Track Selling Times - May 1998
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Track Selling Times
The Voice of the Sales Profession
Issue No. 102
Published by Max Sacks International
Home of 100% Guaranteed World Class Sales Training, and
Developers of the Track Selling System™.
Author/Editor: Roy Chitwood, President, MSI
Archives of this letter are available at
http://www.maxsacks.com/newsletter.html
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In this issue:
Feature:
Sections:
Focus on the Professional: Jerry Johnston
Ask Roy
Survey
Newsletter Archives
The Science of Selling
Almost every week, I hear about another large corporation announcing that more jobs are being lost to downsizing, with sales positions high on the list of cutbacks. What this weeding out process signifies is the transformation of the role of the salesperson. No longer can order takers be afforded. An Internet site or a 1-800 line can perform that function adequately. Instead, there is only room for sales professionals who know and practice the exact science of selling.
Yet statistics show that the number of "star" salespeople is
dwindling. Star performers' are generally regarded as salespeople
whose annual sales figures exceed five times the company's average
(per salesperson). A short eight years ago, they numbered five
percent. Today, it is down to only 1.5 percent. Clearly, selling has changed. It is much harder for salespeople to succeed now than it was in the seller's market of the sixties and seventies. Today's prospects are more sophisticated than ever, and the old gimmicks and tricks just don't work like they used to. There's no alternative, but for you to learn selling as a science.
A recent H.R. Chally Group research project also found compelling evidence of the necessity for a more professional approach to sales.
The study found that companies judge salespeople on the following criteria, given in order of frequency of response:
1. Managing our satisfaction personally
2. Understanding our business
3. Recommending products and applications expertly
4. Providing technical and training support
5. Acting as a customer advocate
6. Solving logistical and political problems
7. Finding innovative solutions to our needs
As can be seen from the list, corporate America now demands far more than has been expected of you as a salesperson. No longer are you able to get away with a short product demonstration and an easy deal. What you need is a scientific approach to becoming a
professional salesperson.
But how can selling be a science? Science is defined as "any branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths, systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws." Track Selling brings you an exact understanding of the fundamental parts of the sales process, such as the five basic buying decisions, the six buying motives and the seven steps of the sales process.
Track Selling is a scientific methodology that is consistent with the way people buy. We now know that the buyer has certain psychological decisions that he/she will make in the process. Track Selling allows you to help the prospect make these decisions in the right psychological order.
I've known many good salespeople who became disillusioned with sales over the years, or worse, burned out and were unable to continue. Many of them were good salespeople. But lacking an exact procedure, the job became a problem when previously successful techniques ceased to work. One by one, they drifted out of the profession, into some other, usually less-profitable, line of work. Don't let this happen to you.
By learning and applying Track Selling in every sales situation, you have the opportunity to put the fun back into selling and build a sound foundation on which to build an exciting career as a true sales professional.
Integrity Pays -
Profiting From Your Own Mistakes
Hand-in-hand with a scientific approach to selling, comes the
necessity for the true sales professional to operate with the
highest integrity. Lee Zinsli, President of Ashton Photo of Salem,
OR, gives a good example of this principle in action.
"We found an error in invoicing, an overbilling of $250 that we'd
made to a client. When it was discovered, we issued a credit
immediately and sent the client a check for the amount, along with
an apology. Shortly, the customer responded with a letter of
appreciation. Not only was he delighted to receive the money, he
said that it was the type of honesty that drives him to want to
continue to use our company for future business. Although he wasn't a regular customer, he committed to more work in the fall."
"Low integrity will catch up with you sooner or later. It makes no
sense to spend thousands on customer service training if employees
are not expected to do the honest thing. And it isn't only a sales
issue - it is fundamental to every aspect of our business. If
something goes wrong, we take a proactive approach to correcting it. In many years of business, by calling such matters to the attention of clients, rather than letting them react to it later, it's always worked out to my benefit. Our customers come to trust us. Leaving it for them to react only builds skepticism."
