Selling to the Right Person
Selling to the Right Person
Knowing the title or position your prospect holds in his firm is not enough. You need to also know how he thinks and what his responsibilities include. To learn how he thinks and his true role, you need to ask the right kind of questions and the right questions. The “right kind” of questions means open-ended questions. These are questions that start with Who, What, When, Where, Why or How. By asking these types of questions, your prospect will need to answer with an explanation rather than a simple Yes or No. Open-ended questions will allow your prospect to elaborate and explain details about his problems and what he is trying to achieve. For instance, a closed-ended question could be, “Are you happy with your existing supplier?” The answer may simply be “Yes” or “No” without further explanation, and you will learn very little. If instead you asked, “What is it that you like about your current supplier, and if you don’t mind me asking, what are you not satisfied with your current supplier?” Now you’ll get some valuable information that you can use to determine his actual requirements.
The “right” questions are ones that will help you ascertain more about your prospect, his needs and requirements, and his role in the decision making process. For instance, is he the Recommender? Coach? Buyer? Jerk? Nice Guy? Curious George? Asking the following open-ended question will give you some valuable insights as to his role; “Can you tell me what your decision making process is?” This non-offensive approach will give your prospect the opportunity to explain his specific role as well as who else may be involved. He may say, “Once I decide on the best solution for our company, I will present my findings to my management so they can budget for it.” This answer tells you that, a) he is a recommender and not the decision maker, and b) there is no current budget for this project. Be sure not to put him in an uncomfortable position by directly asking what his role is since he may want to feel more important to the process than he actually is and you may expose his less-authoritative position.
What happens with a lot of sales people is that they tend to judge their prospect by their first impression. This can be detrimental to any relationship you may otherwise have establish by learning more about the prospect. For instance, I once met a president of a networking company who clearly looked like a major nerd (pardon my frankness, but I want you to get an accurate picture). My initial thought was that he was a technician who somehow started his own company and didn’t have a business-savvy bone in his body. However, I still treated him like a business professional with total respect. Good thing I did because, as it turned out, he was the president of a very successful and fairly large network consulting firm and a great connection for my business. Don’t let first impressions and emotions guide your perceptions as to whom you are selling to.
First impressions involve more than simply deciding if this person is a nerd, or if they know what they are talking about, or if they are the right person you should be selling to. Two people could have the exact opposite impressions of someone, and they could both be correct. It’s just a matter of how you perceive someone or something. That perception becomes your reality. For instance, below are names of famous people, places and items. For each one I provided two different descriptions of what they could be in the eyes of the beholder. Which one do you think they are?
• John Wayne – War Hero or Cowboy
• Statue of Liberty – Symbol of Freedom or Tourist Attraction
• Elvis Presley – Young Entertainer or old, over-weight Singer
• Las Vegas – Vacation Spot or Sin City
• Watch – Time Piece or Piece of Jewelry
• Sistine Chapel – Beautiful Architecture or Beautiful Painting
• Trains – Railroads or Transportation Systems
Clearly, both descriptions can apply to each of these at the same time. But it’s your individual perception that dictates reality -- the reality in your own mind. When you meet a new prospect and form your own opinion and description of their role and involvement in the sale process, be sure to keep emotion out of the equation and focus on the facts. Learn the facts by asking the right kind of questions and the right questions. From this you will better know your audience and be able to present the right solution to the right person (or people) to help make the sale. Knowing your audience isn’t that difficult, as long as you keep an open mind, ask the right questions, and listen well.
Good luck and good selling!
Russ Lombardo
(702) 655-5652
Selling to the Right Person - To learn more about this author, visit Russ Lombardo's Website.
