Do You Have A Sales Force or a "Sale Prevention" Department?
Have you ever really wanted to buy something yet the biggest reason you didn’t was the sales person?
Maybe it’s me…but I like to be “sold”. Whatever the product or service is, I want the sales person to ask me questions about how I will use it. What do I like about it? What reason do I have for wanting one? What difference will it make in my life? How many others have I considered but not purchased? And why? And so on.
What irritates me incredibly is when I tell the salesperson SPECIFICALLY what I want (in other words, I have made it EASY for him/her to sell to me). I’ve also said, “Look, I know something about this type of gizmo. And so I only want to hear about how I can use it for (name specifics). I know the product has many other features I may grow to love and use. But right now, for the sake of time, I only want you to tell me, can your Whizbang do such and so in this way”?
The sales people I talked to must all be on salary because they would never make it on commission. Or to paraphrase Zig Ziglar: “they must have skinny kids”. This is Zig’s way of saying someone is a lousy sales person.
In the last couple of weeks, I have experienced no less than 3 lousy sales people. I’ve been shopping for a Customer Relationship Management software program (CRM for short). In each case, I have let the sales person know, upfront, what I would like the CRM to do. (And I do have experience in using a CRM. But not ONE of these incompetents asked me that question).
In each case, the salesperson proceeded to go through a preprogrammed “pitch” about the product diving into details that I could care less about. I reminded them (at least 3 times), that while all those features, do-dads, whistles and bells were nice, but I don’t care about that right now. “Please, please just tell me will it allow me to create an email sales campaign with a follow up system that works like this (and I patiently explained it AGAIN!)……”
Finally, after hours of talking to these bobbleheads, I signed up for a trial run on two of the programs. Within an hour, I determined that one was not right at all. The other one appears to be able to do what I want. But I am irritated as hell that I had to waste my time figuring it out for myself!!!
If you are a sales person, take this word of advice: LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMER. Then answer the questions they have asked you. Then stop talking and listen some more. Then the only thing coming out of your mouth should be questions about their business, how they plan to use your service/product, their experience with your type of product, what they want it to do or not do.
Don’t just assume they want to see a full scale demonstration from A to Z. And the other bad assumption to make is to sit there like a bump on a log. One salesman I spoke at a large internationally known company was either unwilling to answer my questions or ready to go home. I am assuming he’s not on commission.
Bottom line: if you’re in sales (and we all are), ask questions, listen and give your prospect the answers. And along the way, you’ll build trust as you find out more about the person in front of you who wants to give you money. Just give them a reason to part with it. Make sure you have a sales department not a Sales Prevention Department!
Maybe it’s me…but I like to be “sold”. Whatever the product or service is, I want the sales person to ask me questions about how I will use it. What do I like about it? What reason do I have for wanting one? What difference will it make in my life? How many others have I considered but not purchased? And why? And so on.
What irritates me incredibly is when I tell the salesperson SPECIFICALLY what I want (in other words, I have made it EASY for him/her to sell to me). I’ve also said, “Look, I know something about this type of gizmo. And so I only want to hear about how I can use it for (name specifics). I know the product has many other features I may grow to love and use. But right now, for the sake of time, I only want you to tell me, can your Whizbang do such and so in this way”?
The sales people I talked to must all be on salary because they would never make it on commission. Or to paraphrase Zig Ziglar: “they must have skinny kids”. This is Zig’s way of saying someone is a lousy sales person.
In the last couple of weeks, I have experienced no less than 3 lousy sales people. I’ve been shopping for a Customer Relationship Management software program (CRM for short). In each case, I have let the sales person know, upfront, what I would like the CRM to do. (And I do have experience in using a CRM. But not ONE of these incompetents asked me that question).
In each case, the salesperson proceeded to go through a preprogrammed “pitch” about the product diving into details that I could care less about. I reminded them (at least 3 times), that while all those features, do-dads, whistles and bells were nice, but I don’t care about that right now. “Please, please just tell me will it allow me to create an email sales campaign with a follow up system that works like this (and I patiently explained it AGAIN!)……”
Finally, after hours of talking to these bobbleheads, I signed up for a trial run on two of the programs. Within an hour, I determined that one was not right at all. The other one appears to be able to do what I want. But I am irritated as hell that I had to waste my time figuring it out for myself!!!
If you are a sales person, take this word of advice: LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMER. Then answer the questions they have asked you. Then stop talking and listen some more. Then the only thing coming out of your mouth should be questions about their business, how they plan to use your service/product, their experience with your type of product, what they want it to do or not do.
Don’t just assume they want to see a full scale demonstration from A to Z. And the other bad assumption to make is to sit there like a bump on a log. One salesman I spoke at a large internationally known company was either unwilling to answer my questions or ready to go home. I am assuming he’s not on commission.
Bottom line: if you’re in sales (and we all are), ask questions, listen and give your prospect the answers. And along the way, you’ll build trust as you find out more about the person in front of you who wants to give you money. Just give them a reason to part with it. Make sure you have a sales department not a Sales Prevention Department!
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