This is a Guest Post from Julian Blee, of Fat Cat Ideas.
Way back in 1993 I was given my first opportunity to run a telesales floor. I was working for a firm of stockbrokers in London and I was super bullish and proud to be a broker. I marched across London Bridge each morning with the Financial Times under the arm of my chalk stripe suit. The wind would sometimes blow my jacket open to reveal the salmon pink silk lining and the bright red braces that held my trousers up. (I can’t even look at the pictures of me then without my face turning redder than the braces I wore.) I was 25 years old and full of myself.
In my new position I was intent on only taking on the loudest and most aggressive salespeople in the City. I had every intention of breaking all of the sales targets that I was given in record time. Admittedly, I did do very well there. However, I also made a complete hash of things for the first 3 to 6 months. I was lucky that my boss at the time believed in me and perpetually guided me and stopped me from crashing my sales floor into a proverbial tree every month.
One of the first things that I learnt was that just because somebody could talk a lot, it did not necessarily mean that they could sell. On one particular occasion I was interviewing two sales people that were applying for the same role. I wanted to take on the loud and bolshie character as I thought that he would be the type of hard-nosed salesmen that would help me hit my targets. My boss wanted to take on the other guy called Richard. In the end we took them both on to see who was right.
I had to fire the one I chose within the first month. He was too loud, too aggressive and too stupid and I can’t remember his name. The other guy, Richard, went on to break all of my sales records that I’d set at the company and was simply incredible. He was very quietly spoken which I thought in my naivety was a sign of weakness. His quietness was the secret to his success. Let me explain.
Because he was quiet, none of his clients or prospects found him to be aggressive. This lowered their natural defences against being sold to and unsurprisingly they listened to what he was saying. His voice was low and he employed downward inflection which made everything that he said sound serious, and gave him a fantastic air of authority. His sentences where short and precise and every time that he said something of importance or of major relevance to his presentation he would ask his prospect what they thought of what he had just said. This is one of the most important parts to his success. Any time that he told a client about something that was sexy about the service he had he would always ask for feedback.
Feedback is king in sales. If you don’t know what your client thinks about what you are telling him, then you will not be able to act accordingly. I.e. if he disagrees with what you have just said, or he didn’t understand or even wasn’t listening to you, then feedback will let you know how you need to respond. This was one of the reasons why Richard was so good at his job. It is also one of the things that I learnt very quickly as a new manager; just because someone has a chatty voice, doesn’t mean that they will be good at sales. In fact, in many instances a loquacious salesperson will generally not listen and babble on and on about how great their product is and not ask what the client thinks.
When you ask for feedback, you must always stop and wait for their response. Once they have responded you can act accordingly. Look at the table above. If I was to of told someone something that was pertinent to the closure of my sales presentation, I would need to ask them, “How does that sound?” if they say they like it, or give a similar response I would usually carry on with my presentation. However, if they said that it was rubbish or that they didn’t understand what I just said my reaction would be completely different and would find out what was wrong, what they didn’t like or why they didn’t like it.
The point I am trying to make is that people that talk too much are sometimes so interested in what they have to say that they don’t take the time to find out how interested the client actually is.
Exercise:
If you find that you are a chatty person, or that your sales closing ratios are not as high as you’d like them to be. Then stop and take a genuine look at the way you sell be honest with yourself here as you’re the one that can benefit. Are you asking clients what they think of what you are telling them? If not, then they could be thinking that what you are saying is not right for them because they have not understood you correctly. Look at the table above. If you actually knew that you prospect was thinking one of the thoughts in the red boxes would you continue merrily telling him about your product or service?
I would hope that the answer you gave was No and that you’d want to find out why they had these thoughts. Remember: If you don’t ask for feedback you will never know what your client really thinks.
Try this today! Ask at least 3 times during your presentations whether you client likes what you’ve said. Vary the question to avoid repetition:
How’s that sound? Are you with me? Is that clear?
The fact of the matter is that born salespeople are few and far between. Sales is a skill that needs to be nurtured and worked on.
Julian Blee has been in the sales business for 20 years and is currently the ‘fattest cat’ at Fat Cat Ideas, a company that offers sales orientated SME’s a range of no nonsense, jargon free, sales training, marketing and copy writing services.
More interesting telesales tips and cold calling tips:
Back to Basics: 9 Telesales Tips to Help You Sell More on the Phone!
How to Listen Effectively on a Telesales Call: Part 1 of 2
Is your new Telesales & Telemarketing Tips & Tactics Blog doing okay so far…?
3 Great Tips to Partner Gatekeepers on Your Telesales Calls
Telesales Urban Myth #1 – Ignore No’s, You Can Always Deal With Them at the End!
I agree!!! Asking for feedback will help close more sales. We’ve all had this happen with a new sales prospect. You’re thinking “This is it, I’ve got him!” You have called your sales prospect, and the dialogue is going great. His attitude is positive – he likes your services – you have lots in common with him. You feel a palpable connection between the two of you, a strong sixth sense that this meeting will result in you closing the sale. As time goes on, you stay in touch, calling periodically. Before long, it hits you that your sales prospect is just leading you down a path of non-commitment. So this is really important.
Your most powerful sales tool is the Question. Salespeople who master the art of questioning become masters at selling.
Effective questioning is a critical selling skill for several reasons. First, our recent research shows that there is a direct correlation between the success of a sales call and the type of questions that the salesperson uses. On average, failed sales calls include 86% more close-ended questions than open-ended questions.
Successful Sales Calls Have 25% More Open-Ended Questions.
Second, your questions help customers make their first key buying decision, which is whether to buy you, the salesperson. Questions build rapport and demonstrate your interest in the customer. They uncover information about the customer’s needs, who to call on, the decision-making time-frame, your competition and how the customer will make a decision. When you ask the “best” questions, customers will view you as a consultant with their best interests in mind.
Third, questions help you manage the sales call. You can control the conversation and differentiate yourself from competitors by being the best listener.
But merely asking questions isn’t enough. You need to ask “The Best Questions.” For example, asking questions that draw out needs for your product’s strengths can position you as the best or only solution for the customer’s needs.
To Your Success