World Class Sales Management -
Dealing with a Large Sales
Organization
By: James. L. McCarty, Senior Vice President, Ecolab Institutional
Sales, St. Paul, MN
We have over 2,600 salespeople. They report to a variety of district and area managers under me. While I can't be out there in person with each one of them, I continuously reinforce the technology of Track Selling, as well as our own sales messages, by means of weekly taped briefings, frequent voice mail messages to all salespeople, a newsletter and a yearly gathering of the whole team, where I go out and brief them in person.
I'm a firm believer that good leadership demands an enormous investment of communication into the team. I'm also a staunch advocate of Track Selling.
I was introduced to Track Selling 23 years ago. From that point on, I've used it successfully, not just in my career, but also in my personal life. When I returned to my company's institutional sales division four years ago, I began working with Max Sacks
International to certify our training department to deliver Track
Selling to our sales force. The results were impressive. We set a
target to have 35 percent of our sales be from newly introduced
products, and we hit it! And a Gallup Group study named us as one
of the five best sales forces in the USA.
Focus on the Professional - Jerry Johnston
Jerry Johnston of Johnston & Culberson, Inc. from Seattle, WA is not only the president and CEO of the largest third party administrator of worker's compensation in the northwest, he's also a professional salesman in his own right. "I'm a firm believer in the seven steps of Track Selling. I use it religiously and make sure all the salespeople under me use it too."
"When anyone fails to make a sale, we hold a postmortem, to
determine where it was lost. We spot the part of Track Selling which was missed, and rehearse it until we're confident that we'd close it next time. Often, we pull out the Track Selling tapes and listen to them to refresh ourselves on the techniques. It requires continual education and re-education to stay on top."
What does it take to be a sales professional? "You must have a
passion for selling and make the time to follow up after a sale to
ensure that the person is receiving exactly what was promised. I
call five current customers daily to make sure everything is going
well. If so, the call reinforces our relationship. If there's a
problem, I address their concerns and handle it promptly. That's how we maintain a high retention rate."
The result?
"Through applying Track Selling to my company for the last twenty five years, we've achieved 10 percent or better growth every single year."
Ask Roy
Jill Hamilton from Salt Lake City, UT, asks,
"When I first started in sales, I loved it and did well. I couldn't wait for Monday morning. After two years, I'm feeling pretty jaded. Commissions have been slipping for several months, and I've reached the point where I'm even looking at a desk job with a steady income. Where did I go wrong?"
Roy's Answer:
Your situation is not uncommon, Jill.
Many enter sales with tremendous excitement. But if it's not followed up by competent training and guidance in sales skills, enthusiasm rapidly dies. Developing the necessary work habits is also vital, such as making so many calls and presentations each day. This discipline, combined with training, gives you the momentum to carry you through. Instead of finding another career, take a Track Selling seminar. Many of our graduates tell us it changed their lives.
Peter Edstrom from Secaucus, NJ, asks,
"I do complex selling that involves a long sales cycle, major outlay of cash and multiple decision makers. Over the last few years, it seems like its getting more and more difficult. The people who approve the budget have changed and large, long-term orders have been called into question. If I lose a couple of those I'll be out on my ear. What should I do?"
Roy's answer:
Well Peter, I have some advice for you. The thing I've noticed about these bigger sales is that the decisions have been kicked upstairs. There is a tendency for companies to reduce the number of vendors they're dealing with, searching for only those with whom they can form a long-term, strategic partnership. What you need is a sales process, like Track Selling. It will give you the blue print for working with multiple decision makers in a long sales cycle, as well as the strategic tool to enable you to work with the additional members of your sales team that a complex sale usually requires. By having a process of selling, you're able to develop the long term allegiance that both you and the customer are looking for today.
Reader Survey
1. What did you think of Track Selling Times?
2. What else would you like to see included?
mailto:rec@maxsacks.com
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Credit any excerpts as follows: (C) 1998 Max Sacks International
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