Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

This comes from my recent coaching session with a group of sales managers of a sizeable company.

My client was preparing for their presentation to their prospect’s senior management team. As the deal size is significant, they hired me for a coaching session to provide my insight to see if there are anything else that can be improved.

Their lead presenter is a 17 years sales veteran, let’s call him John (not his real name). I sat down and started taking notes. John started his presentation and i’m impressed. They crafted a great presentation based on the model i shared with them at Sales Ninja Hypnotic Presentation (a group ‘sales’ presentation training).

Here are some of his best practices:

• Shorten company introduction and focused on client’s issues.
• Brought up serious issues client is experiencing.
• Intensified affected areas if issue persisted and not resolved.
• Recommmeded solutions to tackle issues.
• Good use of storytelling and metaphors to explain their technical details.
• Voice, tonaility and gestures were great. 
• Plus a few more…

But when John reaches the Closing stage, he made a terrible… horrible… mistake. I told him that, he listened and he was *shocked* at his mistake.

There are 2 parts to Hypnotic Presentation:
1 – Structure.
2 – Delivery.

In Structure there are 8 parts:

1. Opening
2. Agenda
3. Needs Check
4. Body
5. Summary
6. Q&A
7. Closing
8. Follow-up

In the closing stage, John said this “Well thank you for having us here, we can definitely help you Y (benefit). I hope you give us a chance and do call us after you’ve made a decision.”

I recommended John to close it this way… “Well thank you for having us here, we can definitely help you Y (benefit). After looking at our recommendations, do you see a possibility of us working together?”

Bang! John was stunned. In his own words… “I can’t believe i didn’t ask for the order. We spent so much time designing the pitch we totally missed out on the selling process. Luckily you saw that.”

Do you see the difference between version 1 and version 2?

What is closing? My saying…

“Closing is asking for the order.
 If you didn’t ask for the order, you didn’t close.”
~ Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

So remember to Close the sale and ask for the order. John also made 2 other presentation mistakes. I may or may not share them in the future. Afterall, they did pay me $1500 for the 2 hour coaching.

Wishing you more sales… with less effort!

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// 17 Years Sales Veteran SHOCKED At His 3 Presentation Mistakes!
// Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

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“Put that coffee down. Coffee is for closers only.”
Quote from the movie Glengarry Glen Ross

Other thoughts and ideas on how to close the sale and closing the sale:

01. Coffee is for closers only.

==> Only closers get the reward, the title, the incentives, the commissions, the lifestyles. The difference between a Loser and a Closer is the word C. Closers close, losers lose. If you want to make it big in sales, you have to close the sale.

02. Closing is part of the sales process – do it.

==> Sales people fear rejection, that’s why they don’t close. They are scared, they are timid. Know that if you have and know your sales process, closing is part of the process. Sales Ninja uses the MASTER selling model.

M:eet People
A:sk Questions
S:ell Benefits
T:ackle Objections
E:ncourage To Buy <- closing!
R:elationship Building

Doesn’t matter if you sell 7 digits complex sales solutions or at retail selling a $10 underwear. Follow the sales process and close!

03. Closing is the easiest part of the sales process.

==> It’s like “will you marry me?”, typically there are no objections. It’s the easiest part provided everything you do before closing is done correctly. If you talk too much, present too much features, you get objections. If you didn’t create the need and strenghten the need, closing is harder.

Training sales people closing tactics won’t do them much if everything they do before they close is done wrongly. Make sense?

More Closing Sales and How To Close Sales next issue…

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// 3 Sales Closing Ideas!
// By Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

Need great content for your website, media or blog? Bloggers, editors, publishers, medias, marketers, authors may syndicate or republish any articles you see in Sales Ninja Killer’s Newsletter for free as long as you include the author and copyright paragraph as above intact and infull. Feel free to drop us a line when you do so too.

   Click here to subscribe to Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

She shouted from far… “Hey young man, so how’s the mattress?”

Standing in front of the door, I turned and replied…
“well, we got to think about it…”

She was behind the counter, from far i saw her moving out of the counter and came dashing towards me, i said to myself… “wow! i got to stay and see what she’s going to do…”

It all started when my (sleeping partner) wanted a new mattress. One Sunday after lunch we passed by a huge furniture complex when Catherine (my sleeping partner) turned to me and said “hey dear, seems like a lot of mattresses for sale here.” So we stopped, parked and went in.”

A guy (the sales guy) came and greeted me and asked the all typically <which i don’t recommend for retailers> ‘can i help you?’. “I am looking for a mattress”. He took me upstairs and shown us dozens of different mattresses. I left the choice to Catherine. So she ended up with 2 preferences. We sat on it, slept on it and talked about it. Then i told the sales guy that we’ll think about it. Like all consumers, i wanted to check out other places to see if there are other good mattreses as well. Furthermore, that mattress cost a few thousand bucks!

Sales mistakes the sales guy made:
1) Didn’t know my name or Catherines’.
2) Didn’t build rapport with me.
3) Didn’t ask many questions.
4) Did not answer my objection – of I want to think it over.
5) Did not create a sense of urgency.
6) Did not close.

This guy is a professional mattress presenter. What he does is show you all these mattresses and explain the technology behind it and hope you will say… “this is great, few thousand bucks, so cheap, i’ll take it!”

So i went downstairs to walk out of the store when a lady, in her late fifties came dashing towards me. Remember the opening story? Apparently she’s the owner of the business. She shown me her card and from there i got to know that she owns 4 other furniture stores as well. Basically she saw me as a buyer, i dressed very well, so a few thousand bucks mattress shouldn’t be a problem. That’s why she came over, her money is flowing out the door and she has to grab it!

She asked me what was my concern. I told her and she attempted to answer them. Half way through she asked for my name, which is good practice for retailers, especially when you are selling high ticket items. She also occasionally touched me (at my arms and elbow) – to build rapport and connection. One thing she did very well is when she kept talking, i looked away looking at other furnitures she would touch my elbow to gain my attention. (als0) It’s a subtle way of saying, pay attention i’m talking. It’s good technique.

So we started negotiation. Remember the mattress presenter? I didn’t even negotiate. I just gave him my objection and end of story. But this time, i’m negotiation, which is a good sign for the seller.

After getting a good deal i gave out a buying signal… “ok, pretty good deal.”

Then the secret of closing the sale part arrives…

She took out the order book and started writing the agreed price on the form. I was standing there saying to myself, “Yippie! I got sold in the hands of a sales closer.” By the way, writing details down in the form in sales technical term is called The Order Form Close sales closing technique. I’m sure you have heard of it. Most sales books talk about it. I train sales people in my sales training with it too. Anyway after writing the price, she asked me when do i want it delivered? (which is assumptive closing). I answered and bang, sales closed.

In CLOSING: Being a order-taker will kill you in these times. Tackle the objections and close the sale. Negotiate and close the sales. Remember, to close more sales, you actually have to close more sales.

Wishing you more sales… with less effort!

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// Managing Director Sells Sales Trainer EXPENSIVE Mattress!
// Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

Need great content for your website, media or blog? Bloggers, editors, publishers, medias, marketers, authors may syndicate or republish any articles you see in Sales Ninja Killer’s Newsletter for free as long as you include the author and copyright paragraph as above intact and infull. Feel free to drop us a line when you do so too.

   Click here to subscribe to Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

Last issue, I’ve shared 3 sales closing ideas.
Here’s the link: 3 Sales Closing Ideas

Here are other thoughts and ideas on how to close the sale and closing the sale:

04. Closing is simply asking for the order, if you didn’t ask for the order, you didn’t close.

==> What should you do when buyer expresses interest in your product? You keep building the desire or you ask for the order. What should you do after you handle an objection? Wait for the buyer to say yes or ask for the order?

Closing is simply asking for the order. All the sales techniques ever created and used are all different ways to ask for the order. Practiced these techniques in sales trainings before?

Direct Close: Shall we get started?
Assumptive Close: How many do you want?
Summary Close: So far Mr. Customer, you agreed that this product will help you save more money and increase productivity, let’s get the paperwork done so you can own one of these today, shall we?
Alternative Close: Do you want this delivered next week or the week after?
Give It A Try Close: Why don’t you just give it a try Ms. Prospect?

05. Three situations to close the sale.

==> When should you close the sale?

When buyer gives you buying signal: close the sale.
When buyer gives you objections: tackle, resolve and close the sale.
When buyer rejects your offer: highlight benefits, resell and close the sale.

06. You must always use trial closes or (checking) throughout the sales process.

==> Selling is about gaining small commitments – small yes-es throughout the sales process before the final big yes which is when the buyer gives you the order. It’s a build up process. It’s a game where you take the emotionally neutral to the emotionally charged buyer.

In sales terminology, a trial close is used through the sales process to ‘test’ the buyer’s acceptance of your product/service. I have since changed the term from Trial Close to Checking. Because the usage of Trial Closes can be confusing.

Checking as the name implies, is a questioning technique used throughout the process to Check the buyer’s understanding and acceptance of your product/service. Sometimes buyer gives us objection because they misunderstood our explanation. Checking allows you to Check and surfaces objections or clarifications of any sort. Very important selling skill to master. The best time to use Checking is after you present some features of your product or service.

Here’s the formula we train sales people to use:

This (feature) gives you (benefit), (Check?)

