This is a Guest Post by Mark Hunter.

Have you ever been in a selling situation when you were not able to close the sale? Of course you have. Every salesperson has. If you are unable to close the sale, you must ensure you close on something.  This is true if you sell primarily face-to-face, and it is true if you sell primarily over the phone.

First of all, don’t skip on doing the leg work of making sure you have uncovered the customer’s true needs and wants.  Keep good records, because even if you can’t close the sale right now, you may still be able to make a connection with the customer in the future based on either new product lines you have or the customer’s ancillary needs that occur to you after the call.

If you cannot close the actual sale, one of the key areas where you can “close” is to establish yourself as an expert and trusted advisor.  When you do this, you build the customer’s confidence in you.  Make sure your voice tone conveys that even if the customer doesn’t buy from you right now, you still are available as a resource in the future.  Do not allow the customer’s rejection of your offer at that moment to impact your voice tone and enthusiasm at all.

With your words and your tone, express to the customer that you are available for any questions they may have, even questions general to your industry.  In addition, do not hesitate to alert the customer to information that will benefit them, even if such information doesn’t mean a sale for you.

Establish yourself as a trusted advisor upon whom the customer can rely, and you will be more likely to secure sales from that customer when they are ready to buy.

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs. You can read his blog at http://thesaleshunter.com/blog.

This is a Guest post by Art Sobzcak.

Guess who says the following:

“Hi, I’m just calling to check in with you.

a. Parolees out on probation, checking in with their probation officer.

b. Sales reps who call customers or prospects and can’t come up with anything more creative or interesting to say.

c. Teen-aged girls, every two hours on the weekend, calling their parents.

d. All of the above.

The answer of course, is “d.” What we will concern ourselves with is “b”, the Probation Officer call.

These calls are most often placed by reps who call regular customers on a regular basis, or when placing follow-up calls to those lukewarm prospects.

And the result usually is not very good.

No wonder. There’s nothing of interest or of value there for the listener. Are they supposed to get excited simply because you called to check in with them?

What to do? Have a reason for calling. Have something of interest. Search your notes from previous calls and make that the reason for this call. For example,

“Stacy, it’s Ken Mackeral with Fish Supply. I’m following up on our last conversation from January. At the time you mentioned that you were going to be expanding your catfish operation in May, and I wanted to share some information about what another customer of mine did to help keep his expansion costs low and increase his capacity.”

Use Your Database

Here’s a specific way to help you come up with great reasons to call, and call the right people.

Let’s look at a scenario using something that every company experiences: changes.

For example, has your personal or business bank changed names and/or ownership within the past couple of years? A friend told me his has changed. Three times. One astute bank sales rep who has been pursuing him manages to contact him after each change while the effects are fresh in his mind. Although he hasn’t moved yet, the timely calls combined with the annoyance of the changes are beginning to wear down his resistance.

Let’s look at the sales ideas and strategy at work here … the ones you can use too for a variety of situations.

1. Prospects can be particularly vulnerable after their existing vendor is acquired, merged, or undergoes some other type of change.

2. Taking advantage of it requires you to track who a prospect uses, and be able to sort your database accordingly, just like the rep mentioned above probably did.

Most contact management and CRM programs allow you to customize fields and sort accordingly. Consider assigning a field for “Current Vendor.” Then it’s a breeze to do a quick sort of all the prospects who have the competitor’s name in the field, and plan your next contact.

When calling these prospects, naturally you don’t phone with an attitude of, “So I see your vendor was just acquired. I bet things are a mess there!”

Instead, treat the call just like you would a normal follow-up. But, be prepared to ask questions designed to get them to tell you the problems and pains they might be experiencing as a result of the change.

For example,

“Mike, you’re still with AB Vendor, right? I see. With the recent acquisition, some of my other customers have noticed some changes in the promptness of getting orders delivered. If that is an issue for you, we have some options that might be worth taking a look at. What has been your experience?”

You could use this technique with any number of changes or events that customers or prospects might have interest in, that could be a great reason for calling if that situation occurred.

For example, let’s say a prospect told you that if you ever came out with a left-handed adapter for your product, they would get them in minute. You would then put LHA, or “Left-handed adapter” in your notes, and when your company introduced one, you’d simply do a sort on that code or term and have a great list to call, with a great reason for calling.

