Is everyone in your Company selling?
by Keith Gooden
In today’s competitive and uncertain business environment, it is imperative that everyone in each company assume some sales responsibility. I know that many of you who are reading this article might be saying that “I am not a salesperson”, “I can’t sell anything”, and therefore look upon this statement as being trivial. This is far from being trivial or unimportant, as I will explain to you in a moment.
Years ago when sales people use to be able to call on an account and say, “How much of this product do you want?” or “I am going to send you 2 cases or 5 cases of this product” and the owner/manager just go ahead and approve the order without much dialogue or conversation, cannot happen anymore. Since more and more managers/buyers are more sophisticated, along with the fact that consumers are more educated and discerning, it will take much more than a smile and nice personality to sell your product (not that these are not good qualities to have as salespeople). It takes persistence, knowledge about the customer’s need, what are their pains, who make the buying decision, what is the decision-making process, and do they have a reason to purchase your goods or service. In other words, will your product or service be satifying a need that is not being fulfilled presently.
The reason why it is important that everyone in your company sells is as important as developing leaders at all levels of the organization. Now, what I am advocating is not that everyone should be visiting customers and making all kinds of sales presentation when that is not what they are trained to do on a daily basis. What I am saying is that everyone that works for a company is a representative on that company and therefore must tell everyone they meet about that company and their products or services in every opportunity. That does not take away from those people who are hired in the company to sell. That is their job and they should increase the activity during these difficult economic times, not slow down. Why? During difficult economic times, it is easier to make a sale because most people who should be out there selling, is actually doing something else. They tend to shift their attention away from selling and that gives opportunity to those who are focused and motivated to grab that chance to make a sale.
Those who are not in the sales department must have a 30 second script as to who they are, what their company does and how they have helped other companies in that specific business sector. Here is an example of a 30 second script for non-sales person. “My name is John Class and I work for ABC Technical Company that is located in Anyway, Florida. My company works with business by providing them with technical solutions that starts from computer software, hardware and networking capabilities. We go in to each company and work with the technical staff and develop a plan that is designed and implemented by both company’s technicians. We have been rated #1 in our business over the last five years, with a satisfaction rating of 95%, which is one of the highest in the sector. If you want additional information, I would be willing to give you a call to discuss how ABC Technical can be of help to you”. The same thing must happen for each sales person that works in your company. They must also have their 30 second sales pitch that is committed to memory and should be given to everyone that comes within three feet of them.
Because no company is immune to slumping sales during hard economical times, it is imperative that sales people are motivated to increase their activity and change their negative attitude to positive. It is during these hard times that those who are good and have the proper attitude succeed. Here are a few things to focus on that can help you and your sales people during these hard times.
- Change your attitude – This is not surprising, because the more the economic situation gets worse, the more we feel that it will be harder to make a living selling. We feel that more people will say no during economical downturn compared to good economical times. That is far from the truth.
- Clarify all objections – It is natural that most prospects come up with several objections before making a buying decision. Most prospects use objections, “too expensive”, “I don’t have any time”, “I have tried it before and it don’t work”, etc. as smokescreens. We must clarify these excuses in order to get down to the real reason why they are not buying. During this phase, you can say to your prospect “tell me more”, “Is there anything else?” or “Which one of those things are the most important to you?” Probe deeper to get to the real reason that is stopping them from making a decision.
- Expand your market – In a previous article I spoke about defining your market. Well, when you are faced with critical decisions in these hard economical times, it is better to look at expanding your market beyond what you usually service. That would mean making an external analysis of where you would be able to sell your goods or service without much additional cost. If you can get a fair return on your investment, then you should pursue that other market.
- Provide Incentives – Not only should you provide an incentive to your sales people, you should also think of ways to provide incentives to your customer. This can be in the form of discounts, rebates or additional products on volume sales.
- Deliver more than is expected – During difficult times people are expecting to get value for their money. If your company can deliver value to customers, you will be able to sustain business during difficult times.
Because we all know that in difficult economic times people are more reluctant to spend their money, sales people have to be creative and think outside the box to survive. This is what they do day in and day out, so they should not be scared by what the media is saying about the economy. Instead during these hard times, sales people should change their attitude, adjust their strategy and stay out of the office. Somebody, somewhere needs their product or service and they would be missing out if you thought that no one would want to buy their product or service. So, get up, get out and start selling in these difficult times.
Keith Gooden is a business advisor who works with small to medium size businesses and focuses in the areas of sales, marketing, strategic planning, customer service, personnel training/management and business operations. You can reach him by e-mail at keith@ecardcorporation.com and he can be reached at (407)446-2419 |
