Tag Sales

The Purpose of Selling

Steve Keating Leave a comment

I once had a salesperson working for me who was super passionate about building relationships with customers. She genuinely cared about developing friendships that went beyond just business. She was always professional, ethical, and kept everything on the up and up.

She was an amazing salesperson in every way except one. She barely sold anything! After a whole year of working with her, coaching her, and pushing her to her limits, it just wasn’t working out.

I asked her what she thought the purpose of selling was. She said it was all about building relationships. I agreed, and then I asked her why we wanted relationships with customers. She had a great answer for that too. She said we wanted to help them.

I agreed, and then I asked her how we had helped them.

At this point, she was a bit stumped. She said it “depended on the circumstances.” She thought maybe we helped them by building trust. She also thought we could help them by being a resource for them.

None of her answers were wrong, but none of them were quite right enough for her to remain a part of the sales team.

I told her that all the things she mentioned were important for building long-term relationships, but the most important way we truly helped customers was by selling them our product. That was also the only way we could stay in business.

I said that the purpose of selling was to make a sale. We build trust to build a relationship, and we become a resource to keep that relationship strong. And if we’re truly in sales, we’ll professionally leverage that relationship to make a sale.

That sounded harsh and manipulative to her, but I explained that it wasn’t. Selling is most rewarding when we’re helping people whom we genuinely like. People whom we would be friends with even if they weren’t a prospect for whatever it is we’re selling.

Building strong relationships with customers is a great way to grow your business, but it’s not the same as selling. Selling is about making a sale, not only about building connections. After working with sales teams all over the world, I’ve noticed that many people who try to make a living selling can’t seem to grasp this basic concept.

The salesperson I had invested a year working with couldn’t sell because she never asked for the order. She worked hard to build relationships, but she was afraid of risking damage to them by asking for the sale. We moved her to a customer support role where she could use her relationship skills without the pressure of selling.

But here’s the thing: she wasn’t alone. Research has shown that 80-85% of people who make a living, or try making a living, by selling never ask for the order. They might try to subtly ask by saying things like, “So, what do you think?” or “Well, let me know what you decide; I hope you decide to go with us.”

But here’s the truth: if you ask a true order-asking question, you’ll get either a yes or a no. If you get anything else, you either didn’t ask the right question or the prospect didn’t hear it correctly. In either case, you need to ask an order-asking question again.

An order-asking question sounds like, “Looks like it meets the requirements we’ve been discussing. May I have your business?” or “This looks perfect for you, or are you ready to move ahead today?”

If you’ve guided your customer or prospect through their buying journey, you’re ready to ask a simple yet crucial question. It’s a business question that most customers expect.

So, go ahead and ask it confidently. Remember, asking for an order is the logical and appropriate final step in a professional sales presentation.

I’ve never seen a newspaper headline like “Salesperson shot dead asking for an order,” yet many salespeople act as if it’s a common occurrence.

The goal of selling is to make a sale. That’s how you create a customer, keep your business afloat, and stay a successful salesperson.

You’re 100 times more likely to make a sale by asking for it than by letting a customer decide on their own, without your help. If you’re a strong relationship seller, resource provider, problem solver, and sales pro, you owe it to your customers and yourself to ask for the order every time.

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Are Customers Liars?

Steve Keating Leave a comment

When I do Customer Service Workshops or Sales Training I often ask if any of the participants have been lied to by a customer. The response is often nearly unanimous. It’s a big yes!

So why do customers lie? Or a better question is, do they lie? 

In the technical sense of the word yes, customers do lie sometimes. They withhold truthful information. They “misrepresent” their situation. They sometimes exaggerate the seriousness of their problem. And yes, sometimes they intentionally tell a lie. 

So why would they do that? Why would anyone lie to a person who is trying to help them solve a problem? How can they expect to get help if they won’t be honest about the help they need?

The first part of that answer is simple. They don’t expect to get help in the first place. Many people don’t see a salesperson or customer service representative as someone who is there to help them. That’s likely because far too many people in those positions are not there to help them. They are there only to sell them something or deal with a problem as cost effectively as possible. 

