Tag Professional Selling

If You Want it Then Ask

Steve Keating 2 Comments

My mom was as special a person as you could ever meet. She was an amazingly compassionate woman who would go way out of her way to help just about anyone. Whatever caring nature I have surely came from her.

What my mom wouldn’t do was ask….for anything. She would however hint. She was world class at hinting about what she wanted. Throughout her life she never had a drivers license. If she needed, or wanted to go somewhere she would never ask…but she would drop some rather straightforward hints.

When I received my license I became an instant target of her hints. She would say “it sure would be nice if someone would drive me to the mall.” Of course at first I would jump at the chance but after a while I must admit it got kinda old. 

I asked her on more than one occasion why she just didn’t ask for a ride and she would always answer that she didn’t want to be a bother. (It would have been impossible for her to be a bother but I guess she didn’t get that)

Later in life I learned there were a lot of people like my mom in that regard, they don’t want to be a bother either and they also think “asking” is a bother. Most unfortunately some of these people are salespeople. 

Imagine a salesperson thinking it’s a bother to ask a prospect for the order. Those salespeople are greatly limiting their success. 

Here is a simply sales fact: salespeople who have earned the right to ask for the order tend to get what they ask for. Even if they have earned the right to ask for the order if they don’t ask they most often don’t get the order either.

If you’re the type of salesperson who just asks for the order without earning the right to do so then I’d agree, you are a bother to your prospects. But if you’ve done your homework by asking the right questions to determine whether your product or service benefits the customer, and you’ve determined that it does, then by all means ASK. Ask because you have earned the right and asking for the order is the logical conclusion to a professional sales presentation. 

Your prospects almost certainly expect you to ask. In fact the research shows many of them are just waiting for you to ask so they can say yes. All you need to do to get that yes is ask but if you don’t ask then the yes often never comes. 

I don’t know why prospects behave that way but I know I too behave that way when I’m the prospect. All I would need to say yes is the simple nudge of an order asking question. Without the question my hesitation remains.

One final point, when asking for an order don’t beat around the bush. “What do you think” is not an order asking question and neither is “well let me know what you decide.” 

If you’ve earned the right to ask for the order and you’re certain that your product or service will solve a prospect’s problem or provide a benefit they are looking for then ask. Ask by saying something like “may I have your order” or “may I have your business.” Just like that, straight out!

It is the way true sales professionals do it.

There is No Value in Free

Steve Keating 15 Comments

When I was growing up there was a little bakery in our neighborhood that sold the best brownies. They were 10 cents each or two for a quarter. They sold lots of brownies 2 at a time.

I wonder to this day how long it took for people to figure out that the “deal” wasn’t such a good deal.

I think the pricing worked because everyone loves a bargain. We love bargains so much that sometimes we don’t stop to even figure out if we’re really getting one.

Salespeople were just people before they began selling so they are just like everyone else, they love a good deal too. They especially love offering them to their customers and prospects. So much so that they often throw around the word “free” as if what they are offering is no better a bargain than 10 cent brownies selling at two for a quarter.

Thoughtful, professional salespeople don’t offer anything for free. They don’t need to because they add value, real value to every transaction.

Salespeople who offer “free” anything are also more likely to attempt to earn business by selling on price. That is a short-term strategy that is not sustainable in the long-term. When you sell on price you eventually lose on price.

So here’s some guidance for salespeople looking to be more professional: Understand that the only things truly free are those that bring no value to anyone. If your offering something of value to your prospect then stop saying it’s free.

Share with your prospects that you’re willing to absorb the cost in order to provide them with additional value, or that you and your company are willing to make the investment on their behalf for some additional product. If something offers real value then it can’t be free, somebody has to pay for it. If that somebody is you or your company then tell that to your prospect, don’t just devalue your offering by being lazy and saying it is “free.”

If you’re a professional salesperson and you, your company, and your product bring real value to customers then say so, repeatedly. To most people, if only subconsciously, “free” means “worth nothing” even if the free thing is something they want.

Always look for ways to ADD value, not subtract it. You will sell more, at higher margins, and you won’t have to offer anything “free” to do it.

Now, go sell something!