The only reason to make the Probation Officer call, (unless you actually have one) is a lack of creativity or work. Use these ideas and you’ll go further with these prospects and customers.

Art Sobczak has helped sales pros say the right things by phone for over 27 years.  Get a free ebook of tips at http://www.BusinessByPhone.com, and see more free sales and prospecting tips, hear recorded calls, and watch videos at http://www.TelesalesBlog.com

This is a Guest Post by Mark Hunter.

I’m not talking about the dial tone. I’m talking about the tone of voice your prospect is using. More specifically, I’m talking about what to do when you hear a change in their tone of voice.  We communicate with our voice, but it goes way beyond just the words we say and the volume with which we speak.  The real telling signs are in the tone of the voice, particularly pitch.

Listen carefully to the next person with whom you talk, and you’ll detect slight variations in the tone. What you are listening for is when the tone or pitch goes up and when it goes down. When this happens – when there has been a change – the person to whom you are listening is reaching a conclusion of some type.  Typically, a customer’s tone/pitch will go up slightly when they become excited or enthused, and it will go down when they’re resigned or view something negatively. Often, this change of tone is also accompanied by a change in the speed with which they speak. An increase in the words per minute signals excitement and a slow down signals calmness.

The trick with all of this is to know how to use it to your advantage. A customer’s change in tone, pitch or rate of speech is not as important as how you respond to it.  When a customer’s pitch/tone goes up, you should immediately ask them a question that gets them to build on what is making them excited. Then, immediately follow with a question to close the sale.  If, on the other hand, the customer’s pitch goes down, you should ask them a question that pertains to the biggest need they’ve expressed to date. If they have not expressed any need to you thus far, then ask them a question that would draw out what you believe is the biggest need or pain they’re facing.   Follow that question with another question that gets them to build even more on what they just told you. The key is to draw out as much as possible the need they’re facing. In doing so, you’ll be in a better position to close the sale.

Another key way you can use the tone/pitch is to help validate what the other person has just told you.  It’s very easy for a person to say something that is not the truth from a vocabulary standpoint. However, it is incredibly difficult to mask their tone/pitch.  Again, this can be a clear sign when someone is talking to you as to whether or not what they’re telling you is factual or merely something to help end the call.

This is the reason I tell anyone who is spending any degree of time on the phone to use a headset that covers both ears. Using an ordinary phone will not give you the listening advantage you need to discern the slight differences in a person’s voice. These slight differences are exactly what can help you dramatically distinguish what the customer is really saying. Ultimately, you will be better equipped to close more sales.

Mark Hunter, “The Sales Hunter,” helps individuals and companies identify better prospects, close more sales, and profitably build more long-term customer relationships. He is a consultative selling expert, specializing in custom-tailored sales programs. You can read his blog at http://thesaleshunter.com/blog.

This is a Guest post by Jill Konrath of Selling To Big Companies.

The road to sales success is sprinkled with gone opportunities, awkward moments and foolish mistakes. For me, the chief difference between superb sellers and regular ones is their ability to turn these tragedies into wonderful opportunities.

As excruciating as it might be, excellent salespeople re-examine their errors to determine how they can prevent the same results in the future. Wounded but not defeated, they slowly discover what it requires to be successful.

I can relate because I have been there. I’ve had my own share of screw ups. And just the other day, some of my major mistakes came rushing back to me as I was off to conduct a training program for a local printing company.

When I exited the highway onto Como Avenue, I was instantly brought back to my days as a Xerox sales trainee when I was covering the 55414 zip code. It’s where I learned a lot of very useful lessons that are still inculcated in my mind today.

Lesson 1: How to Get Unstuck

When I finished my Xerox training program, I was assigned to follow Jim Farrell for numerous weeks to learn a lot of things. Then the day came when I was on my own.

I arrived at the office of Quality Products where I first worked. For some reason, I couldn’t get out of the car. I was frightened and thought that my sales career was done before it began.

After half an hour of being paralyzed in my car, a song from the movie, Sound of Music, popped into my head: “I have confidence.”