• This (feature) light is bright and (benefit) will not tire your eyes – you mentioned that you read a lot at night, (Check?) will this brightness help you?
• This machine (feature) has an auto restart function, (benefit) meaning it does not break down ever, (Check?)how do you think this will affect your production output or maintenance time?
• Well, our sofas come in 9 different colors, are you into bright or dark colors?

Examples of Checking Questions:

• What do you think so far?
• Is this useful to you?
• Can you see yourself benefiting from this?
• So far so good?
• Any questions?
• Is this what you were looking for?
• Anything else you want to know? 
• Do you like what you see so far?
• Will your boss say yes to this?
• Does this solve your problem?

More Closing Sales and How To Close Sales next issue…

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// 3 (more) Sales Closing Ideas!
// By Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

Need great content for your website, media or blog? Bloggers, editors, publishers, medias, marketers, authors may syndicate or republish any articles you see in Sales Ninja Killer’s Newsletter for free as long as you include the author and copyright paragraph as above intact and infull. Feel free to drop us a line when you do so too.

   Click here to subscribe to Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

Last issue, I’ve shared 6 sales closing ideas.
Here’s part 1: 3 Sales Closing Ideas
Here’s part 2: 3 (more) Sales Closing Ideas

Here are other thoughts and ideas on how to close the sale and closing the sale:

07. Closing starts at the beginning.

You can’t close a non qualified buyer. In the good old good times days, we just want to fill out pipeline with massive prospects. You go see who ever who grants you an appointment. Right now i wouldn’t recommend that, in fact i would never recommend simply filling up the pipeline. We must always work with qualified buyers only. That means when your prospect – qualify. When there is incoming enquiries – qualify. Set the criterias of doing business with you.

You have power when you qualify and you get to work with good prospects. If you failed at closing, analyze your prospecting process and see how well you did at qualifying. Seeing a lot of people plays the numbers game of selling and that’s working hard. Creating a customer ideal profile (CIP) and finding prospects that fit those criterias is working smart. The more you work hard on working smart – success is definite.

08. Closing starts with you.

Are you committed enough to be a Sales Ninja?
Do you have goals?
If the fire burning inside you?
Do you believe in yourself?
Your products?
Your services?
Your company?
Your future?

In my first sales job there was this great sales closer and top performer called Jennifer. New to the business i went and talk to her and learn from her. The more i know her, i more i realize how lousy her selling skills are. Truly amazing! Her questioning skills suck. Her objection handling skills faulty. Closing? It was ok. You see i was a sales technician, i read lots of sales books and disgested many of the sales gurus’ mindset, strategy and tactics. I was able to analyze any closer’s techniques or find best practices i can use. Jennifer has very little of this and yet this is a 5 figure earner.

On the other side of her, there are lots of strengths. For a start she looks pretty decent, which obviously helped her in charming her way to lots of referrals. But that’s not her core weapon. She was a great closer because of her DESIRE. When you talk to Jennifer you can feel her energy vibrating. When you ask her what her goals are, she can list them out and tell you when she will achieve them. She has the fighting spirit. She always want to win.

We have this big sales board in the company. Everyone can see the hundred plus sales people’s achievement. When ever someone overtakes Jennifer by one sale, she jumps around, pissed, and ready to go for war. If you are the one who overtook her and you walk pass her, she would look at you and subconsciously sends you a message ‘you there, just wait, i’m burning and i’ll chase.’

Jennifer, myself and another malay lady whose name slipped my name was inducted into the Hall of Fame, the highest award ever given to any sales person of the industry.

Sales Ninja works arond 3 things:
1: Philosophy – your mindset, values, goals, etc…
2: Strategy – the big picture, the plan, etc…
3: Tactics - the selling skills and approaches utilizing the MASTER selling model.

I excelled at all three areas. I had a strong mindset, i strategize before launching my attacks, and my tactical selling approaches was good. And i recommend excelling at all 3 areas. A fighter without fighting skills can easily be killed. However in her case…

Jennifer excelled at only one area – Sales Ninja Philosophy and yet rises to the top.
Jennifer today is married with 4 kids and drives a Mercedes Benz and is one of the best insurance sales agents.

If you are committed.
If you have the desire to be the best.
If you truly want success.

Then remember – Closing begins with you.

More Closing Sales and How To Close Sales next issue…

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

   Click here to subscribe to Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

// Sales Closing Ideas (part 3)
// By Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

Need great content for your website, media or blog? Bloggers, editors, publishers, medias, marketers, authors may syndicate or republish any articles you see in Sales Ninja Killer’s Newsletter for free as long as you include the author and copyright paragraph as above intact and infull. Feel free to drop us a line when you do so too.

   Click here to subscribe to Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter