Are prospects really truthful? NO - That doesn’t mean they are bad people. In fact, it is written somewhere that you can lie to a sales person and still go to heaven. Think about it, when you’re buying from a sales person, do you always tell the absolute truth? Prospects are simply afraid that they may be talked into a product or service they really don’t want or can’t afford. Remember, people really do want to buy, they just don’t want to be sold to. Your job as a professional sales person is to ask the right questions to get to the truth and have the prospect dis-cov-er for themselves why they should do business with you. All buyers tell mistruths, but for a reason.

Sales people like to talk, especially about their products and services. Most sales training teaches people how to sell features and benefits. It is important to learn as much as you can about your product, your trade and even your competition, as this will give you confidence. However, very little training is done on how to ask questions that will help the prospect uncover their real buying motives. The more questions your prospect answers for you, the more you will learn about how he will want to be sold to. If your question was important enough to be asked, make sure you always get an answer to your question.

Cold Call – Two four letter words that make sales people shiver. No one likes to make them and those who say they do probably haven’t made any. If you are starting a new business, developing a new territory or starting a new position, you will have to make cold calls. However, cold calls are not forever, you just have to make them. Think about it. What is the worst thing that can happen to you when you make a cold call? The prospect may hang up, get angry, belittle you or tell you to leave. So what’s the big deal? Remember your mother teaching you “sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” The trick is to make cold calls fun and different to what you are used to.

Many sales people hate cold calls but unfortunately, we all have to make them. If a sales person sees cold calling as the only way to get business, then they will eventually get out of the business. Cold calling is a killer. Think about it. You are calling on people who don’t want to see or talk to you. And if they do talk to you, they want the information first and fast. They might not even be nice about it. That’s not to say that you should stop making cold calls, but develop a prospecting system that gives you at least 10 different ways to obtain business besides cold calling. If you do this then cold calls are not forever.

The minute an amateur sales person hears a customer’s problem which they probably have heard many times before, they assume they understand the customer’s problem and immediately start to solve it by demonstrating their know how, their features and their benefits. Unfortunately, this results in the customer obtaining your expertise for free and you wind up not really understanding the customer’s real motivations for making a commitment to buy. Don’t assume you know what a customer’s real problems are. Let the customer tell you. Don’t assume, ask questions.

Unfortunately, the pressure on sales people to get in front of prospects is demanding. Most sales people will do almost anything to get in front of prospects, even if this means begging for an appointment, e.g.: “I will be in your area on Wednesday morning and I just want to drop some information off.” You think you have an appointment, but when you get to your destination, the prospect is either not in, won’t see you or they have completely forgotten that you were coming. Get the prospect to discover why they should see you. This will make the chances of the prospect keeping the appointment higher because you didn’t beg but were invited in.

When you hear about your competition falling down on the job and providing poor service, isn’t it tempting to want to tell everyone on your prospect list? Most sales people agree that you don’t knock your competition but somehow sales people keep doing it and even get dragged into it by the unsatisfied customer. When a sales person tells you about their competitors’ poor service, you think: “Hey, I’ve done business with those guys, and they aren’t as bad as this sales person is saying”. As soon as you start talking negatively about your competitors, prospects start to think instead about their positive attributes. Don’t knock your competition.

Many salespeople call on accounts and are extremely anxious to tell them about their products and services. After the sales call, they walk out bewildered as to why they didn’t get an order: “I told them every reason why they should buy but nothing happened?” If you are dropping off information, proposals or marketing materials without really understanding your customers’ buying motives, you are spilling your candy in the lobby. Once prospects have your information and pricing, do they really need you anymore? They wouldn’t shop your information to your competitors, would they? Are you and your sales people “spilling your candy in the lobby? If they are, stop it. Customers are not entitled to your information or a demonstration until you understand their buying motives, money and how they make decisions.

Sales people love to talk, especially about the features and benefits they are in love with. Have you ever talked too much and actually talked the customer out of the sale? Have you ever been a customer and wished the sales person would just shut up? How did you feel when the sales person talked too much? Comfortable? Probably not. Remember, people buy from people that they are comfortable with. Selling is asking the right questions, not telling your prospects about features and benefits. You will gain greater trust with your prospect if you sell, not tell!

