by: Geoff Ficke

Making a Minor Product Usage Change Can Propel Major Sales Advances

In the middle of the 20th century pre-packaged foods and mixes were not as ubiquitous as they are today. Typically, a middle class home had a housewife present and preparing her families meals from scratch. The advent of mass-market consumerism would rapidly change this tradition. 

General Mills was a pioneer in developing and selling prepared food products. The Company Marketed first offered a line of dried cake mixes in the 1940′s and the convenience that these products provided was thought to be a sure fire winner. Sales were initially acceptable but not sensational. General Mills Marketing Managers could not understand what the missing element was that would make sales sizzle. 

The great Marketing Guru, the Austrian Ernest Dichter was hired by General Mills to analyze the prepared cake mix business. Mr. Dichter is credited with creating such Marketing breakthroughs as the Focus Group and Behavioral Science as applied to Consumerism. He began his analysis of the products and housewives reaction to them in his normal analytical fashion. 

Immediately he noticed that though the cakes baked utilizing the mixes were acceptable, they were dismissed by many housewives as not being as tasty, or velvety as cakes baked from scratch using natural ingredients. General Mills was very aggressive in promoting that the cake mix powder contained dried eggs. Mr. Dichter saw an opportunity. 

Many selling professionals and even entrepreneurs are constrained with trying to meet their weekly and annual goals. Times are difficult and challenging and the need to meet quota goals is stressful. There are a number of things one can do to help ease the pressure and ensure they meet goals.

Feedback – One of the necessary rules of selling is constant feedback from management. It is flabbergasting to me when employees do not understand their goal placement midway through the year and even more disconcerting when management communication only occurs in the fourth quarter. Feedback is vital for continued success.

Metrics – It is interesting to view how sales are measured, some in calls per day, earned commissions and goals by management. It is vital that selling professionals must be involved in this strategic process. Management derives numbers based on stakeholder value yet might not be familiar enough to denote territory growth. Second, sales must never be measured in calls per day. Once former client drives its sales team to make 50 calls per day. Professionals are prohibited from making personal calls. One will get stressed and burn out quickly. To combat attrition, sales cannot be measured in call production but rather the true value- sales. If a selling professional makes quota after five calls does this denote failure. Rethink your selling metrics.

Selling as Sport – Selling your business or your firm’s product required unending passion. It is baffling to find selling professionals that believe they work an eight-hour day. Selling is a profession and a sport. You must love what you do and love what you sell. The latter denotes that selling is a twenty four hour 365-day process. While it does not mean you cannot turn off and relax in order to be the best in your field you must be selling all the time.

Differentiation – Today’s selling professional must be more astute and different from the competition. There is way too much of it. To be heard over the pandemonium, it is paramount for selling professionals to be different. For one, refrain from cold calling everyone does it and no one is successful. When was the last time you noticed a wealthy cold calling insurance agent? Refrain from networking events. Too many professionals frequent events to visit old friends. That is for the weekend. Attend events that will garner opportunities for business. Be artful and discover new opportunities to be different from the crowd.

Reach Decision Makers – The greatest challenge of any business professional is meeting with the person that can make the ultimate purchase decision. Refrain from spending too much time with people that will not or cannot provide opportunities. Your first question during the prospecting stage is to decipher who the decision maker is. Ask the question, “How is a decision made within the organization”. Or, “Who in your organization is responsible for making the ultimate decision?”

Closing – Too many professionals find it difficult to ask the question, “Do you want to buy one”? Sales are made with closing. Get immediate commitment. It is vital that you ask the question. “Is there anything preventing our working together at this point?” or “How quickly are you ready to being once you review the proposal?” Gain commitment and close quicker.

Value – Prospects are more willing to accept you if you come prepared to assist them with value. Speak to them from the understanding of the value you provide that corrects the current client condition. Prospects seek remedies to current pains and better and faster sales will come by illustrating how your product/service improves the condition.

Customer Loyalty – Loyal customers return, consistently and regularly. Loyal customers tell others and loyal customers make your job easier. When you service clients from inception through sales to service you enthrall them with opportunities that create memorable emotions. Consumers act on emtion, the kind that makes the experience acceptable and memorable. Prospective clients will flock due to word of mouth and the buzz that surrounds you.

