Track
Selling Times - August 1998
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Track Selling Times
The Voice of the Sales Profession
Issue No. 105
August 1, 1998
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:
Newsletter
Archives
"Why Most Salespeople Hate Selling"
by Roy E. Chitwood, CSP, CSE
Most people in sales today actually dislike selling. Why?
Because
they don't do a very good job of it. As a result, they often
experience stress - pressure from the boss to push their sales
further than they feel able to; pressure from creditors to pay
bills; and the worst kind, pressure to sell faulty products or
services that people don't need. In whatever guise, a
non-professional salesperson usually has the feeling that sales is an activity to be endured, not enjoyed.
I recently met a salesperson who worked for a company noted for its 'con the customer' philosophy. "The experience caused me to put on fifty pounds," he told me. "I was continually under stress because of the way I was being forced to sell." In his entire time in sales, he'd only been exposed to the dishonest approach. Fortunately for him, his company went out of business as will all
quick-buck operations, sooner or later.
There are even training programs that espouse this "fast-buck" philosophy. You know the ones - a prospect is just someone who happens to have your commission in his pocket. Not only does this approach result in lost sales, it leaves people with a very bad taste in their mouth about selling as a whole. So where's the fun in sales?
Think for a moment about what you do well. Usually, you spend your leisure time doing something that you're good at - a hobby or sport, for example. Your familiarity and competence at this activity brings with it a feeling of comfort and enjoyment. It's no different in selling. A professional enjoys it because he/she does it well. And the good news is that anyone can learn it.
For help on guiding prospects through buying decisions, see
http://www.maxsacks.com/articles/psbj10.html
Take a simple factor like the individual's purpose in sales.
Quick-buck rip-off artists are only interested in taking. Just like criminals and tax collectors. But professionals view selling as an activity that helps people acquire the goods or services they need in order to improve their quality of life or business. By learning to listen and ask the right questions, instead of doing all the talking, real salespeople get to know the people they meet. As a consequence, pros quickly develop long-term business and personal relationships and are trusted by those with whom they come in contact.
So if sales is a chore, don't grind on. It'll only get worse.
Before you get disillusioned enough to change careers, invest some time in the training you need to become good at it. With this know-how comes an ease with people, greatly improved sales and, of course, a renewed sense of enjoyment in what you do for a living. Can you think of any reason why selling shouldn't be fun?
Integrity Pays: Passing the Honesty Test
Jack Root is a management coach for entrepreneurs, living in
Southern California. Formerly he owned his own audio-visual company for 25 years, attaining a high familiarity with the role integrity plays in business expansion.
"When I started, we employed five co-workers. Before I retired, we'd reached 250. To what do I attribute this spectacular growth? One
of the most important factors is a sense of integrity."
"For instance, when our company was young, we held only five major
accounts. One day the manager of one of these accounts indicated
that if we wanted to keep his business, we'd have to include him in
our commission payments. We considered our options. We were too
small to take the drop in income. The last thing we wanted to do
was lose their business. Like many of us, we had a choice to make."
What did you do? "We dropped them, surviving well in the process.
One year later, when that manager moved on, we even regained that
large account."
The moral of the story? "It's easy to demonstrate integrity when
you're large. Losing one account isn't that big a deal. But when
you're small, that's when a sense of integrity really comes to play.
If you pass the honesty test, chances are you'll expand. If you
fail the test, sooner or later it's going to catch up with you."
Jack Root can be contacted at Hichuk@aol.com
World Class Sales Management:
By: Rod Hopkins, Joint Managing Director of
Standardizing Organizational Sales
Movers International, CA
Plus Worldscope Relocations
For the last 20 years, I've managed sales and marketing in an
international relocation company. Currently I oversee four regional
executive vice presidents. They in turn supervise the efforts of 12
branch managers and around 50 salespeople throughout North America.
We believe that good training and continual practice are the key
ingredients of sales skill. Our salespeople undergo nine months of
training, learning sales techniques as well as a massive array of
product knowledge. It isn't possible to conduct a free test for an
international move. It's an intangible commodity. It's not
something you can touch or smell. If salespeople don't understand
the nuances of the business, they can't sell it.
