Sales Closing Technique - Call to Action

I remember learning this sales mentor lesson; it was actually the first sales closing techniques I’ve learned. This closing technique is called, the call to action.

I’ve had many experiences that have good products and good presentations yet at the end they forget something very important, and it is giving the prospect the “call” to “action”, otherwise known as the option to buy.

Remember that we are now leaving in a very busy world. Everyone’s in a hurry. If you take too much of their time or give them too many options, they won’t buy. Or worse, if the options are unclear, they would not buy either.

So how do you correct this?

Selling Is Using The Power Of Words To Touch

Sales Words To Touch, Source : Flickr

As always, I am amazed at the effectiveness of being able to understand the concept of selling and being able to use it in any situation necessary.

Just a while ago, I arrived late for my trip to Cebu City. To top it off, I didn't have a ticket and the boat was full. Actually, there were several of us who was under the same predicament. Most of them gave up and went back to the other ticketing office to buy tickets for the next trip.

Left there alone, I knew I could convince the crew and the guard to sell me an "extra" ticket so that I could go along with the trip. Besides what's the use of being a sales mentor if I couldn't convince a guard to sell me a ticket.

Of course, I was able to get one ticket by using simple sales and negotiation techniques. So here's how I did it.

First, I made casual conversations with the guard: like how hot the weather was, the people in his job, and many other stuff that made him comfortable.

Next, I then proceeded to ask him questions about the trip : why there was only one trip instead of two, why the boat was smaller, and the most important question, what would I need to do to get him to sell me another ticket.

I further explained why I needed to get to Cebu City at a specific time and the consequences. At that, he already showed non-verbal signs of "buying my sales pitch".

He then asked me if I could wait since he will ask for the Coast Guard's approval. I also made my "sales pitch" to the head coast guard and was so happy when he gave me the ticket. I paid for the ticket and gave the first guard a tip and profusely thanked the coast guard.

Actually since the sales process is so inherent in me, it is quite normal for me to sell anything. Specially if it's an idea with a sense of urgency.

Well, you would think that there's not much of a sales mentor lesson here right? WRONG. The story I just told you above shows a brief process of how effective a salesperson can be by using what I call the "Power of Negotiations". This will be our next set of sales mentor lessons for the coming weeks. 

Actually this will be a very long series of lessons but I promise you this will be all worth your patience. This will help you to double your closing success.    

A Sales Person's Life Is Always Closing!

Just a while ago I was at a Jollibee outlet. As usual I had to line up to the counter in order to get what I want to eat.

The young girl (probably in her teens) greeted me with a wonderful smile saying, "hello sir, welcome to Jollibee, can I take your order?". I got a bit startled cause I was currently texting my wife that I am already waiting for her at the store.

Do You Inspire Customer Service Tales?

Everyone loves to tell a good story. Stories teach, they inspire laughter and the bring about change. As consumers, we love to tell stories about the people we buy from -- good, bad or ugly.

If I stopped 10 of your clients/customers today and asked them to tell me a story about your company's customer service -- what story would they tell?

The Basic Reasons A Prospect Won't or Don't Buy

In all my years as a salesperson, I have finally heard of all the reasons why a prospect won't buy and it would be safe to say that it can be summarized in five (5) basic reasons, namely:
- No Need
- No Money
- No Hurry
- No Desire
- And No Trust

Are Salespeople Still Needed?

This question was asked to me recently in an interview, "with the dominance of the internet is the salesperson even needed anymore?" It might surprise you to hear my answer. Understand I have worked as a 'sales expert' for over twenty years, rewritten sales processes for entire industries, licensed customized sales processes for organizations, and written three books on selling.

How Do You Evaluate Your Brand?

When it comes to marketing, maintaining a very good brand always allows a certain product to stand out from the rest. It defines it, and gives it a certain position in the entire pie of the market.

Specifically in the Philippines, "old companies" tend to take for granted the proper branding of their new product releases. In fact without the good product releases they had before, they would not have been taken into consideration by the market.



Relating this to our sales lessons, I want to cite a few but very important issues.


1. You have to know the position of the brand you are selling.



Be familiar with the details of your brand. Your market share, sales trends, your direct competitors, rational of features, and etc.
This will prepare you more in handling possible objections on your sales call with your prospect. With the kind of brand knowledge you have, you are able to add persuasion points on sales negotiation.


