Let us create a 3d Digital eBook for you! DigyCat.com
|
||
|
||
|
Sales Training | Let us create a 3d Digital eBook for you! DigyCat.com |
|
|
|
Assumptions - The Hidden Sales Killer
Assumptions can kill a sale. In my sales training workshops, I frequently discuss the importance of not making assumptions about a person before, during, or after the sales process. Participants frequently nod and tell me that they NEVER make assumptions. One person (Doug Maquire, www.MaquireMarketing.com) sent me this story of a situation that occurred in a department store he worked in many years ago. "I was the 'young kid' who had signed on to take the 9 month Management Training course for a department store chain. Sales people were generally assigned specific areas to cover within the store but being a 'management trainee' I had to learn all departments." One day, a rough looking middle aged fellow entered the store. He was dressed in well-worn workpants, work boots, and a soiled red and black plaid shirt just like you'd expect a lumberjack to wear. No one approached him (I guess he didn't look like a good sales prospect) and he didn't move from the front entrance; he just stood there surveying the store from left to right. I walked up to him and asked if I could help. He said, "I need a pair of wool socks. No nylon, no cotton, just wool socks." We went to the Menswear Department and both watched as the sales person assigned to that department walked away from us so he wouldn't have to waste his time going through the full selection of hosiery just to find a single pair of wool socks." I then started asking questions about style, colour, size, price range, etc., to help narrow down exactly what the customer needed. "It don't matter." he replied, "Just wool socks. I work back in the bush and we only come to town every three weeks. Nylon makes my feet sweat. Cotton's okay but it don't last long. I need socks I can wear at work everyday and that's wool." So, I checked the content label of every style and colour of sock that we had in stock and eventually found a pair of 100% wool socks. "Good", he said, and we walked up the checkout counter to ring in the $3.95 pair of wool socks. The man left and I got a bit of ribbing from the sales person in the Menswear Department about my 'big sale of the day' and how 'not to spend my commission all in one place!'" Three weeks later the customer returned. He then walked over to me and said, "I need more wool socks like that last pair". This time he decided that he'd take 6 pair. We took the socks up to the checkout counter and rang in the six pair of $3.95 socks. The customer paid cash, said thanks, and walked away with his purchase. This time I didn't get quite as much ribbing from the sales person in the Menswear Department. Exactly three weeks later the customer came back. He walked through the front door and made a beeline for me. "I need more of them wool socks", he said. "The boys at camp want to know where I got them and want some too. How many have you got?" I checked the display area, the stockroom, and our new stock shipment and told him I had 58 pair. He paid cash and bought them all. I never found out exactly how many people he worked with, but every three weeks he'd show up at the store and ask what I had in the way of tee-shirts, long johns, plaid wool shirts, work boots, gloves, caps, toques, coveralls, work jackets, etc., and each time he arrived, he'd walk right up to me for service and we'd both go to the proper department and select what he needed for himself and for the guys he worked with. He always paid cash and always thanked me for my help." If Doug had made the mistake of following his coworker's footsteps and made the same assumptions about the customer, he would have lost thousands of dollars in sales. It is easy to make assumptions about our customers and prospects. A person's appearance, age, gender, nationality, or role within the company, often influences us. I have made this mistake when speaking to companies in the past. Upon learning that they only had a few salespeople, I made the assumptions they would not be willing to pay my standard fee. I later learned that this assumption was completely inaccurate and that they were fully prepared to invest in their teams' development. As a consumer, I have often noticed that most sales people will approach well-dressed customers before they talk to people who are attired in jeans or casual clothing. Avoid this fatal mistake and go into every sales interaction with an open and clear mind. This will definitely have a positive impact on your sales. Copyright 2004 Kelley Robertson, all rights reserved. Kelley Robertson, President of the Robertson Training Group, works with businesses to help them increase their sales and motivate their employees. He is also the author of "Stop, Ask & Listen - Proven sales techniques to turn browsers into buyers." Visit his website at http://www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com and receive a FREE copy of "100 Ways to Increase Your Sales" by subscribing to his 59-Second Tip, a free weekly e-zine.
