Ideas To Deals

How To Ask For The Business?

For many small business owners sales is the most difficult part of being in business.  Most of us are very passionate and strong on the product side but sales and marketing is somewhat of a mystery. However, there is no one better to sell the product than the founder/owner. They have passion around the business and know what value there is in the product for customers. Books and videos on how to close that are often focused on the sales professional miss the mark when it comes to helping the small business owner sell. All of these closing techniques, while good for the right person, may seem forced and aggressive for the average business owner. They key is to find a style that is natural yet still moves toward the sale. Here is a tip I picked up from my friend Jack Windsor of the Windsor Group to get to the close. 

Instead of being intimidated by closing the sale look at the close as a logical conculsion to the sales process. Forget all the "tie down" close techniques, if you have done a good job in the sale process closing is a natural step. 

As you do your sales presentation first focus on the prospect's needs and how your solution fits to their needs. Once you have built rapport so that you and the prospect agree on their needs ask what they see the business relationship looking like in six months. Based on their response you simply say that you agree and propose some steps that can be done now to get to that future state. Guess what, you just closed the sale. Here you are aligning yourself with the prospect to help get them get to the desired future state they described. The next steps fit right into where you both agree the business relationship should be going. No heavy pressure just a logical conclusion to the sales process.

Simple right? Be yourself and find conversational ways to "lead" the sales discussion to a close that will bring you sales.

 

Increase Your Sales Prospecting Success Through Relationships

Yesterday I was moderating a panel for the Ohio SBDC on building sales as a small business owner. It was a great discussion with Mark Gilicinski founder of Mobile Expeditions, Chaz Freutel of Get-U-Connected and Jack Windsor of the Windsor Group. One of the areas we covered was how to prospect and specifically how to get a meeting.  In my experience small business owners typically don't see themselves as sales people and they let this hold them back. There is no one better positioned to sell the product than the founder/owner. They know more about the product than anyone else. However it can be kind of intimidating trying to get appointments to discuss your product but it doesn't have to be if you set the stage in advance. The key is building a relationship. Taking the time to build trust is critical. It drives me crazy when I just meet someone and they start pumping me for referrals. Why would I risk my relationship with one of my contacts by referring you to them when I don't know you? A better strategy is to build the relationship over time. Make it about them and how you can help them be more successful. This will make people more willing to reciprocate and discuss how your business might help them or who they know that might need your product. Note...This is not a quick process but if you build enough activity in your pipeline you should be able to afford to take the time to build strong relationships.

Action Step ~ Build time into your work plan to meet with new people each week and to meet with your existing contacts. Start by picking an upcoming week and set five meetings every day so that you have 25 meetings set. Split this up between new and existing contacts. If you do this I bet you will have new sales by the end of the week that you would not have otherwise had.

Any thoughts you have no making prospecting more palatable and successful? Leave a comment to share your ideas.

Do Me A Personal Favor...Sell Me

Typically small business owners dislike sales. They are passionate about their product and how they are going to change the world with what they do but they hate sales. Why is that? I think it is the bad rap that sales has gotten over the years from unscrupulous product pushers. It doesn't have to be that way. You can sell without being an A-hole. However, you do need to sell. Typically you need to do something to get the person to buy. Conversations and education is not enough, you need to close. Don't get me wrong you don't have to be "A - Always, B - Be, C - Closing" but you do need to close. When I say closing what I mean is asking for the business. If you don't ask for the business you may not get it. Also, if you don't ask your prospect may not make a decision and may not get the product. When that happens I blame the sales person for not helping me buy.

Here is a story to illustrate:

My wife wanted to buy a new car. She had been eyeing a car at a local dealership for a while and finally stopped in to check it out. She test drove the car and really liked it. The salesperson was so low pressure that he was no pressure. My wife told him that she liked the car and wanted to talk it over with me and would call the salesperson the next day. He said fine and that he would be off that day but to just call his cell phone and let him know. So the next morning my wife went to the bank and arranged her financing and called the salesperson to confirm that she wanted the car. She left him a message as he didn't answer. He called her back around 7:00 pm and advised her that the car had been sold eariler that day. We were not happy to say the least. The next day the salesperson actually called my wife a non-committal buyer. He should look in the mirror as he never asked her to buy so he couldn't truly gage her level of interest.

The next day my wife went to another dealership to look at a car that she had found on the internet. She spoke to the salesperson and drove the car. When she got back during her discussions with the salesperson it was pretty clear that my wife liked the car. The salesperson "asked" my wife if she liked the car, what the parameters were for buying the car (price, trade value, etc) and if they could meet the parameters would she buy the car. My wife said if they met her parameters she was ready to buy, and she did on the spot. 

What was the difference between the two experiences? The first person never really tried to get the sale. The second person asked and got the sale. By asking the second salesperson helped my wife get what she wanted the whole time. The first sales person let my wife down by not asking her to buy. 

Is this happening in your business? Are you asking for the sale? If you believe in your product you want people to buy it. Don't be afraid to ask people to buy your product. By buying the product people can get the benefits that you developed the product to deliver. If they don't buy your product the value that you know is in the product goes unused and you don't want that. 

Remember, if you want people to use your product ask them to buy and use your product. Many times only if you ask will you be able to determine their interest.  Not asking the customer may delay the purchase and you are depriving them of the value you know is in the product.