Why Prospects Abuse Salespeople

I’ve got a question for you Shamus.
Do prospects ever abuse you?
No, I don’t mean physically.
I am asking about abuse of your time, your knowledge, your
generosity.
I’m wondering if any of the following has ever happened to
you:

You called a decision-maker and left a message, but they
didn’t return your call.

A prospect asked you to “call back in a month”… and then
when you did call back, the prospect wouldn’t take your
call.

You were told “great presentation, thanks. We’ll think it
over and get back to you”. But somehow they don’t get back
to you, nor do they take your phone calls or ever return
your messages.Yeah, sales can be tough.

So why does this happen?

This happens when you let the buyer control the sale.

I know, because this used to happen to me to.

You see all buyers have a system for buying, even though the
vast majority doesn’t know that they are using a system.

Let me give you an example of what I mean.
You called a decision-maker and left a message, but they  didn’t return your call.  A prospect asked you to “call back in a month”… and then  when you did call back, the prospect wouldn’t take your  call.  You were told “great presentation, thanks. We’ll think it  over and get back to you”. But somehow they don’t get back  to you, nor do they take your phone calls or ever return  your messages.Yeah, sales can be tough.So why does this happen?This happens when you let the buyer control the sale.I know, because this used to happen to me to.You see all buyers have a system for buying, even though thevast majority doesn’t know that they are using a system.Let me give you an example of what I mean.

............................................................
 Listen to this article online right now...
 http://www.industrialego.com/persuasive-selling.htm Look for red audio buttons in the box near the top of the page. ............................................................

Imagine right now that you were going to purchase a brand
new Flat Screen High Definition TV.

You know, one of those really cool ones that is only a few
inches thick, hangs on your wall, and turns your living room
into a movie theater.

What would you do first?

You would likely get your Yellow Pages, and maybe the Sunday
newspaper ads and you’d start calling around.

You’d pick probably 3 stores to go look at Flat Screen TVs.

And when you got to the first one, you’d tell the
salespeople that you were “just looking”.

You’d play with the TV, ask to see how it works, what the
resolution was, etc.

Then when the salesman tried to close you, you’d give some
excuse about it being late, and you had to get home or some
other lie to get yourself out of there.

Then you’d go to the your next 2 stores and complete this
cycle again a couple more times.

Let’s look at what you just did as a buyer.

First you misled the sales rep:

  You told the salesman that you were "Just Looking", when
the truth was you were a qualified HDTV buyer.

Then you pumped the salesman for information.

You took his time, his knowledge and his generosity to get
what you wanted from him.

Then you lied to the salesman about it being late, that you
had to get home and you’d “Think About It” some more later.

Of course you were polite and you thanked him for his time.

Finally, you kept your options open because you didn’t give
this salesperson (or any other of the other ones) any
commitment whatsoever.

Yes, you do have a system for buying. Everybody does.

In fact were all experts in buying. Few of us are experts in
selling though.

And that’s the problem.

You see you and I came into the sales game with a lot of
mental baggage.

Clichés such as…

  "The customer is always right"

and

  "Customer service is king"

…have done tremendous damage to your ability to sell
effectively.

Let’s look at the way the most new salespeople sell.

First, you build rapport using small talk:

  "How's the weather?
"How about them Yankees?
"You went Penn State... so did I!"

Then you “Make A Presentation”.

You tell the prospect about all the great features and
benefits of your product, and why he should purchase it.

Next it’s Time to “Ask For The Order”.

You “close” the prospect and now get ready because…

Here come the objections!

This is supposed to be a good thing by the way. It’s
supposed to mean you are getting closer to the sale.

Yeah right!

Finally when the buyer tells you “I Need To Think About It”,

You say “OK” because of course, any reasonable person would
need to think about a major decision like this. I know I
would. Right?

And now you are in chase mode. You call the buyer back to
follow-up.

He tells you they’re still considering which vendor they
want to purchase from, or worse…

He won’t take or return your call!

If you find that sales can be tough, here is the reason:

  You are letting the buyer control your sale, instead of
controlling it yourself!

Now this isn’t entirely your fault. You were conditioned by
all that buying you did and observed before getting into
sales about what was “proper” behavior for a “professional”
sales person.

Well if you want to make more sales, and close more deals
with the same or less effort, you’re going to have to start
doing things differently.

The way to get control of the sales cycle is to stop giving
away your power.

Recognize that you have knowledge, information, and
resources that your prospective customers want and need.

And because you have something your prospects want, you have
bargaining power. Sales should be a mutual exchange of value
for value.

Unfortunately too many salespeople give away their value,
without asking anything in return, because of limiting
beliefs about what is “acceptable” sales behavior.

They give presentations without securing commitments from
their prospects, and then they wonder how they can close a
prospect that’s “on the fence”.

You need to get commitments from your customers before you
give a presentation, before you give away your valuable
knowledge, time and resources.

Selling really is about helping people solve their problems.

Keep the focus of your conversations on the prospect’s
problem, and away from “why your product is so great”.

When you do so, you can control the conversation to the
point where either the prospect wants to purchase from you,

or

You quickly conclude that you have no chance for a sale
and you move on.

And the quicker you get a no, the more time you can spend
finding and selling to prospects who will say yes.

ADVICE TO SALES PEOPLE WHO WANT TO CLOSE MORE SALES

Forget giving away your time, attention and knowledge to
prospects who don’t purchase. Learn 5 simple skills that
will enable you to close significantly more in the same time
that you are working now. No more cheesy closing lines.

Go to http://www.industrialego.com/persuasive-selling.htm

——————————

Print Friendly