I began singing to myself, silently in the beginning, then louder and louder. I was mainly captivated with the refrain, “I have confidence in confidence alone, and as you can see, I have confidence in me.”

I didn’t really believe the words but they lifted me from my “stuckness.” I opened my cold call plan and practiced my opening statements again and again.

I then got out of the car and went inside the office. At the end of the day, I made 20 cold calls and found a couple of potential clients.

Over the years, I’ve encountered a lot of difficult situations that were hard to manage because I didn’t have enough knowledge and was inexperienced. I realized that it is impossible to know everything before you start. I also learned that in order to find answers, one should move and not be stagnant.

Lesson 2: How to Get to Higher Level Decision Makers

Trussbilt was one of the prospects I came across with while cold-calling. The company has been gone for a couple of years. It was replaced by the printing company where I was doing the training. The déjà vu that I felt when I went inside their offices was obvious.

At that time, I was working with a very expressive woman named Tinsey, who told me that she was the one in charge of the copier decision. Right after our meeting, I read a book that said that salespeople should work only with the top dogs and not their underlings.

My contact was an administrative assistant. I realized I had to remedy the situation at once. I got Mr. Big on the phone and set up a time to meet. Then I prepared well to make sure that I did a wonderful job.

Sadly, I never had the opportunity to take advantage of this opening. Tinsey came to the lobby to accompany her boss’s guest to his office. When she saw me, she demanded to know why I was there.

I told her “I’m here to see Mr. Big.” I was not confident if the approach I had taken was correct. Tinsey then yelled at me like I have never been yelled at before.

I was shocked, scared and became light-headed. I then fainted in the middle of the lobby.

I never did business with Tinsey or Trussbilt. But I did learn that when you are working with someone, it’s never proper to go around them without them knowing. They will get angry. It’s a normal human reaction.

Today, to make sure that I get to work with whomever I want in an account, I always tell this to potential clients: “When I’m working with clients, I need to talk with the VP of Sales, Regional Sales or Marketing Directors.” This avoids problems that can spoil your sales efforts.

Lesson 3: How to Cut the Crap and Net it Out

The Kaplan Company was just down the street and around the corner from Trussbilt. When I walked inside, there were about 30 seats filled with women who were preoccupied with order entry and handling customer service issues.

I informed the Front Desk Personnel that I wanted to talk to the person who made copier decisions. After checking with the boss, she accompanied me into his office. He told me to sit down and said that I had 5 minutes to talk.

“If you’re busy, I’ll go.” I said, trying to be courteous.

He said, “Nope. You have 5 minutes to tell me why I should buy your product. Your 5 minutes starts now.”

I mumbled, trying really hard to engage him. I told him that I needed more time to explain but he wasn’t interested. After 5 minutes, he stood up and told me, “Your time is up. You may leave now.”

That annoyed me. I told him he was impolite and obnoxious. Then I stormed out of his office and shouted, “I’ll never sell you a Xerox machine. You don’t deserve to do business with Xerox.”

I know it’s is difficult to imagine, but I really did lose my patience. And I’m pretty sure he never wanted to work with Xerox again. But he had a point. I couldn’t state clearly and concisely why he should hear me out.

I wanted to establish a connection and warm up the call. That made me feel better. He was a preoccupied person who chose his time judiciously. I didn’t respect his needs. After that cold-calling tragedy, I learned to net it out. That lesson is even more important today than it was years ago.

The School of Hard Knocks can be very cruel. If you’re making sales calls, you know how difficult it can be. Every time you’re knocked down, you have to make a choice about how to respond. Are you getting up again? Will you learn from the experience?

The most difficult thing in the world is to look at your own involvement in the situation, yet that’s where the maximum growth is for you and ultimately, the key to your long-term sales success.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. For timely and provocative sales advice, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com.

The following is a Guest post by Mike Brooks, AKA Mr. Inside Sales.

One of the most applied and long-standing cover-ups in the book is the, “I need to think about it” objection. A lot of salespeople struggle with this because they think that the potential client isn’t saying no, and so they don’t know how to react to it.

