Breaking the sales barrier

Breaking the Sales Barrier

Sales people, sales managers and business owners all share the vision and goal of making more sales. Just imagine if you or your sales team could break the barrier, exceed all targets and budgets – the feeling would be awesome – yes the rewards go beyond the financial, as important as that is, to confidence, pride and the satisfaction of a job well done.

Most sales people and sales mangers already have the tools and yet so often we see people looking for the “golden bullet” (a name for the new easy way to make a sale). The easy solution though is to use the simple, the proven, the already available tools, the practical, the ready to use now tools. Why? Because they work!

It’s a simple case of so often we don’t actually implement these simple tools, the basic activities required, the level of activity required or use the aids already available.

And you have to ask the question, “Why aren’t we?”

Yes there are sales skills and these are easy to teach. However, we need to make sure that we take care of the foundations first and once they are in place we can teach the sales skills – and if the foundations are right they will work.

When we work with sales teams, we are asked to help them improve their performance in selling a particular product or service. The first challenge to overcome is the sales team blaming the company by using phrases such as:

1 It’s too expensive
2 Our competitors are cheaper
3 Our finance is too expensive
4 The boss is ….
5 We need to do more marketing

Etc

These are phrases used by sales people/teams that may be quite valid or they could be avoiding taking responsibility for their lack of sales.

Lack of sales in this case might mean;

Lack of skill = incapable
Lack of activity = choosing not to
Lack of ability = wrong person
Lack of desire = no goals
Lack of Management = no leadership or management
Wrong product/wrong price = no real chance



So improving sales performance is not just about learning fancy dialogues and sale pitches. It is more about making sure our working environment, our company’s values, our product/service, our sales team, our skills, our beliefs in the product/service, our sales manager, our approach, our delivery, our way of selling are all congruent. When we have all those issues aligned there is little room to blame other people or the product. That way we can get on with the sales activity in full confidence.


Before we look at the sales team and the skills and activity required we make sure we all understand some key factors:

What is the product/service we are selling?
Who, what, where is the market?
Is there a market at this price for this product/service?

Now I have a clear idea of what I am selling.


How do we reach that market?
Is there an existing client base?
How do we get to new clients?

What skill level is required in our sales force?
What key activities are required from this sales force?
What amount of activity is required?


What are the features and benefits of the product service?

What will a typical Buyers objections be?

How can we pre-handle those objections?

So what’s the bottom line in your Vision and Values?

In establishing a sales force or engaging a sales person we need to be clear – absolutely clear on what we stand for and what sort of environment we want to create.

We give our sales team confidence and belief when we:

Have clear guidelines.

So, what do we stand for and what won’t we compromise on our way to sales success?

What authority do we delegate to our sales people and do we back them – subject to not breaching our values of course.

Clear policy and procedures

How good is our product/service?

What choices do we have?

Colour
Size
Specifications
Delivery timeline
Payment options
etc

What delivery service to we guarantee and how do we measure up?

What Warranties do we make and how do we measure up?

Are we clear on how we sell this product/service and are we clear on the sort of/standard of people we want representing us.

What skills and attributes do they need?

What training do we need to get the required sales performance?

Now I have a clear idea of who I want and what I want them to do.


How is my Customer going to respond?

What benefits can we offer them with this product /service?

How do we convert features in benefits?

What are the benefits my target market is looking for?

How will my sales force locate them, respond to them, and interact with them?

What objections will my customer have?

Just looking
Wrong time – too soon – too late.
Too expensive.
Can’t afford it.
What I already have is working OK.
The base model is just fine.
I need it to do this as well etc

How do we uncover those objections?

What skills do we need to achieve the uncover?

How many of these customers do I need to talk with to achieve a sale?





So what Skills do our Sales Force Need?


So much time and focus is placed on the technical details and specific added benefits that the product/service offers.

How often have you been to buy a product, such a as a stereo or mobile phone and the salesperson has bombarded you with technical details of features that you have no interest in using or don’t understand? This sales person is not a salesperson – they are a shop assistant who knows the product but has no idea how to uncover the customer’s primary reason to buy.
For a mobile phone, isn’t it to make calls, receive calls and texts before anything else?
Is it easy to use?
Is the screen easy to read?
Are they keys easy to use?
How long does a charge last?
Has it great sound?
What does it cost to buy?
What the best plan you can offer me?
What’s the best deal?

What else might it do that would interest me?
Might I pay a bit more for an extra feature?
That extra feature might convince me to buy off you or pay a bit more, but not until you have shown me it fixes my primary requirements.

So I need to select my sales force carefully

Here’s a great recruitment question for you. Would you buy your product off the person you are thinking of recruiting? If not, why not? Why is it okay for your customers to have to buy off them?

Recruit people who have;

Attitude. They will give things a go.
An Open Mind – they are teachable.
Ethics – they do what they say and accept responsibility for their actions.
Curiosity – they will learn the products features and benefits.
Energy – they have some get up and go.
Goals – they have a reason or purpose to grow personally and professionally
People skills – they can relate to many types of people and can adjust their approach in response to the other person’s behaviour.

So what do we need them to be able to do?

Selling as a job has all the typical requirements of any job.

Let’s take a look.

Does my sales team know what to do?

Do they know what they are selling?

Can they convert features into benefits?

This is as easy as linking the feature to the benefit with a phrase “..which means that…”

e.g. This car does 7.5 litres per 100km and has a 70 litre tank, which means that “It will go from Auckland to Wellington and return on a single tank.”

Can they ask the questions to understand the customer’s key wants/needs?

Can they add value for the customer by adding on special features?

The question we must ask is;
“Do I have absolute faith that all my sales team knows the product/service backwards?