2. Having a proper background of your brand will help you see which buttons to push.


Again, this relates to know the needs and wants of your prospect. When you have complete know how of your brand, filling in the needs of your prospect allows you to sell in the most persuasive way possible.
Even to this day, whenever I attend a marketing cascade about a product, I still take note of the important details of a brand. Whether you are a season salesperson or a sales manager knowing your brand is vital to our selling success.


Anyway to learn more on how to evaluate you brand, here's another great post from McLellan Marketing Group.

If you want my views on why branding matters...check out these posts:

• Are you brave enough to walk away from business?
• Be bold or go home!
• Best practice: branding
• Mark Twain...the branding expert

But let's assume you agree with me -- branding matters. If you think your company has a brand...how do you evaluate whether or not it's a good one?

Here are some criteria we use with clients when helping them either discover their brand or critique the one they have in place.

• It's evergreen (this is not something you'll need to change on a regular basis. It will always be true about you.)
• It's not a duh (if consumers already assume this about everyone in your category -- it can't be your brand.)
• Memorable (If it doesn't stick, it won't work.)
• The flag to rally around for your employees (Will they be excited and proud to help you achieve this brand?)
• True - inside and out (You can't be one company to your customers and another to your employees)
• A why or a how - not the what (how you create widgets differently or why you do it builds a brand..not that you make widgets. Everyone in your category makes widgets.)
• Makes you a little nervous (A brand needs to be a bold promise to get noticed and to matter.)
• Emotion based (We buy everything based on emotions. If your brand doesn't trigger an emotion, it will also not trigger a sale.)
• Differentiate you (Isn't that what a brand is all about. It sets you apart from everyone else.)
• Should dovetail with your mission/vision (Your internal goals and your public brand should be aligned or else one of them is off base.)
• From the consumer's point of view (it's about them after all!)
• I can tell -- it matters to me (the consumer has to be able to recognize and evaluate your brand promise. If you make the promise but I can't figure out if you kept it or not, we have trouble.)
• Big enough to trigger a buying decision (your point of difference has to be significant enough that I'd open my wallet)

If you can say "yes, that's my brand" to most of these criteria -- you have a brand that will endure and that your employees, customers and community will embrace and support. But if you can't get a 10 out of 12 on this little test (it requires quite a bit of candor) then you know it's back to the drawing board.

To read more click the source below.

Source

How to turn SOCIAL NETWORKING into sales!

Social networking tools like Face Book, Linked In and Twitter are not just social networking tools but should be used as ways to create relationships and create real sales. This is a whole new world that is exploding with sales opportunities and not just a way to find old college buddies. Social networking is for more than just making connections but for making sales! 

Go into this with the idea that you are going to use social networking to increase your contacts, get them thinking and talking about you and then covert those contacts into contracts! Unfortunately or fortunately depending on who you are, most people are just using this tool to entertain and waste time. 

Getting started is as simple as entering your email address into any of these sites, what you do with after that is what counts. Focus on what image you want to create and how to get people to see your site and the creative ideas of how to stay connected with those people. 

Getting to the right person at the right time with the right presentation is what creates the sale. And that is what these sites can and should do for you. With the economy much tighter it is critical that salespeople increase the number of opportunities they personally create and not wait for something to happen. Social networking tools are transforming the salesperson's sales efforts.

First, understand this is not a place to waste time and meander but to connect with those that can propel your business. When I use social networking I am looking to connect with those that can either promote my business or directly see and buy my products. If my old college mates can help me great then go after them but that should not be your primary purpose when using these tools.

Your Sales Mentor's Opinion:

Hi everyone, I got this post from Technorati. I think this is where the future is going. 

As salespeople we too should be looking to the future and be open to the changes even before it happens, so that we are always a step ahead. Although for now not many Filipinos take advantage of this social media sites (it is still a good site to keep in touch with friends by the way), but we too have to learn how to take advantage of this sites as one of our best selling areas in which we can use even for free. 

We can even open new accounts connected to, or related to the products/services we are selling, and inform a lot of possible prospects just by befriending them and adding getting our accounts added to their list of contacts.

The key here is on how to choose the prospects and to look for groups which you think will be interested in what you are selling. 

To continue reading the Article of Grant Cardone please click here.

    

Want to learn more about the internet and how to earn from it?

Meet my friend James Parmis and click his written name and subscribe to his blog. He will teach you the step by step process on how to earn online. 

Anyway that's it for our sales lesson update, hope you had fun reading my article.

Dedicated to your selling success,

Sale Mentor TM

Are you playing the competitor's game?