Traditional sales training teaches techniques on how to eliminate stalls and objections. Some are fancy sales moves while others are programmed responses. Sales is a conversation and you can’t memorize every possible response for every sales situation. Also, prospects have usually heard these responses before and been turned off by a fancy sales move. When you really think about it, the only person qualified to address the stall or objection is the prospect. Ask the right questions, and you will “eliminate stalls and objections.”

Prospects want your information and expertise. Prospects have been trained by the vast majority of sales people to feel entitled to your valuable information. Most sales people are comfortable in coughing up their expertise for free. However, when the orders don’t come and the prospect has shopped your information to your competitor, the sales person has fallen victim to unpaid consulting. Before giving information, ask good questions: What does the prospect want? What is the urgency? What are the consequences of not buying anything? What is the decision making process? Eliminate unpaid consulting.

When you meet a prospect, they immediately start to form an opinion of you based on how you are dressed, your speech, your tone of voice, your accent, your body language, and many other factors besides what you actually say. In fact, the verbal is one of the least areas where opinions are formed: it’s not what you say but how you say it. Remember the Nixon / Kennedy debate. Those who saw it on television thought Kennedy won, but those who heard it on radio thought Nixon won. The fact is that 93% of people’s opinions are formed by the physiology and tonality of a person and only 7% by the actual sales meeting minutes. Success in selling is a slight edge. Learn to make first impressions lasting impressions.

Have you ever made a sales call where you do a lot of work for a prospect and nothing ever happens? Ever provide information and expertise to a prospect only to find out they shared it with your competitor and your competitor got the business? Prospects feel they have the right to steal our knowledge and expertise without paying for it, and not to feel guilty about it. Remember that sales people have rights too. You have the right to ask questions and get commitments from prospects before giving up information and pricing. If you are going to do something for a customer, always get an IOU for everything you do.

Many sales people will tell you they hate getting ‘no’s’. Granted, sales people want to hear ‘yes’s’, but a ‘no’ is okay. Answers that aren’t acceptable are ‘maybe’, ‘I’ll think it over’, ‘call me next week’, ‘you look good but not now’ as these may appear as a glimmer of hope. When a sales person has done a lot of work for a prospect, even if the prospect really doesn’t want to buy, they feel guilty about saying no as they don’t want to hurt your feelings. Get customers to tell you ‘no’ and you’ll eliminate wasting time with prospects who weren’t going to buy anyway. Getting a NO is a success.

What’s the best source of finding and closing a new prospect. A cold call? A walk-in? Mass mailings? Networking? Print advertising? Radio advertising? No - a referral. That’s right, a referral. Most sales people agree a referral is the best source and usually an easier sell. But, how many sales people get referrals? Not many. Picture yourself as a tree in spring. Every time a prospect buys from you, you sprout another branch. If you’re doing a good job, that branch can be a source of many referrals that will harvest many other branches. Learn how to get referrals, and you’ll discover that “money does grow on trees”.

“Always ask for the order” is the sales person’s 11th commandment; it just dropped right off the tablets. “Never ask for the order” goes completely against traditional selling methods. If you don’t ask for the order, how will you ever know when the customer is going to buy? Think about it, the only person who can really ask for the order is the prospect. Discover the prospect’s emotional needs first and then provide the solution to solving the prospect’s problem. You’ll discover that the prospect will give up and ask you for the order.

Most sales people wait until the end of their presentation to bring up money, but most prospects are thinking: “I wonder how much this is going to cost?” How much time would you save on unqualified prospects if you learned a different way to talk about money, where it was coming from and how you were going to get paid long before you even thought about giving a presentation? Good News, that’s how professionally trained sales people do it. Of course, there’s a system at work here. Now the money becomes a lot easier to talk about. No budget, no sale.

Because most sales training is product knowledge, most salespeople are anxious to do demos or give proposals. Sales people feel very comfortable about talking about their products and services because that is what they know most about. Have you ever walked away from a demo or proposal meeting feeling the prospect wasn’t ever going to buy and all your effort was just a waste of time? If you don’t have a commitment from the customer of either “yes we will continue to do business”, or “no you won’t be getting the business”, then why do a demo or a proposal? No demos or proposals without a commitment.

