| Topic : Top IT Sales Mistakes |
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BattleGround for Sales Professionals |
IT Sales and Business Development |
leaders-in change management |
2 more ...
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Activity:
582 views;
last activity : 12 21 2010 19:50:51 +0000
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Objection Handling
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Not knowing how to close the sale
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Improper Sales Presentation
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Customer Mapping
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Not researching your customer
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Lack of Research
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major sales scenario
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Learning from our mistakes
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Tools to AID a Sales Call
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Allowing a prospect to lead the sales process
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Understand the client
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Overselling
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knowledge of the product/service, process, FAB Technique.,
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needs analysis
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Every factor is important
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Understanding of the products/services that we are selling
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Maintaining Exisitng Customers
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Just Dominate - Any How
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Alternative Closes
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Oftnely Customer objections are seen as a hurdle and Sales person wants to avoid, bypass to reach quick closure and in the process ends up showing his desperation for sale or overselling. Instead, Objections are the steps which takes you closer to the Order. One needs to clearly understand the objection, enquire and discuss the same with Customer and ensure that he has satisfied/ clarified the objection no matter how mundane or silly it is. This not only builds the Customer confidence but also gives you a clear picture on how the customer percieves about the product and what are the key issues which if resolved will help your customer make a positive decision in your favour.
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Mohit & all curios salespeople willing to learn the basics -
The basis of all objection handling is to listen (not hear) the customer raising an objection. When you listen, you repeat what he said, ask a clarifying question (If I am right Mr Customer, this is what you are saying), translate the "heard" to what you wish for and then rephrase, then wait for him to say yes or no. AND yes, keep taking notes!!! Every YES gets you closer to the sale - a magic formula - 7 YES an you got it!
You will soon find that the objection is merely something that you have dealt with before (depending on your sales experience), but maybe, in a different format (cognitive frame).
DO NOT rush to answer a solution. Pause (2-3 secs are more than enough). Think. What is important to you? To get that offer him an alternate - shift his orbit/cognitive state.... FFF is really useful, and co-relating that with Authority (from outside reference that the customer respects) is always the best!
Bottomline - get good at listening, and keep your ntes handy at all times... Quick thinking is one of the virtues of salespeople.
Cheers!
Regards,
Shaillender Mittal, Head/VP/GM-Marketing, Uniken Solutions
Hello!!
Shaillender, the idea & method which you use to cope up with sales miistakes is really goo one.If you put some more light on these method it would be highly beneficial for me.
Some methods I use -
Boomerang: Bouncing back what they give you.
Objection Chunking: Taking a higher or lower viewpoint.
Conditional Close: Make closure a condition for resolving their objection.
Curiosity: Don't be sad, be curious.
Deflection: Avoid responding to objection, just letting it pass.
Feel, felt, found: A classic way of moving them.
Humor: Respond with humor rather than frustration.
Justification: Say how reasonable the objection is.
LAARC: Listen, Acknowledge, Assess, Respond, Confirm.
LAIR: Listen, Acknowledge, Identify objection, Reverse it.
Objection Writing: Write down and cross out objections.
Pre-empting: Handle them before they happen.
Pushback: Object to their objection.
Reframing: Change their cognitive frame.
Renaming: Change the words to change the meaning.
Reprioritize: So ones you can't handle are lower.
Writing: Write down objections then cross them off as you handle them.
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In my opinion I feel many salespeople simply don't know how to close the sale. They should 'always be closing'
with customers. After going through the entire cycle, they should play
their cards wisely here because that is what the ultimate goal is: to
get customers business. Salespeople should Say something like "So how
many do you want? We have it in many colors, which one do you prefer;
do you want them all?" Ask them several times in a nonthreatening way.
You should lead them to make the decision and close the deal.
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Even after identifying the opportunity,I have seen people not knowing how to close the sale in my experience.This is only because of not knowing when and how to take control of the discussion in a convincing way.
focus on problems that your product can solve rather than benefit and features try to make customer speak about the benefit he is goin 2 get from d product in d last phase of your meeting.pinch customer hard about the consequences of not having your product.unless a customer dont realize the urgency of need of d product one can not close d sell well.
getting commitment in closing is necessary and it should match with objective of your commitment which u seek.talk less listen more,try to explore more variables on which you can influence buyer.the basic funda is to discover implicit need and develope it in to explicit need den d behaviour of buyer will def be positive to your side so learn to close well den just giving a mug up presentation.
