Selling In Tough, Uncertain, Recession Or Downturn Times 2
Last issue, i talked about winning the tough times war is first won in the mind. (last issue)
Now that the mind war is won, it’s time to win the war in the battlefield.
Let’s start with some things I don’t recommend:
>> Do nothing – This simply means you wait and see. Or live in a state of denial where things will get better. It may be too late when you start doing something. Take measures to reduce unnecessary expenses and doing non productive things.
>> Price cut – Price cutting may increase sales in the short-term for low ticket items but it does not work with more complex products where the sales cycle is longer. Organisations don’t want to buy cheap products, in tough times – the psychology changes to buying something safe. Work on assuring customers on the reliability and quality of the product. History has proven that most organisations go bust for reducing price and hoping to make up from sales increase but realise it can’t be sustained with the margins they live on.
>> Focusing on the wrong activity – I mentioned earlier on that sales people tend to reduce their sales activities during tough times. During good times, we can fill out pipelines with non qualified prospects because we may have a chance of converting; even if we can’t, we have created an awareness for our products. But in tough times, we need to really find the right buyers and focus our energy on them. People are still buying in tough times; we just need to find them.
>> Sell more aggressively – While you need to survive and pay the bills, there are other alternatives you can do that don’t push your prospects over the wall with your desperation to achieve sale.
Here are some things to do at the battlefield:
== Better prospecting – Fill your pipeline with really qualified prospects. We call this customer ideal profile (CIP). Find them. Create criteria and when you do prospecting activities, match them against your CIP so you know whether to focus your energy on them or not.
== Questioning skills – Participants in my workshop tend to regard closing sales and handling rejection as the toughest selling skills. And I don’t agree. The toughest selling skill is actually the technique of questioning. Questioning allows you to find out the true needs of the buyers, the hidden psychology, get buy-ins, obtain information that is critical. If one’s questioning skill is perfect, closing the sale is like “Will you marry me?” where the generally expected response is “Yes, I do.” Most sales people do ask questions, but not enough, not right and not skillful enough. Questioning skill is the most important skill, improve on it.
== Deliver what you promise – This activity is of utmost important as we cannot afford to have dissatisfied customers at all times. You may also want to exceed their expectations to create a “Wow!” factor as this is the secret to building a sustainable relationship.
== Misery loves company. While your prospects and customers will always bring up the economy or market is bad. You can empathize with them, but don’t sympathize them. Sell them hope. Remember to sell yourself hope first. Don’t get sucked into buying their bad news and let them affect your sales process. You may also want to avoid friends who are always bitching, whining, complaining and making excuses. Unless they are sitting down to discuss the situation and brainstorming for solutions, avoid them at all cost because humans are creatures of environment and we will be affected by our surroundings.
== GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out) – I learned this during my computer science college days. Instead of lamenting how bad the economy is, read motivation books. The more you programme your mind with positive thoughts, the better it is. Get audio CDs of personal development nature. Invest in educational seminars. I for one have read over 400 books and completed more than 70 programmes of sorts. And this are numbers of 2007 as I’ve stopped counting. This allows me to always have nutrition to the mind instead of fat, dangerous and poisonous news. Never let a poison drop into the water well of your village.
== Help your prospects – In my Sales Ninja workshop, I clearly define the three roles of selling – helping people solve problems, prevent problems or improving their situation. When attending to sales call, ask tough questions, listen and really find out what challenges your prospect is having so you can help them find a solution through your products or services.
== Teamwork – When companies fail, people tend to blame the sales force. While the sales force is important, a it cannot function alone. Everybody in an organisation has a role to play just as the interdependence of every organ in our body. If your colleague is an accountant, teach him how to sell the easy way. At least when they are out there, they can help solicit business. The motto is to succeed as a team.
Some will fail in tough times, some will survive, some will thrive. Which one do you choose to be?
Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster
// Selling In Tough, Uncertain, Recession Or Downturn Times 2
// 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.
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