Customers exaggerate the scope of their problems because they don’t trust the customer service representative to act with the urgency the customer wants and often needs. So they say things like this about their 3 year old product, “this thing hasn’t worked right since the day I bought it, it’s complete crap.” 

Now obviously it must have worked for some of those 3 years so why would the customer say that? Because they don’t think saying, “it’s been working great up until the last few days, now I can’t get it to do anything right,” will get them help. They believe their truthful and accurate description will get their problem “back burnered.” So they try to instill some urgency into the conversation. They likely believe they will be back burnered because that has been their experience in the past. 

Here’s what you need to know about customers who lie. They do NOT lie to people who they see as trustworthy. People who they sense are sincerely interested in helping them achieve their goals and solve their problems. 

As a salesperson or customer service person you must also know that because you’ve never lied to a customer that doesn’t mean your customer has never been lied to. Sales people, and to a lesser extent, customer service representatives, have a reputation for lying. Even if you’ve never lied that reputation precedes you. 

It’s beyond frustrating for the majority of sales and service people who are honest and have their customers best interests in mind. But it is what it is. Trust must be earned, even by the completely trustworthy. 

If you want to be trusted, in sales, service or life in general, then you must make certain that your words match your actions at all times. When you say you will do something you must do it, when you said you would do it. EVERY SINGLE TIME. 

If you’re in sales or service and you’re being lied to buy a customer you need to understand that you, or someone very close to you in your organization has earned that lie. They, or you, have earned that lie by not following through. Maybe by not honoring a commitment. Maybe by exaggerating, even a little bit. 

If you’re a professional you will not get upset or frustrated with a customer who is less than truthful with you. You’ll simply work harder to earn their trust so that you’ll be better able to help them in the future. 

Remember, the customer doesn’t really owe you the truth, you have to earn it!

On a another note… Everyone can use a “nudge” towards success. I’m trying something new on Twitter. It’s called “Super Followers.” For $5 a month, that’s 17 cents a day, people can follow a part of my Twitter stream that is for subscribers only. It features short videos of me discussing leadership topics, sales tips and ideas for better overall relationships. I’m assuming there will be far fewer Super Followers than the million or so people who regularly follow me on Twitter. That will give me the opportunity to answer questions more throughly than I can on regular Twitter. Most of the answers will come in the evening cause we all have day jobs, right? Think of it as ”mentoring on demand!”

My goal with SuperFollowers is to build a better connection, one where I can help more and have a greater impact. I’m hoping it gives me a chance to mentor to a wider audience. It’s still new, we’ll see how it works. It’s a $5 dollar investment that may be the extra “push” you need to get to where you want to be. I’d be honored to be able to help get you there. 

You can find more information by clicking the Super Follow button on my Twitter profile page IN THE TWITTER APP. http://twitter.com/leadtoday Give it a try if you’re so inclined, and if you are, be sure to let me know how I’m doing and how I can be of even more help.

Is a Lie Always a Lie?

Steve Keating 2 Comments

So you’re in sales and the company you work for has been caught in an apparent lie. So now what?

My first recommendation is to take a breath. It’s amazing how much breathing helps in almost every situation. One way it helps is to give you time to think. There are are few things in particular that you should be thinking about. 

First, was the “apparent” lie really a lie. It could just be a misunderstanding born of poor communication. When additional facts are understood the “lie” may not be a lie at all. When you’re shocked by something you find hard to believe get as many facts as possible before labeling any information a lie. 

If it turns out that it was in fact a lie then you need to determine whether it was a lie created by malice or a lie created by incompetence. Neither is good but somehow, at least for me, I find it better to be lied to by an incompetent person than a truly deceitful one. Determining if it was a lie that came from incompetence or malice may come down to a gut call. Trust your gut, always trust your gut. Those instincts or that intuition are developed from your life experiences. If you can keep your emotions in check then your instincts are very often correct. 