Selling today is similar to climbing a mountain with swim trunks while carrying a tiffany glass. You must be more agile than you competitors and more aggressive too. Differentiation sets you apart from competitors. Dissident attitudes and behaviors garner attention and instigate change. If sales are stalled, instill change and create new results!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/why-you-are-not-meeting-sales-quota-260346.html

This is something that we do cover inside of the academy for our paid members. 

I thought that it would be a great idea to do a show about it today because we have gotten many questions on it recently.  A couple of interview requests online have asked the same question as well.

For the New Year of 2011, we wanted to give you 6 killer tips on how to get promoted into sales management if you are a sales person right now.  If you are a sales manager now, this is something that you may want to advise your ambitious sales people on.  One of the roles of a sales manager is to find out what their career goals are.  You, as a sales manager has the unique opportunity to mentor and assist those sales people that have the potential leadership qualities that may be a good candidate for sales management or maybe some other position within the organization that you work for.  So this applies to you as well.

6 Killer Tips to Get Promoted To Sales Management

1. Achieve success in your current sales role

The greatest sales people in the world don’t always become the greatest sales managers.

Just like the greatest baseball players don’t necessarily make the greatest coaches.  Or maybe the greatest football players don’t necessarily become the best football coaches.  Nonetheless, in order for you to get promoted, you do have to catch the eye of your superiors, in this case your sales manager, or your boss’s boss, or maybe the GM, or VP of sales.

The best way to do that as a sales person is to excel in the sales role.  It is not necessarily a pre-requisite for great sales management, but it certainly puts you in a tremendous position to succeed.  Anything that you can do to increase your effectiveness as a sales person, and continue to produce results consistently, year in and year out, quarter in and quarter out, whatever the timetable is for your organization, it will certainly get the higher ups in your organization to stand up and take notice and think, “hey maybe this is a person who potentially could move into management at some point in time.  He certainly knows how to sell; maybe he could pass this on to the sales people in his charge once he gets promoted.”

Number 1 is to excel in your current sales role.

Volunteer and initiate

Someone told me these very early in my career; to take on new responsibilities.  Do things that the average person just isn’t doing.

 Maybe there is a sales meeting coming up and your sales manager is probably creating 4 or 5 different presentations, maybe he/she is looking for creative input on the agenda.  The best thing to do is to approach him/her and ask if there is anything that you could do at the next sales meeting.   Maybe doing a case study on one of your successful sales calls, or  how to prospect, or maybe an in-depth discussion on a particular product and how you are using that to sell more effectively, or  maybe something like a targeting strategy session that you spearhead, something like that.  The first thing that I did when I wanted to become a sales manager in a very small organization is that I would always ask my sales manager what I could do.   He said that he wanted me to do something on a ½ hour on something that I could make up.  If you have a sales manager that is willing to let you do that, the obviously he trusts you and has faith in your judgment.   I chose a topic called “Micro Opportunities:  How to Make the Best of Your 2 Minute Sales Call”.  I did it in about a half hour.  It didn’t necessarily lead to my promotion, but it showed that I was ready to take on the additional responsibility and/or maybe a supervisory position.

Did that one initiation help me get promoted?  It certainly didn’t hurt.  Because I did well in that first presentation, and I prepared for it quite extensively, he gave me other opportunities to do other things in the organization that definitely led to my promotion.  If you are a sales manager, encourage your people to do this, it will lighten your load at a sales meeting.  Who doesn’t like another presentation done by somebody else?

But if you are a sales person looking to enhance your own visibility and put you in a position to be promoted, this can be a great tool.

Use your sales manager

This is something that a lot of people don’t do.  Maybe they feel that their sales manager will take it in the wrong way, but it is important to tell your sales manager that you are ambitious and that you want to become a sales manager and move into the next role.

Ask them to be mentored.  Talk to them about your goals and ask for honest feedback.  Ask, “What do you think that I need to work on for better ability lead other sales people?  What do you think that I should do?”  Solicit their feedback.

Use your sales manager, they are in is in a position that you want to be in, so ask them quite frankly, “What do you think my areas of opportunities are?  What do you think I need to work on?”  Then, on the Monday call in ask, “Hey were there any challenging sales management problems this week?  Can we talk about them without breaching confidentiality with the other sales reps?  Maybe we can talk about them in a case-study format?” 

Use your sales manager.

Get to know people within the organization

This isn’t brown nosing.  This is just a good way of doing business.  Get to know as many people as you can within the organization, especially your sales manager.  Also get to understand them.  Get to know your sales managers boss.

