![]() |
Go Back | About | Contact | Web Design News | |
|
|
Just Ask!
Instilling urgency in a prospective customer can make the difference between achieving a sale and losing it altogether. If your prospects cannot vividly see personal benefits from taking action, there will never be the sense of urgency needed to follow your suggestions. Closing is the logical conclusion of a demonstration of your products and services. Make certain that you ask enough open-ended questions to know for certain that you are applying the correct solutions to the exact problems and needs you have uncovered from your questioning. Through this process, the answers to your questions should give you all the levers you need to create a sense of urgency in your prospects. Urgency can also be created when prospects can take advantage of special pricing on packages or bundles of products for a limited period. Make certain that all special offers or time constraints are pointed out to your prospects so that they can feel the need or urgency of making a decision today. If service charges will be increased or interest rates will change soon, use this information to set the stage for a positive and timely buying decision. You can also create urgency by asking your prospects how much it will cost them not to take action today. If a suggested product will help them make money or avoid losing money, show them exactly what it will cost them to leave this problem unsolved. Also show them the pitfalls of trying a "do it yourself approach." Often from this vantage point, prospects will be able to overcome the natural reluctance to making changes and move forward with a favorable decision. If your prospects are still reluctant, ask them about their concerns or reasons for not moving forward on your suggestions. Often a person just needs to verbalize why he feels the way he does to see that his concerns have little or no foundation in reality. To assist your prospects, write down each concern and then weigh or compare the reason to wait or postpone a decision against the benefits of taking action now. If you have built trust with your prospects, you can act almost as an independent consultant might act to help them "weigh" what would be in their best interest. It's always best to have all the reasons for reluctance to proceed out in the open so that they can be addressed, minimized, and new positive reasons given for taking action. VIRDEN THORNTON is the founder and President of The $elling Edge®, Inc. a firm specializing in sales, customer relations, and management training and development. Clients have included Sears Optical, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Deloitte & Touché, Bank One, Jefferson Pilot, and Wal-Mart to name a few. Virden is the author of Prospecting: The Key To Sales Success and the best selling Building & Closing the Sale, Fifty-Minute series books and Close That Sale, a video/audio tape series published by Crisp Publicantions a dividion of Thompson Learning. He has also authored a client acclaimed Self-Directed Learning series of sales, coaching & team development, telemarketing, and personal productivity training guides. To obtain a substantial discount on two of Virden's new manuals, 101 Sales Myths and Organizing For Sales Success, check out the listings on The $elling Edge, Inc. website at: http://www.TheSellingEdge.com/books1.htm. Note: You can contact Virden at: virden@TheSellingEdge.com.
MORE RESOURCES:
Sales - Google News |
RELATED ARTICLES
Letting Them Use Plastic Obtaining merchant status will help to increase your sales. Consumers are becoming creatures of convenience; when dealing with businesses-large or small-they desire ease of transaction. Its Better When They Tell Them You know that word of mouth can grow your business. You hear your customers say nice things about your company all the time. The Trusted Advisor Relationship: What Is It, and What Should It Be? For the past months, maybe a year, I've been hearing sales groups talk about the need to become Trusted Advisors (I'll call them TAs). I suspect that the problems cropping up in the sales arena these days - the increased length of the sales cycle, the increased levels of competition - are leading sales management to base their initiatives on being of true service to prospects, as a way to seem different from the competition. Your Voice is Your Instrument On an introductory call, your voice is your instrument. During a face-to-face meeting, you have visual cues and body language available to add layers of meaning. Things You Need to Know Before Joining a Direct Sales Company A lot of people are very intrigued by the idea of joining a direct sales company and being able to make extra money from home. There are a few things a first-timer in direct sales should know before signing up. Why USPs Dont Work The USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is based on the assumption that if you can't be better than the competition then being different will usually suffice.It is true that most businesses scrape by in the midst of mediocrity. A Look at Child Mannequins Not all mannequins are made to look like full-grown adults. Child mannequins are also common in many clothing stores. Selling For Keeps When you are in sales and you come across a customer, you don't want to think of that customer as someone you can only make one sale to, you want to think of them as someone you can make several sales to.I can remember not to long ago when I was in Banking working as a branch manager, when I would meet with my staff every Monday morning to go over their individual weekly goals. Unique Selling Propositions If you have competitors, then you should have at least one Unique Selling Proposition (USP). The more REAL ones you have, the better - for your Branding, your business recognition, and your sales!We all have competitors, and the more you have, the more important it is that you have a Unique Selling Proposition (at least one). 6 Creative Questions To Move From HOW Are You To WHO Are You Imagine you just met someone new. The formalities of names, jobs and the like have been exchanged and you seem to be getting along famously. How Improve Conversion Rates Do you know your conversion rates? Conversion rate is the number of visitors to your site that take the desired action against the total number of visitors in a particular period or time. Research has shown that 60% of websites do not know their conversion rates. Five Things More Important to Buyers than WHAT Youre Selling - I Article I of a two-part series.No matter what customers say they want, what they're really looking for is "something special. If I Wanted To Sell For A Living, I Would Of Majored In It In College By a show of hands, how many of you grew up as a kid saying to yourself, "I can't wait to grow up until I become a salesperson"?Why do people go into sales? Here are some reasons people have given to me and sales managers when they apply for a sales position:? I don't know what else to do in life, so I might as well sell.? I'm tired of my present job of (you fill in the blank), so I guess I'll go into sales; anybody can do it. Why You Buy, Part Three Still more discoveries from the recent studies in behavioral economics:Over-Valuing "Mine"People consistently place a higher value on things they own, even if their "ownership" is temporary. The research is interesting, and I often saw this phenomenum used by salesmen on busses in Ecuador. Clear Up Blurry Communication One of the top brewing companies in America is a consulting client of mine. However, during a seminar for a brewery management team, we were jolted by a "communication wake-up call. Get the Most Out of Your Current Customer The customers you already have could be your biggest lead source, and you may not even realize it.Think about it this way, every customer you have, most likely has brothers, sisters, parents, cousins, and friends, so why not tap into it. The Importance of Good Sales Leads An important part of your business plan should be to generate a steady stream of qualified leads. Making sure that leads flow into your "pipeline" will be one of the most vital aspects of your overall business. 12 Handy Tips for Generating Leads through Cold-Calling Cold calling can be a great way to generate quality leads. You get to speak to the gatekeepers and stakeholders, and you get a great insight into their requirements and influences. Sales Brochures - 9 Steps to Success Even in this day of websites, many customers want to look ata brochure or other form of hard copy. It's importanttherefore that your brochure tells the customer all theyneed to know. Asking The Right Questions On an introductory call, how do you gather all of the information that you need from a prospect? An introductory call is usually fairly short, just a few minutes. You generally do not have the time to thoroughly question your prospect and then also move on to your next step, setting that introductory meeting. |
ChicagoAnimation's Acquisitions: Market Polls - 1pennyStock.com
Sponsors: Paving | VTL's | Religious Statues
