From our client

“Within two months of completing the sales training, we saw these results in our sales data:
1. New account openings have doubled.
2. Time/date commitments have increased our sales ROI
3. Average call times have increased … which has translated into increased sales.”

Scott P. Heim
Executive Director of Sales & Marketing, DayMark Safety Systems

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• President, Steve Mulch
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From our client:

“I’M A BELIEVER! Your Prospect Management helped me to instill some good discipline within my sales group…I like the effect your selling system has had on my sales representatives’ time management habits.”

Robert C. Krehbeil III
Chief Executive Officer, CJK

[See post to watch Flash video] ]]> http://www.veritastraining.com/2010/05/25/dei-video-1/feed/ 0 http://www.veritastraining.com/2010/03/17/the-qualifying-sales-myth/ http://www.veritastraining.com/2010/03/17/the-qualifying-sales-myth/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:22:48 +0000 slachapelle http://veritastraining.com/blog/?p=124 When you engage a prospect during the earliest stages of the business relationship, do you ask manipulative, long-winded “qualifying” questions? Or do you ask simple “do-based” questions that help you to gauge whether you should even be talking to this person?

There is a difference. Here’s an example of what a typical “qualifying question” sounds like, according to one supposed “expert” in sales training whose counsel I found on-line:

“Would you like some information about our company and what we do?”

Here’s another example from a different trainer, also posted proudly on an Internet web-site as an example of a great “qualifying” question:

“If you felt that our program could help your company improve efficiency, reduce overhead and at the same time, improve quality, is this something that you would want to know more about?”

And here’s another classic “qualifying question” you can find on-line from yet another trainer:

“If you could change one aspect about your current arrangement, what would it be?”

There is a stubborn sales myth that has grown up around these types of questions. The myth is that they enable salespeople to build rapport with, and gain meaningful information from, the prospects they encounter on the phone or in person.

They don’t. These kinds of questions turn prospects off and shut down lines of communication. If you doubt this, ask yourself how you would respond if you were asked one of these questions by someone who had either just called you on the telephone or had come in to meet you for the very first time. Would you instantly open up to the other person?

Would you say: “Yes, please — do me a favor and share whatever information about your company you feel is appropriate for my situation.”

Would you say: “You know what? If your program could help my company improve efficiency, reduce overhead, and at the same time improve quality, I really would want to find out more about the program. Not only that, I’d want to learn about the program as soon as possible. Please take a moment now to give me an overview of your company’s proof on these three points.”

Would you say: “I’m glad you called – I was hoping a total stranger would get in touch with me this morning to discuss the one aspect of my current arrangement that I would change. It’s shipping. We have a real problem with on-time delivery from our current vendor.”

Of course, you wouldn’t say any of those things. You’d probably say something noncommittal or vaguely polite – or, if you were having a hard day, you might even terminate the conversation then and there. But you wouldn’t be likely to share all the information about your situation that you knew and that the salesperson doesn’t know.

That’s because these kinds of elaborate “qualifying” questions are not really based on what the buyer does. They’re based on what we, as salespeople do. We have to share information about our company. We have to convey the benefits of our product or service. We have to set ourselves apart from the competition. Prospects, however, are not interested in doing any of those things. They’re interested in their own situation.

When we ask briefly and directly about what the other person does, we are much more likely to get some kind of indication of his or her actual situation … and we’re also more likely to determine whether that person truly has an interest in talking to us about what we do.

Here’s an example of a simple “do-based” question that gets right to the heart of the matter, a question that is very likely to give you an immediate and accurate indication of whether or not there’s something to talk about with your contact:

Just out of curiosity – have you ever worked with a widget wholesaler before?

By asking this kind of question, we not only engage the other person, we also encourage him or her, in an unthreatening way, to share a relevant true story from his or her business experience. That story, if we hear it, will be built around what the business actually does. When we hear that story, we will be in a much better position than we were to gauge the other person’s true level of interest.

When asking questions early in the relationship, focus on simple questions that illuminate what the other person actually does. Use those kinds of questions to engage… then gauge. And skip the silly, manipulative questions that some of the “experts” out there try to get you to ask at the beginning of the sales process.

About the Author
Stephan Schiffman is the president of D.E.I. Management Group, Inc., one of the largest sales training companies in the U.S. He is the author of a number of best-selling books including Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!), and The 25 Sales Skills They Don’t Teach You at Business School. Schiffman’s articles have appeared in many publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and INC. Magazine.