Then, what a lot of sales managers neglect, get to know the other sales managers in your organization.  Use the regional sales meetings as an opportunity to chit chat with them at the bar.  At a lot of organization, they use the input of other sales managers, not just the direct sales manager, but other sales managers and they ask “hey what do you think of this guy/gal for the sales promotion in Chicago?”  Sales manager, not just your sales managers could have influence over your position; get to know them.  This will certainly put you in a good position, so that you have credibility and character references.    Obviously if you’ve done well in number 1, others will see that you’ve done well in your sales career, so why not give them this opportunity.

Get to know people in your organization.

Education

This seems like an obvious topic, but a lot of sales managers and people forget about this.  They think as soon as I get into the role, then I’ll figure out learn how to become a manager, but it is better to start getting educated first.

Figure out what your role and style are.  Sometimes the best way to do this is to think of certain sales/management situations and think about how would I handle that if I were him/her?  Think about what your style is.  If you are very friendly, open, and gregarious, maybe then that is your sales style.  If you are more serious, direct and to the point, maybe that is what your style is.  Figure out what your style is and then pick up education, and take some classes.

 Another idea is to join some paid membership sites as well, such as The Sales Management Mastery Academy; it is a good way to pick up ideas on motivating, leading and coaching people.

You can even use that as a reference in your interview saying, “I have taken all seven courses in the Sales Management Mastery Academy and this is how I am preparing myself”.   Something like that is very effective.

There are hundreds of sites, and I encourage you to look at them all.  This is certainly something that could prove very effective.  You will show that you are serious and that you have done your homework if you have thought about how you would handle certain situations, and you have identified your sales management style. 

Through the academy we talk about the practice being more of who you are and not some other management style because your sales people will see through that very quickly and you’ll become an ineffective sales leader as a result.

Visualize how you would handle future situations

If you do the education and then you start to think, you are talking to one of your cohorts, and they are explaining a challenge.   Instead of giving them advice, think about; “How would I handle this situation if I were the sales manager?  How would I like it to be handled?”

You may not know how your friend is motivated or how best to coach them, or how best they should be led, all of these things that you will learn, but you can start to think about how you would handle the situations, using some of the education that you have picked up, or using some of the books you have read, or using information from sites you have visited, or through bogs you have visited, so by visualizing how you would handle things, in advance of them happening, that is really how you are best prepared for them. 

Granted once you become a sales manager, you are going to come in contact with situations and experiences that are new and that you have never encountered before, and every day you will see things that you have never seen before, but you can relate these experiences to other experiences that you have had.  By visualizing things in advance it helps you prepare for situations that will occur once you are handed that opportunity to be promoted into sales management.

To Review:

1. Do well in your sales role.  Achieve a tremendous level of success to get you noticed
2. Volunteer and initiate at every chance you can
3. Use your sales manger, and ask to be mentored by them
4. Get to know the people within your organization
5. Gain some education by doing some research, participate in training,  reading some books, join a blog and listening to this show, becoming a member of The Sales Management Academy
6. Visualize how you will handle individual situation when you do become a sales manger.  Use your colleagues as a sounding board.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/6-killer-tips-to-get-promoted-to-sales-management-in-2011-4103400.html

Especially in this economy, so many of my clients and people I meet at speaking engagements are asking “how do I close more sales?” They share the struggles they are having getting customers to commit, and I agree it is more challenging in this day and age then it has probably been in the last ten years.

It is more challenging now, because consumers are more cautious, they have more options and they want value for the money they are spending and time they are investing. It is more challenging now, because we are truly selling. For the last ten years or so it has truly been a sellers market. Meaning, that cash and credit were plenty, people wanted to buy, and no one seem to be too worried about the need to save or over abundance. With the crash of the housing market, failure of the banks, and rise in unemployment all that has changed.

Does that mean you can’t close sales right now, or that you can’t grow a business? Absolutely not! In fact, if you truly understand relationships and know how to sell (build relationships, listen to consumers, and add value and build trust) it is one of the best times!

However, you are right, it is more challenging then ever to close the deal and get consumers to commit. As you have heard me say before, there is no magic bullet, no perfect saying that gets consumers to all of a sudden say YES. The close comes simply by doing your job on the front end. Preparing for the call, asking great questions, really listening to the consumer, and following up.  If the consumer will not close the deal, then most likely there is a break down in your system (that is why we track and measure, so we can learn where the deal is getting stuck or why it will not close.)

