Sales Blog with Professional Sales Tips

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I’ve always wanted a Jeep Wrangler. When visiting the Jeep dealer I discovered Wranglers get an average of only 18 MPG. A Jeep is what I really wanted but it uses 33% more fuel than another vehicle I was considering at another dealership. I decided that four dollar a gallon gas was going to make the Jeep a nonstarter. Writing a sales blog just doesn’t provide me that much additional lettuce.

What I didn’t know was that the sales professional who was helping me at the Jeep dealership was prepared for my cost-of-ownership objection.

“There are times when we need to put our sales skills to the side…”

She Goes to Work
She asked me to come to her desk. She said she wanted to show me some information. Here comes the generic sales pitch I thought. Instead, she asked me some questions, took out a legal pad and calculator and said, “Mr. Sheaffer do you know that the other vehicle you’re considering requires premium fuel at 10-15% higher cost? Based on the miles you drive and the difference in fuel costs, your additional cost to drive the Jeep, the vehicle you really want versus your second choice, would be only $68 per month.”

Sales Tips an Accountant Would be Proud Of
This was powerful stuff. With just some minimal information gathering she demonstrated that the 33% difference in MPG between the two vehicles did not mean that my fuel costs would rise 33%. Furthermore, did it make sense to let a net $68 per month increase in cost-of-ownership keep me from the vehicle I really wanted? She knew that sometimes customers just need more information in order to make a buying decision.

Customers Crave Knowledge
When it comes to emotional purchases, like a vehicle, this sales tip can be especially effective. However, it can be an equally useful sales tip whether we’re selling industrial products or telecom services. There are two important customer behaviors that come into play here.

1. Customers are lazy and won’t do the math themselves; we have to present the facts to them.
2. Customers frequently want to buy from us; we need to give them hard data about why their objection isn’t as big an obstacle as they think it is.

We occasionally forget the power of information in sales. When it comes to objections, sometimes just providing the raw data to a customer or prospect will move their buying apprehensions to the back burner. There are times when we need to put our sales skills to the side and focus on simply educating our customers with the facts.

Further reading: Here’s some fact-filled sales help about price objections.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

I don’t agree with 100% of what Oprah Winfrey says. However, one thing in particular that she said has never left me. It contains an abundance of implications for sales professionals.

“One of the most puzzling things known to man…”

Oprah’s Ultimate Sales Tip
Fear is an important emotion in sales as I have mentioned several times before in this sales blog. It can limit us and can cripple our sales skills. It can also be our greatest tether in life as well.

What is the opposite of fear? Passion. Oprah believes, “We approach everything in life with either fear or passion. We are afraid of something or we are drawn to it.” We don’t let fear block us from things we are passionate about. When we feel passion, fear is nothing but an annoyance.

Why are We Afraid?
What makes us fearful as sales professionals? Fear of not hitting our sales budget. Fear of incompetent looking sales skills in front of our sales manager. Fear of not appearing sharp and knowledgeable with important decision makers. When it comes to what we are afraid of, we are only limited by our imagination. That is the irony. We create our own fear. The seeds of fear are always sewn by us. Quite literally, we scare ourselves.

Our Most Damaging Fear
I wish I had a dollar every time I’ve heard a sales professional say something like, “Scott, my sales were good last quarter but I’m not sure I can do it again this quarter. I’m just not that good. This won’t last forever.” I could fill this sales blog with dozens of these stories.

One of the most puzzling things known to man is the impostor complex. At just the point we realize great success as sales professionals we can begin to tell ourselves, “I’m doing great, but it’s only a matter of time until someone figures out that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m just faking it. I don’t deserve this success. It won’t last.”

Thinking we’re a pretender can be an imposing impediment to our success. We fear we’ll be found out. We’re just a stand-in for the real thing. We have trouble accepting our own success while everyone around us is cheering us on. We have a grand case of fear-of-success.

Sales Tips: The Antidote
Fear can’t coexist with passion. Being passionate about our customers, our job and our employer will help silence our fears. Every sales professional has moments of fear. Having a pure love of the sales game - a passion - gives us more power than we realize.

Further reading: Sales Managers and Dysfunctional Work Environments

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

May I be blunt? Talking heads (also known as news reporters) absolutely love to report bad economic news. They even have a little expression that says, “If it bleeds it leads.” These talking heads can make a small downward business trend sound like a tsunami of catastrophic economic news. If we listen too much it can hurt our sales skills. Here’s a sales tip on how to avoid being their victim.

