Sales Blog with Sales Tips

I’m not responsible for my writing today. I’m getting some kind of cold and my wife has me on 23 different decongestants, antihistamines, cough suppressants, etc. My whole day has been an out-of-body experience.

However, drugged up or not, I feel passionate about today’s topic.

Sales Stupid 101
If you want to completely alienate a customer (or prospect) and guarantee they won’t do business with you, do the following: put them on the defensive.

My wife (you know, the one with all the drugs) is an excellent salesperson. She taught me years ago that when people are backed into a corner they come out fighting. This is not exactly how we want to position our customers.

Ways We Put Customers On The Defensive
There are many ways to put customers on the defensive. I’ll list a few of the most popular below. Please understand that customers have a visceral reaction to being put on the defensive (i.e. they get very angry).

1. Threatening To Escalate. I’ve had Tony Robbins’ salespersons do this to me at two different employers. (Should I have mentioned Tony Robbins by name? Those decongestants!) These guys actually called my boss on both occasions to tell him I was making poor decisions regarding sales training (or whatever it is Tony sells) because I wasn’t purchasing their services.

In both cases, my bosses were unimpressed with Tony’s sales strategy. Do you think I’m inclined to ever recommend or use any of Tony Robbins’ services? Doubtful.

On a side note, would someone contact me and explain his teeth? Too much of a good thing really can be too much of a good thing, Tony.

2. Making The Buyer Feel Stupid. This usually occurs in the form of a question. Here are some examples. “Why wouldn’t you want to update to a better system? Are you telling me you don’t think you can get the budget for this before the end of the year? You actually think our competitor’s product is superior to ours? Who is the real decision maker here?”

3. Questions With An Agenda. I had a sales trainer call me recently trying to get me to buy one of his products. I guess he wanted me to write about it in this sales tips blog. Most of his questions were carefully calculated to back me into a corner. By doing so, he thought I would be forced to buy. What an idiot!

My favorite question of his was, “So what is it about your current system that is working well and meeting all of your requirements?” I guess I was supposed to be confused by his brilliance (he isn’t) and say something like, “Nothing really! I need your system and I need it now!”

During our 30-minute conversation I was even calling him out on this technique and – I’m not making this up – he kept on with his agenda laden questions. He was so scripted he couldn’t help himself.

Sales Tips Wrap Up
Finesse is the art of delicacy, subtlety and skill. As sales professionals, we undoubtedly need to ask customers tough questions and sometimes make them a little uncomfortable to move the sales cycle forward.

If we’re smart and want results, we’ll do it with finesse. Never put a customer in a situation where they feel they’ve been backed into a corner. You’ll always lose.

I need some more decongestants.

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>©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
—

Unintended consequences are things we don’t intend to happen. The federal government is infamous for this.

An example. The federal Cash for Clunkers program resulted in a net increase in car sales of only 125,000 cars – at a cost to US taxpayers of $24,000 per vehicle (see Further sales tips reading below).

I don’t mean to pick on the federal government (well, maybe a little bit), but the truth is that unintended consequences occur in all areas of our lives. They also, as you have already guessed, occur in sales.

Unintended Consequences In Sales Are Accidental, But Avoidable
We’ve all seen salespeople heading toward a customer three-car pileup with the best of intentions. You might see the danger ahead, but they’re completely unaware of what lies in front of them.

While they don’t mean to blunder, they could have avoided the unwanted problems by thinking ahead. By projecting where their current course of action is leading and consulting with the more senior members of their team for advice, a customer car wreck might be averted.

6 Common Unintended Consequences In Sales

1. Overdoing the “friendly” part of sales can frequently backfire on us. Customers hate disingenuous people. Customers realize you don’t care about them that much.

2. Asking prospects intensive qualifying questions can put them on the defensive. No one likes being backed into a corner. This occurs so frequently that I’m planning on writing a sales tips post about it in the upcoming weeks.

3. In order not to offend customers, we frequently don’t introduce additional products and services to them. “This customer is buying $35,000 per month from me of product X; I don’t want to rock the boat by pushing for more.” This guarantees they will be looking at your competitors to find other products that you’re afraid to sell them because it might be offensive.

4. Pushing for a close is so 1950’s. Again, no one likes being backed into a corner. When this happens, customers bring out the heavy artillery loaded with plenty of objection bullets.

5. Don’t most of us already know that talking badly about the competition always cheapens us and ironically gives more credibility to our competitors?

6. Selling to a non-decision-maker (e.g. recommender, information gatherer) makes us feel good because it’s easy and we feel we’re making real progress. Nothing could be further from the truth. We’re in fact wasting our time and alienating the real decision makers because: a) They don’t think we’re smart enough to figure out who the real DM’s are, and b) They think we perceive them as unimportant.

Sales Tips Wrap Up
I’ve identified six of the most common unintended consequences in sales. Believe me, there are a million more. Unintended consequences are costly to us. They are preventable if we take the time to stop and think where we are heading and frequently collaborate with the more experienced members on our team.