There is a great book called “Get Clients Now” in which author CJ Hayden lays out some reasons you may struggle to get the consumer to close.
1. You are not using the right words – consumers don’t understand how you can help them.
2. Your phone skills are not up to speed – you are nervous or unprepared when you get on the phone, and aren’t able to engage people in the conversation.
3. The prospects you are talking to are not qualified – they don’t have a need, can’t pay or are not at a point where what you offer is their top priority.
4. You aren’t well-known enough – have not been recommended – prospects have a lot of choices, your lack of image and recommendations will hinder your ability to close the deal
5. Your competition seems to have the market locked up – your prospects are being well-served by others
6. You are offering what you think your prospects need instead of what they think they need – you are solving the wrong problem
7. Your packaging doesn’t make sense or work for your prospect – you may be charging by the hour and they want to pay a flat fee, or your prospects wants to start with one or two of your services and you are offering only a full package.
8. You are offering so many products or services your customer is confused trying to figure how what exactly you do or how you can help.

I think an inability to close sales always comes down to one thing, your ability to listen. If you want to close sales, you need to figure out why (listen) your prospect isn’t buying, and then adjust your approach based on that reason.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/the-key-to-closing-sales-listen-3529149.html

These are the times that try retailers’ souls. Unemployment is at a 14-year high, consumer confidence is at an all-time low, and the stock market has yet to mellow out. If you own a retail store, you’re not sure what sales numbers to expect this holiday season. Should the stronger-than-expected Black Friday sales give you hope that holiday goodwill could trump the much-vaunted bad economy and surprise savvy retailers with a healthy (if not spectacular) shopping season? Or will shoppers stay away from stores now that the Black Friday deals have come and gone?

Why not ignore all of this economic bad news, let your more positive way of thinking win out, and just say “no” to the recession?

I’ve been noticing lately that the restaurants I go to are still full of patrons. And when the ski shop in my town had its preseason sale, its parking lot was full. And a good friend of mine, a real estate broker, just told me she had one of her best months in three years. My point? People are still buying stuff, big and small. And it’s not like Christmas was cancelled this year, so people will keep on buying. It’s your job to make sure they are buying stuff from you.

In other words, you can no longer use the bad economy as an excuse for not doing well. In fact, overall retail sales are much better than recorded because of two simple reasons:

• Gift cards have become a best-selling gift. However, they are not counted as retail sales until they are redeemed. So, many of these sales will not show up on the books until after the holidays, and as we know, not everyone redeems all of their gift cards.

• The biggest growth in retailing has been from the Internet. Those numbers are never included when retailers report same store sales.

Retailers who have a successful holiday season will be the ones who simply tune out the bad news and do everything they can to keep their doors open.

Poor management puts stores out of business, not economic climates. Recessions reward the flexible and nimble. There is business out there to be had, and I believe sharp retailers can achieve great sales numbers now despite the economy. They need to adopt the attitude displayed by a store owner who recently posted in response to my weekly Q&A session, Retailer’s Advantage. He said, “We choose NOT to participate in the recession.” The more store owners who mimic his resolve the better.

To make the most of the slow economy, retail store owners should get back to the basics. Here are a few suggestions:

Bring them in with hot items. To get customers into your store this holiday season and after, you must offer them merchandise they simply can’t turn down. Stock your shelves with items that have the Wow Factor and thus send customers into an “I have to have that” or an “I must give that as a gift this year” buying frenzy. Once you’ve identified the “hot” items for the season, determine which ones are the best fit for your store. Then research which other stores in your area sell those products. If you can become the sole seller of a certain “hot” item in your area, you will be in great shape. Providing great merchandise that’s heavy on the “hot” items for a given period will be your trump card for surviving any recession. Don’t you forget it!

Make your store the place to get the best stuff. Too many retailers put price first and item second. Reverse it—always put the item first and the price second. But do remember, this doesn’t mean that you can stick your head in the sand about price. I was at the airport in Louisville recently, and as I was walking past the PGA store, I noticed they had a table out in front with some terrific buys. I was shocked when I saw a sweater I liked for only $9.99. I quickly tried it on and decided at that price I had to buy it. As I was checking out, a store employee suggested another sweater that was $39.99. And since I already had my wallet out I figured I might as well buy it too.