I'm not good at sitting idle.  So if I am stuck waiting for some reason, I get antsy.  To kill that time, I'll fire up my smart phone and play a game (or two) of Hearts.  In the game, by default I am player south.  (4 players sitting around a table, each designated by a direction.)

  

My arch nemesis is player north.  He is the shrewdest of the computerized players and if anyone is going to beat me, it's him.  (Stay with me, I promise there is a marketing message in here!)

I have played Hearts (usually with real people so don't feel too sorry for me!) for many years and I'm pretty good.  I have a sound strategy that has been time tested so I rarely need to vary from it.  But...the fact that north is good and is my most worthy opponent throws me off that track.

I find that I play differently when I am overly-conscious of trying to beat him in particular.  And in fact, the more I purposely change the way I play to thwart him....the more I lose. If I stay disciplined enough to play my own game my own way -- I rarely lose.

(Did you notice the marketing message I snuck in there?)

We all run the same risk in running our businesses and planning our marketing.  Way too many businesses invest too much time and energy worrying about what their competitor is doing.  Then, they change their own game plan to chase after the other guy -- emulating or trying to outdo.

I found this great site which discusses practical marketing strategies that will definitely help us improve our sales carriers and future business. 

This article is from Drew McLellan a top Dog McLellan Marketing Group. As a salesperson I have long understood that for us to improve we need to be completely open and aware of the new and current ideas that are available for us. Yet with this concept from Drew, we are reminded that we also need to "stick with our own guns" if we want to have our own cut of the total Marketshare. 

To continue reading Drew's article please click here.

I assure you Drew will give you great advice on your marketing endeavors.

Again see you next time. 

Dedicated to your selling success,

Sales Mentor TM

Who Should Gain the Most?

Before we go to the details on the selling process, I just want to emphasize a very important point that I have observed most Filipino salespeople lack.

“The Winner or the one that should gain the most should always be the customer.”

(I’m obviously assuming that the product you are selling is legitimate, is fairly priced, and will perform as expected).

The customer is KING and he should be treated as one. He is and will always be our number one priority. This has been my guide and the key to my continuous success in selling. Let’s face it my selling friend, our profession would not have survived this long if all Pinoy salespeople only focused on making themselves better.

During my early days as an Account Specialist (my hairline was not receding then and was really “macho”), I’ve seen how my fellow Specialists complain often about how our customers were gaining too much yet our commissions were not that high. We forget that all these years, the Sales Profession has always been booming because of the growing number of prospects we have; the Kings and the Queens. Thankfully, I wasn’t their kind so I was able to progress rather fast than most of my colleagues.

As your sales mentor, I have a responsibility to remind you that we should be giving more value on our customers than the monetary value we are receiving. This and only this will be the ultimate reason that we can build a long lasting relationship with our customers. In fact, we as a Sales Force should consider that our customers are the pillars of our growth and label them as our business-partners.

As the great sales trainer Zig Ziglar says, “You can have everything you want in life if you will just help enough people to get what they want”. In my own words, our initial intention should be to help meet the needs of our customers and not vice versa. We as salespeople must be by nature problem solvers, and thru our product/service, we should be able to provide our customers with what they really need so in return we will then get our desired results.

The customer is always the big winner – He is King!

That's it for today, join me again next time.

Dedicated to you selling success!

Sales Mentor TM

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Weekly Philippines Sales Update

As Promise here is my weekly update on the Philippine Market involving sales and possible growth in the business sector in which will open more opportunities for us who want to venture out in the entrepreneurial world (start preparing for that change, it is worth it!). Please read below for the article and of course on my opinion. :-)

Chilled Processed Food in the Philippines - new market report released


This Chilled Processed Food in the Philippines report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data (2003-2008), allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market ? be
they new product developments, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2013 illustrate how the market is set to change.

Product Coverage: chilled/processed meats, fish and seafood, smoked fish and seafood, chilled lunch kits, chilled ready meals, chilled pizza, chilled soup, chilled/fresh pasta and chilled noodles

Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data.

Why buy this report?
* Get a detailed picture of the chilled processed food industry;
* Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change;
* Understand the competitive environment, the market?s major players and leading brands;
* Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop

You can get all this update through this source.

