.

Look for opportunities to establish that your product has some extra (or different) value to offer for your prospect.

My Customer Says Their Customers Won’t Buy Our Product – Even Though Their Competitors Sell Similar March 3, 2009

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Establishing Value, General, Identifying Needs, Objections, Prospecting, Stalled Sales.
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Our Seller Asks: My customer says he doesn’t think his customers will want to buy our products (which are a premium gourmet product). I’ve checked his competitors and they sell a rival brand to ours - results seem to be good. How do I get this customer to buy from me?

Answer:

Firstly we need to make sure we have fully understood the customers situation. Do we really understand his view of his local market area? Does he know what his customers want? Has he made this sort of decision before with other products and been proved correct (or not)?

Have we asked him: Is your decision not to stock more expensive products part of a strategy to stock low cost products (sort of like an everyday low prices policy?)

If we get to the point where he refuses to cooperate with our approaches and discussion, or where he flatly refuses to stock our product we can do three things.

(1) Let him know that we are sure the market will buy our products. We can cite competitior activity and maybe similar cases in other locations as proof.

(2) We ask him directly if that is his final decision, and let him know that we will be looking for other retailers (or distributors) in his area. So he may miss out on being the exclusive stockist.

(3) We stay in touch on a regular, but maybe not frequent, basis. We need to stay in touch in case something changes his mind. After all it is up to us to sell to him.

Help! My telephone script isn’t working! October 13, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Communication Skills, General, Identifying Needs, Prospecting, Sales Basics.
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Our Seller asks: We’ve been tweaking the script we use to try and get appointments. We’ve had someone else write one for us, but can you please review it to see if it can be improved.

Answer:

It’s always tricky trying to adjust a script without seeing and hearing how it is actually being used. But here are some of my suggestions.

(1) Ask questions softly, so you don’t create a negative defensive answer.

Example:

Instead of asking… “What aren’t you happy with in your current provider?”

Try… “If there was something about the service you get from your current provider that you could improve, what would that be?”

(2) Don’t sound patronising or condescending.

Repeating the clients major needs/comments (as they have told you during the conversation) is OK. But make sure it doesn’t sound condescending or simple-minded (and therefore salesy).

(3) Don’t blow your own horn too loudly.

I don’t like the line in your script that says… “With (our company) we can offer you world class service by addressing all your concerns.”

It sounds self-important and too salesy.

Try… “Based on what you’ve told me (about clients needs/concerns) we would approach your situation by offering/doing/trialling etc etc (insert your suggested services)”

(4) Don’t ask your prospect to agree to what they don’t understand.

Your script is structured to ask the client if they agree with how your services can help them. It includes questions you should ask like:

  • Do you think our service would help to improve your process in dealing with IT concerns?
  • Can you tell me what would be your greatest benefit in using (our company)?

The client shouldn’t be expected to know this. It is really putting them on the spot – and sounds very salesy.

In fact you – as the seller – should be clearly explaining to them how you can assist, and how they would benefit, removing any doubts they may have about the value you can provide.

(5) Don’t assume the sale until you know how the decision will be made.

Your script suggests using the ‘assumptive close’ method, whereby you proceed to ask for their commitment on the assumption they will want to go ahead.

I suggest that before you assume the sale, ask about the decsion making process, such as:

  • Are you under a contract with your current provider?
  • What’s involved in changing your provider?
  • How soon would you like the changeover to take place?
  • How do we move forward to make that happen?

I say this because you need to know how to close the sale for this client before you can actually ask for their commitment.

Client Commits to Try, But Nothing Happens July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Closing the Sale, Decision Makers, Establishing Value, Identifying Needs, Objections, Prospecting, Sales Basics, Stalled Sales.
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Our seller says: I visit a mine with a new product. The Maintenance Supervisor loves the product and asks about price and availability. He commits to running a trial or converting on next shut down. But nothing happens. He didn’t start the trial.

Answer: A number of factors might be at work in this situation.

  • Did the prospect really understand the value of using the new product?
  • Did the prospect need to get approval from someone else to install the new product?
  • How close is the prospect to the incumbent supplier?
  • Does the prospect have time to order and manage the new product vs using the same one as they have used before?