My point is that pretty much everyone has a hard time resisting a good sale. So, get in touch with your vendors and see what buys they’re offering for cheap these days. And don’t be afraid to do some negotiating if necessary. Many of your vendors will be willing to sell cheap because of the slow economy. By including items in your inventory that you’ve purchased from your vendors on the cheap, you’ll be able to tempt your customers to part with their cash.

Give them something to talk about. Strong businesses are built on word-of-mouth advertising. The kicker is that in order for word-of-mouth advertising to work, you have to get people talking about your store. A great way to do that is through creative promotions, eye-catching window displays, in-store contests, and of course, all that great merchandise. All of these things are what make you different from the competition and what make your store stand out in the eyes of your customers.

The holidays are a great opportunity to use promotional activities to excite your customers and generate enthusiastic word of mouth. For example, offer a discount on a certain weekend to anyone brave enough to come to your store dressed as a holiday-related personality or character. Or partner with a nearby bakery and offer delicious holiday treats for shoppers along with a coupon that gives a discount at the bakery to every customer who buys in your store that day.

Stay in front of your customers. If you don’t already ask your customers for contact information when they buy from you, now is the time to start. Simply following up with past customers to ask how they like an item they recently purchased, to inform them about an upcoming sale, or to offer them special discounts is a great way to capture the fruit closest to the ground during a tough economy. You’ll tempt them into coming in again and making a purchase without giving away the store.

The key to having your existing customers come back to your store lies in you and your salespeople mastering the Art of the Friendly Reminder. I have seen stores have huge increases just by requiring their employees to make follow-up phone calls to customers. For example, if a customer recently purchased new cookware from your store, have a sales associate follow up with her to see how she is enjoying it and let her know that you just received a great shipment of cooking utensils or cookbooks.

Introduce the discount-later sales technique. There is a relatively new promotional idea that is being adopted by many retailers with a great deal of success. Here’s how it works: A customer makes a purchase for a certain amount, let’s say it’s $105. Because she’s reached the sales mark of $100 or more, you, the store, give her a coupon for 15 or 20 percent off of her next purchase. The kicker is the coupon cannot be used the day of the initial sale and is valid for only the next six days.

These kinds of deals are proving to be very effective. They give customers a compelling reason to come back to you and come back soon, while that sweater or purse or espresso machine she thought about but didn’t buy is still fresh on her mind. In fact, studies show that the return rate on these discounts is over 70 percent. That is a pretty significant success rate that will help you bring in a bunch of customers who may not have come back at all.

Sell every person who walks through the door. Remember, it is your job to maximize every customer who walks through your doors. You might be rolling your eyes at the impossibility of that proposal, but these tough times require a change in attitude. And yes, you can do this without being too aggressive or pushy.

Keep in mind that if someone enters your store, the potential exists for him to buy simply because he is in your store. Take the time to train your sales associates on how to engage your shoppers without alienating them. Remind them that just selling one item to one customer is not good enough and that the store benefits the most when a customer buys multiple items. So, make sure the phrase “May I also show you our fill-in-the-blank?” becomes second nature to them.

I believe we are about to observe an unprecedented period of growth. But in order to take part in that growth, you have to be around to see it, and that means taking the right steps now. Block out the naysayers who say you can’t be successful in this economic climate and ignore your own negative thoughts. If you take on a positive attitude and stay focused on doing everything you can to please and impress your customers, you will weather the economic storm.

# # #

About the Author:

Rick Segel, CSP, a seasoned retailer of 25 years, owned one of New England’s most successful independent women’s specialty stores. He is the marketing expert for Staples.com, a contributing writer for numerous national publications, and a founding member of the Retail Advisory Council for Johnson & Wales University. Rick is the director of retail training for the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. He is the creator of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts Awards of Excellence Program (RAMAEs) that has recognized over 50 of the most innovative retailers in the state.

Rick is currently serving on the Boards of Directors for five corporations and associations. After authoring and developing The Retail Technology Assessment Survey and The Retail Store Assessment Survey, online assessment applications designed for small- to medium-sized retailers, he created The Retailer’s Advantage, a membership website devoted to helping independent retailers improve their businesses.

CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation from the National Speakers Association, an elite rank held by only 7 percent of professional speakers. Rick is a past president of the New England Speakers Association, and he has been a featured speaker in 49 states, and on four continents, delivering over 1,900 presentations.