Unfortunately, what many of you have found out is that your prospect actually is saying no – they’re just saying it in a way that makes it difficult for you to handle it. Well that will end for you today. By using the scripts below, you’ll see if your prospect really does need to think about it, or if he/she is blowing you off. Believe me, you want to know now so you can save yourself weeks of chasing and begging a deal that will never close.

The following scripts were taken from my Brand New Book of Phone Scripts due out in about 6 weeks. These are seven out of ten in the book (there are 20+ NEW scripts on how to handle the money objection alone! You’ll want to pick up a copy as soon as it’s released, so stand by…)

In the meantime, enjoy these and send me an email and let me know how they work for you!!

Response #1:

“_________, whenever I tell someone I need to think about it, I usually mean one of three things: 1 – I’m not going to be a deal for whatever reason and I just want to get them off the phone, 2 – I kind of like the idea but I’m going to have to find the money or talk to my partner, or something else is holding me back, and 3 – I really like the idea and I just have to move something around before I say yes.

Be honest with me; which one of those things is it for you right now?”

Response #2:

“__________, I may have given you too much information on the warranty (or pick another part of your product or service here), is that what you need to think about?”

(Now use your mute button and let them tell you what they are going to really think about)

Response #3:

“You know _________, if this isn’t for you, I’d rather have a no right now

- believe me, you won’t hurt my feelings. Is that where you’re leaning right now?”

(It is always better to get this objection out of them early.)

Response #4:

“__________, let’s face it – you’ve already been thinking about this for a long time. You know you have to make a change or nothing else will change with (your operating system, your results, etc.). Thinking about it more won’t fix things for you – only making a decision will. You like this; you’ve already told me it would work for you. So let’s do this – go ahead and put me/this solution to work for you now and if you change your mind later you will still get the benefit that you’ve acknowledged you need.

Here’s what we need to do to get you started…”

Response #5:

“__________, the only thing more costly than making a bad decision is not making one at all. If you don’t change things then things won’t get better for you. Now, you’ve already admitted that this has the best chance to make a positive impact in your production, right?

Then do what my other clients do and put me and my company to work for you. Once you see the positive results we both know are possible here, you’ll be back to expand our coverage for you. And that’s going to be a win/win for us both, isn’t it?

Then here’s what we need to do…”

Response #6:

“___________, since we both agree this has a great chance to work for you, let me do this. While we’re on the phone right now, I’m going to email you three customer testimonials – companies just like yours who were hesitant as well – and when you read about how successful they were with us, I’ll put together an introductory offer that you won’t be able to pass up. Once you see for yourself how this works, then we can talk about further involvement, is that fair?”

Response #7:

“__________, what I’m hearing from you is essentially a no – and that’s alright. As a sales rep, I hear that all the time and it doesn’t bother me. It just means I haven’t yet explained the value proposition right.

Tell me, what would it take to convince you that this would be a good idea to move forward with – and please be honest with me.”

Mike Brooks, Mr. Inside Sales, works with business owners and inside sales reps nationwide teaching them the skills, strategies and techniques of top 20% performance.  If you’re looking to catapult your sales, or create a sales team that actually makes their monthly revenues, then learn how by visiting: http://www.MrInsideSales.com

This is a Guest post by Jill Konrath of Selling To Big Companies.

What are the things that you can do when your potential clients disappear into “the black hole?” When you don’t know the reason why you haven’t heard from them, determining how to respond can be a problem, especially since you don’t want to be annoying.

Here are some methods that you can use in dealing with “the black hole:”

● Persevere.

Keep in mind that clients expect you to keep in touch all the time. It usually takes 8-10 contacts before you can get in contact with them again. Don’t be terrified. This is completely normal in business nowadays.

● Value each connection.

Don’t just say, “Hi, Alex. Just getting back to you as I promised about your _______ decision. If you have questions, just let me know.”

Instead, say this: “Alex, based on our meeting last week, I know how vital it is for you to shorten your sales cycle. There’s a white paper on our website that focuses on this. I’ll email you the link in a while.”

● Have a sense of humor.

Inject some humor on your communication. Leave a funny message such as, “Alex, I know you’re extremely busy. But I also know that your sales cycle is of great importance to you. That’s why I keep bugging you. I am looking forward to reconnect with you at last,” after 4-5 contacts with the prospect.

