All successful careers need to be built on firm foundations and this is as true of selling as any other profession. We have already discussed the Knowledge, Attitude and Skills that are essential ingredients in success. The most important common ingredient in all selling is people. Without people to sell to, you will not even be able to get started. It has been proved over and over again that the worst salesperson in the world can succeed simply by seeing enough people.
The law of averages is infallible. Keep on talking to enough people, and you are bound to find some who actually want to buy. Some years ago an insurance company in the USA sent out a team of salespeople with a simple approach. They were told to knock on every door in the street and say "You don't want to buy any life insurance, do you?" They found that one in every 52 people they spoke to said "yes" and actually bought a policy on the spot.
Now I am not suggesting that you use a script like that, but you can see that it would not take much to improve it and produce even better results. I am regularly called by telesales people who use a very simple sales scrip; I have on a number of occasions bought simply because they happened to call when I was thinking about to purchasing the product they were selling. If you make sure only that you arrange enough appointments to see prospects every week, you will succeed. Parts 2 and 3 of this book will look at how you can improve the odds by being more selective and using better skills, but the foundation of all success lies in establishing regular habits, doing the right things over and over again.
Learning about your products and markets, being positive about the job and knowing the basic sales skills will enable you to make sales quite successfully. However things will not always go according to plan. Big sales will fall through, you will be tempted to spend too much time on prospects you like, and then you will procrastinate with prospects you don't like.
You will get up on some days and the thought of another 50 cold telephone calls will be enough to send you back to sleep, or into the endless task of sorting out prospect cards, filing, planning areas or market research - in fact anything to avoid speaking to people and making calls. Have you ever experienced trying to do something that you have not done for a long time? Perhaps playing a sport or musical instrument after a long break? Suddenly, the skills that were automatic have gone and you fumble amateurishly to recapture your lost ability.
To become good at anything we need to turn the skill into a habitual operation so that we do it without conscious thought. Then we need to practice, drill and rehearse the skill to maintain that ability. This is how all professional sports people and musicians stay at the top. Hours and hours of practicing the basis skills over and over again. So let's take the basic sales process we looked at in the last chapter and see how we can turn those skills into an automatic process, to ensure that we always have a constant flow of prospects.
Each of the steps in the process is in effect a building block consisting of a range of skills that need to be learnt and practised until they are second nature. Each step has a clear objective. Quantifiable activity targets can be set for each objective. Remember, success in selling derives more from activity than skill. Developing and improving skills will help you to become more successful, as will increasing knowledge, improving attitudes, It is developing regular habits, however, doing the right things over and over that is the foundation of success.
Building the FoundationsThe basic raw material upon which you will build your career or business is people; therefore the first step is 'Finding the Market'. You define the type of people you want to meet and set yourself targets for the number of CONTACTS you want to add to your database (manual records or computer system), each day or week.
Once you have sufficient CONTACTS you begin the next step, 'Approaching the Market', to convert as many as you can into PROSPECTS. Once again you can set a quantifiable target for the number of PROSPECTS,. you want to secure in a day or week.
Once you have APPROACHED each of the CONTACTS and converted a number to PROSPECTS, you immediately need to go and find more CONTACTS. It is a continuous process as you can see from the diagram.
Planned Activity'Finding the Market' and 'Approaching the Market' are the only two steps that need specific activity targets. If you look at your average sales value in income terms, average number of prospects who buy, and average number of CONTACTS who will make appointments, you have all the information you need to set realistic targets.
These first two steps are the only ones over which you have any real control. You can decide to compile a list of as many CONTACTS as you choose. The only limitation will be the actual number of people who have a need for which your product may be a solution. For some products that is virtually unlimited. For others there is a finite market, which means that creating good relationships is even more important.
When it comes to getting appointments the only limitation really is the physical size of your CONTACT database. For example imagine that on reviewing your statistics or your particular industry guidelines, you discover the following averages.
Five telephone calls produce on average one appointment -
Five appointments produce on average one sale
One sale is worth on average £1000.
Now let us assume that you have a sales target of £100,000 for the year and that for ease of maths there are 50 working weeks to a year. Using the averages above results in the following sales activity targets
Annual Sales required - £100,000/£1000 = 100 sales per year
Weekly Sales required - 100 sales/50 weeks = 2 sales per week -
New Appointments - 2 sales x 5 appointments =- 10 Appointments per week
Telephone Calls 10 prospects x 5 telephone calls = 50 Calls per week
That's all there is to it. Well there is more; we can make it easier and that is what this book is all about. The point is, you do not need to worry about the value of individual sales. Work on the averages and keep the activity levels up and the sales will result.
In the simple example above I have assumed that all the sales are to be obtained from new customers. It is likely that a proportion of your business will come from existing customers. The principles are still the same. If you see enough people you will make sales. The trap for salespeople with a high proportion of existing customers is not spending enough time developing new customers.
