Sales Blog with Professional Sales Tips

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Early in my career I found that I was skilled in one particular area of sales. Of all the sales skills one can have, I had this one in spades. I even used to brag to my sales manager how talented I was in this area. For some reason he was never impressed.

Then one day he gave me a sales tip that told me why he wasn’t that moved by this special aptitude of mine. What he said changed everything for me in my sales career.

“Of all the sales tips my sales manager taught me years ago, this one had the most impact.”

I Was the King (or so I thought)
I was the king of getting prospect appointments. They couldn’t say no to me. I was awesome. However, there was one problem, and my sales manager would soon open my eyes to it.

While I seemed to have good sales skills in setting prospect appointments, I was not exactly the king of sales. I was falling short of my sales budget far too frequently. Being new to sales I reacted like every other new sales professional, I made even more appointments. We know from previous posts on this sales blog that doing more of what isn’t working usually makes things even worse.

The Light Comes On
Then my sales manager, in a stroke of perfect timing, taught me a lesson I’ll never forget. I was once again demonstrating to him how hard I was working by showing him the number of appointments I had scheduled. He looked at me and said, “Scott, it’s not how many prospects you have on your calendar; it’s how many of your prospects have you on their calendar.”

He was 100% correct.

Sales Tips to Remember
I’ve learned since that time that we can arm-twist prospects into making appointments with us. These appointments frequently turn out to be nothing more than visits with no real purpose because we haven’t established a need or any kind of relationship. At best, they provide an entry on a call report.

Of all the sales tips my sales manager taught me years ago, this one had the most impact. He explained that prospects have us “on their calendar” when we’ve identified a need, established some level of relationship with them and have created a sense of urgency. An avalanche of appointments that are nothing more than an entry on our calendar have limited value in building our business.

Further reading: Slow Down and Pay Attention During Customer Appointments and Presentations

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

A good friend of mine, named Chris, gave me a sales tip recently that applies to every sales professional on the planet. It’s actually an anti sales skills concept. Chris has grown his own business through a lot of hard work. His sales tips tend to be quite practical as a result.

“Those dividends are a better customer partnership and ironically, more revenue…”

For Now, Ignore All Prior Sales Planning Information from This Sales Blog
Everything has its exceptions. Sales is no different. Sometimes we have to do things in a completely counter-intuitive way. Chris suggests when we contact our customers that we occasionally have a sales agenda with only one item on it. What is the one item? Talk about anything with the customer except business. Make it personal. This goes against all the sales planning and sales skills training we’ve ever experienced. What a refreshing change of pace for our interaction with the customer.

The Anti Sales Tip After Shock
We may have to pick our customer up off the floor when using this relationship building idea for the first time. They’re not used to this. They may actually begin to feel that we think of them as something more than a dollar sign. It can enhance the relationship greatly.

The Time and Money Stranglehold
We don’t do this often enough because of two major obstacles. Time and money. Our employers want us to bring in the dough. We know that we need time to make that happen. Because we operate under limited time constraints and our primary objective is meeting a budget goal, we don’t feel free to spend non-business time with customers.

Chris is suggesting that we do this on an occasional basis, not on every customer visit of course. He knows that giving away a little of our time in the non-pursuit of revenue can pay massive dividends. Those dividends are a better customer partnership and ironically, more revenue in the long haul.

Further reading: Overly Aggressive, Pushy, Annoying Salespeople

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

We are all guilty of boring our prospects and customers. We forget that energy and enthusiasm are what got our customers’ attention in the first place. If we’re not careful, we begin to take our best customers for granted and let our excitement, passion and sales skills start to wane. Before we know it we’re about as exciting as a fire hydrant.

“What’s looney about this is we tend to do this with our best and most tenured customers.”

The Sales Skills Glitch
We roll in and take an established customer’s order. We say “hi” to a few faces and leave. We’ve done this routine with them so many times we’re on autopilot. Each time we go through this half-hearted performance we further erode the unique relationship we originally had with them. They start to view us as generic sales professionals.

Sales Tip: This is not a good thing. When customers don’t feel they have a special relationship with us, or if they think we are boring or if they believe we aren’t bringing anything new to the table we become 100% replaceable. The personal capital we initially brought to the table has vanished.

We are shocked sometimes when our best customers dump us “out of nowhere.” This is frequently the “out of nowhere.”

The Crazy Part About This
What’s looney about this is we tend to do this with our best and most tenured customers. We’re jumping around like bunny rabbits for that new small prospect, but can be indifferent about our very best long-term customers.

Sales Tips: The Fix
It’s simple. Bring back the fire and zeal on every customer call, especially for those highly valued, long-term, big volume customers. Our passion for the customer should be the same on the 100th call as it was on the first.

Customers buy from us because they like the buying experience we provide. We are the cornerstone of that buying experience, not our employer or what we sell. If we let our chemistry with the customer erode over time, so will our perceived value.

Further reading: The Importance of Creativity in Sales

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

Have you ever had a customer or prospect meeting go exactly as planned? I haven’t. Sales skills notwithstanding, I’ve hit real landmines in some of my customer meetings. Military strategists say that no battle ever goes as planned. Combat planners must simultaneously plan for victory and prepare for catastrophe. We must do the same.

“We must prepare ahead of time for questions we are really afraid the customer will ask…”

My Worst Customer Meeting
I once had a young and very capable sales professional working for me named Tim who had exceptional sales skills. He had planned an important customer meeting and asked me to go along. I was happy to go. He was well prepared and everything was going just fine until the customer’s CEO fell asleep. And when I say “fell asleep,” I’m talking about window vibrating snoring. I don’t think there was an entry in Tim’s Sales Tips 101 book for this one.

Sales Tip: The Battle Plan
While there’s not much we can do about snoozing CEO’s, we can prepare for other unknowns that come up at meetings which can also cause problems. Here are a few sales tips to remember:

1. Accept that there is always going to be some kind of unexpected issue or problem at a customer meeting. The more important the meeting the higher the likelihood of a problem. When we accept that there are going to be problems, it ironically makes any meeting complications seem more manageable when they arise.

2. We must prepare ahead of time for questions we are really afraid the customer will ask, questions we really don’t want to answer and questions we aren’t prepared to answer. This is exactly how politicians prepare for debates.

3. Ensure that someone from our side is in charge at the customer meeting. Establish this before the meeting ever begins. The military has learned that when things get chaotic in war a single point of command can get things back on track again. The more important the meeting the more critical it becomes that we pick someone with the most experience and sales skills to lead us through the war zone.

4. Rehearse the meeting. There’s a reason the military spends thousands of hours in mock combat. Practice will greatly increase our confidence and help us visualize a good outcome.

Back to the Snoring CEO
What did we do about the snoozing CEO? All of those at the meeting did what humans do best. We pretended everything was fine and just spoke over the snoring. He eventually woke up and agreed to the purchase. He didn’t want to admit he was sleeping and had missed all the details. Worked for us.

Further reading: Sales Tips Fiction: The Customer is in Charge

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

How can we subtly let our customers know that we understand their business without coming across as know-it-all’s? Customers respond favorably to sales professionals that can talk their language, but they don’t want to be talked to as if they are ignorant. Our sales skills might get us in the door, but our knowledge of their business will help keep us there if used with some humility.

“…from my earlier sales tips, the type of question that requires an explanation…”

The Challenge
However, it’s important that we let them know we understand their business without coming across as thinking we’re better than they are. Don’t we all hate people who feel compelled to tell us their degree of expertise about something?

Sales Tip: Open-Ended Questions
It can be simple to demonstrate knowledge while not appearing pompous. Ask them open-ended questions (i.e., from my earlier sales tips, the type of question that requires an explanation to answer) that let them know we understand their business. The power is in the subtly. By doing this we achieve three things with our customers:

1. We gently communicate that we understand their industry without appearing overbearing. Smart questions imply understanding and interest.
2. We learn about their needs.
3. We build a relationship.

Our Responsibility
When we have a command of the customer’s industry it immediately communicates that we have an appreciation for the customer’s business and them as individuals. But, it is imperative that we know what we are talking about or it can backfire.

Open-ended questioning is one of the most powerful sales skills at our disposal. Infusing our questions with knowledge of the customer’s business clearly communicates that we comprehend their challenges. And it does so in a way that builds, rather than hurts, our relationship with them.

Further reading: The Incredible Importance of Open Ended Questions

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