Stop Throwing Cans!

Tim was dumbfounded at their request…

Two months ago, I had the pleasure of working with the technical training group for one of my clients. You know these guys. They are the techies who teach your customers how to use the software and operate the equipment we sell. They often come along on demos just to make sure we don’t make total fools of ourselves. Unfortunately, too often we fear that they will stray from their role and start talking. Who knows what will happen then!

This group had asked me to teach them how to sell since they not only talk with their own sales people, but their customers are usually resellers and interested in sales, too. They believed that if they understood a little about sales, they would be able to do a better job helping sales people use their information as a tool to make more sales. They wanted to talk their language.

What a concept!

I talked with them on a teleconference today and I’m happy to report that they are doing great, except for one issue. The techies showed the sales people how to find customers for each product. They tied all the features and benefits into customer value points. They even showed the sales people how to do a demo that closes a sale. Bravo!

Then came the big question…

Tim said that some sales people consistently asked him to reduce each offering down to one sentence or ‘elevator speech’. They wanted canned lines for everything. He came back a little frustrated with these individuals, and I don’t blame him. I had taught them a consultative approach. One that was based on questions and intelligent responses that connected with the prospect, not canned pitches that require little thought or probing.

What would you say to a prospect who asked you, “What can that do for me?” Would you throw out a litany of canned feature and benefit statements, hoping that one or two would hit the mark? Or would you say, “I don’t know. Tell me a little about your needs and I’ll tell you how this might fit in your situation”?

Selling does not have to be complicated, but it does take some effort. Let’s can the canned responses and make the effort to connect with every prospect through knowing their needs.

Ps: Respect your technical support team. They just might be the best sales tool you have.

Steve Waterhouse

You can have quality prospects NOW!

Sales Training in Value Selling

The Boss is Too Busy

I had a call recently from the administrative assistant for the Sr. VP of Sales of a medium size, regional company. She asked for pricing and I said that I needed more information first and the best way to get it was to talk with the VP directly. The Admin was nice but firm and said that they had had two previous bad experiences with sales training and that it was her job to screen the candidates to improve their success rate. (does that make sense to you?) She said I should ask her the questions and she could answer them.

Ok, I said. "What are your annual sales?" She could not tell me. "What increase are you expecting this sales training to give you?" She had no idea. "What skills sets need to be improved in your team for this training to be successful?" She had no idea what I was talking about.

Eventually, she said that it was obvious that a meeting with the VP was needed and that she would arrange it. Bottom line, the VP refused to talk until I quoted prices.

I no-bid the job.

If you can't get to the decision maker, you can't make a winning proposal. Don't let the client's flawed buying process ruin your selling process. Stick to your plan and you will waste less time on fruitless proposals.

Wishing you selling success,

Steve Waterhouse
www.effectivevoicemailmessages.com

Waterhouse Sales Training

New Prospecting Program is ready

It's finally done!

The Ultimate Prospecting Manual is completed and available online at:

http://www.salesleadsforever.com

I hope you enjoy it and profit from it.

Steve