Further sales tips reading:
Cash for Clunkers Results Finally In

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
—

Have you ever thought about the following concept – disqualifying prospects? I believe we spend too much time trying to qualify prospects.

The Problem With Qualifying Prospects
We hate prospecting. As a result, we try to “force fit” leads into qualified prospects. But reality tells us that most of the leads we contact are not even close to qualified prospects.

We find ourselves in prospecting situations where:

• We aren’t connected to a decision maker.
• We don’t have a good product fit.
• The timeframe is all wrong.
• The budget isn’t there.
• The competitor is almost at the finish line, and we’re just starting.
• Contract and legal issues will be formidable, if not impossible, to contend with.

It makes prospecting so much easier – but not in the long term – if we pretend the pieces always fit.

The Beauty Of Disqualifying Prospects
Quit wasting your time trying to sell to prospects that aren’t the least bit serious about becoming your customer. Give them the boot.

I’ve always felt that: 1) customers are best, 2) qualified prospects are good, and 3) totally disqualified prospects are definitely not a bad thing. Why are disqualified prospects not a bad thing? Getting rid of tire kickers frees you to focus on genuine prospects.

Sales Tips On How To Disqualify
I have only two sales tips regarding how to mercilessly disqualify prospects. It’s time to identify them and throw them in the rubbish bin.

1. After getting a big cup of coffee (caffeinated, of course), create a list of questions that will let you quickly identify whether a prospect hits your sweet spot. In about five questions, you can tell whether you have a live one on your hands. You can make this list by yourself, but doing it with your sales peers will sharpen your efforts.

2. Throw away those lead lists. Is there anything more worthless than a purchased lead list?  Seriously. They should be called “make me look busy” lists. You’re a big boy or girl; it’s time to start using 21st century tools (that I’ve written about in this sales blog) to find prospects.

Sales Blog Epilogue
There are additional benefits in creating a list of pinpoint qualifying questions. You can use them to improve your elevator speech and to more accurately define your perfect customer when asking for a referral.

Further sales tips reading:
Be Bold about Qualifying Questions
Hierarchy of Prospects
Prospecting By Going-Through-The-Motions, Part 2 of 4
Prospects: Fired, Dead and Demoted

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2010 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
—

I hate the term “salesperson.” Sounds empty to me. If we think of ourselves as a person whose primary job function is selling, then we are nothing more than a “salesperson.”

Why Being A “Salesperson” Makes Us Less Effective
The human mind is full of uncharted waters (you need to visit some of my family members if you don’t believe this). However, there are a few things about how we think – and more importantly, how our customers think – that are predictable. The following are “salesperson” behaviors that cause us to stumble.

• People resist being pushed because they are hardwired that way. Crowding and bulldozing customers causes them to instinctively resist.

• Being overly forceful and “salesy” causes us to exude a vibe of desperation. This is not a good thing. Social psychologists have shown over decades of testing that people prefer to buy from successful people, not ones who seem needy.

• When all we focus on is selling, selling, selling – we put ourselves under stress which makes us less capable sales professionals. Stress is circular. It creates feelings that are completely counterproductive. Stress causes fear, tunnel vision, disorganization. I’m amazed at the number of sales managers who think beating on sales professionals will create sustainable increases in sales.

A Metaphor
Everyone is familiar with Chinese finger traps. The harder you pull, the more they grip down on your fingers.

The harder we try, the more determined these traps seem to become.

Customers feel the same way about us. The more we “sell” them, the more they resist.

Sales Blog Antidote
The following three simple ideas will make your job as a sales professional more enjoyable, your customers more responsive and you more successful. These may seem ill fitting at first, but a great pair of jeans takes a few outings before things look and feel right.

1. Stop being “salesy.” Customers hate this. They see it coming 10 miles away. I know many salespersons who think “salesy” must work because people buy from them. No. People buy from them in spite of the “salesy” approach. Your authenticity is what customers want.

2. Instead of always asking questions, start providing answers to your customers. Giving them something they need (e.g. useful and timely information) is the best antidote to looking like a generic salesperson.

3. Provide your customers with service. I’m not talking about the services your company normally provides. I’m talking about helping your customers in ways that aren’t normally associated with salespersons. Give them referrals. Help them find suppliers for products you don’t sell. Find a new way your company can save them money (don’t worry; this will inspire them to find other things to buy from you that will eclipse any losses).

Sales Blog Wrap-Up
See yourself as more than a salesperson who is trying to maximize how much he or she can get from a customer. Turn down the sales volume and increase the “How can I help you?” volume.

Further sales blog reading:
Sales Advice: Is there a “vibe” in sales? You betcha.
Get customer cooperation by “lowering your shields”

>You can automatically receive Sales Tips Blog by Scott R. Sheaffer >by email< or >by RSS<.
>Follow >Scott R. Sheaffer< on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
>©2009 Scott R. Sheaffer

Scott Sheaffer’s New Book, “Comatose Management”
—
Six Short Stories of Destructive Management Practices, Volume I
—
Available in printed and Kindle edition on amazon.com
—
—