● Use different media.

Combine different approaches. Combine voice calls with voicemails, emails, mailings, invitations to events, and articles in the mail. Ensure that each contact informs and educates.

● Establish different modes of entry.

Recognize and cultivate several relationships concurrently. Don’t just let one person be your total gateway to a company. And reference others you are speaking with in your messages or emails, when appropriate.

● Re-assess your initial connection.

How can you double their urgency? How can you find out if you are just column fodder? How can you link your offering more into their business priorities? Too many a time, salespeople focus on product or service information when speaking with prospects. Instead, concentrate on significant business results and the difference that you can make.

● Prepare for your next action.

Don’t leave a meeting without a homework assignment for the salesperson and the prospect and a scheduled definite follow-up appointment. If they’re not cooperative and are reluctant to do this, it is a sign that something might be wrong. Dig deep into this and explore their need and urgency better.

● Let them off the hook.

Email them saying that you thought that they were engrossed with the offer, but maybe you got the wrong idea about the situation because you haven’t heard back from them in a couple of weeks. Believe it or not, this approach often receives a reply and an explanation from a potential client who is feeling guilty about not reconnecting.

● Lessen your contact frequency.

If you contacted them 10 times already, and still you didn’t get a respond, lessen your contact with them. A quarterly schedule might be more suitable. Or, you can reconnect at a more fitting and proper time with the client.

By using one or more of these methods, it is highly likely for you to reconnect with a prospect who has disappeared into “the black hole.” These strategies may not work all the time, but these often get the job done. And if you have repeatedly given value and concentrated on the impact your offering will bring, they will likely be prepared to apply your solution yesterday.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. For timely and provocative sales advice, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com.

This is a Guest post by Alen Majer, CEO of The Science and Art of Selling.

Your mission as a sales person should be to find companies that have immediate wants and needs. This means that something happened or is happening to them – a move, a merger, new investors, etc. You have to look for any event that might create the opportunity for you, or better said you are looking for event that can trigger the sales for you.

It could be something internal or inside the company, like a new direction from management, a merger or an acquisition, rapid growth, or maybe a new product introduction. And it could mean the company is turning “Green” and needs new and different supplies and services.

It could be external or outside the company, like the new strategies of their competition or new legislation (Sarbanes- Oxley Act). Maybe even a natural disaster, which is a well-known external trigger for many customers.

Generally speaking, trigger events have effects inside the whole company. Suddenly new needs are recognized; previous decisions need to be revisited. Very often, management becomes aware of new priorities and changes the direction of the company.

Trigger events are extremely important when we are in the search mode, looking for our next customer, and when we need to identify our sales opportunities at a particular company from our target list.

Every company has something new happening. Maybe they improved or reintroduced their products or service. There could be new faces in the boardroom or on the sales floor. A new office may have opened up in the Midwest. A new vendor or strategic partner could have been added. Even new money or investor may come into the company.

Most important for a buyer is that the provider understands the buyer’s situation, needs and business.

Every change in the business environment causes a search for new suppliers or new service providers, and your main goal is to be in front of qualified buyers when they are ready to buy.

In these situations, I would say this is almost the perfect position for every sales person. You know there is something happening with the accounts from your list of targeted accounts and you know that as it happens – perfect timing is a key of success many times. This is equally true no matter if it is with small or large companies.

An example of the above is a situation where through your trigger event research you determine that your customer is planning to switch its ordering system to one of the new software solutions. So you know there is something going to happen. Whether the company is large or small, it can be perfect timing for you to be able to provide products and services to them using that kind of ordering/sales process.

How to use that information?

When you get the information related to a trigger event, you need to adjust your approach so the benefits of your products (or services) are closely related to the trigger event, and you are able to show your customers that you can create a value for them early in the buying process.

This is a good way to start working on the relationship and developing the customer’s perception of your value to them. This means when you speak with the decision maker and if you know exactly what this trigger event is about, you will be able to tailor your story and the benefits of your product in a way that sounds appealing and is related to the customers’ growth trigger event.

You need to adjust your presentation in the way to recognize that event and to present your offering in the most effective way.