About five years ago, we decided to formalize sales training
throughout the organization. Why? With various branches and
individuals using different sales training programs, there was no
common sales jargon or sales process. That made it hard to
coordinate our efforts. Now we train every single person in sales
or management in Track Selling.
A detailed description of the Track Selling workshop is at
http://www.maxsacks.com/traksell.html
From a sales management perspective, it's much easier to be helpful
to your sales team when you all speak the same language and
understand exactly what has to be done in sales.
The biggest problem we encountered was in retraining veterans. Many
found it difficult to adopt the new approach. Most of them went
right back to their old 'successful' ways. It was easy to detect,
however. Those who didn't use the system wouldn't use the key words
of Track Selling in their calls and reports.
We decided to crackdown on this, instituting an ongoing program of
week-long roll play sessions. Through the use of video tapes, we
could show them how well they were listening, which of the steps
they were misapplying and provide them other important feedback.
This became so successful that I now spend two months each year
leading these programs.
Each group of salespeople stays for one week. The optimum number of
people is four. Participants get to view their own improvement,
which encourages them to keep up the process. Our most effective
salespeople are those who embrace the process completely. They
achieve an unconscious competence, making Track Selling a part of
them.
For more information on Movers International Plus Worldscope
Relocations, see www.MIPLUSWS.com.
Focus on the Professional - Mark K. Brewer
Mark K. Brewer is the founding principal of Arizona Search
International, Inc., an executive search firm from Scottsdale AZ,
specializing in recruiting stockbrokers and analysts.
"I had the good fortune to be introduced to Max Sacks International
right at the beginning of my sales career. As a direct result, I
built the number one producing and recruiting practice in a
nationwide life insurance company."
Skilled use of the telephone has always been one of Mark's selling
hallmarks. "Building rapport and qualifying is 80 percent of
obtaining the commission. With voice mail and e-mail, building
rapport with a candidate or company can be done by merely leaving a
message. Eight out of ten people for whom I leave a voice mail
return my call within 24 hours. What's the secret? It's all in
Track Selling."
What do you do once you've built rapport? "I use various qualifying
questions to establish need. That gives me all the data I need to
correctly present the features and benefits. With everything else
in place, once I get to the offer, I ask them, 'Can you think of any
reason for staying with your present firm?' Answer: 'Not really.'
Response: 'Congratulations on joining XYZ company. Now let me help
you with your move'."
Mark can be reached at http://www.mbrewer@primenet.com
Ask Roy
Mike Phillips from West Frankfort, IL asks,
"Last month I went out
to buy a car. The first salesman did all the talking. He seemed to
think he could force his ideas on me. Didn't work. The second guy
was all pinkie rings and gold chains. A shady-type character. On
the third attempt we got lucky. The man listened to me, discovered
my needs and resources, and sold me the car I wanted. This
experience seems to go against the old saying, 'no one is easier to
sell than a salesperson.' What do you think?"
Roy's Answer:
"Well Mike, there are a lot of lousy salespeople out
there, and none of them are ever likely to sell to a professional
salesperson. The truth is that salespeople love to listen and learn from the presentation of a skilled pro. There's really no more
attentive audience, if you're good enough to command their respect.
So let's amend the old saw. 'No one is easier to sell than a
salesperson - if he or she is being sold by a professional'."
Reader Survey
1. What do you think of Track Selling Times?
2. What else would you like to see included?
3. If you have sales questions for Roy, or know of a salesperson,
sales manager or integrity story that should be featured in Track
Selling Times, mail it
to:
The Editor, Track Selling Times
c/o Max Sacks International
2442 NW Market Street #409
Seattle
WA 98107
Tel: (206) 706-4119 Fax: (206) 706-5359
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Seattle, WA 98109-1634
Tel: (206) 217-0288
Fax: (206) 217-0286
Copyright: please distribute this e-letter freely
Credit any excerpts as follows: © 1998 Max Sacks International
Please obtain written permission from MSI before citing Track Selling
Times in any promotion material