If you decide that the lie is more of a mistake caused by incompetence then you have to decide if it’s a “one off” kind of lie or if a pattern of incompetence causes this kind of thing to happen often. Remember, if you’re representing this company in the marketplace your reputation is on the line as well and to your customers, a lie is a lie is a lie. They don’t really care where it came from. 

If you decide that the lie was a pure intentionally fabricated misstatement then you have some tough choices to make. You have to determine if you’re willing to work for that kind of organization and the kind of people who run it. You also have to understand that supporting the lie, either by ignoring it or worse, repeating it, makes you a liar as well. The only thing I’ll say about that is if you’re lying to get business then you may make some money but you’ll never be a success. 

And the lies will be exposed eventually, they ALWAYS are. 

Let’s not forgot about the what may be the worst lie of all, the “half-truth” lie. Have you ever watched a movie or TV show with courtroom scenes? Remember the oath that witnesses must swear to? They swear to not just tell the truth but to tell the “whole truth.” 

Lord Tennyson said, “That a lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies. That a lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright; but a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight.” 

Professional salespeople tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. If you’re not doing that then you fail at the first test of professional selling, and that’s the test the matters most. 

Are You a Sales Manager or a Sales Leader?

Steve Keating Leave a comment

If you’re responsible for the sales team in your organization I hope you understand the difference between managing your sales team and leading them. I also hope you’re doing both. 

But it’s very likely you’re only doing one of them and that the one you’re doing is managing. 

That’s because somewhere in the neighborhood of 99% of Sales Managers were promoted to Sales Manager because they were excellent salespeople. When they were promoted they were told to manage the sales team. No one ever said a word about leading them. 

Most Sales Managers manage their sales teams the same way they were managed. If their manager happened to also be a leader then they may do some leading. But for the most part Sales Managers just manage and don’t even realize they aren’t leading. 

Solid sales management is essential for a steady consistent growth in sales. But the only path to explosive sales growth is leadership. I have seen company after company invest millions of dollars over years and years to develop their sales team.  All while spending virtually nothing, or actually nothing, to develop their sales leaders. 

I guess that’s not surprising considering somewhere between 70-80% of people in leadership positions have less than 1 hour of formal leadership training during their careers. That’s less than 1 hour, as in 60 minutes. It’s like buying one car after another without an engine and wondering why none of them get you anywhere. 

Some organizations have managers who can’t lead and some have leaders who can’t manage. So long as an organization has both they can do just fine. But the most successful organizations have managers who can lead and leaders who can manage. They understand the difference between the two and move seamlessly back and forth. 

But for a person in a Sales Management role to be effective they MUST be both manager and leader. 

As a Sales Manager they define territories, they set quotas, they hold people accountable, (as do Sales Leaders) they analyze numbers and help put deals together. They manage the “stuff” that goes into selling. 

A Sales Leader is focused on the people who sell and frequently on the people who buy. They are the motivator that salespeople need. They are the coaches they wish they had when they were actively selling. They teach, they listen, and most of all they show they care about the people on the front lines of selling. Their salespeople. They lead the people in selling.

To any company looking to train their salespeople I would say it’s one of the best investments you can make in your organization. But I’d also say don’t forget your sales leaders. Investing in real leadership training for your sales leaders is a force multiplier that pays dividends year after year. 

Or you can sit in your bright shiny new engineless car and wonder what’s over that next horizon. 

Who Are You Talking About?

Steve Keating 1 Comment

Few things in life are more valuable than influence. Authentic Leaders know that the essence of leadership is not authority, it is influence. If you have to ability to influence another person you have the ability to lead. If you have the ability and willingness to be a positive influence on other people then you have the ability to be an Authentic Leader. 

Professional Selling is all about influence. When a customer calls wanting to buy your product that is not selling, that is taking an order. When you influence a prospect’s opinion about your product or service and change it from neutral or negative to a positive opinion, that is selling. 

The most successful people intentionally work to increase their level of influence in all settings. Whether it’s work, a social setting, or a team setting influence is the currency of success. Business success and personal success both come from possessing influence. 