Questions you will ask on your calls or meetings with prospects will be targeted towards their needs and you will be able to demonstrate your understanding of business situation. That should bring you a step closer to get the deal done.

You definitely want to discover their hot buttons and why they could be on the market now for your products or services. Also, you should find out why they are qualified now, at this particular moment, and why you should be very active with this prospect.

It is actually very simple – when you show your prospects that you actually care and you have done your homework and you know about trigger events happening inside their company (new CFO, merger and acquisition, bad 3rd quarter…) you also show them that you are interested about their issues, and most importantly concerned about their wants and needs.

You will create interest in their eyes because you are different than anyone else who contacts them, who is simply trying to sell something without really understanding their needs.

When you know about different trigger events it will be much easier for you to ask questions that lead to uncover customer’s needs and buying motives, and to put them in the market even if they feel they are not buying anything now.

If you try to make a sale without necessary information about your customers, you are just shooting blanks in the air, hoping to hit something. With full information about your prospect’s situation, you will be able to sell easier, and that is the main purpose of this article (and my blog) – to help you find your next customer in a much easier way for you, and yet maintain a professional, knowledgeable approach.

All needs are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

Alen Majer consults and trains entrepreneurs and salespeople how to harness their (sex) energy and use it for the success of selling. He is the founder and CEO of The Science and Art of Selling – a sales training, coaching and consulting company in Toronto, Canada; co-founder of Sales Academy – Croatia and Sales Institute of Croatia. Visit his blog at http://www.alenmajer.com.

This is a Guest post by Jill Konrath of Selling To Big Companies.

Here are Top 5 tips that a new sales person should learn:

1. Be different.

Sellers find it hard to realize that customers don’t care about the product or service. Customers care about the difference that the seller can make for their company.

I sell sales training. If I will approach a company and speak to the VP of Sales and tell them that, the company will not be interested with my offer. But if I change my approach and focus on the substantial results that they will get from the service that I offer, doors will open wide.

2. Take one step at  a time.

When I first started selling, I immediately wanted to become successful. I was eager to close early and impressed my prospects with my immense product knowledge. But the more I rushed things, my prospects became more resistant to moving forward. They would trash problems and complaints that I could not solve. But when I started to slow down, plan carefully and disseminate information over multiple discussions, my sales suddenly increased.

3. Research before making the call.

Personalized messages based on your research about their company will get the attention of corporate decision makers. Standard messages sent to everyone are deleted instantly. Take the time to do your homework and do some research. Companies will listen to voicemails that are made especially for them.

4. Plan different modes of entry.

If you want to set up a meeting with a corporate decision maker, plan different modes of entry. Use multiple formats in your campaign— try voicemail, email, direct mail, invitations to teleseminars, conferences and etc.  Establish at least 7-10 contacts to crack into corporate accounts.

5. In your cutsomer’s shoes.

It doesn’t matter what you say. What matters is what your customer’s hear. Before leaving a message on your prospect’s voicemail, try leaving it on yours. Listen to it and evaluate how you sounded. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. Would you listen to that message? Would you take the time to call back and respond to that message? Rework your script until you finally created something worth hearing and worth responding to.

How about you? What tips can you suggest to new sellers?

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies, helps sellers crack into corporate accounts, shorten sales cycles and win big contracts. She’s a frequent speaker at annual sales meetings, kick-off events and professional conferences. For timely and provocative sales advice, visit www.SellingtoBigCompanies.com.

This is a Guest post by Alen Majer, CEO of The Science and Art of Selling.

In my previous article, I was talking how If you live by price – you will die by price.

Let’s talk further about how to close the deal without discounting.

If you base your offer on your price only, there is a good chance that someone will have a lower price than you, or you can end up in the bidding war that distracts from solutions. To avoid that, base your proposal in achieving more goals for your prospects, not just to save money, because every other salesperson will say exactly the same.

A customer wants to see the value not in your product; he wants to get the value from your solution to their business problem. They must perceive unique value from you. If they cannot differentiate you from the competition, there is no reason to buy from you.

Probably you can’t differentiate much with your product, I am sure you have some unique features, but your competition has them, too. Customers today can easily substitute your product with the one from your competition and still be satisfied.

