Nicholas Bate

Selling Without Tears 1-25: 6

6: Value not price. investment not cost. Whether you sell cups of coffee or houses, consultancy or cranes there will ALWAYS be someone cheaper. So don't sell on price. Sell on the value you offer, which requires you and your team to head off to the mountains for a day and get clear: what is the value you offer? And once you have made the sale, ensure that the value promised is fully realised so the customer appreciates they have made an investment (in a great cup of coffee in amiable surroundings or  a beautiful apartment or some cool focused strategic consultancy...) not incurred a cost with which they are not happy. Value not price. Investment not cost.

The Story So Far:

1: Everybody Sells. In the Old World of Work, there was a sales force. There were reps. And everybody could blame them when sales figures were down. It's no longer acceptable. In the New World of Work: we all sell. Why? (1) 

1: Everybody Sells. In the Old World of Work, there was a sales force. There were reps. And everybody could blame them when sales figures were down. It's no longer acceptable. In the New World of Work: we all sell. Why? (1) 

Selling Without Tears 1-25: 4

4: The Truth about closing. Pick up a book at the airport on selling and big chunks will be dedicated to the art of closing. Too often this ought to be sub-titled, how to try and get the order when you didn't do the early work. Closing is not a magic technique, closing is simple the business of constantly checking that you are doing right thing. 'Would that be a fair agenda for the meeting?' 'Do you think you will able to get your boss involved?' 'Tuesday at 10am? Great!' Closing is asking for confirmation. Keep closing. If you get what you wanted (the meeting, the budget information) all well and good. If you don't,  that tells you that another question is needed. Of course there is one final close: that's for the order. But that should be easy if you have done all the other closes. That's the Truth about closing.

The Story So Far:

1: Everybody Sells. In the Old World of Work, there was a sales force. There were reps. And everybody could blame them when sales figures were down. It's no longer acceptable. In the New World of Work: we all sell. Why? (1) because we all see opportunities (2) we are all part of the chain of decisions with which a customer interacts. That's the commercial angle. But there's a pragmatic angle, too: if you know how to sell, you can sell your ideas and you can sell yourself. And above all you'll be a lot more essential to an organisation than the person who doesn't add value to their role by knowing how to sell. Everybody Sells.

4: The Truth about closing. Pick up a book at the airport on selling and big chunks will be dedicated to the art of closing. Too often this ought to be sub-titled, how to try and get the order when you didn't do the early work. Closing is not a magic technique, closing is simple the business of constantly checking that you are doing right thing. 'Would that be a fair agenda for the meeting?' 'Do you think you will able to get your boss involved?' 'Tuesday at 10am? Great!' Closing is asking for confirmation. Keep closing. If you get what you wanted (the meeting, the budget information) all well and good. If you don't,  that tells you that another question is needed. Of course there is one final close: that's for the order. But that should be easy if you have done all the other closes. That's the Truth about closing.

The Story So Far:

1: Everybody Sells. In the Old World of Work, there was a sales force. There were reps. And everybody could blame them when sales figures were down. It's no longer acceptable. In the New World of Work: we all sell. Why? (1) because we all see opportunities (2) we are all part of the chain of decisions with which a customer interacts. That's the commercial angle. But there's a pragmatic angle, too: if you know how to sell, you can sell your ideas and you can sell yourself. And above all you'll be a lot more essential to an organisation than the person who doesn't add value to their role by knowing how to sell. Everybody Sells.

4: The Truth about closing. Pick up a book at the airport on selling and big chunks will be dedicated to the art of closing. Too often this ought to be sub-titled, how to try and get the order when you didn't do the early work. Closing is not a magic technique, closing is simple the business of constantly checking that you are doing right thing. 'Would that be a fair agenda for the meeting?' 'Do you think you will able to get your boss involved?' 'Tuesday at 10am? Great!' Closing is asking for confirmation. Keep closing. If you get what you wanted (the meeting, the budget information) all well and good. If you don't,  that tells you that another question is needed. Of course there is one final close: that's for the order. But that should be easy if you have done all the other closes. That's the Truth about closing.

The Story So Far:

1: Everybody Sells. In the Old World of Work, there was a sales force. There were reps. And everybody could blame them when sales figures were down. It's no longer acceptable. In the New World of Work: we all sell. Why? (1) because we all see opportunities (2) we are all part of the chain of decisions with which a customer interacts. That's the commercial angle. But there's a pragmatic angle, too: if you know how to sell, you can sell your ideas and you can sell yourself. And above all you'll be a lot more essential to an organisation than the person who doesn't add value to their role by knowing how to sell. Everybody Sells.

Selling Without Tears 1-25: 3

3: The Number 1 Issue in Their Life. When you finish that telephone call, when you leave that meeting, your prospect is immediately NOT thinking about you (well, 98% of the time anyway). It's not that they don't want to buy your solution, its just well, there are  few other things happening at the moment. The thing about selling is not just meeting or creating a need BUT making it the number 1 need in their life at the moment. And how do you do that? By asking questions which ensure they both realise the benefits of proceeding but also the consequences of not acting. E.g. 'and just out of interest what will your competition be doing if you don't improve your on-line ordering methodologies?'The Number 1 Issue in Their Life.

