Ernest Shackleton placed this advert in papers around London in the early 1900’s. You might imagine that the response would be terrible.
Who would be mad enough to seek out a ‘hazardous Journey….with safe return doubtful’?
Well, it seemed to strike a cord with men of the day because the response was overwhelming and Shackleton was oversubscribed for his Antarctic expedition.
2009 and beyond will see fantastic companies flourish. Companies that have great relationships with their customers will continue to grow, take market share and even make market share that did not exist before.
Where are you in this process? If you are not at the top of your game yet then don’t panic. Some focused activity and attention will enable you provide your customers what they really want. But do you know what that is?
Verry often when undertaking a sales consulting project the company is not quite sure what their customers want. When we discuss this and the company sees the importance of this knowledge for their business they immediately think of a brainstorming session, a strategy review and a trends analysis. Whilst these are all excellent ideas there is something else you should be doing first.
As much as I do know about sales, sals techniques, sales approaches and emerging trends in the Industry, there is so much more that I have yet to become acquainted with.
One of the first things I tell delegates on my sales training is that if they are ever in a training and someone stands up and says their way is the only way to do it, then run a mile. Training should be about providing options, different approaches and giving the delegates the confidence to try out differenet ways to see what is right for them.
To help me stay current I spend a lot of my time reading other peoples blogs and news sites. I thought it only right, that I should share with you the top resources that I use. They are not ranked in any particulat order. Rather, just how they come.
Karl Goldfield —– An extremely likeable, tech savvy US blogger and Consultant.
It’s funny but as a sales trainer and consultant it’s very rare that I wear a tie anymore. And do you know what I don’t miss them one iota!
I was reading through a classic sales ‘text book’ from the early 1990’s recently and was caught by the Way that the advise has dated so much in just ten years. I won’t give the name of the book because it was once regarded as the best sales texts books available and it would not be right.
The suggestions when it came to dress were:
‘Mens suits should be solid blue or gray, pinstripe or chalk stripe or modest gray plaid. Wool or polyester that looks like wool, is preffered. The darker the suit, the more authority it carries, although black is funeral. Men’s shirts and ties are important. Generaly, shirts should be white or pale blue or have mdest stripes………The ages of the salesman and the customer he is facing will affect the choice of dress. For salesman, considerbly younger than his customer, particularly buyers over the age forty eight, it is advisable that the salesman adopt the high - authority pattern of a dark suit along with a white shirt.’
Objection handling must be up there with closing as the two most debated parts of the sales process. Much has been written telling you what you should do, what lines to use and how to deliver them.
This article is refreshingly different because it tells you what not to do. There are a few key things that you should never do when faced with an objection. They are:
“The Wrongs”
Don’t pounce: an instant response, sometimes even before the prospect has finished speaking, creates an emotional barrier because it suggests you have not considered what has been said. It also indicates a ‘canned’ answer that you give to every one. People like to be heard and made to feel special and this does not help you do that!
One of the worst experiences at the hands of a so called professional sales person happened recently in a Portsmouth car dealership. See if you think they need sales training
“Can I help you sir?” Dave asked (name changed to protect the not so innocent)
I explained that I was just looking at the new Audi as I may be changing in anything up to 6 months and was interested in the new range. I was stood admiring one of the new range at the time.
“Come over to the desk Sir” as he led me to the far corner of the dealership where he proceeded to look straight into his computer. He made no eye contact with me at all as he asked “name, postcode, telephone number, email address”. Dave was so concerned with getting my details so that he could put me on the database that he made no effort to build rapport, ask me any questions and the worst sin of all – he took me away from the product. A product that I liked the look of, the more time I was examining it.
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The following article was first published in my Sales Newsletter. You should subscribe here — Sales Newsletter
Last year I was in the process of selling my House and had invited a number of Estate Agents around to show me why they should be get my business.The process was an eye opener and one that left me totally unimpressed with some of the Agents I met. They were there to sell me on the benefits of why I should place my house on the market with them yet they could not even sell themselves. One Agent even delighted in telling me:
“Oh no, I’m not a salesman. I try to show them the house and stay out of the way”
My wife, was looking recently for a new gate for our house and had decided on the exact style that she wanted. Jo had seen a set of gates that she liked on a house and had taken some photos so that we could get quotes.
Jo went about scouring the local suppliers and the Internet and came across three blacksmiths/gate manufacturers who seemed to be capable of making the gates. We exchanged a few emails with our potential suppliers as well as pictures of how we wanted the gates to look.
Supplier 1: They came back with a price of around £1,200
Supplier 2: They came back with a price of £650
Supplier 3: Called us on the phone, arranged to come and visit the house to find out what exactly we needed and then quoted £300.