“…it does demonstrate the incredible latitude we have…”

Time for Some Mental Drano
Too many sales professionals have let these talking heads get to them lately. This is the worst time to be diving for cover. “Weathering the storm” is not a good sales strategy right now. It ultimately comes down to what is going on between our ears more than what we’re hearing with our ears. We need to clean out all the economic bad-news-media gunk accumulating in our heads that causes us to retreat. It’s time for some mental Drano to clear out our brain pipes and get us selling again.

Sales Tip from an Island
I know there are a million shoe salesman stories out there but this one hits right where some of us are living right now.

Two shoe salesmen go to an island where no one wears shoes. What follows are their reports to their sales manager.
Shoe Salesman #1: “There is no opportunity on this island. No one wears shoes.”
Shoe Salesman #2: “This island represents an unbelievable opportunity. Not a single person has shoes.”

Sales Tips to Take With Us
All right, I know we’re tired of shoe salesman stories and this one is simplistic. However, it does demonstrate the incredible latitude we have in interpreting our sales environment. I have some uncomplicated, but important, sales tips I want us to remember:

1. Talking heads exaggerate negative economic news.
2. Perceiving our sales environment in a positive way is one of the most important sales skills we have.
3. This is not the time to withdraw; now is the time to stay aggressive, see opportunities that others miss and keep our sales skills strong.

Further reading: Direct Sales Tips: What the media does to ruin your sales career.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Barack Obama and John McCain have a commanding presence. If they didn’t they wouldn’t be U.S. presidential candidates. Are they making all the key decisions regarding their campaign? In large sales, does one decision maker, operating alone, ultimately make the decision to buy from us?

“They aren’t seeking agreement because they are kind or democratic.”

Sales Tip: Fear Factor
Fact: There is rarely only one decision maker in a large sale. I know we’ve all been given sales tips about the ultimate decision maker. But there is a variable that keeps all the decision makers in play right up until that big order is finally placed. Fear.

Don’t Confuse This with a Democracy
The person in the corner office likes to know he or she is supported in their decision to make a substantial purchase. They aren’t seeking agreement because they are kind or democratic. They want concurrence because they share a common human emotion, fear. They are fearful of making a bad decision and wasting corporate resources. They have to answer to someone and it sounds better to be able to say, “We decided to…,” if things don’t work out so well in the end. They don’t like being fired any more than the next person. Those overpaid high visibility management positions aren’t easy to replace. Just ask Carolyn Kepcher.

How to Sell Big Orders
While there is an individual who has to give the final authorization for a large purchase, they work with their official or unofficial team of decision makers, recommenders and information gatherers right up until their pen hits our contract. We have to keep selling to that team until the order is in hand.

Further reading: Decision Makers, Vertical vs. Horizontal

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

It’s a recurring question for sales professionals. Is my product expertise more important than my sales skills, or vice versa? I have an answer and it’s different from the answer I would have given ten years ago.

“This is the fundamental added value…[our customers] are seeking [today]…”

How to Sell 101
I think we all agree that we need to have strong sales skills and product knowledge skills in order to be considered capable sales professionals. We can’t be competent without both. However, today’s sales professionals need to focus more on one of these skills than they have historically. What may have been good sales advice ten years ago may not be right today.

It’s Changing Everything
Something has provoked a lot of change in the sales profession over the last ten years. The Internet. It has changed the dynamics of how to sell. Basic order taking sales skills can be handled by the Internet. If we are simply processing customer orders, then we are just competing with our company’s web site. What customers are primarily looking for in 2008 is product and industry expertise. We need to be viewed as experts in both.

Sales Tips for a New Customer Model
Let’s face it; most of our prospects and customers don’t want to be sold anymore. It’s too easy for them to find and order what they need on the web. They want our expertise and knowledge regarding the products and services our company sells. They want our industry wisdom. This is the fundamental added value they are seeking and will cause them to view us as a resource instead of merely an order processor.

In 1998 product and industry knowledge was important but it usually took a subordinate position to sales training. Our strong product and industry expertise in combination with our sales skills is how we will create strong and lasting alliances with our customers today. Sales ability alone is certainly not enough anymore.

Further reading: Sales Advice: Take this test to see if you have become an order taker.

To receive this sales tips blog by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer