Sales Blog with Professional Sales Tips

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Imagine this scene. We’ve all been there. You’re in a customer meeting with six people from your company and two from the customer. Everything is going fairly well until the customer asks a question and everything goes quiet. You and your comrades start looking at each other with a “Do you have an answer to this?” look on your faces. It’s obvious to everyone that you don’t have an answer. As the Account Manager, you feel embarrassed.

“…[This step]…can be a little frightening because it makes us realize how fragile a sale can be.”

Four Sales Tips to Cure This Problem
After years of suffering through meetings like this, I formulated the following not-always-popular plan that eliminates the problem about 99% of the time. It increased my meeting effectiveness tremendously and I want to share it with you now in this sales blog.

Follow these four sales tips, in the order presented. The more important the customer meeting, the more important it is to make sure every step is covered.

1. If your company feels compelled to send a cast of thousands to every customer meeting, then eliminate  some folks prior to the meeting. When you drag ten people into a customer meeting you aren’t going to be able to maintain control and the likelihood of a dumb answer being uttered by someone on your team skyrockets. Come on, if you can’t tell your story with a maximum of three people, there’s a problem.

This will not make some people at your company happy (i.e., those not selected). It will, however, make your customer more comfortable and the meeting will go more smoothly.

2. Prior to the customer meeting, sit all the participants down and ask the following question, “In what areas are our products or services weak compared to our competitors?” Oh yes I know, you’ve been told that you work for the biggest, best, strongest, best dressed and most intelligently run company in the known universe. But you don’t. No one does. You have weaknesses. Talk about them ahead of time and have smart answers ready for when your customer mentions them. Sure beats making things up on the run.

This is not politically correct at many companies because you’ve been told repeatedly by management how flawless and perfect everything is where you work. It isn’t. Go in prepared with good answers and look like you have a grasp on market realities to your customer. They’ll be impressed.

3. Prior to the meeting ask your group the following additional question, “What questions do we fear the customer may ask that could lose us this deal?” This is a scary exercise because the number of questions can grow rather large. Think like the customer, not as an Account Manager. It’s amazing how you can come up with solid answers for what first appear to be deal killer questions.

Some of these sales tips, especially this one, can be a little frightening because it makes us realize how fragile a sale can be. However, if we prepare intelligent answers to these tough customer questions we can weather the storm and come out on the other side with sails flying high.

4. Prior to the meeting (are you starting to see a trend here?), designate who from your group is going to answer the questions noted above. Challenge them to be an expert on their assigned question(s). Get them to use this sales blog, and others, for additional sales tips.

Sales Blog Epilogue
Now imagine this scene and observe how the above sales tips come together. You’re in a customer meeting with three people from your company and two from the customer. The customer says, “We read recently that your company came in last in a customer service satisfaction survey.”

You listen thoughtfully, turn to Bob (who is on your team) and say, “Bob, you were talking about this the other day (which is, in fact, the truth). Could you shed some light on this survey?”

“No problem. This survey was paid for by one of our competitors. Not surprisingly this particular competitor ranked number one in the survey…”

Bob, the designated hitter, just hit it out of the park. How? Preparation.

Further reading:

• For improved closing skills you need to drive for show and putt for dough.
• Four Sales Tips on Needless Customer Meetings
• Better Techniques for Using PowerPoint
• What are alternatives to PowerPoint?

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

One of the most important sales tips in our profession: If we quote prices like a wimp our customers and prospects will get the impression that our pricing must be unreasonably high. We come across as sounding apologetic.

“He handled my pricing question with such a total lack of conviction…that…I still…felt I was being violated.”

We forget that in many cases our customers have absolutely no idea what a fair price would be for our products and services so they use our body language and vocal inflection as a barometer. They literally evaluate the fairness of our pricing by how we quote the price.

Sales Tips from Politicians
Politicians have known this since the beginning of recorded history. If a politico doesn’t have the slightest idea about what he or she is talking about (which is 99% of the time) they act as if they are the world’s greatest authority. Their voice gets deeper, their shoulders are held back and they look directly into the camera. They act immensely assured.

I’m not attempting to defile the profession of sales by comparing it to the craft of politics, but most politicians have perfected a speaking and selling technique that is compelling to their constituency. It’s called confidence (which translates to votes).

Sales Newsletter to Retail Salesperson
I see the pricing confidence rule violated daily by sales professionals. I see it in both commercial and consumer sales venues.

Me: “What is the price of that fishing reel?”
Retail Salesperson: His eyes are fixed on the floor. His shoulders are stooped. In a voice I can barely hear, he says, “Well…I think that particular model…since it’s made in Europe…and it’s not on special…is priced…normally…at…well…45…no wait…49 dollars.”
Me: “Sir, you don’t know me from Adam, but I’m going to tell you how to effectively quote that particular fishing reel the next time someone asks you.”
Retail Salesperson: “Great, I’m always wanting to learn more about sales; my manager makes us read lots of sales articles.”
Me: “Forty-nine-dollars.”

He handled my pricing question with such a total lack of conviction, backbone and belief that if he had quoted me 25 cents I still would have felt I was being violated.

Sales Blog Wrap-up
It’s simple. Know that our customers are observing how we react to our pricing. When we quote prices confidently, price objections are reduced and we appear more credible to our customers.

Further reading: Wrestling With Fear in Sales

To receive these selling articles by email <click here> to receive by RSS <click here>. © 2008 Scott R. Sheaffer

Only a few months after starting a new sales job I unexpectedly received a message from our CEO’s assistant letting me know that the CEO needed to chat with me. I knew why he wanted to talk. I had a customer that thought I had charged them too much on some materials I sold them. They told me they were going to complain to the CEO - and apparently they did.

My sales were great at my new job. In fact, I was a top-ten producer after only a few months. This turn of events threw cold water on all of that.

Was I ever in for a big surprise.

“Is this a good sales management strategy that I’ve used about a thousand times…?”

The Call
I was out in the field calling on customers when I got the message. I nervously dialed my cell phone. I was secretly praying that the CEO wouldn’t be in his office. Of course his assistant picked up my call on the first ring and immediately transferred me. Time stood still.

“Scott, I hear that XYZ Company wasn’t too impressed with your sales skills, specifically your pricing. They called me today and didn’t have a lot of nice things to say about you.”

There was, what seemed to me, about a 30-minute pregnant pause at this point since I didn’t really know what to say. I started to mumble something about some sales tips that I had gotten on how to price an order like this.

He interrupted me. “Scott, here’s what I want you to do. Are you listening?”

“Yes sir.” I wasn’t feeling too good at this point.

“I’ll take care of this situation and you keep on doing what you’ve been doing. You’ve demonstrated outstanding sales skills and I’m impressed with your results in the short time you’ve been with us. When you’re aggressively cross-selling to existing customers, finding new business and generally stirring things up you’re going to upset a few people along the way. It’s actually a good sign. I never get calls like this from the folks that are sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. Now go back to selling and quit wasting time talking to me. Goodbye and good job.”

The Aftermath
Was his sales tip on target about high levels of sales activity generating some upset customers? Absolutely.

Did he motivate me to work even harder? Is there any doubt?

Did I feel supported by the organization, specifically the CEO? No question.

Is this a good sales management strategy that I’ve used about a thousand times in my career? Definitely.

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

Janus was a Roman mythological god that would understand our struggles as sales professionals today. He had a unique attribute that symbolizes one of our biggest sales skills challenges. This attribute allowed him to play two major roles simultaneously. Just like Janus, we also must play two notable roles. We are responsible for two specific job functions that are challenging and often in conflict with one another.

“If we sometimes feel like we’re being overwhelmed in our sales jobs, there’s a reason.”

Who Exactly Was Janus?
Janus was a Roman mythological god who had two faces on the same head looking in opposite directions. He could look both forwards and backwards at the same time. He had the capability to concurrently manage what had already occurred while planning for coming events. He was on the leading edge of multi-tasking, one could say.

How Are We Like Janus?
We perform two primary functions as sales professionals. We need Janus-like sales skills to pull this off because we have to perform both skills simultaneously. Our ability to do this is why sales professionals are often referred to as the elite athletes of the business world.  What are these functions?

1. We manage our existing accounts. Unless we have a sales job where we do nothing but missionary work, we have a group of customers that we must tend. This means keeping them happy and increasing the amount of business we do with them. This is not easy. Customers tend to be messy sometimes as we see from the sales tips, posts and comments throughout this sales blog.

2. We must find new business. Our customers leave us for a million reasons, frequently for reasons that have nothing to do with our sales skills. We are always on the lookout for new business from all quadrants in order to meet our ever-growing sales budget, to replace lost business and to find more profitable customers to displace less profitable ones.

Sales Tip Wrap Up
Simply stated, we have to manage a demanding account base while constantly looking under every rock for new business. Meeting that challenge means we must have:

1. Great time management skills.
2. Ability to work in confusing and unclear environments (both at our customers and at our employer).
3. Innate multi-tasking skills.

If we sometimes feel like we’re being overwhelmed in our sales jobs, there’s a reason. We have to be Janus, but with only one face.

Further reading: A reader asks why prospecting is such a big deal.

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

There is ultimately one thing in our sales skills arsenal that will make us successful sales professionals. Our verbal skills. And what drives our verbal sales skills? Our brains. How much of our brain do we actually get to use? Please indicate your answer below.

a. 5%
b. 10%
c. 11%
d. 100%

“We can no longer claim that…our brain is out of reach.”

And the Correct Answer Is
Despite what we’ve been told, the correct answer is actually “d.” That’s right; we use all of our brain. However, we don’t all get an equal share, unfortunately. As David Gerrold says, “The problem with the gene pool is that there’s no lifeguard.” As evidence that we use our brain in its entirety I’d like to point out that you have probably never heard a doctor say, “Good news, the bullet hit him in the 90% of the brain that he doesn’t use.” No, sadly a bullet to the head will kill someone in the majority of cases because we use every area of our brain.

Sales Advice for Our Brains
The primary way that our customers and prospects evaluate our intelligence is through our verbal sales skills. Since our brains are in charge of our mouths this is not an invalid conclusion on their part. When we speak with a prospect for the first time (phone or in person) they have decided what they think of us within about 15 seconds. Their primary determinant is how well we speak. Sales tip: it’s not only an issue with prospects either. We are constantly adding to, or subtracting from, our perceived value by how well we express ourselves even at our established customers.

Sales Tips for Our Mouths
Since we have access to all of our brain, there is no reason not to develop our speaking skills. We can no longer claim that 90% of our brain is out of reach. Just like a muscle, if not exercised regularly our brain and our ability to express ourselves will atrophy. We can develop our presentation skills by constant practice and by taking speech classes or joining Toastmasters.

With enhanced verbal skills we come across as more intelligent to our customers. This translates to higher perceived value which means a higher-level partnership. However, these abilities can’t be strengthened without actively pursuing improvement.

Related information: The Ten-Percent Myth, The Myth of Body Language in Communication

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