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I would guess that at least once in your sales career you’ve been told that you should know your audience in order to sell successfully. This is absolutely true. Knowing who you are selling to is one of the most basic fundamentals of selling. However, exactly what does “knowing your audience” really mean? At the most basic level, this simply means you should strive to find the person, or people, who will directly benefit from your product or service, have decision making authority, and can actually spend the money (i.e., write the check) so you know if you are selling to the right person. Ok, that’s simple enough. But what’s not always simple is finding the person that fits these criteria. Since different people have dissimilar perceptions and interpretations of reality, their decision making abilities vary, which affects how they purchase.
Knowing the title or position your prospect holds in his firm is not enough. You need to also know how he thinks and what his responsibilities include. To learn how he thinks and his true role, you need to ask the right kind of questions and the right questions. The “right kind” of questions means open-ended questions. These are questions that start with Who, What, When, Where, Why or How. By asking these types of questions, your prospect will need to answer with an explanation rather than a simple Yes or No. Open-ended questions will allow your prospect to elaborate and explain details about his problems and what he is trying to achieve. For instance, a closed-ended question could be, “Are you happy with your existing supplier?” The answer may simply be “Yes” or “No” without further explanation, and you will learn very little. If instead you asked, “What is it that you like about your current supplier, and if you don’t mind me asking, what are you not satisfied with your current supplier?” Now you’ll get some valuable information that you can use to determine his actual requirements.
The “right” questions are ones that will help you ascertain more about your prospect, his needs and requirements, and his role in the decision making process. For instance, is he the Recommender? Coach? Buyer? Jerk? Nice Guy? Curious George? Asking the following open-ended question will give you some valuable insights as to his role; “Can you tell me what your decision making process is?” This non-offensive approach will give your prospect the opportunity to explain his specific role as well as who else may be involved. He may say, “Once I decide on the best solution for our company, I will present my findings to my management so they can budget for it.” This answer tells you that, a) he is a recommender and not the decision maker, and b) there is no current budget for this project. Be sure not to put him in an uncomfortable position by directly asking what his role is since he may want to feel more important to the process than he actually is and you may expose his less-authoritative position.
What happens with a lot of sales people is that they tend to judge their prospect by their first impression. This can be detrimental to any relationship you may otherwise have establish by learning more about the prospect. For instance, I once met a president of a networking company who clearly looked like a major nerd (pardon my frankness, but I want you to get an accurate picture). My initial thought was that he was a technician who somehow started his own company and didn’t have a business-savvy bone in his body. However, I still treated him like a business professional with total respect. Good thing I did because, as it turned out, he was the president of a very successful and fairly large network consulting firm and a great connection for my business. Don’t let first impressions and emotions guide your perceptions as to whom you are selling to.
First impressions involve more than simply deciding if this person is a nerd, or if they know what they are talking about, or if they are the right person you should be selling to. Two people could have the exact opposite impressions of someone, and they could both be correct. It’s just a matter of how you perceive someone or something. That perception becomes your reality. For instance, below are names of famous people, places and items. For each one I provided two different descriptions of what they could be in the eyes of the beholder. Which one do you think they are?
• John Wayne – War Hero or Cowboy
• Statue of Liberty – Symbol of Freedom or Tourist Attraction
• Elvis Presley – Young Entertainer or old, over-weight Singer
• Las Vegas – Vacation Spot or Sin City
• Watch – Time Piece or Piece of Jewelry
• Sistine Chapel – Beautiful Architecture or Beautiful Painting
• Trains – Railroads or Transportation Systems
Clearly, both descriptions can apply to each of these at the same time. But it’s your individual perception that dictates reality -- the reality in your own mind. When you meet a new prospect and form your own opinion and description of their role and involvement in the sale process, be sure to keep emotion out of the equation and focus on the facts. Learn the facts by asking the right kind of questions and the right questions. From this you will better know your audience and be able to present the right solution to the right person (or people) to help make the sale. Knowing your audience isn’t that difficult, as long as you keep an open mind, ask the right questions, and listen well.
Good luck and good selling!
Russ Lombardo
(702) 655-5652
Selling to the Right Person - To learn more about this author, visit Russ Lombardo's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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