GROWING SALES CONTENT

I. How The Sales Game Is Played

II. Learning New Skills And Habits

III. Why Buyers Buy

IV. What it Takes to Get Considered as a Player

V. Using a Process as a Sales Tool

VI. Winning Through Preparation

VII. Understanding the Different Buying Roles

VIII. Exchanging Information

IX. Getting to Yes

GROWING SALES

I. How the Sales Game Is Played

There are three choices we have when it comes to growing our business:
a) We can work longer hours
b) We can improve our marketing and sales skills
c) We can suffer the consequences of not doing either

Growing business over time is a predictable numbers game mindset! 

Here are the steps to take to play the game and win:
STEP # 1
a) Calculate your expenses, investments, and your profit objectives. 
b) Determine how much money you would like to have to promote your business. 
c) Add a + b and you have an estimate of how much sales you will require.
This is your sales goal.
d)  Break the big number into smaller manageable monthly, weekly, and daily numbers.
STEP # 2
Calculate your revenue producing capability.  Use the formula on the link provided to determine your sales capacity.  By comparing the sales capacity to your sales goal, you can predict within reason what your future sales shortfall or excess to anticipate
STEP # 3 
To correct a sales shortfall, there are three choices to make:
a) Improve the quality of your calls. Sell More Effectively to develop your game plan to improve your sales skills
b) Improve the quantity of your prospects. By developing good work habits and routines you continually improve these sales related activities:
Connect more often

• Become better known
• Develop more leads
• Obtain more referrals
• Open more doors/minds
• Increase quality selling time
• Increase the average order size 
• Improve the prospect to close ratio    
• Close more deals/develop raving fans

Details of how to develop the specifics of your game plan to increase the # of productive selling activities can be found on our Sell More Effectively Page.
c) Combine an improvement in both ingredients of increasing sales results:
Increased sales = quantity of selling activities x quality of the sales calls  

II. Learn New Skills, Develop More Productive Habits and Routines

a) SMART Objectives:  Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Responsible, Time-bound
b) Becoming a good communicator
c) Selling utilizing a process
d) Buying/sellers roles
e) Conducting the interview
f) Anticipating and handling resistance
g) Follow up to close

Learning skills requires patience, persistence, new habits and routines, and a new perspective.               

WHEN THE STUDENT IS READY A TEACHER WILL APPEAR
                       

III. Why Buyers Buy

People make a decision to buy and then justify with facts.  See our Build Lasting Relationships to learn how to gain the competitive edge with buyers.
Buyer motivation can be simplified as follows.

Buyer's with problems spend money.  Buyer's with needs, and not pain, tend to window shop your services.

IV. What it Takes to Get Considered as a Player

a) Be in front of the buyer when a decision is pending
b) Concern, candor, competence, communications

                    

V. Using a Process as a Sales Tool

Consistency is an important component to successful selling. There are many different versions of successful selling processes. Whether you use this process or not isn’t important. However, having a routine that bringing things together with all of the moving parts is critical.

VI. Winning Through Preparation

Selling productively is a process:
            


Step # 1 is spelled out in Become Better Recognized      
Thinking things through:  
                

a) Research before the call: 

• The customers website
• Google search/social media
• Trade association events
• Network with existing customers (coaches)
• Local newspapers/journal articles
• Your personal experience with similar organizations

b)  Complete your sales call preparation in writing The

 Sales Calling Planning Chart will help.

VII.  Understanding the Different Buying Roles

a) The fundamentals of sales calls are:

• Customers talk more than sellers
• Sellers ask more questions
• Sellers ask about products and solutions later (rather than right out of the box)
• Sellers learn the buyer’s roles

b) Buying Influences

Four Buying Influences

1. Economic Buyer
2. User Buyer
3. Technical Buyer
                
4. Coach 
Coaches help understand the organization.  How they buy, current business conditions, who to talk with, internal politics
Criteria for a coach: 
a) Internal credibility
b)You must be credible to the coach
c) The coach wants you to succeed

VIII. Exchanging Information

Open ended questioning strategy:  Engage-Genuine Interest-Opportunity
1. Engaging Questions – Ask about topics the buyer is passionate/excited about
2. Genuine Interest Questions  -- Ask about challenges/issues related to
      business or customers
3. Opportunities Questions – Ask about the buyer’s readiness to explore solutions

IX. Getting to Yes

As sellers we have to anticipate and plan for resistance

    

1. The resistance process
a) Ask EGO questions to clarify the resistance, show that you are listening and understand the customer’s issues or concerns
b) Paraphrase without the negative aspect of the resistance
c) Respond with benefits that matter to the customer
d) Test for reaction and ask for a next step or choice of next steps
2. Open ended questions – Who, what, when, where, why, tell me about
3. Needs awareness questions – Open ended EGO questions that create vs. identify a need
4. Effective paraphrasing  -- States the customer’s need behind the resistance not the negative aspect of the resistance itself
5. Why lead with benefits – Features focus on what a product or service is (characteristics of the products or service).  Benefits focus on what the product or service does (the value of the product or service)
6. Negotiating agreement
a) Summarize the customer’s point of view
b) Ask questions and make statements about consequences of not taking action
c) Reinforce the benefits of taking action
d) Test for reaction

How you are perceived is critical to the sale.