What do you call it in your business when a customer calls and cancels an order? A backout. Do you want to eliminate backouts? Here’s a sales tip that will go against every fiber of your being. Give people a chance to back out AFTER they have bought by using the correct mix of skills and guts. Bring up something that you think might not be sitting right with the customer. Give them a chance to backout while they’re still in front of you. It’s a lot harder for a customer to backout later if he had a chance and didn’t take it. For the rare customer who would like to cancel an order, you’ll have a chance to resell to them, while they’re still in front of you. Eliminate backouts – close more deals.

Successful sales is not just learning slick sales moves. Successful sales requires three elements. First element - techniques: you must learn as much about your products and services as you can as this will give you confidence. Second element - behaviors: understand what it takes to be successful. If you don’t get in front of people, what difference does it make if you have great technique? Third element - attitude: it all starts with you. The wrong attitude produces negative results. No fancy sales moves – just attitude, behavior and techniques.

Are you finding yourself spending hours preparing and giving “million dollar presentations”, only to find yourself in the “chase game”. They loved your products or service initially but when you called back, you knew the prospect was hiding from you and probably using your proposal or information to get other prices. They may even use this price information to beat you down on your price. Amateur sales people feel that the presentation step is where you do the true selling, however the true selling effort is actually in the qualifying step of learning about the prospect’s buying motives, money and decision process. Until you have that information, the prospect doesn’t earn the right to your million dollar presentation.

How many times have you left a sales call thinking one thing was going to happen only to find your prospect pulled a vanishing act on you? Maybe you thought you heard the prospect say he was faxing a signed contract but none showed up. As a group, sales people have a common flaw: they only hear things they want to hear, and don’t know how to just come right out and ask the prospect what they want to know. Remember to ask your prospect to “sum up’ what they believe the next steps to be, so both of you are on the same page. No mutual mystification.

How many times have you given what you thought was a great presentation but you didn’t get the business? You covered all the facts, features and whistles but nobody bought. Chances are your presentation is too intellectual. Learn how to hook your prospects at their gut level where they live long before you spit out the bits and bytes, especially if what you sell is highly technical. People buy emotionally - they only make decisions intellectually.

How many sales do you miss simply because your style and approach are not in line with your buyer’s? People are attracted to people like them so wouldn’t it be neat if you could learn a way to appeal to all types of people, without changing you? Here’s a simple, yet powerful adjustment you could make to appeal to a wider audience: pacing. Yup, that’s it. Pacing. Pace your rate of speech to match who you’re talking to – over the phone or face-to-face, it doesn’t matter. If prospects talk fast, then you talk fast. If the prospect talks slowly, then you talk slowly. If the prospect talks softly, then you lower your voice. And if the prospect is loud, then you talk loudly. Become a good listener, and an even better pacer.

Traditional selling teaches sales people that they must educate their prospect about their products and services. The outdated theory is that by providing education, the customer will eventually feel the need to buy. Unfortunately, by educating the prospect, the sales person doesn't learn what the prospect needs and winds up doing all the talking while the prospect just sits and listens (hopefully). The sales person walks away without really understanding the prospect’s buying motives. Sales people are information gathers, not information givers. First get information, a commitment or an order and then educate the customer. You’ll close more deals. Sell today, educate tomorrow.

Ever get caught in the trap of telling a prospect all your features and benefits only to find out later that they weren’t interested in buying? Or have you brought up a feature or benefit only to learn that the prospect had problems with that very thing before? Have you ever had one of those sale calls where you felt like you did all the talking? If you have you are overselling and this is the “sales person’s curse”. Selling is not just you talking but you asking good questions to learn about the prospect’s problems. In fact, 70% of the talking should be done by the prospect. Sales people are problem solvers, not information givers. Ask questions and avoid the sales person’s curse.

Have you ever gotten a referral to call someone and when you called that person didn’t know you were going to call and wasn’t really interested. Many sales people are confused as to what really is a referral. A referral is not simply a recommendation to call someone from you networking buddy. A true referral is where someone has referred you to someone else and that person knows about you and wants you to call them. Anything less is just a cut above a call cold. Professionally trained sales people develop techniques on how to ask for referrals, but most importantly they teach the referee how to set up the referral properly to avoid having egg on their faces when they call. Don’t accept imitations, get a true referral.