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I would like to add that when you make a cold call or attend a
meeting with a prospect it is
critical that you are prepared at first stage. This means having all
relevant
information at your fingertips including; pricing, testimonials,
samples, and a list of questions you need to ask. I suggest creating a
checklist of the vital information you will need and reviewing this
list before you make your call. You have exactly one opportunity to
make a great first impression and you will not make it if you are not
prepared. So if you are prospecting for new business, know what you are
going to say and be ready for questions you may be asked.
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Sales Presentations are very important at a critical stage of Sale.. Quality of the presentation may determine whether or not your prospect is going to buy.. When irrelevant presentations, unexciting product presentation, not to the point discussion, unconnectivety to prospect's need in the presentation can be few mistakes in Sales
Adding to those points, salespeople should also never assume that people understand what you sell, so you need not bother to explain it. Some salespeople forget that many prospects only have a surface understanding of what they sell and might not have a clear idea on the whole picture. So a good presentation should cover the bases and guarantees prospects know all the benefits and how they help the prospects.
I agree with you Umesh that when making sales anywhere one need to know the details about what you are selling and be able to answer all pertinent questions the panel ask for.
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I would say the common mistake io sales would be customer mapping. Many tend to forget to do the mapping analysis. These mapping analysis will give the way to understand the customer segment,e contacts, decision systems,purchase process,monetary terms.
As a suggestion, the sales persoun can prepare a mapping analysis sheet and should contain he above said factors in the sheet. This would leverage in preparing the proper pipeline report for the business and can able to streamline the hot, warm and cold cases as such.
End of each month/quarter, the sales have more mapping sheet with him and filter the hot cases accordingly.
This will give the clarity to taking business going forward. Happy Selling!!
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Failing to meet what the customer needs is the major problem. Sales made will result in strained relationships and loss of customers. Box pushing and solution selling is often confused and mostly it is selling what we have rather than what the customer needs. Full sales cycle is never practiced - customer need - solution - products - budget - offer - revise - phased implementation - support and feedback. Sell and forget attitude is the major cause which is resulting in loss of repeat sales and referrals from existing customers. Do it right and the customer is yours for lifetime.
majority of people don't understand wat customr wants & moreover it's lack of need analysis
yes rightly said...
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A
very common mistake sales people generally do is not to research about
customer. It is very important to do some research before the sales
meeting and get a good idea of the prospect's likes, dislikes,
interests, and manner of doing business. It will help in understanding
customer well and one can consolidate in terms of cross selling other
products or services which they can offer and also helps in maintaining
relationship for future transactions.
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Umesh, can one give proper presentations without addressing issues near and dear to the prospect. If salespeople know little or nothing about a prospects needs, can they give a dynamite presentation ?
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Many of the Sales executives/Officer behind the targets. They will quickly glance the client information and push them for close the deal. I hope this would be a biggest mistakes in sales. |
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Lack of research is the prime reason . research means overall study of the customer and planning till the very end.
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there are various things which should be taken careof while you prepare yourself for sales. primarly dont ever try to sale your product before you sale yourelf. I mean make such a strong bondage with the client that he never bothers about the product. practically it can be done within one meet. infact in india making sales is like a piece of cake . just follow the first and tell me wheter it works for you or not. secondly dont show any sort of disconfident about your product and overall dont ever miscommunicate anything to the client in any case. you will never loose your confidence in any case. so good luck.and keep me posted. |
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Hi Guys All the points given by others covers very well and also it shows the common mistake. Based on my expericence and what I have seen across.... - You are not qualifying your prospects – You are not being you – You are too busy thinking of what to say that you do not listen to the prospect – You are not building your credibility
– You are not getting enough of your calls returned – You are not improving your own sales skills – Not getting in-front of the decision maker
– Not dressing for where you are going, instead you are dressing for where you have been
– You are covering exactly what the other salesperson did – you are not enjoying what you do
– You are too busy thinking of what to say that
you do not listen to the prospect
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All companies generally print collaterals which are attractive and talk a lot to a prospective buyer! Carrying a briefcase and not carrying your sales tools means that you are simply over confident and do not know what pauses mean while making a sales call!! Sales tools like brochures, leaflets are a must because these are small tools that help you engage your buyer, interest him in the glossy and then emphasise a point or two that will eventually help the buyer to ask and talk more! The more your nuyer opens his/her mouth whether its is to object, complain or agree the better it is as you establish a rapport and make your own head ways in getting to your closure! |
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Very often, salespeople, in their quest to make a sale, allow the prospect to lead the sales process... the prospect is the one who defines the next steps - let us have a presentation, can you give me some ore information? etc... The best way to control the sales interaction is to ask questions. This is also the best way to learn whether or not your product or service meets the needs of your prospect. Quality questions that uncover specific issues, problems, or corporate objectives are essential in helping you establish yourself as an expert. Clever use of open and close ended questions can put you in charge of the sales process - also you must learn the way to listen (hear + repeat + verify) - ask - verify. |
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I think the reason sales ppl/ we fail is when we dont understand a clients needs/ requirements/ trigger points. Sales people should have acute observation skills and mould their meeting or presentation accordingly trying to follow all the rules mentioned by all the seniors here. If you know what motivates your clients- personal importance/ organisational benefit/ he wants you to acknowledge that he is an expert or various other very human characteristics, you have won half the deal. If not today he will certainly buy sometime or the other from you. |
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From
my experiences, I feel this is generally what sales people do on most
of the occasions, they push their products without understanding what
actual customer need is. I have seen this with computer salespeople,
they do this all the time they go on and on about RAM,
megahertz and lots of things the average business user doesn't know or
care about. The solution is that they should listen first and ask the
customer questions about what
he or she needs, and keep asking questions until you can tell the
customer how your product specifically fulfills that need.