He has also appeared as a guest on CNBC’s Minding Your Business, How to Succeed in Business, Smart Money and TCI’s Arlington Business Today. For more information about Schiffman and D.E.I. Management, please call (800) 224-2140.

In short, salespeople love numbers. Here, then, is another number that can help you close more sales: 10 things every salesperson should know.

1. Have 10 stories about how you have helped 10 clients.
Knowing the facts about how you have helped your clients is essential information during a sales call. Fancy proposals and outlines are nice, but future clients want to know why they should do business with you. Give them the tangible, quantifiable results — the hard numbers.

2. Know why your No. 1 account bought from you and what led that account to closure.
In addition to hard numbers, business professionals like stories. Make sure you know why your largest account (the account that now generates X thousand dollars a year) decided to buy from you. The story will break the ice and give you credibility.

3. Have your top five references ready.
People don’t like to take chances in business. Have ready a list of references your client can contact. Make certain your references are solid and will speak highly of your organization. If your references are respected within the industry, the endorsement can carry a lot of weight.

4. Know five restaurants in which to discuss business.
You should always know five restaurants to which you can take a client anytime. Requirements should include good food, service and rapport, and an atmosphere appropriate for conducting business.

5. Understand your clients’ business.
Know your clients’ numbers, not just your own. Ask how many years they have been operating, how many employees they have, what their budgets are for your services. Understanding your clients’ business leads to more sales for you — it’s that simple.

6. Know your top 10 target prospects.
It is common for a prospect to ask you what other businesses you are targeting. The prospect wants to know (for instance) whether you’re experienced and well equipped to work with a company of his or her size and industry focus. Asking who else you’re reaching out to is a good way for your prospect to discover your firm’s direction and capabilities. You should be prepared to offer a list of relevant target organizations.

7. Identify three internal people you can call on for assistance on a sales call.
Don’t be hesitant about asking someone who has had more experience than you do to accompany you on a sales call. Getting someone to come along on your next meeting may mean the difference between striking out and hitting a home run. A sale still counts, even if you have help making it!

8. Know your ratios.
Salespeople often downplay the importance of ratios. Understanding your ratios means improving your sales. For example, if you know that every 25 cold calls leads to five appointments, and that five appointments lead to one sale, you can work backwards to determine exactly how many cold calls you must make to reach a certain number of sales each week. Just do the math.

9. Prepare for the objections you’ll hear.
If you’ve been selling for more than a month, you can probably anticipate the negative responses you will hear from your prospect. Will the prospect say you’re too expensive? That your company is too inexperienced? That you don’t have the right team in place? Prepare relevant success stories: stories about satisfied customers who got more value than they expected, or who benefited from a new outlook, or who sang your team’s praises. Practice these stories – they will help you turn the most common objections around.

10. Have one good joke that always makes you laugh.
Sometimes business can get stressful. Always have one thought, story or joke “in reserve” that can put a smile on your face and help you keep things in perspective.

About the Author
Stephan Schiffman is the president of D.E.I. Management Group, Inc., one of the largest sales training companies in the U.S. He is the author of a number of best-selling books including Cold Calling Techniques (That Really Work!), and The 25 Sales Skills They Don’t Teach You at Business School. Schiffman’s articles have appeared in many publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and INC. Magazine.

He has also appeared as a guest on CNBC’s Minding Your Business, How to Succeed in Business, Smart Money and TCI’s Arlington Business Today.

For more information about Schiffman and D.E.I. Management, please call (800) 224-2140 or visit www.dei-sales.com.

2. THE DEFINITION of selling is helping people do what they do better.

3. NO ONE “NEEDS” US or what we have to offer; if anyone did “need” us, they would have already called us.

4. OUR NUMBER ONE COMPETITOR is the status quo—what the person or organization is already doing.

5. SELL TO THE OBVIOUS. . . by asking how and why the person is already doing what he or she is doing.

6. THE SALES PROCESS is an extended conversation; we can control the flow of that conversation.

7. THE LONGER A SALE TAKES out of its normal sales cycle, the less likely it is to happen.

8. THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE SALES is ratios, not numbers.

9. ALL RESPONSES we hear are in kind; all can be anticipated; all are likely to be told in stories.

10. 75% OF THE WORK in the ideal sales process occurs prior to the proposal, or presentation, of your plan.

11. OUR CLOSE should be a natural outgrowth of the sales process that sounds like this: “Makes sense to me—what do you think?”

12. WE WANT THE PROSPECT TO DECIDE TO BUY; we don’t want to have to sell to the prospect.

13. WE CAN PREDICT FUTURE INCOME based on current activity.

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