A Sales Compass – A Blog by B2B Sales Connections

I used to work in an industry where the summer was a dead time for the sales team. The customers would shut their production down for a week or two. Contacts were on vacation and nothing moved. Then late August and early September would come and sales would start happening. This resulted in the sales people moving too fast and mistakes happening.  I effected both the sales person and the customer.

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Here is a great article by Dave Kahle entitled What’s A Professional Sales Person.   In it, he discusses what every sales representative and sales manager should know about professionalism in our chosen career.   A must read for us all!

What do you think makes a professional sales person?  I look forward to your comments.  For those in the Ottawa, Ontario area, we can discuss this more in person at the Sales Professionals of Ottawa Round Table on May 10, 2011.   (more…)

As sales professionals we’ve all most likely had this problem with a prospect at one time or another.  They were a hot prospect sending you all the right buying signals and then all of the sudden they switched off.  Now they don’t return your calls.  They are unresponsive to your emails and you are left in sales limbo.

Do you keep calling? After all when you last spoke they were set to proceed. Now they are missing in action.  What can you do?

I would like to share a quick little tip that works well.  If you had a good relationship with the prospect and you are willing to take a last shot to see if the person is still engaged, send them an email that says you are going to “close their file”. 

Simply state that you have tried to reach them by phone and email and since they are not responding you would like to close the file.  Let them know if their situation has changed and they are no longer in the market for your product/service it would be best to close the file and move on.

To see an email template example, download EMAIL TEMPLATE TO RESTART STALLED PROSPECTS from the B2B Sales Connections Free Download Centre 

You will be amazed at how many times you get a message back almost immediately apologizing for their lack of communication and telling you the project is still a go but they were caught up in a more urgent internal problem.

 Lets face it in the world of sales you can get  “yes”, “no” and “maybe”.  I want to hear yes, or no because they are answers that give me a clear next step.   Getting tied up with the clients who are a maybe can drain you and waste a lot of valuable selling time.

By taking a minute and offering to close the file, no questions asked you will be surprised how many valid prospects let you know they are still interested but not ready at this moment. Most often the person will tell me their new time frame or suggest we reconnect. Armed with their permission to proceed I will reconnect with them when the time is right and advance the sales process. 

AIM HIGHER

Robert J. Weese

B2B Sales Connections

www.b2bsalesconnections.com

What is the purpose of your sales call?  What do you want to accomplish?  How will you know if it was a successful call?  If you can’t answer these questions because you do not have a pre-planned agenda, you are only wasting yours and the prospect’s time.

Aim Higher!

Susan A. Enns, B2B Sales Connections
www.b2bsalesconnections.com or www.linkedin.com/in/susanenns

Look for Unrecognized Problems & Unanticipated Solutions

One of the best sales questioning techniques I ever learned was from a former boss & mentor.  He delivered a training session that taught us when a customer gave a key requirement statement we had to take a moment and ask ourselves “which means”?   The key was to never assume you know what the customer actually meant; you had to pose further questions which would dig deeper to find the unrecognized problem.  This would help the customer fully explain the reason for the need and the implication for their operation if they did not meet the requirement.

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Have you completed the sales process, however the customers still are not buying, even when you are saving them money?  Perhaps you need to ask better closing questions.

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In sales there are positive financial consequences associated with your ability to listen attentively and effectively. Here are some excellent questions to ask yourself in order to assess and rate your listening skills followed by some thoughts and suggestions that will help you take appropriate corrective actions. (more…)