It does kill me to start anything with a negative, but I couldn’t avoid this title.
As you know I am passionate about selling. Having a professional selling approach works. Not having one doesn’t. Fact.
I was struck recently by some meetings I attended to where I was being sold to. They were lessons in how not to sell and I wanted to share these, in order that you assess your own approach.
One in particular was simply atrocious. Do you or your sales team sell like this?
Firstly, it was clear that there was no preparation made for our meeting. Great preparation is essential.
Secondly whether we like it or not, first impressions count. Massively. You cannot escape the natural inclination to judge people by their appearance. It’s just a fact of life and of selling, that people will make instant judgements based on your appearance and manner.
There is unlimited research in this, proving that a decision to buy or not to buy is made in under 3 minutes. 3 minutes? So you’d better make a great first impression.
He didn’t.
Yes he was smartly dressed, but not in keeping with the service he was selling. Secondly he had a beaten up cheap folder which was filthy and worn.
This could easily have been forgiven if there had been a professional approach to the sale. There wasn’t.
He did what most sales people do. He launched straight in to the pitch. Pitch is doing the word a disservice.
This was a “feature dump”. A “verbal dump”.
I sat and listened for 50 minutes, and hardly got a word in. The first 20 minutes wasn’t too bad because he’d bought me a cappucino and I relaxed over this, while I thought about stuff of concern to me.
It was pretty clear, he wasn’t interested in me, my business or my challenges. He had a presentation to make and he was on a roll. Or so he thought.
There was no presentation. He just talked. Talked in circles, because I didn’t say much.
He had nothing to show me. Nothing to direct our conversation. No handouts. No explanations. Nothing. He never even opened up his folder.
To top it all off he was selling a course worth over €5,000.
Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with the cost, and maybe it is a brilliant course.
But do you seriously think you can sell me a major investment. And that’s what it is. Over a cup of coffee, and over the course of one hour without
Asking me about me and my business
Questioning me to find out if I have a need or to uncover a need I’m unaware of.
Showing me how it works. How I can benefit from it.
Giving me some information to help me make a decision
NO. NO. NO. You haven’t earned the right to sell to me. And in selling you must earn that right first.
In order to earn that right you have to listen, listen and listen.
If you think you can sell by talking you are seriously mistaken.
This is the trap too many sales people fall into. You don’t sell by sheer force of your personality or your ability to exude your charisma.
Selling successfully requires a systematic approach. (Check out my article on my own model I call it PRESENT).
The steps are simple and the process is intuitive. But here’s the main point. Selling is about listening first and always. Selling is about structure and system. Selling is about practice and more practice until you get it right. Right for your customers as well as you.
Actions
Be honest with yourself and honestly appraise your team. Do you launch in to the sales pitch as soon as possible. Or do you have a structured approach like PRESENT? Do you listen first and then sell? Or sell first and then listen, when it’s too late?
Don’t sell like our friend above. It’s all too common, and too unsuccessful.
Learn to sell more successfully. It’s really simple and can have an enormous impact on your business.
Best of luck.
Ronan
Ronan Kilroy Certified FocalPoint Business Coach
Profitability, Productivity, Possibility.
