UNUSUAL STRATEGIES FOR CLOSING MORE SALES
by John Graham
Selling is a tough profession and from all indicators, it might not be getting much easier any time soon. The recession of the early 21st Century clearly impacted the way buying decisions are made. Just about everyone in sales will experience cautious, reticent, buyers who are expecting more for less.
If this is what the real world is like today and this is where salespeople find themselves every morning, what should they be doing? To get ahead of the competition and to put more business on your company’s books, here are six strategies that can make a difference.
1. Sharpen your skills at reading customers. From the get-go, recognize that your customers might not be quite the same people they were pre-recession. Chances are they’ve changed. They’re looking at everything differently. They don’t want to be fooled.
If we continue to think of our customers and prospects as the way they were before the recession, it’s easy to misread what they’re thinking. They can be cold and seemingly disinterested, as they don’t want to be bothered.
However, it’s a mistake to write off anyone. It’s time to “re-cultivate” both customers and prospects as they find new comfort levels. Needs will still occur and salespeople who empathize will have the inside track.
2. Look out for the inevitable conflict that exists in every sale. This is so big and it’s often a deal breaker as we see a sale go south. Few sales managers ever talk about it. It might be so obvious that no one sees it, even though it’s the huge gulf that’s almost impossible to get across in making a sale.
Theodore Levitt, the late marketing genius at Harvard Business School, expressed the inevitable conflict that exists in every selling situation when he wrote, “Selling focuses on the need of the seller; marketing on the needs of the buyer.” No matter how we rationalize it, this conflict exists in every sale. Instead of attempting to ignore or gloss over this fact, it’s best to admit and recognize that it’s real: No matter what’s said, no salesperson can really sit on the buyer’s side of the table.
Since “getting the fish in the boat” is the salesperson’s objective (no matter how that’s expressed in kinder, gentler words), it shouldn’t surprise anyone that buyers are unconsciously uncomfortable and wary of salespeople who “send a message,” no matter how subtly, that getting a signature is what they care about, no matter what they say or do. This suggests that by bringing the conflict out in the open salespeople can enhance their credibility.
3. Watch out for the peacock’s plumage. While waiting for a haircut, a sales executive encountered a “peacock moment.” In one chair, a customer was showing his new wristwatch to the barber. If was big, heavy and techie. Evidently, the barber failed to show proper interest, and the customer who knew him, said quite seriously, “You’re not manly enough to wear this watch.” For the customer, the watch was a badge of his manhood and anyone who didn’t like the watch was less of a man.
The move to strip CEOs and other corporate executives of their “plumage” by denying or at least making unpopular high-priced perks such as jets, exotic trips, luxury office accommodations, and the like denies them of the “signals of superiority.”
However, it isn’t just the rich and famous; almost everyone has a “plumage factor,” which presents itself in almost everything they buy, either individually or for a business.
4. Let the customer take the lead. This can be asking too much from the salesperson who’s determined to press forward, no matter what. But not Kenneth Kahn. His company, yourgiftcertificate.net, offers businesses a sophisticated “newcomers to the community” type program.
At one point, Kahn attempted to contact a prospect that seemed like a good fit for his product, particularly since it had nearly 50 locations throughout the region. Unfortunately, he met with little interest. Ken didn’t give up, however. Almost a year later, the situation changed when he sent the prospect a sample of the new version of the product.
Instead of trying to beat down the door, Ken skillfully followed up with additional information, carefully answering the prospective customer’s questions and never once using a “sales pitch” or pushing for a meeting.” His approach was seen as professional and thorough.
Ken didn’t try to persuade or make unrealistic claims. Rather, he encouraged responses and kept the conversation going. By always letting the customer take the lead, he received the order.
5. Become more gender aware. This might seem politically incorrect. Yet, in our effort to avoid distinctions, we can fail to recognize significant differences between men and women.
Here are two examples: The salesperson couldn’t understand why the customer, a woman, was taking so much time making a buying decision for a new car. She had been to the dealership three times and was back again, clutching a file folder filled with evaluations, customer comments, and reviews. As she came into the showroom, the salesperson said to a coworker, “Why doesn’t she make up her mind. I don’t get it.” Of course, that was the problem.
At the same time, a male customer goes to buy a digital camera and the salesperson, who is enthusiastic about these exciting products, launches into a detailed presentation of all the features and can’t understand why the customer interrupts, saying “I know all that. Just tell me your best price?”
If the two salespeople knew a little more about evolutionary psychology, they might have fared better. You can see this played out by going down the aisles of any supermarket. Many of the women shoppers will be comparing products, ingredients, and prices, and weighing their decisions. Then, a male shopper comes along with his cart moving at NASCAR speed, barely stopping long enough to grab what’s on his list.
The answer to these differences seems to lie in our genes. Eons ago, women spent their days caring for offspring, carefully gathering edible plants and berries for the food. As hunters, men knew the necessity of proper planning to locate their prey, make the kill, and get the meat back quickly before it spoiled.
These behaviors play out every day when men and women make purchases. This also explains why it’s often so frustrating when they go shopping together.
6. Be known for your ideas. It’s safe to say that most customers want to believe that the salespeople they work with really care about their account but they’re often less than sure. While there are certainly ways to let customers know you value them, there’s nothing more effective than a salesperson with new, innovative, and helpful ideas that bring value to a customer!
The most stunning example of this is Apple. People buy their products eagerly; however, it’s what the products do that gets the “wow!” Apple’s Steve Jobs expressed this idea perfectly when he described the company’s mission as “creating products that unleash human potential.” Incredibly, months before the iPad was available, physicians, hospitals, colleges, book publishers, newspapers, and magazines were creating software for it. The power of ideas makes the difference.
CONCLUSION
Selling success depends on communicating ideas that capture buyer imagination and enhance the account. Without this, we’re just ordinary salespeople trying to figure out why we have trouble meeting the numbers.