Where's the Problem with Increasing Sales?

As a small business owner or sales producer, you understand what it takes to succeed in sales. Yet, when your sales aren’t where you want and need them to be it usually comes down to a fundamental. One of the sales fundamentals is derailing your efforts.

Do you have people to have a selling conversation with? Are the people you’re having a selling conversation with ideal prospects? If you can answer “yes” to those questions then the problem is a sales problem not a marketing problem. So how or where are things going awry?

Even when you’ve had a selling conversation previously, when you have your next selling conversation you have to have an introduction and establish rapport. When this is a second appointment where the purpose is for you to present your solution realize you’ve been thinking about the person and their needs. You’re eager to jump into the selling conversation and close the sale. But, wait a minute. Your prospect hasn’t been thinking about your last conversation, and they may even have lost a good share of their enthusiasm by now. So make sure you cover where you left off and identify anything you may have overlooked or misunderstood before you take off presenting your solution.

By the close of a selling conversation do you really have a solid understanding of what the prospect wants and needs and why? When you heard the prospect identify a want or need that you have a solution for did you immediately go for a solution? Realize it takes a while for the prospect to warm up to you and be willing to share the real reason they agreed to a sales conversation with you. Make sure they have revealed multiple wants and needs and told you which ones were the most important before you even start to think solution. But even then you aren’t ready to talk about solutions or next steps.

People buy what they want first, what they need later, and explain why they bought what they wanted first with a logical explanation. You’ve had prospects before with a leaking roof who have elected not to fix it so they could buy a new flat screen TV. It doesn’t make logical sense yet people buy what they want first. Unless you can help them identify the big benefit they would get from having the want involving your solution met, your solution gets parked on the someday wish list. The other big driver that gets people to act is the fear of the consequences they know they will experience if they don’t take action now. If you get to an “I need to take action” want you have immediate sales.

The sales conversation went well. You covered everything you needed to cover and discovered everything you needed to discover, but did the conversation end without a sale or a next step? Are you finding it difficult to get a commitment? If you aren’t able to generate enough emotion in the prospect so they literally ask you when you can close the deal, you and only you can take the next step. If you’ve both discovered your solution is the right solution for the prospect why is it difficult to present the next step? Do you lack faith in yourself or your solution? What’s holding you back?


Where's the Problem with Increasing Sales? - To learn more about this author, visit Cheryl A. Clausen's Website.

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