It is great that our seller managed to get the commitment. But more important is to maintain ongoing contact to ensure the trial actually goes ahead.

Maybe the seller should have confirmed othet details (as suggested above) to determine if other people are involved. Maybe further meetings are necessary to convince those other influencers.

Maybe it was simply a timing issue and the prospect was too busy to organize the new product to be installed. If so, is there something our seller can do to make sure the trial stays on track as planned?

These situations reinforce the need to fully explore the prospects situation using all the tools and techniques presented at Selling With Confidence. We don’t want to be caught out with a stalled sale after putting in all the hard work to get the original commitment to proceed.

Clients Don’t Know What They Want. July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Decision Makers, General, Identifying Needs, Prospecting, Sales Basics.
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Our seller says: It is difficult to get a sale when the client doesn’t know what they want.

Answer: Be careful not to waste your time on ‘maybe one day’ prospects. Find prospects who know what they want.

Or better… create a series of questions (as taught at Selling With Confidence) that will quickly identfy whether this prospect has potential for you – and whether you can help them.

Some prospects don’t know what they want because the buying situation is new. Or they aren’t sure how to make a decision. Or they don’t know what options are available.

These prospects may be good clients if they are ready to make  decision.

But many other prospects don’t know what they want because they are indecisive. Or they really just want to ‘look’ not to ‘buy’.

It’s OK to be nice to people and to help them out by providing answers and information. That is part of selling.

But make sure you aren’t wasting time on prospects who will never buy.

People Want Cheaper Services Than We Provide. July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Establishing Value, General, Price, Relationships, Sales Basics.
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Our seller says: I find that a large number of people call our office looking for free or cheaper services than we provide.

OK – first up let me say, in this case we must assume the prices for services provided are at a fair market rate for what they are.

When prospects are calling you for the first time your job is to qualify them. Will they be a good client for you? Do you have your qualifying factors pre-arranged? (This technique is covered during the Selling With Confidence workshop)

Then you can ask a few questions to try and quickly establish whether they will be a good fit for you. Such as:

  • Do they have a problem you can solve?
  • Do they want your ‘level’ of help?
  • What do they expect to pay?

If the people calling you want cheaper or free services, think about this…

  • What is your marketing message saying to create this expectation?
  • Do you want to waste your time talking to them if they wont be buying?
  • How can you quickly sort out those who are serious?

Don’t waste your time on people who are not a good fit and will never make a good client.

Seriously… suggest they go to another provider who is better suited, or send them to your competitors!

Customer Thinks My Proposal is Expensive. July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Closing the Sale, Establishing Value, General, Objections, Price, Sales Basics, Stalled Sales.
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Our seller explains: I talk to customers about their needs, and explain to them the process we go through. (Note: for this question the ‘product’ is a website but the same situation can occur for all products and services). Customer asks for a proposal. Upon receiving the proposal most customers think it is too expensive. I don’t think I do a good enough job of explaining the Return On Investment (ROI).

Answer: The core problem here is NOT setting the right expectations.

The proposal should be summarizing what was discussed during the sales conversation. The seller should be asking about the available budget (or at least discuss the customers expectations of what they should be paying).

This information is then formatted in the proposal. But the proposal should not be guesswork – and it should not catch the customer by surprise.

The best way to resolve this problem is to openly discuss budgets and likely costs as part of the sales discussion.

Fortunately website development can be broken down into various modules, depending upon the design and functionality required. So an experienced web designer should be able to discuss the cost/benefit (ROI) of including or excluding certain features.

Ultimately this means the web designer can discuss prices with the customer before submitting the proposal.

Don’t be scared of discussing price. Just make sure you first get a clear understanding of what the customer requires.

In some cases, for more complex processes or custom-designed products you may not be able to talk about prices on the spot. You may need (or want) to do some homework to get a clearer understanding of what is required.

So do the homework first, and then discuss it with your client before confirming it in a written proposal. Proposals are very difficult to ‘take back’ once you have submitted them.