Building their knowledge is a key part of building their confidence.

So what do they need to do on a daily, weekly, monthly basis?

Do they know how to do it?

Have we taught them the knowledge – the detail – the options?

Yes this leads to the number one skill:
Understanding the Power of Rapport.
So many sales books and courses talk of when you meet someone for the first time you “Must build rapport.” Very few mention how to do that. It’s a skill. To some, it comes naturally and to others it something that needs to be taught.

Learning to develop rapport skills is a real key and must be part of your sales training curriculum. The ability to respond to people with rapport skills such a “mirroring” to get in synch. is a valuable tool to add to your sales toolbox and when you add on key communication skill using your voice, touch and feel, show and tell, you open the door to greater communication of your idea, greater uncover of your client’s key wants/needs and therefore amend your offering to match their requirements. This will equal more sales!

Have they handled the product?
Can they demonstrate the product?
Do they know about combining touch and feel with their words and pictures?
Can they make the calls?
What do they say when making a call?
What’s the uncover approach leading to the opportunity to show and tell.

What guarantees can they make?
Can they do the paperwork?

Do they know key sales skills?
Alternative choice questions?
Open ended questions?
Sales nails?
Blunt Sales nails?
Handling “We want to think it over”
When to ask the closing question and when to keep quiet?
Can they up sell once they have uncovered they basic need/want and demonstrated a solution.

Do they know of the common objections and have they got prepared responses that are truly reflexive.

Can they pre-empt any objection and remove it as a sale block. E.g. “Some of my clients have queried the price when they first saw what we were offering, but once they saw the on-going operating and maintenance costs were a lot lower, they could see the benefit far outweighed their initial concerns.”

Knowing these dialogues in a truly reflexive way and believing in the product are the second part of building confidence.

As in all things competence = confidence so long as what the sales person is required to do is not in breach of their personal values.


Have they the tools to do the job
So much of great sales performance is that the environment is great. A great sales environment removes excuses. So a great sales environment has;

A sales manager who inspires and manages
Great delivery systems.
Great back up.
Great sales aids.
Technical information and a sales team who can use them in plain English.
Times to practice

The next question is…
So how often are they doing it?

This is where the other attributes of self-discipline and commitment come into play as does the skill and follow up of the sales manager. If people are not engaging in the key sales tasks then one has to ask “Why not?”

If they know what to so and how to do it and aren’t doing it, then you have a problem.
Is it you, them or the product?

And

How well are they doing it?

The level of skill again impacts. Lots of activity should mean lots of sales. If not what might the issue be?
Most likely you have the wrong person in the job.
Yes it could be your product, your pricing or you could be targeting the wrong customers. But in most cases it’s the wrong person in the job or the skills are imbedded.


So what’s the plan?

Great sales teams have clear expectations of what they are expected to do in a day, week or month. This may be a target for sale numbers or dollar value of sales. These outcomes however, should always come after managing the inputs.
How many calls?
How many presentations?
How many call backs?
How many referred leads?
How many test drives?
How many samples?
How many options?
How many written proposals?
How may existing clients visited and cemented in for the future?
How many post sale visits?
How is the paper work?
How do results compare with the call numbers; (What’s your strike rate?)
How do your figures compare to:
Our average?
Our Top 3 average?
Your targets/goals?
How many hours in the office?

What issues will we have to negotiate?
What’s my bottom line?
What do I need to know about negotiation?

The best sales people are self motivated, self-managing and self-disciplined.
The majority of salespeople aren’t. The biggest leap in sales performance is in managing them manage themselves and having a plan of activity, because activity with skill always creates productivity.

This leads us to the next essential aspect of Breaking the Sales Barrier

Managing Salespeople Manage themselves, is the outcome of great Coaching by a great Sales Manager

Taking aspects of “What’s the Plan?” and using it as a model to have people engage in essential activity is the next key.
Great sales managers understand the different approaches required for different sales people.
They know that their superstars know what to do, how to do it and are always motivated to do it. They help them grow their businesses and assist them to move to the next level and/or achieve more balance in their lives.

They know that reluctant superstars, above average people may fear the commitment to go to the next level. They support and coach them to set new goals and take the leap.

They know that their below average people are probably lacking in knowing what to do, how to do it, product knowledge and probably motivation. They know this is where you get tough – you make training available – you teach – practice and practice - and let them know the consequences of failing to engage in the key tasks and failing to produce.

They understand that their new salespeople only have motivation – and lots of it. They may lack confidence or not, but they will lack product knowledge and knowledge of your sales tools. Once again teach them what and how and monitor their activity (daily) before you monitor results. That will come soon enough.

Always recognize achievement – outstanding performance

Nothing works as good as praise. Recognizing great performance, praising success, even if only in small bites, is the fastest way to get sales people to repeat what worked last time. Getting repeated performance/engagement in the key sales tasks is what we want and praise works – it makes them want to do it again. And that’s what you want isn’t it.

Professional selling is an ethics based business and companies and sales people who try to circumvent this principle are often seen as “sales comets”. They come long every now and then, shine briefly and disappear. This is because the best business, is referral business – the belief in your product, service and delivery will always give you confidence to go back to past clients and achieve 3 key outcomes;

Cement the existing relationship to keep the customer as yours,
Receive a referred lead – the fastest way to sales success
and
Discover this existing client has an opportunity for you to sell them something else.

Making sales is no mystery. It’s a process. Those sales people, sales managers and bosses who have a clear understanding of the process:

Know the product
Know the benefits of the product
Know where the market is
Know the markets objections
Know what to do
Know how to do it
Understand negotiation principles

AND go do it!

And know you will always get outstanding results


Breaking the sales barrier - To learn more about this author, visit Ian Keightley's Website.

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