Rick has authored nine books, two training videos, and a six-hour audio program. Retail Business Kit For Dummies, published by Wiley, Inc., became the #1 selling retail how-to book in the United States in January 2002 and is now in its 2nd edition. Laugh & Get Rich: How to Profit from Humor in Any Business, published by Specific House, has been critically acclaimed as a must-read for its insightful outlook at our entertainment-based society and has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. The Essential Online Solution: The Five Step Formula for Small Business Success, published by Wiley, Inc., is a primer for business owners on creating e-commerce success. He is also the author of Rick Segel’s Retail Inventory Control Solution: Open to Thrive and The 5,000 BEST Sale & Promotional Names & Ideas Ever Compiled and co-author of Retailing in the 21st Century. Most recently, he authored WOW Them Into Your Store: The Art and Science of Creating Powerful Promotions and Sensational Sales and Becoming the Vendor of Choice: The Secrets to Powerful Retail Relationships, both published by Specific House.

Rick also has tons of experience with the media and has appeared on TV, radio, and in many print articles. His down-to-earth, street-smart approach to business makes him a crowd pleaser wherever he goes.

About the Book:

Retail Business Kit For Dummies®, 2nd Edition (Wiley, September 2008, ISBN: 978-0-470-29330-0, $34.99) is available at bookstores nationwide and from all major online booksellers.

For more information, please visit www.RickSegel.com.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/customer-service-articles/just-say-no-to-the-recession-a-refresher-course-for-retailers-who-want-to-boom-rather-than-bomb-this-holiday-season-667866.html

The first step in achieving big sales is to make a list of companies who are really good and fit your company, products and services. The list will include all demographics and psychographics pertinent details of the companies, such as private or public, annual turnover, profit/loss, employee strength, nature of products or services, names and biodata of executives, reputation, if they invest in their people, etc. A list of about 100 companies will be adequate to start with.

Using this basic list, dig deeper and get more information about each of the companies by going through their balance sheets, industrial reports, news from print and digital media, and personal discussions with friends and employees and so on. Use this information to make a smaller list of about 25 big companies, depending upon the size and capacity of your own company.

Using this list as a starting point, scout around for selling opportunities for your products and services in any of these companies. When opportunities present themselves, start taking appropriate action by replying to inquiries, RFP’s, etc. and then follow it up.

New buying strategies:

Most big companies have changed their buying strategies. No longer is buying made by one-to-one contacts between the individual buyer and seller. Instead, big companies now have a team of executives to consult and decide on matters like change of suppliers or purchase of a new product or service or other similar matters. The buying team will have at least one high level executive and stakeholders from various concerned departments like finance, labor, R&D, IT, HRD, and so on. While typically executives have the power to say “yes,” they prefer to have all the stakeholders bless the decision. The object of this exercise is not only to make the correct decision but also to eliminate risks to the business.

The small-mid size company, which is the seller in this case, should also have its own team of executives and specialists, who will be able to interact with their respective counterparts and help to carry the discussions forward. This process offers many advantages to both the buyer and the seller in finalizing big deals satisfactorily.

In the matter of big sales, larger companies generally prefer to deal with other large companies and are wary of transacting business with small companies for various reasons. Big companies speak the same language, have similar systems and processes, and respect each other’s ability to deliver. In comparison, small-mid size companies have the advantages of more flexibility, the ability to innovate, make quick decisions, and to offer more concessions.  

As a small-mid size company, you should be able to allay the fears of the big companies and highlight the various advantages mentioned above to ensure that the big sales are decided in your favor.  

The benefits of making big sales:

It costs nearly as much to land a small deal as to land a big deal. By landing more and more big sales, small companies stand to gain multiple benefits such as increased market share, higher revenue and profits, as well as enhanced reputation among their clients and customers. With this approach many CEO’s have grown their companies at double the industry average in a shorter period of time.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/how-to-track-down-potential-big-sales-3766978.html

Download this FREE Whitepaper titled “How Major Sales are Really Made” here:

http://blog.huthwaite.com.au/Major-Sales-Performance/

The electical business is very competive and news reports during the year have shown many companies slashing prices of their “white goods” please note “white goods” is another name for household or domestic appliances.