Customer is Waiting for Finance. What Can I Do? July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Asking Questions, Closing the Sale, Establishing Value, Objections, Sales Basics, Stalled Sales.
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Our seller says: My customer is looking for a new machine and I have convinced him mine is the best one for his needs. However he is waiting to sell a car before he can buy the machine. He doesnt want to finance the purchase. It has been several weeks and I have not progressed any further. I have no idea how to move it along.

Answer: This is a tricky situation as the client has expressed a desire to buy, and has openly expalined how he will be paying for it. But this sale may still not be finalized. If we cant get closure soon the client may not end up buying.

  • He may not be able to sell the car.
  • He may not get the price he wanted for the car.
  • He may decide to stick with what they have now, and not buy the new machine.
  • A competitor may gain influence over the prospect.

During the Situation and Opportunity Question phases of the sale (this is taught at Selling With Confidence) you should have found out things such as:

  • The reason for buying the new machine.
  • The impact on the clients business.
  • The real value/benefit they will achieve from using the new machine.

So, you need to go back to the client and remind them of the real value they are delaying by not finalizing the purchase. Don’t push your own ideas… use the information they gave you about their situation and their benefits.

You should also have asked about how they would be financing the purchase – and be prepared for this sort of delay, hopefully avoiding it from the start if possible by reminding the client of what they can achieve as soon as they start using the new machine.

However, this still may not get action. The client may insist on waiting to sell the car before buying the machine.

Rather than pushing the client too much and risk losing the sale altogether, a better approach would be to set a time frame for follow up and make sure you stay very close to the client until the purchase is finalized.

Our Solution is New and I Can’t Get The Order. July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Closing the Sale, Objections, Prospecting, Relationships, Sales Basics.
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The problem: Our solution is new compared to our competitors. So providing reference sites and credibility is quite difficult. This has been the main reason I haven’t been able to get the order.

Credibility and TRUST are critical to being effective in modern day selling. During Selling With Confidence we explore specific ways you can help accelerate the development of trust.

In this situation it is necessary to be clear on your objective. What do you want to achieve?

Trying to win new business at full prices for a new and (possibly) unproven service is a very challenging objective.

I suggest it might be helpful to focus on winning over a prospect on the basis of being a trial customer – full service at reduced rates.

Really, you need to get some runs on the board to be able to prove the credibility and expertise.

Other ways of establishing credibility would be to:

  • Get statements from respected industry personalities about the quality of the product or service.
  • Highlight specific aspects of the development of the service, or special technology or procedures incorporated in the service.
  • Leverage the credibility of the parent company.
  • Leverage the credibility of the founders, or senior management team.
  • Present facts discovered during the research and development phase that confirms you ‘know your stuff’ and transfers trust to the new service/solution.

No matter which strategy you take, it is necessary to build trust at a personal level with appropriate personal contact and information that supports your market position. This may take some time to achieve.

My Prospect is Not Interested in Even Talking to me. July 24, 2008

Posted by Stuart Ayling in Establishing Value, General, Objections, Prospecting, Sales Basics.
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The problem: My prospect is not interested and doesn’t even want me to present the information to them.

Ouch! This is direct. But if your prospect doesn’t even want to listen or see what you have, then you have a bigger problem to solve.

Prospects will be interested in talking with you if they think you can help them.

  • Help them solve a problem.
  • Help them save money.
  • Help them get better results (more money; more success).
  • Help them make the right decision.
  • Help them look good to their boss or colleagues.
  • Help them feel better.
  • … and more

So, you must be prepared to quickly establish the value you offer, get your credentials across, say clearly how you believe you can help, and excite your prospect.

Use facts, have an easy to understand value proposition, and avoid using jargon unless it helps demonstrate your expertise or highlights your special industry knowledge.

This is all part of developing and using your introductory statement or 20-second self-introduction (we cover this in detail at the Selling With Confidence workshop).

Also, you may find it helpful to soften up the prospect by providing some written material (such as case studies or fact sheets) before you meet with them. This information should be designed to establish the value you can offer.

Rather than blaming your prospect for not giving you a chance… have a closer look at how you approach them and make yourself (your offer) more immediately appealing.