So how can you differentiate?

That’s where trigger events are coming to the game.

Trigger events can help you with recognizing needs and opening the door to have a meaningful conversation with customers who have events happening. Just to be different from the competition is not really important to your customers. What they would like to see is added value.

What creates customer value?

-    Skilled sales force

-    Sales process itself

-    Understanding their business situation today and adapting to their particular wants and needs

If you recognize your customers’ needs and create the value for them, customers will move from initial meeting to a decision much easier. Communicating the value is a traditional view of selling, but in today’s world you can’t survive if you are not creating the value for the customer. And make customers realize that they are on the market.

A salesperson needs to play a leading role to create the value for his customers. In each step of the sales process, the  sale person can create the value, but the most value can be created early in the process by helping customers define their needs.

This is true especially in consultative sales where the salesperson can create the value, recognize customer needs with trigger events and help them define their needs better and deeper. A sales professional needs to create the specialized situation and put them on the market even if they didn’t feel like that before he entered the picture.

If you are just selling your product – you are missing the point and you will die by price, as you lived by price. Customers are looking beyond the product; they are looking for the solution to their needs and your understanding of their business situation. Many times that should include help and advice, too.

Individual customers must be treated differently. What works for one customer may not work at all for another. Knowing about trigger events happening to your targeted prospect (and more different events are always better) you will have a very powerful tool to adjust your sales presentation to their needs, recovered with trigger events.

Concentrate on understanding your customers’ business issues, and show them how to solve more than one goal with your product, create a value for them and you will go home with the contract in your pocket, whatever the price is.

Let me repeat it here once more – if you don’t show the value, you will definitely not win whatever your price is. Even if you have the lowest price on the market, it does not mean much to the prospect, because they don’t see the difference between your product and ones from the competition. And many buyers are buying from someone who had crafted a compelling solution to their needs, then comes understanding of their needs, and after that, the financial part of the deal.

Your goal as sales professional is to create value through how you’re selling, not just through what you’re selling. To be a real sales professional ready for 21st century customers, here is no question- you need to change your approach, but when and how?

Alen Majer consults and trains entrepreneurs and salespeople how to harness their (sex) energy and use it for the success of selling. He is the founder and CEO of The Science and Art of Selling – a sales training, coaching and consulting company in Toronto, Canada; co-founder of Sales Academy – Croatia and Sales Institute of Croatia. Visit his blog at http://www.alenmajer.com.

The following is a Guest post by Mike Brooks, AKA Mr. Inside Sales.

Let’s face it — today’s business world is competitive.  Besides the normal objections you get (no money, price too high, need to talk to, etc.) a common objection that blows out 80% of your competition is, “I can get a better deal elsewhere.”  This frustrates a lot of sales reps and takes thousands of dollars of commission out of their pockets.

The top 20% also get this objection but are prepared for it and know how to overcome it.  Here’s what they do:

First, they recognize that if someone says that they can get a better deal elsewhere, it means one of three things:

1 — They’re wrong (in other words, they think they are getting the same thing you’re offering, but they’re not).

2 — They’re just putting you off and using this objection as a smokescreen.

3 — They really can get a better deal.

In order to find out what your prospect means, offer to help them determine if they really are getting a better deal by questioning and comparing every component of it.  Use this script:

“ __________ my customers tell me this all the time, and sometimes they genuinely can get a better deal, but a lot of times they can’t.  I’ll tell you what I’ll do.  I’ll go over each item you’ve been quoted by this other company, in other words we will compare apples to apples, and if everything is equal, I’ll see if I can do even better on that.  If I can, you’ll get an even better deal and if I can’t, I’ll tell you so.  Either way, you’ll win.  Now, do you have that other quote in front of you?”

Then simply go over each item to make sure everything is equal.  Often times it’s not and you can point this out.  And if it is, you still have a chance to win the deal.  If they do have a better deal, then build the value of having you as their sales rep and try to close the sale anyway.

Either way, you’ll win.

If you want to Double Your Income Selling Over the Phone, then check out Mike’s Award Winning 5-CD Series and learn the techniques and strategies of Top 20% producers.  Visit:  http://www.mrinsidesales.com/cd_page.htm

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