Track Selling Times - October 1998
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Track Selling Times
The Voice of the Sales Profession
Issue No. 107
October 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
"The Difference Between Buying and Being Sold"
by Roy E. Chitwood, CSP, CSE
There's a big difference between buying something and having someone sell it
to you. Why? When you're buying something, all you're usually concerned
about is the product and the price. You want a hat; you see one you like
with a price within your budget; you buy it.
But what happens when the salesperson tries to interest you in a new line of
business wear? All of a sudden, other factors come into play. Is the
salesperson trustworthy or shady-looking? What about the company - is it
reputable? With only a hat at stake - the item you walked in to buy - the
salesperson and the company were largely incidental. Not any more. Now
that someone's trying to sell you something, it's a whole new ball game.
If salespeople are worth their salt, they'll quickly gain your confidence,
identify your clothing needs, and probably sell you more than the hat you
initially came in to purchase. How? By knowing and skillfully applying the
five buying decisions.
These buying decisions reflect exactly how people think when they're being
sold. They occur every time you are selling, always in this precise,
psychological order.
1. About you, the salesperson
2. About your company
3. About your product or service
4. About your price
5. About the time to buy
When someone has already decided to buy something, decisions 1 and 2 play
little or no part in any transaction. Instead, they give most of their
attention to decisions 3 and 4. But when you try to sell them something
else, decisions 1 and 2 come immediately in to full force. Are you honest?
Do you really know what you're talking about? Do you really care about the
person's needs or are you just after a quick buck?
If you successfully pass the test, the prospect will need to be reassured
about your company. Will your company deliver what you promised? Are they
customer-oriented? What's special about this firm that the competition doesn't have? And the sequence continues for the rest of the five buying
decisions.
How do most salespeople handle these buying decisions? I recently sent some
trainees out to several boat dealers to let them discover this for
themselves. After the sixth dealership, they realized the common flaw -
focusing almost entirely on the product (decision 3). Most of the
salespeople didn't even bother to ask a single question about the type of
boat they were interested in. Instead, they unleashed a barrage of facts
about various rigs, motors and specials.
But not knowing these five buying decisions, it's easy for you to put off
someone who walks in to buy a specific product. By unleashing a barrage of
feature-oriented, product data on the person, instead of listening and
asking the right questions, the customer quickly becomes convinced that you
are not someone with whom they want to do business. All of a sudden, you
force their attention onto the first buying decision - about you.
So whether a prospect is buying something or is someone you need to work
hard to sell, a firm understanding of the five buying decisions is the
surest route to sales success.
(For more information about the five buying decisions, read "World Class Selling: The Complete Selling Process" by Roy Chitwood. Order today from
http://www.maxsacks.com/order.html)
Integrity Pays:
Being Honest About Problems
Jack Berman is owner of Berman Publications, an LA company that conducts
surveys and publishes newsletters that focus on the relationship between
manufacturers and their representatives. His six decades of direct sales
and sales training experience taught him many lessons on the value of
honesty in business.
"There is nothing more important than integrity in sales. Without it, there
can be no trust. Without trust, business simply can't be done.
"When I was working as a manufacturer's representative, one of our largest
principals was a large capacitor manufacturer. They informed me that they
were moving their plant from New Jersey to South Carolina and that they
could foresee delivery problems for a few weeks. Unfortunately, one of our
largest customers, a manufacturer of TV and hi-fi equipment, depended on us
for the timely delivery of capacitors."
What did you do?
"On my insistence, and with the permission of the
capacitor company, I told our customer's purchasing manager that we would be
experiencing delivery delays for as much as two months, and that he should
look elsewhere until we solved the problem. As you can imagine, this caused
quite a drop in my own company's income. And to make matters worse, the
capacitor manufacturer wasn't able to assure swift delivery until almost
four months had passed. I informed my customer to continue getting
capacitors from rival companies until we were confident of delivery."
How did you manage in the interim?
"The customer appreciated our honesty so
much, that he increased his orders in several other lines we represented
during this four-month period. And when our supplier resumed normal service,
the client made us his major source for capacitors to make up to our
manufacturer for any business we lost by being honest and preventing
problems for them."