One of the fastest is to increase your level of influence is to be genuinely curious about other people. Think about this…when you meet new people who are you talking about? Are you talking about the other person or are you talking about yourself? 

Work at developing the skill of making the conversation about others, not about you. You are more attractive to other people when they feel valued in your presence. When they feel valued by you then your level of influence goes up. 

Now here’s something that I need to repeat. Be GENUINELY curious about other people. This is not about manipulating people or fooling them into thinking you care about them. This is about increasing YOUR level of influence by truly caring about THEM. 

Enter into these relationships with the intention of learning from others. Ask questions and listen intently to the answers. Linger on the words of the speaker until you’re certain you understand what was said. 

People who listen intently learn more and that knowledge increases their level of influence. 

Always be relatable. No matter what you’ve accomplished in life never lose your humility. Humility is a critical characteristic of Authentic Leadership and makes you more relatable to the people you lead. Humility makes you more authentic to people and actually increases your level of influence with them. 

Never forget the power of influence. Once you’ve earned a high level of influence never forget the responsibility to ensure the influence you have on others is positive. If your influence helps other people overcome their challenges and succeed then you’ll truly have the kind of influence that makes a difference in the world. 

They Said Yes, Now What?

Steve Keating Leave a comment

The most successful salespeople know that when their customer says yes the relationship is just beginning. Less successful salespeople too often think that when the customer says yes the relationship is now closed.

That’s one of the reasons when I do Sales Training I try to avoid the term “closing the sale.” I use “earn the buying commitment” instead. I want the salespeople to understand that nothing is closed. Nothing is over. The customer has made a commitment to the salesperson and their product and they expect a commitment in return. 

“Closed,” at least when it comes to relationships has a terrible connotation to it. Nobody, not ever, has wanted to be “closed.” I mean really, is there a worse place to be than in the “closing room” at a car dealership?

When the customer says yes they expect every promise and every commitment that the salesperson made to be honored.  They expect them to be honored in a timely fashion with no hassles. They expect the price to be as quoted. They expect the delivery to happen on the date promised. They expect all paperwork and billing to be completed correctly. They expect their calls to be returned and all questions answered. They expect their calls returned quickly. 

They expect whatever it is they have purchased to work as promised and be free of defects. 

In short, they expect exactly what you would expect. The thing that amazes me is how many people will sell something only to “provide” a lower level of service then they would be willing to accept if they were the customer. 

As a professional salesperson, and as a human being, you will never go wrong fully honoring your commitments. When you take care of your customers your customers will take care of you. 

Do Relationships Still Matter?

Steve Keating 6 Comments

There is a growing school of thought, an alarming school of thought if you ask me, that Business Relationships don’t matter as much as they used to. Some would say they don’t matter at all.

There is research that shows that could be true. Generation Z, the generation now entering the workforce is said to prefer “digital contact” over face-to-face contact, especially in business dealings.

Some people say that’s true also of Millennials but the research would disagree. Kind of. It’s only the trailing edge of millennials who prefer less face-to-face business dealings. Leading edge millennials felt that way but as they get older they look, act, speak and do much as the boomer generation who came before them.

There is no reason to think the younger millennials and Gen Z won’t age in the same way.

People and organizations who believe they can eliminate or minimize the importance of business relationships do so at their own risk. People buy and do business with other people they like and can trust. TRUST ONLY COMES FROM RELATIONSHIPS!

Without trust a customer is left to make their buying decisions on other factors, like ease of buying, reputation of the product and of course price. Without trust there will be no customer loyalty nor should there be.

It’s a bit of a scary day when I’m called “old school” because I believe relationships matter. At the foundation of that belief is another belief…one that says people matter. Every aspect of life revolves around our interactions with other people. If you can build solid personal relationships and business relationships you’ll simply have a better life and a better business.

If you don’t agree with that today then one day you will. I only hope for your sake you realize the importance of relationships before you let to much of what life is made of pass you by.