When to close a sale is a question asked by many sales people. The problem is not necessarily when to close, but how much information the sales person has obtained from the customer. Does the sales person know the real reasons why the prospect wants to buy? Most sales people assume they know but didn’t actually ask the right questions to discover the true buying motives. Does the salesperson understand how much money the prospect can afford and is willing to spend? Most sales people are afraid to talk about money because they are afraid of being too pushy or turning the prospect off. Finally, does the sales person really understand how people or companies make decisions? Get these answers first, and you’ll close more deals.

Most sales people would like to think that they are in control of the sales call. The truth of the matter is that most sales people are not in control, the prospect has the control. If you are getting a lot of wishy-washy phrases such as: “we want to think it over”, “call us next week”, “I have to talk to the boss”, “It sounds good but we have no money”, then you are not in control of the sales call. Who should be in control? The sales person. Who should feel like they are in control? The prospect. The person who is asking the most questions is the person in control. Learn how to develop a questioning skill that puts you in control of the sales call.

When you make calls, whether it’s a brand new sales call, or a service call to a customer, the level of the organisation at which you call is a reflection of how you see yourself conceptually. If you make sure to meet the president, even only briefly, then you believe you belong there. Amateur sales people only will go as high as their mother will let them go; they’ll keep calling on purchasing agents and other non-decision makers time and again, even if they get nowhere. Professional sales people technically know how to get invited in to see the president, and they also understand conceptually why they belong there. Where do you end up? The president’s office or the janitor’s closet? Who you call on is a conceptual thing.

Literature informs, but people sell. Traditionally, trained sales people bombard prospects with literature and information that most people never read and usually throw away. People will buy a $50,000 automobile and never read the owner’s manual. Do you think your prospect is going to read a 5 page colour brochure cover to cover? Do prospects ask for literature just to get rid of you? Learn how to get past the “send me literature” objection, plant your feet and stand your ground. You’ll close more deals and stop subsidising your friendly neighbourhood printer.

Whenever a sales person hears “your price is too high”, the immediate response should be, “how high is it?” Did the prospect ask a question or did they make a statement? “Your price is too high” is a statement, not a question. Never answer a statement as if it were a question. Statements from prospects are additional information, not an invitation to you to respond. Instead of just jumping to assumptions, try this instead: the prospect says: “your price is too high” and you reply: “which means?” You may be surprised that your price may not be too high.

Most of the time, as professionally-trained sales people, we are vastly overpaid for what we do. But every so often, a customer or prospect behaves in a certain way that makes us button up our collar and look in the mirror to see who is staring back. If we pretend to be polite, skirt the real issue, or not face the prospect head on then we’ve not only wimped out right then and there, we’ve wimped out on our goals, our family and the selling profession as a whole. It’s okay to be assertive, and we do have rights as sales people. Learn to hang in there, because if you roll over this time, you’ve trained yourself to roll over the next time, too. Remember, no guts, no gain.

Picture a triangle centered with the sales meeting minutes sales success. Label the lower right corner “techniques”. This requires you to learn sales skills, people skills and product knowledge. Learn a selling system that allows for an honest interchange between you and your prospect. Label the lower left corner “behaviours”. This requires you to define your goals, develop a plan and be sure to take action. If you don’t know where you are going, you won’t get there. Finally, label top of the triangle “attitude”. It all starts with you. It’s that little voice inside you and your spirit that motivate you to carry out the behaviors and techniques. Know the sales success triangle.

All sales people agree that building rapport with the prospect of utmost importance. No rapport, no sales. There are barriers to rapport. For example, amateur sales people make the mistake of thinking other people have the same view of the world as they do. Wrong - all people view the world differently. Make sure you understand how your prospect views the world. The professional sales person builds rapport subconsciously by changing their language, their tonality, their breathing patterns, and their gestures to reflect more of the way the prospect sees the world. Remember, people buy from people they are comfortable with and are like them.

All sales people agree that building rapport with the prospect is of utmost importance. No rapport, no sales. There are four types of personalities we have to deal with when we sell. These are dominant, outgoing, ambassador and cautious thinking personalities. Remember, people buy from people they are comfortable with and are like them. Dominants buy from dominants, outgoing personalities buy from outgoing personalities, ambassadors buy from ambassadors, and cautious thinkers buy from cautious thinkers. What kind of personality are you? Understand your predominant personality so that you can alter you behaviour depending on the personality you are selling to.