What advice would you give to salespeople in a similar situation, especially
if they need money desperately?
"You're not just selling products, what you're really doing is building business relationships. Customers and your
future partnership with them are far more important than the immediate
order."
Jack can be contacted at Bermanpub@att.net
World Class Sales Management:
Supporting and Motivating the Sales Team
By Brad Estrin, President of Suddath Relocation Systems, Los Angeles.
I've been in sales for twenty-two years. Currently, I supervise a sales
force of eleven,
maintaining daily contact with most of them. I regard in-person motivation
and support as the most important aspect of the sales manager's job. That's
why I try to see each salesperson at least once per week, in addition to our
weekly sales meetings.
Track Selling helps me immensely, by providing a precise structure that is
ideal for monitoring progress and results. Each individual fills in a weekly
sales report that is based on the various stages of the sales process. I can
see at a glance the status of each sales relationship and take action. If
someone is performing poorly, I'll either go with them to see a prospect, or
listen in on their phone conversations. This enables me to quickly locate
which part of Track Selling they are failing to apply.
Another essential function of any sales manager is expectancy. I require all
my salespeople to make three to five new in-person visits a week, and an
equal number of maintenance calls. The rest of their time is spent on
telemarketing and administration.
Sales managers also have to be extremely organized. Otherwise, there are a
million details that can keep you away from directly monitoring sales. It's
one thing to say that you're there to support your staff, and another to
actively demonstrate it day in and day out.
Finally, the sales manager must continue to train and develop the sales
abilities of his staff, even the seasoned campaigners. All true
professionals train continuously, no matter how good they are. As well as
keeping their skills finely tuned, it supplies an added motivational boost
to strive for higher sales targets.
Focus on the Professional - Geoffrey D. Riddle
Geoffrey Riddle is the owner of Innocom International, a Scottsdale AZ firm
specializing in sales and customer service training. He has nineteen years
of sales experience, sixteen of them as a top insurance agent.
"I'd always been good at sales, regularly making the New Jersey life
insurance 1 million dollar club. But in 1995 when I decided to open my own
sales training company, I searched for the best method around rather than
invent my own from scratch. That's when I discovered Track Selling. I knew
from teaching Dale Carnegie sales programs that selling was going through a
period of change. Many of the established sales methods had become
outmoded."
What attracted you to Max Sacks International?
"I really wasn't interested
in the 'touchy-feely' stuff that other people called sales training.
Instead, Track Selling contains an exact system for selling and a definite
way of closing that works."
What results did you experience?
"Although I wasn't looking to improve my
own sales skills, the training made a big difference. The questioning part
of my sales presentation got so much better. I believe that more selling
occurs in that part of the sales process than in any other. People are able
to make their mind up about me a whole lot faster than they would normally."
How has this helped sales in your new company?
"One area I can't stand
about selling sales training is having to submit bids to win business. Most
of the time, you don't even get a chance to interview the prospect.
Subconsciously, I tended to avoid companies that asked for bids. Today,
when someone calls me to ask for a written bid, I'm usually able to turn the
request into an in-person interview. How? By using detailed questioning to
discover their exact requirements. During the course of the call, I acquire
and demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the prospect's organization
and its needs. As a result, the individual usually wants to see me to
discuss it further. It's made a big difference in my sales as a result."
Geoffrey D. Riddle can be contacted at: onnocom@getnet.com
Ask Roy
Kathy Pendleton from Houston asks,
"I've been in the hotel business for
years. I recently moved to a higher paying job with a national chain. But
when I call people I used to do business with, they tell me they'd like to
work with me, but my hotel has a terrible reputation. Some even say that if
I shift to another chain, they'll give me an order. What should I do?"
Roy's Answer:
"It's time to take a cold, hard look at your current employer,
Kathy. Is the bad reputation merited? What avenues exist to change the
situation? Is it an old problem that is actively being addressed by new
management? The answer to these questions will tell you whether you should
stick with them or move on. By finding out, you might even arm yourself with
the information you need to effectively handle people's objections to your
hotel.
"
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
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Times in any promotion material
