What Must Happen to Make the Sale Today

Far from just another sales technique or gimmick, Productive Selling Attitude (PSA) is a fundamental approach to making sales.

PSA is emerging from a clear understanding of how customers think, as well as from the expectations of suppliers and vendors.

Only those who are brutally honest with themselves really make it in sales - this means admitting that it is getting more difficult to "make the sale."

The obstacles to success are everywhere. Automated telephone systems serve as an impenetrable wall. The fear of making a wrong decision creates endless delays and false starts.

The world is moving forward - which rules out the possibility of ever having a replay of the past. Those waiting for the economy to shake off the recession blues and customers to start buying again are probably going to be in for a surprise.

It's a new game in a different stadium filled with a new group of fans. Everything previously known applies only in new ways, with new slants and new twists. For instance, the idea that meeting a customer's expectations is the way to get and keep business has become the commonly accepted starting point, not the goal.

A customer's primary interest is the vendor company, not the particular product or service being purchased. What the customer is 'buying' today is a partner. If an agency or brokerage is not selling partnering, it's not going to make sales.

To dramatize the selling situation, the so-called tried-and-true axioms of sales have been canceled. They're history, and those who continue to act as if the old axioms are still true will also become dust.

The following are components of PSA:

• Customers are more important than orders.
  
  The basic flaw in sales today is the mistaken notion that the ultimate goal is to "get the order." Without question, this idea goes against everything that's "sacred" in selling.
  
  Businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the limitations of the "get the order" mentality. It overemphasizes today's results and ignores the value of long-term thinking. As a result, keeping the sales figures up is always a problem.
  
  If customer development is viewed as the primary sales task, then the goal is to get prospects to understand and believe in your agency. When this happens, a productive atmosphere has been established for making specific sales of a product or service.
• The only 'product' of any significant value is a producer's expertise.
  
  In the back of the minds of many producers lies the deeply in-grained but mistaken notion that to be really top-notch in sales it's necessary to be able to sell anything. If a producer knows the right techniques, then the rest comes easy. In other words, what is sold is not nearly important as how it is sold. The "I can sell anything" idea has never been true, and it's certainly a misguided belief today.
  
  With thorough knowledge and the desire to communicate, a salesperson can become a key partner in a customer's business.
• Getting the order is an ongoing process, not a singular event.
  
  Many sales professionals have been taught to celebrate victory at the wrong moment. They see the signed order as an occasion for fireworks, an indication of their competence.
  
  There's a more appropriate way to view the order today - as a test conducted by the customer. It's the customer saying, "Now we're going to really see if you can deliver on your promises." It reflects another stage or benchmark in the relationship with the customer.
  
  In effect, the signed order is a challenge that reflects the customer's anticipation: "Will I really get what I have bought?"
  
  The goal in sales should be to soft-pedal the moment the order is placed so a picture emerges in the customer's mind that dealing with you is a series of steps in which the relationship continually improves as it becomes more valuable.
  
  To become highly successful in selling, a salesperson must learn to appreciate one essential fact: The customer wants to believe that, more than anything else in the world, the decision to buy from you is unequivocally wise.
• Getting the customer to understand you is more important than simply understanding the customer.
  
  This idea may seem contrary to the first three components of PSA, but there is nothing worse than sitting down in front of a prospect and fact-finding. This is the time to find a hot button - anything that might get the selling juices flowing.
  
  Today's customers understand producers are consuming time in order to figure out how to sell something. There's little or no genuine interest in making sure that what is being sold conforms to customers' needs.
  
  Most salespeople don't have higher closing ratios because they don't gain customers' understanding or trust. Today, there are fewer sales without initial customer confidence.

The highly professional salesperson knows the value of taking time to select prospects carefully, then making sure that each one develops an appreciation for what the salesperson stands for and can do for a customer.

To walk through a prospect's door before this sense of understanding and trust exists is to waste valuable time and to antagonize the prospect needlessly. It is, in effect, to fail at sales.

In the final analysis, effective sales depends on understanding and respecting how the customer thinks. If your goals are different from those of your customer, you may get the order, but you won't have a customer the next time you try to get some business.