If ever sale volumes do not meet expectations, track back through the steps in the sales process to identify where it is going wrong and correct it. If the averages have changed simply change the activity targets to get back in balance.
If the conversion rates have dropped maybe you are seeing the wrong people. Maybe you need to look at a different market. Maybe you need to try some different approach techniques. Whatever happens, you are able to monitor the results and correct the situation.
Build your Sales on Firm FoundationsOnce you have made appointments, you proceed to the next step, 'Establishing the Relationship'. Conduct a fact finding interview to identify the need or desire, QUALIFY the PROSPECT, create rapport and begin to build a sound business relationship.
Once you have kept these appointments with your PROSPECTS, you now need to make some more by approaching more CONTACTS. All the time you are building on your foundations and establishing a regular pattern of activity. You are developing a set of good habits which will ensure that you continue to be successful and eliminate recessions and sales slumps from your life.
You continue the process with the next step, 'Completing the Sale'. Convert QUALIFIED PROSPECTS into CUSTOMERS by demonstrating how your products will meet their needs or desires and continue to build the relationship. Of course, you need to immediately replace the QUALIFIED PROSPECTS that you have now converted to CUSTOMERS and so on through the process.
Finally the process is completed, making sure that the CUSTOMER is satisfied by providing a little extra to exceed his or her expectations. This sets the , pattern for future business with this CLIENT.
Daily HabitsNow you will have established a regular work pattern for each day consisting of activity in each of the steps in the sales process, working towards clear objectives and targets. This enables you to monitor your activity, identify weaknesses and take the necessary corrective action.
When you are actively involved in each step of the sales process every day, you ensure that you are practicing your core skills every day. This way you do not get rusty and you will always appear professional and confident with your prospects and clients. Obviously there will be variations depending upon what type of product or service you sell. It may take a few days for a sale to be completed or it may take years. Your specific knowledge and skill in your industry and market will be almost unique, but essentially the process is the same whatever you sell.
In 1991 I found that my sales and income were suffering badly. I could not understand what was going on. Every sale fell through. People did not want to see me. They said "No" on the phone, they cancelled meetings or they went out without letting me know that they would not be there.
I thought it was simply that I, like everyone else, was being hit by the recession and I began to moan about the downturn in business, the problems in my industry Everyone, I argued, was cutting back on training and PR services because of the recession and I soon convinced myself that this was why I was having a hard time. It wasn't really my fault, it was out of my control.
Then one day I was speaking to someone in the same line of business. Our conversation soon got round to the recession and the problems for marketing, PR and sales training consultants. "I'm having my best year ever, " he said. "In recessions everyone needs to increase their sales, so it is a great time to be in this business."
Conversation sort of faded after that. I felt envy, anger, frustration, dismay. How come if he was finding it so easy, I was having such a hard time? I sat down and looked at what I was doing. Suddenly it became very clear. I was not doing what I was teaching. "Physician heal thyself" said Plato.
I set to work immediately doing exactly what I had been telling others to do. I use a contact management system called ACT! and I have details of all my clients, prospects. other contacts and leads stored in the database. I began to look through the database for groups of people who would be needing my services right now. I scheduled 25 to 50 calls every day and 'hit the 'phone'.
At first it was uncomfortable. I didn't like cold calling because everyone seemed to resist. So I made a switch in my attitude. I decided that all I needed to do was make a quick call to see if they were currently interested in looking at ways to increase their sales. I developed a very simple script designed to quickly identify interest and introduce myself.
If they were not interested, I would not waste my time. I'd simply thank them and ask if they would mind if I called again in a couple of months or at some time indicated in their response. I was using a computer to organise all the call lists and automatically schedule the calls for the future so the phone sessions were easy to manage.
Within one month I could not cope with the volume of work I had generated. My days were suddenly spent working with friends, relationships improved and my attitude towards the world transformed. I realised that 'recession is a personal choice'. The way out is to get busy with a systematic approach to business. Making calls every day meant that I was always familiar with the telephone script. I also became ruthless with people who would not make a decision. I was rejecting them! All I needed was a simple yes or no.
"This is what I do, is it something you would be interested in at this time?" If they were interested, I probed further to qualify the prospect and decide whether the potential business warranted a meeting. If so, I fixed an appointment; otherwise I sent some information and scheduled a follow up call. Telesales can be an effective way of making the low margin sales without wasting time.
There is nothing more motivational for a salesperson than to have a diary full of appointments. You don't have time to get depressed about the lost sale because you are too busy getting ready for the next appointment. There will still be good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks. Still times when you don't want to get on the 'phone, when you feel angry about the lost sale, but the momentum will carry you through, onwards to success.
The rest of this book is concerned with some of the more detailed aspects of selling. However the basics are all here. Come back and review part one regularly and remember to use the KASH formula every time you want to try something new.