The Story So Far:

1: Everybody Sells. In the Old World of Work, there was a sales force. There were reps. And everybody could blame them when sales figures were down. It's no longer acceptable. In the New World of Work: we all sell. Why? (1) because we all see opportunities (2) we are all part of the chain of decisions with which a customer interacts. That's the commercial angle. But there's a pragmatic angle, too: if you know how to sell, you can sell your ideas and you can sell yourself. And above all you'll be a lot more essential to an organisation than the person who doesn't add value to their role by knowing how to sell. Everybody Sells.

3: The Number 1 Issue in Their Life. When you finish that telephone call, when you leave that meeting, your prospect is immediately NOT thinking about you (well, 98% of the time anyway). It's not that they don't want to buy your solution, its just well, there are  few other things happening at the moment. The thing about selling is not just meeting or creating a need BUT making it the number 1 need in their life at the moment. And how do you do that? By asking questions which ensure they both realise the benefits of proceeding but also the consequences of not acting. E.g. 'and just out of interest what will your competition be doing if you don't improve your on-line ordering methodologies?'The Number 1 Issue in Their Life.

The Story So Far:

1: Everybody Sells. In the Old World of Work, there was a sales force. There were reps. And everybody could blame them when sales figures were down. It's no longer acceptable. In the New World of Work: we all sell. Why? (1) because we all see opportunities (2) we are all part of the chain of decisions with which a customer interacts. That's the commercial angle. But there's a pragmatic angle, too: if you know how to sell, you can sell your ideas and you can sell yourself. And above all you'll be a lot more essential to an organisation than the person who doesn't add value to their role by knowing how to sell. Everybody Sells.

Selling Without Tears 1-25: 2

2: Logic and Emotion. We sell to provide for needs and wants.  Cups of coffee, new cars and insurance policies. But needs and wants are both logical and emotional. The logical need for a 'cup of coffee to go' is a hot drink/shot of caffeine/wake me up. The emotional need then dictates which brand or coffee shop we choose. The logical need for a home is a basic survival need. The emotional need is a nice area for the kids/impress work mates/view of the mountains. When we sell, be it product, idea or ourselves we must remember there are two kinds of needs and wants. Both must be met for a successful sale. Logic and Emotion.

The Story So Far:

Monday's Advantage over The Competition 7

1. They're tired.
2. They're fussing about who'll go out and get coffees.
3. They're gossiping.
4. They're wondering how low they can take their price in the tender.
5. They're scavenging an old slide-deck for this afternoon's pitch.
6. They're order-takers (if they are lucky). 
7. Meanwhile, your team is : pumped, closing down September's target, broaching business for October, planning  a mid-week training session for next week. Your team is selling. And it's still only 0947.

Selling Without Tears 1-25: 1

1: Everybody Sells. In the Old World of Work, there was a sales force. There were reps. And everybody could blame them when sales figures were down. It's no longer acceptable. In the New World of Work: we all sell. Why? (1) because we all see opportunities (2) we are all part of the chain of decisions with which a customer interacts. That's the commercial angle. But there's a pragmatic angle, too: if you know how to sell, you can sell your ideas and you can sell yourself. And above all you'll be a lot more essential to an organisation than the person who doesn't add value to their role by knowing how to sell. Everybody Sells.

Selling in Tough Times 7

1. Sure there must be benefits to the purchaser but those benefits must outweigh the benefit of keeping their money in their pocket. Practise that argumentation thoroughly at a team meeting, soon.
2. Stay close to any enquiry. Always have a reason for following-up and calling again. People don't just by logically-they buy emotionally too: were you easy to buy from?
3. Don't assume anything. They may have bought from you the last 6 out of 7 times. Doesn't  mean a thing.
4. Learn. Win or lose the business, what's working for you? 
5. There is no perfect time in the day to making some calls apart from now. The coffee can wait. 
6. Objections are handled by good questions at the start of the sale, not clever techniques at the end of the sale. 
7. Everybody in your business must understand they are there to sell. 

So, Your Sales People Are Not Brilliant....

(currently) that's good news. Because if you train, coach and inspire them you can be making even more money. Set aside some training sessions on objection handling, presenting and cold calling. Book some coaching sessions for fine tuning. And catch them doing things right to inspire. Work on your business as well as in your business.

The Competition Have Got You Seriously Rattled If You 7

1. Believe you will have to reduce your prices to be lower than theirs in order to win the business.
2. Discovered yourself talking about them to your new girlfriend (the cute one with the freckles) in the queue for the cinema.
3. Keep e-mailing product marketing with requests to ‘match the competition’.
4. Give them too much air-time at team meetings.
5. Actually believe the competition’s quoted market-share figures.
6. Have seriously considered applying for a job with them. Twice.
7. Wear one of their T-shirts to bed (rather than using it for cleaning the car).

Say Sorry

Often those who receive your call of complaint are very reluctant to 'say sorry' for fear of some legal obligation. So conversations can spend 20 minutes or more avoiding the word. It's ironic as often all the consumer wants is a simple apology, said with feeling. As that means: we do regret what we did, we do feel some remorse and we do take ownership. The refund is nice but it actually so often means 'get off our back' and don't bother us any more.

Seriously consider saying sorry at the right time and the right place. It creates a happier shopper ultimately and we all want lots of those.