MORE RESOURCES: Sales Training - Google News Law School Sales Pitch Doubles Down On The Getting Rich Rationale For Law School - Above the Law
Foot Locker 1Q Net Jumps 36% As Sales Rise - Wall Street Journal
3 Ways to Annoy Your Customers - Inc.com
A new way to train revenue producers with tablets, smartphones and Internet - Inside Tucson Business
Radian Guaranty Expands Client Education Department - MarketWatch (press release)
Insurance Sales Consultant in Training - Associate Insurance Agent - Denver Business Journal
Richardson Certified Best-in-Class Smartchoice® Solution Provider in Sales ... - Sacramento Bee
GMS Talent Introduces New Sales Training Model Based Upon Emotional Skills - Houston Chronicle
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Busting Your Assumptions: Effective Probing Techniques for Sales Professionals Do you find yourself making these kinds of assumptions?- "I lost the sale because my price was too high."- "I know exactly what my customer wants. 7 Steps to Selling Artwork Selling arwork is easy when you follow a road map. In this article you learn the step by step guide to marketing art for profits. Getting People to Buy Without Selling In my youth I landed a job selling encyclopedias door to door. I worked for commissions. 4 Easy Ways to Boost Your Sales Here are 4 easy ways you can boost your sales for little or no new expense .. Build Rapport by Mirroring Traditionally, salespeople look for something in the office that begs a question. For example, "Is that your sailfish on the wall?"How many times do you think that prospect has been asked that question? How often do you think the prospect hears a salesperson ask about the family portrait on the desk, last night's baseball game, etc. Sales and the City It's all about relationships!Here is how a popular TV show looks at it:In a city filled with more than its fair share of players, predators, losers, and creeps, these people need all the help they can get in order to find the one thing that eludes them all - a real, satisfying and lasting relationship. Is such a thing possible in New York City?Here's how your customers may be seeing things:In a vocation filled with more than its fair share of players, predators, losers, and creeps, these customers need all the help they can get in order to find the one thing that eludes them all - a real, satisfying and lasting relationship. 8 Must Questions to Ask in Every Sales Situation Solving people's and organization's problems is ultimately whatbusiness is all about. Effective selling involves defining yourexisting or potential customer's problems. You Dont Love Your Kids if You Dont . . . "You don't love your kids if you don't buy my vacuum cleaner." The salesman looked me right in the eye and didn't even flinch. Prep Your Customer When I first moved to Seattle, I worked for 9 years as a paint contractor. It is amazing the lessons I learned from this field, that I now carry into the field of sales. Keep Sales Simple For those of us working in the exciting world of sales, we are all too familiar with the pressures of meeting our daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly goals. This pressure can sometimes cause us to loose focus on the simple things that made us successful to begin with. Your Business Approach Can Make or Break a Business Deal Every sales presentation should start with the approach, or introduction. Your approach should be a well-defined statement that can be easily adjusted for any situation. Top 7 Psychological Triggers For Unlimited Sales Did you know that there are specific psychological triggers you can use to influence the decisions of peoples and persuade them to buy what you are selling?By knowing and using these psychological triggers you willhave an edge on your competitions and make more sales in the process.Here are 7 psychological triggers you can start using in your sales letter today!Psychological trigger #1: BE SPECIFICIt's important to be as specific as possible. 3 Basic Secrets That Will Explode Your Sales This Year In this article, I would like to talk about the three "well-known but often ignored" secrets for creating a successful product.These secrets are still valid in real world as they are online. The Ultimate Think Differently Sales Tip Sales drive revenues, and revenues drive companies. Companies, then, are only as good as their sales people. Marketing Vs. Sales Marketing and sales co-exist and work in tandem beautifully if they are allowed to remain as separate entities coming together to achieve results:DRIVING REVENUE!!Marketing = SIZZLE ------ Sales = CLOSINGThe misunderstanding that marketing and sales are the same causes a downward spiral of events. Sales staff and managers become frustrated, productivity drops, turnover is high, and company image suffers. Quick Tips On Handling Rejection Looking for a way to handle rejection?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and TV show host, who specializes in quick tips on how to move your life ahead even faster, offers the following advice. Four Ways To Increase Your Sales Fast... In 2-4 Weeks? You built a very good web site.. It Is Not The Price That Is Keeping You From Making The Sale Most salespeople are under the false belief that the lower the price, the better chance they have at making the sale. Nothing is further from the truth. 12 Sure-Fire Steps To Improve Your Retail Sales The purpose of any business is to bring in customers, and it can only be accomplished through marketing. If your cash registers don't ring, something is wrong and you had better find out what is wrong fast. In Sales, Words Just Don't Compute In studies conducted by Motivational Systems of West Orange, New Jersey, researchers found that 72% of the 12,000 participants reported that, in first time meetings, non-verbal communication carried significantly more weight than a verbal message (words). Only 6% of the respondents paid the slightest attention to what a person said at a first time meeting.
|
|
Looking For Royalty Free Photos for your Website, Business or Advertising?
List4Sale Domain Is For Sale - $10,000 For Enquiries eMail Us © www.List4Sale.biz 2011 |
|