My opinion:

Over the years I have seen many local brands that have emerged in the chilled/processed meat sector, and I believe this niche should be given more attention not only by entrepreneurs but also our government. The fact that CDO and Virginia Foods Inc. are continuously improving in their volumes only indicates that our Pinoy brands can compete with other multi-national brands. Not only that their sales volumes are improving but our local players have also learned to compete with marketing and many sales initiated programs.
Secondly, there is a very big growth for this sector, specifically with the chilled fish meat or seafood. Selling efforts should be done so that we can ultimately dominate this sector. The fact that roughly 18% of us Filipinos are fishermen by profession already gives us an advantage over other countries. We must learn not only to sell our products but also the sell our country as a major player in the Chilled Process Meats sector.

Well that's it for today. I'll be back for more sales techniques for the coming days.
For a detailed analysis that you want to take please visit: www.companiesandmarkets.com.

Dedicated to your selling success!
Sales Mentor TM

I'm A Salesperson - Are you?

SALESPERSON. What does it really mean?

Wikipedia defined it as a person representing an organization or person in business.

Thesaurus offered a couple of synonyms like abettor, assignee, attorney, broker, commissioner, doer, executor, go-between, handler, negotiator, operator, proctor, promoter, salesperson.

Finally, the very dependable Mr. Webster defined salesperson as a person employed to sell merchandise (as to customers in a store or to customers that are visited).

Now for my highly intellectual definition (at least that’s the way my wife puts it).

Let’s break it into two parts.

Sales – a transaction involving a transfer or exchange of goods/services/merchandise that has an equivalent value to both parties often relating to a transfer of money.

Person – Human being/individual/someone/personality. Obviously we all know what a person is, unless you are a 3-yr old kid who hasn’t started school yet.

Add it up together and we’ll easily get the definition of a Salesperson which is an individual who ensures the proper and successful transaction of the exchange in goods with the equivalent money. In other words, he is the one who is doing the actual selling process (more on this on my next blogs) and bringing home the bacon for the company.

However, only a few people have discovered the fact that all of us have the ability to sell. In fact, in most of the routine things we do in a day, we are actually “selling”. We sell stories to our friends like gossiping about actors daily and trying to “persuade” them to believe us by using what we heard from Kris Aquino or Boy Abunda (like the change in love teams between Bea Alonzo/John Lloyd to Sarah Geronimo/John Lloyd). Like the way wives convince their husbands in buying stuff for the house (c’mon, when does an expensive vase became a necessity?) Or when we arrive home late, stinking like we just came out of a beer bath and still we painstakingly convince our wives that we just had a few drinks after work when in fact it took us an hour just to start the car. Heck, even our kids “sales talk” their way on us when they need a new Transformers toy that their classmates already have.

Personally, I consider selling as a day to day activity that it is almost how human life revolves. When we transfer our ideas to another person regardless if he receives it or not, it is already a kind of sales call.

My point - we are all Salespersons in our little way, we are just not that aware of it. But as long as there is an exchange of ideas, we are selling and we are earning whether it is a person’s trust, love, a toy, and for the common aspect of a Salesperson - money.

Well, that’s it for today. Be sure to leave your email addresses and click to follow button so you can get my newsletter updates.

That's it for today, I hope to hear from you in the future.

Dedicated to you selling success!

Sales Mentor TM

Let's Learn the art of Selling

Have you ever heard these following questions?

• Who is my Target Market?
• How can I reach my Target Forecast for this month? (It seems I just have a few days to go…)
• How can I get this customer to trust me?
• How can I improve my volume by not spending too much on programs and display allowances?
• Where can I grow my volume and develop a new niche?
• What are the local marketing and sales programs I can do to improve the businesses of my dealers and retailers?

If these are the kind of questions you think about daily, then we are currently in the same shoes – the Sales and Direct Marketing business.

I am writing this to you; to those sales people who have experienced the hardships, the happiness, the pain and as well as the great rewards of being a sales person.

Whether you are selling a popular product or trying to sales talk your mother to let you take her car to the party - I’ll be your online sales guide and sales mentor. Together, we will learn the scientific and proven techniques to effectively persuade our “customers” and have a blast practicing and applying what we have learned.

I welcome you all to this new way of learning to sell interactively, wherein we can all give our suggestions and reactions on what we feel is the most effective approach to increase our sales.

In my coming post, we will start with the basics and slowly progress to featuring different sales situations, the selling process, types of close, and many more. Also each month, I will also feature to you marketing initiated programs done by different companies (whether local or international) in which we will try to break it down into the details and establish their assumptions and it's effectiveness.

That's it for now, you will be hearing from me on the next coming days.

Dedicated to your selling success!

Sales Mentor Online