All sales people agree that building rapport with the prospect is of utmost importance. No rapport, no sales. There are four types of personalities we have to deal with when we sell. These are dominant, outgoing, ambassador and cautious thinking personalities. Dominant personalities are usually owners, presidents, managers and bosses. Generally, they like to talk a lot, like to be in control, get the job done at any cost and tend to leave a bloody trail. Dominants like to buy from dominants. Know your own personality first so that you can alter you behaviour depending on the personality you are selling to.

All sales people agree that building rapport with the prospect is of utmost importance. No rapport, no sales. There are four types of personalities we have to deal with when we sell. These are dominant, outgoing, ambassador and cautious thinking personalities. Sales people generally fall in the category of outgoing personality. Generally, they like to talk a lot, have fun, don’t recognize consequences and like to be liked. Many people feel uncomfortable selling to the outgoing personality because they have been stung by this kind of personality before. Outgoing personalities may have difficulty selling to people that analyze everything and hide their true feelings, like cautious thinkers.

All sales people agree that building rapport with the prospect is of utmost importance. No rapport, no sales. There are four types of personalities we have to deal with when we sell. These are dominant, outgoing, ambassador and cautious thinking personalities. Ambassadors are organised, quiet and the back bone of most organisations – they are the ones that show up at 7 AM to open the door, even if there is 3 feet of snow. They tend to hide their emotions and are easily offended. Be nurturing and not overly aggressive to the ambassador. If they feel pressure, they will fold but you’ll never know. Understand your own personality first so that you can alter you behaviour depending on the personality you are selling to.

All sales people agree that building rapport with the prospect is of utmost importance. No rapport, no sales. There are four types of personalities we have to deal with when we sell. These are dominant, outgoing, ambassador and cautious thinking personalities. Cautious thinking personalities are usually engineers, architects, lawyers, accountants, consultants and computer junkies. If you have an outgoing personality, you’ll find the cautious thinker very difficult to sell to. It is hard for you to relate to their world and it is hard for them to relate to yours. Know your own personality first so that you can alter you behaviour depending on the personality you are selling to.

Use a hiring profile assessment that measures sales skills, adversity, toughness and not just whether a candidate can sell, but whether they will sell for you, in your industry. In the interview, ask questions like, “at the end of the interview, if I were to offer you this position, and I’m not saying I am, but if I were, I’m going to ask you to tell me yes or no, so be sure to get all your questions answered.” Any applicant who won’t give you a decision isn’t worth hiring. When you think about it, isn’t that what you want your sales people to do - get customers to make decisions? If the sales applicant can’t make a decision under fire, how is he going to get a customer to make a decision? Only decision-makers can get other people to make decisions.

You want to hire the best people, but when do you want to find out if you are going to get the best. Although during the interview would be nice, you usually spend more time trying to convince the applicant to work for you than really finding out their true sales grit. Here’s management advice that flies in the face of traditional sales hiring: don’t blue-sky the job and actually run a negative interview. That’s right, a negative interview. Let the applicant know how tough it’s going to be. Ask her how she plans to start working the territory - only those who talk about making cold calls will actually make them. Based on what you see and hear, ask yourself, “is this the person I want in front of my prospects and customers?”

Salespeople are a funny breed, because sales is a crazy business. The good ones have quirks and idiosyncrasies that make them difficult to manage, unless you know how to manage them one-at-a-time. In fact, do you know what motivates each and every one of your salespeople? It’s not just the money, although that may be high on the list. Most crave the recognition, although no one will admit to it. Many just want to do a good job, as judged by their own standards. Some run hard for fear of loss (loss of visibility, loss of status, loss of income, loss of employment). Learn their personal goals, so you know why they work. Manage sales people one-at-a-time.”

Too many business owner and sales managers are focused on sales peoples’ results, and not their activity. Sales results, bottom line and increasing revenues is important but when it comes to managing sales people, this is working on the wrong end of the problem. Don’t manage quotas, manage behavior. After all, how can you control which prospect is going to become your customer. If you knew your sales person was on track for the number of dials, appointments, futures, sales, “yes’s” and even “no’s” that it takes to be successful in your business, than you would spend less time worrying about their production and more time managing what you can control, their behavior. Manage what you can control, not what you can’t.

The best managers are the ones who help others discover the lessons for themselves. The lousy ones not only tell, but they yell which also covers phrases like, “if you screw this up”, “I hate to be so negative”, “you’ve got to make quota this month or else”. Managers do and say these things to make themselves feel stronger - most times at a subconscious level. “Telling” doesn’t build sales character and unfortunately it can either cause your sales people to lose respect for you or de-motivate them to not really try. Mentoring and coaching strategies should be asking good questions, especially when you already know the answers, to help your protégé come up with the lessons on their own. Coach, not tell.

How often do you debrief each of your sales person’s calls together? The goal is to let them learn a system for debriefing, so they are able to do it themselves, and learn from their mistakes. A good debrief is wrapped in positives, even if it means you put a sales person back together again so they’ll want to learn from you – not run away from you by not being honest. A good debriefing is a two-way dialogue, with most of the questions from you. A good debriefing is systematic. It follows the selling system used on the call, every time. The selling system has to be the same system for both parties, the sales manager and the sales person. If it isn’t, then debriefing the sales calls becomes as difficult as putting a Ford engine in a Chevy body. You have to have compatibility with everyone singing to the same hymnal. Growing sales people to the best that they can be is the best case for debriefing.

Amateur sales people think that there are only three outcomes to a sales call, “yes”, “no” and some kind of a “maybe”. Actually, there are five outcomes to a sales call. They are yes, no, a defined future, a lesson and a referral. For now, let’s just look at the “yes” response. As sales people, we’d like “yes’s”, but unfortunately, sometimes we may have gotten a “yes” but it wasn’t because of our selling skills. Maybe the customer was just ready to buy and we wound up just being an order taker. On the next sales call, we tried what we did before and came away with no order. Professional sales people have a selling system and they understand why they get to “yes”, instead of just taking an order.

Amateur sales people think that there are only three outcomes to a sales call, “yes”, “no” and some kind of a maybe. Actually, there are five outcomes to a sales call. They are yes, no, a defined future, a lesson and a referral. Let’s focus on the “no” response. Sales people hate to get “no’s”. In fact, many sales people would rather take some kind of a maybe instead of a no. Some prospects may feel guilty telling a sales person “no” so they offer up some kind of a maybe to take pressure off them. Get the customer to tell you “no”. Once the “no” is out on the table, at least you know where you stand. It may be over or it may lead to an honest interchange of information between you and the customer and possibly an opportunity to sell again.

Amateur sales people think that there are only three outcomes to a sales call, “yes”, “no” and some kind of a maybe. Actually, there are five outcomes to a sales call. They are yes, no, a defined future, a lesson and a referral. Defined future is not a maybe such as “call me next week”, “we’ll think it over” and “you look really good, but…” Think of a defined future as a mini contract. The contract is very specific. There is a time set as to when there will be another appointment. At the next meeting, certain objectives will be set such as a yes for an order, no…the process stops, or an agreement to meet again at a very specific time in the future. And, all defined futures lead to either a yes / no decision.

Amateur sales people think that there are only three outcomes to a sales call, “yes”, “no” and some kind of a maybe. Actually, there are five outcomes to a sales call. They are yes, no, a defined future, a lesson and a referral. When sales people don’t get a yes, no or defined future, what can they get from a sales call? A lesson. That’s right, a lesson. Professional sales people learn what went right as well as what went wrong. They don’t externalise their failures on others. Be objective, learn what you could have done differently and don’t be afraid to ask for advice from successful sales people. The information you obtain will help in securing future orders.

Amateur sales people think that there are only three outcomes to a sales call, “yes”, “no” and some kind of a maybe. Actually, there are five outcomes to a sales call. They are yes, no, a defined future, a lesson and a referral. Even if you don’t get an order, or even if you get a no, if you did a good job for your prospect you have the right to ask them for a referral. If you were able to build any kind of a relationship with your prospect and you have a referral system, there isn’t a better opportunity to get a referral. Who wants to make cold calls when you can get a referral? Professional sales people have a selling system that incorporates a referral system.

Most sales people recognise that asking questions is of utmost importance. However, many sales people find that they are answering questions, giving up information and never really getting into the position of asking the proper questions to get the customer talking. Asking the right questions keeps the sales person in control of the sales call. Here’s a tip: ask more open ended questions and less close-ended questions. What’s the difference? Closed ended questions always lead to a yes, no or a one word response. The amateur sales person doesn’t really get very much information and the conversation comes to a halt, particularly if the answer isn’t what they are expecting.

Most sales people recognise that asking questions is of utmost importance. However, many sales people find that they are answering questions, giving up information and never really getting into the position of asking the proper questions to get the customer talking. Even though you think you know the customer’s problem, ask this: “appreciate you bringing that up - can you tell me more about that?” See how that works? The customer is forced to talk more about the situation which allows you to really analyse the true buying motives of the customer. Even if they don’t give much information in answer to the first question, you can always ask, “can you be more specific?”

Most sales people recognise that asking questions is of utmost importance. However, many sales people find that they are answering questions, giving up information and never really getting into the position of asking the proper questions to get the customer talking. Asking the right questions keeps the sales person in control of the sales call. Here’s a tip: use this question to encourage more conversation and obtain more information about the customer’s buying motives: “how long has that been a problem?” If the problem been going on for many years, the customer may feel comfortable to live with it. On the hand, if the problem has been going on for a very short period of time, the problem may not be severe enough for them to fix it.

Most sales people recognise that asking questions is of utmost importance. However, many sales people find that they are answering questions, giving up information and never really getting into the position of asking the proper questions to get the customer talking. Here’s a tip: ask this question to get them talking: “what have you done to fix the problem?” Then follow up with: “and that worked?” You may be surprised to learn that they start talking negatively about the last vendor they dealt with. You’ve now started the first step towards breaking customer loyalty.

Most sales people recognise that asking questions is of utmost importance. However, many sales people find that they are answering questions, giving up information and never really getting into the position of asking the proper questions to get the customer talking. Asking the right questions, keeps the sales person in control of the sales call. Here’s a tip: use this question to see if the customer is closed minded: “have you given up trying to fix the problem?” If the customer shares the urgency of the situation with you, you will have a higher probability of closing the deal.

Brand new clients often say: “I wish I had stronger sales people selling for me.” What’s the secret? Unlearn your present interviewing system, which probably relies on what your gut says, use a reliable hiring profile that’s built only for sales people and one that tells you the real truth, and, best of all, change the sales culture you put in place - people who don’t produce at the least acceptable level must be fired. And remember, the degree of difficulty in firing sales people increases geometrically the longer they work for you. You want stronger sales people? Become a stronger interviewer.

Brand new clients often ask: “I wish I had stronger sales people selling for me.” What’s the secret? Unlearn your present interviewing system, which probably relies on what your gut says. This applicant was someone else’s sales person. Sales people who turnover get good at giving you answers you like: “learn the rule of 3: it takes 3 or more questions to learn the truth”. Their first response will always be intellectual – to uncover the real applicant you need to hear their real, emotionally-based answers. Instead of using your bonding skills, try “anti-bonding” – make the applicant work extra hard to bond with you. After all, isn’t that what your prospects will do if you employ the applicant?

Brand new clients often ask: “I wish I had stronger sales people selling for me.” What’s the secret? Unlearn your present interviewing system. If you like a candidate, make sure someone else in your company (who understands sales) runs an interview as well. Make sure you both run negative interviews. Neither of you should blue-sky the job. Let the applicant sell to you on why he belongs, instead of you selling your company to the applicant. Ask the applicant how they would generate leads if none were provided to them. Listen carefully as they tell you how much cold-calling they’re willing to do - anyone who says: “I’ll work referrals”, is not the person you want opening new accounts.

Brand new clients often ask: “I wish I had stronger sales people selling for me.” What’s the secret? Change the sales culture you put in place. Do what the Fortune 500’s do: not only write out a detailed job description, but write in exactly who fits the bill. Remember to include “attitude” traits the ideal candidate needs to have, such as “doesn’t externalise failures but takes responsibility for the problem”. The tighter your description, the better shot you have of finding a good, strong match. Hire to fit the job, not the other way around.