Personally, although I do shop online; I tend to visit an electical shop before purchasing things like fridges etc. The reason for this is probably based on a story told to me by a dear friend. I asked this friend why he would spend 125 pounds (250 US dollars) on a bottle of wine when it is obviously 25 times the price of a bottle purchased online. His answer was interesting he said that he wasnt paying for the bottle of wine alone. He was in fact paying for the ambience, the location, the fine table clothes, the great service, privacy and discretion, the discerning style and absolute class and the time to associate and interact with the human race. Now it may be pushing it a bit to compare this experience to buying white goods, but I hope you get the point!

Just a couple of weeks ago I checked the prices of a dish washer. The best price I could find online was 259 pounds, This included installation. After a bit of bartering with the manager of the local electrical store I was able to secure the same for 279 pounds. Although the 20 pounds may have seemed a lot more. This is how I gained, We had some good fun in the store, chatting with the staff. We met up with some old friends and were able to catch up on old times.

After this my wife and I were able to have some quality time over a cup of coffee. When the dish washer appliance was delivered, about 2 hours later! The guys from the shop were able to nip back to the shop and pick up a particular electrical part to make our machine legal. Officially they were supposed to get an electrican in which for what they had to do would have been silly. So all in all, we had a good time felt special and most importantly did business with a local electrical retailer selling domestic appliances on a personal basis.

By the way, the manager also gave me his phone number to call if ever we had a problem or if we needed a washing machine or any other kitchen appliance. Beat that!

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Since selling is an important skill to acquire, thus I decided to enroll in a few selling courses and seminars. And I have learned quite a few things about selling.

Firstly, I need to change my perception regarding rejection. It is normal to encounter rejections in selling. When a prospect rejects me, he is rejecting the product or service that I am representing. The rejection is not about rejecting me. There is always a hidden reason behind the rejection of the product of service. I should take this opportunity to find out the actual reason and see if I work around the issue.

For example, I am trying to sell someone the idea to start an online education business. He rejects the idea. After more probing and conversation, I understand that the reason he rejects the idea is because he is not familiar with Internet at all. Thus, he feels that he is unable to do the business. Well, if I can offer him some kind of training, then it will help him to overcome this issue. If he feels that it is possible, then he will join me as my business partner.

However, sometimes there is nothing much I can do about the issue at the moment. If that is the case, I should note down the issue and respect his decision. I should go back and see if I can come out with a solution for the issue in case I encounter the same rejection reason again.

Secondly, I need to learn how to overcome objections. Before I have attended any sale courses, I used to just give in to objections. After attending sale courses, I realize that I need to prepare a list of potential objections and the respective strategies to overcome the objections. And I should constantly maintain this list of objections. If I find a new objection, I will add them into my list and then come out with a few strategies to overcome the objection.

For example, if I try to make an appointment with a prospect, he may object because he is busy. Immediately, I will counter offer him by suggesting to him the idea that it will only take 10 minutes of his time. He may change his mind as a result.

Thirdly, I need to believe that it is possible for me to sell. I am shocked when I get to know about the statistics on selling. Basically, an average person should be able to get 1 customer by making 20 cold calls. This statistics varies from person to person. Some people may be able to get 1 customer out of 10 cold calls. Certain people may be able to get 1 customer out if 30 cold calls. In other words, as long as I approach enough people, I will definitely able to get a customer.

Next, I need to understand selling skills can be learned. If I look around, I can find all sorts of sales people. Some of them cannot speak very well and yet they manage to sell! That really enlightens me that selling skills can be learned.

Also, I can improve my selling skills through a few areas. The first area is technical knowledge of the products or services that I am representing. If I know my products or services well, I will be able to handle questions regarding the products or services better. The second area that I can focus on is the presentation skills. If I am able to present the information to my prospect in an easy to understand format, then it will be easier for me to sell the product or service to him. The next area that I can look at is practicing in the real situations. By practicing in real situations, I will be able to gain experience by learning from my mistakes as highlighted by the Rich Dad’s series by Robert Kiyosaki.

Then, I need to understand that selling is not all about selling the products and services. It is about giving assurance to the prospect that I can provide professional service. People buy from me because they have confidence in me.

For example, there are a lot of salespeople selling insurance. Why should someone buy insurance from me and not from others? This is because they believe that I can provide better service to them.

Lastly, there are different styles of selling. I need not become a salesperson that does hard selling. All I need to do is to study the different styles of selling and adopt a mixed style that suits my personality. A successful sale person is always himself. Thus, I need not become a fake to sell.

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