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Sales Professional need to have A) a deeper understanding of the product/services he is trying to give to the prospective customers. B) a complete understanding of the processes the customer would undergo with the organisation from the point of sale to the point of gaining the benefit out of the product / service availed from the organistion. C) what is the Features(visible and invisible), the advantage and also the benefit the customer would derive from the association. the above factors would help the sales professional to handle a) objections. b) analysis of what the customer is expecting c) the positioning of the product/services with the prospective client., |
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I think sales people are often mistaken as dumb people with good communication/excellent mannerism .That should not be the case especially in knowledge industry .A Sales person should be able to understand his clients business fairly well.2.The sales person should be able to analyze current and futuristic solution frameworks client firm has/ may need .Good grip over buyer's possible concerns will help sales person win buyer confidence and close sale at the right price than desperate selling on volumes or pricing . I have seen sales people closing business at double the margins and much more swiftly than their not so aware counterparts in 1-2 client visits only .partnering is the key in today's business scenario. Regards Sanjay |
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All these highlights are very important for a sales profession. I never belive that one rectification will not have an impact on others. Presentation, research on your customer, overselling and not knowing how to close the sale are inter related. A research on your customer is a very important factor to realise the bonding and the needs that he may have and the queries that he may come up with and if that all is added in the presentation, it means we have already answered the questions in his mind and that may give a first impression but thats not going to win us a deal, its only a good start and now to move on the better position its to understand how to close a deal. Sometimes when we get stuck in finding a solution to the customers query, we try to oversell which might hinder the business strategy. If we donot have confidence to close a deal, probably have a colleague of yours to join the deal so that we can understand the end and the best part of the sales cycle. Its always learning because anybody who might have a sold a million products but still might face a different customer. Its always updating our trends internally. Cross sell and Up sell might be the other concepts which might be of help to us once we close the deal but that again requires all these steps to be followed. They all are inter-related. For me the word Ovwer Selling means over(close) the selling.
Read few good books and practice before you present if you are not confident. Make a guy sit before you who doesnot know anything about your comapny and try to answer and make him understand. Tahts the worst scenario we may face but once we are through it we might feel a bit easy in handling such a situation. Thsi practice has helped me a lot. I just wanted to give my opinion and this doesnot mean anybody who has pasted their comments are not right.
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Most of the times, many sales guys looks for setting up time without even knowing whether our company's services/products will be able to serve the prospect. We donot realise our core competency and try to sell the services/products which might not be relevant on both the sides.Choosing the right customer for a long relationship is very important.If we donot realise this we may loose out a good potentail business from that company for ever.
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The main chunk of business and referrals lies with the existing customers as they guarantee continuous revenue generation and probably make our hands experiment on new customers.
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I believe the biggest Sales Mistake is we let the client to dominate.......In 99.99% cases it is seen that when client dominates, you can never sell your product and when you dominate,you will be closing sale very effectively.How we can dominate? you know better????. Mktg Guru says this is Consumer dominated World but I feel this is Sales Proffessionals dominated world. |
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Closing the sale is simply asking for the order. Ask and ye shall receive. Closing works best when giving a choice. I like using alternative closes. When would you like to us to start, Monday or Thursday? Will this be in both names or just yours John? We can start tomorrow morning or would the afternnon be better? Get the picture? Breaking it down to a choice automatically puts them in the picture, but you must do this throughout your pitch. Too many sales people wait till the end of their presentation and layout the price and expect people to buy. |
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Retaining sales is more difficult than creating one due to the market competition which arises. |
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