What is a major sale?

That depends on whom you talk to. If you’re used to selling $19.95 retail
items and your boss puts you into $500 items, you’ve just moved into major
sales.

Major sales usually involve speaking with more than one person before a
final decision is made. Major sales usually take several sales calls before
the sale is concluded. Major sales usually involve the more sophisticated
type of clients, especially professional buyers. The larger the sale, the
more cautious buyers become about making buying decisions.

Whether you’re selling a five hundred-dollar software product or a ten
Million-dollar jet airplane, you already know if you’re in major sales. If
you don’t know, you’ll know when you get there.

If you are now or plan to be in major selling, here is my version of the
Top Ten Strategies For Making The Major Sale:

1. Advance The Sales Process

Very few major sales are made on just one call. There are usually several
intermediate steps that move the sale to its final conclusion. Your goal
should be to decide in advance what action you want the prospect to take
which will confirm that the sales process is moving in a positive
direction.

2. Traditional Sales Techniques Don’t Work

It would be a big mistake for you to go on a major sales call and try
“alternate of choice questions, sharp angles or multiple closing attempts”
in your presentation. If you do, the odds are very good that you’ll be
eaten alive. Or if you’re lucky, you’ll just get thrown out of the office.

Traditional sales techniques make sophisticated clients and customers feel
that you think they’re stupid and that you think that you can manipulate
them into buying.

When it comes to making the larger sale, you’re better off just forgetting
everything you ever learned about “sales techniques.”

3. Conduct An Interview

Major sales are made around solving the buyer’s problems. To do that, you
need an arsenal of pre-determined questions that will bring the buyer’s
problems to the surface where they can be examined. If your product or
service cannot solve problems for the buyer, there is no valid reason for
him or her to do business with you. And to solve problems, you must first
know what they are.

I recommend that you begin your interview by asking permission to ask some
questions that will determine if the two of you can do some business.

4. Dig Deeper For More Pain

Offering to solve the buyer’s problems too soon will work against you
rather than for you. You must probe deeper to uncover the seriousness and
consequences to the buyer if the problems he/she just revealed to you are
not solved.

You must carefully explore the overlooked ADDITIONAL problems that occur as
a result of not curing the cause of the problem. In sales, as in medicine,
you need to find the CAUSE of the disease before you can offer a complete
cure.

You do this by asking questions like: “Tell me Mr. ______, what effect will
it have on your overall operation if that problem is not solved? How much
will it cost? What will it do in terms of morale? How much production are
you currently losing with the way you’re handling this now?”

Before you can make the major sale, you must know how to develop major
explicit problems from minor implied problems. And you must do all of this
before you explain the value of your product or service. (Are you with me?)

5. Let The Prospect Do The Selling…Not You

One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is that they start offering
solutions too soon. Doing so will invite objections, especially price
objections.

You get the prospect to sell herself by asking her “Solution Questions.”

Solution Questions allow her to explain the benefits of your product or
service and how it will solve her problems. Example: “What will it do for
your company if we can reduce the cost of that operation by 10%?”

6. Offer Benefits…Not Features

Presenting features will cause objections in your presentation. Only offer
benefits, and only offer benefits when the prospect has expressed an
explicit need that absolutely has to be met. Remember, let the prospect do
the selling.

7. Stage Your Presentation For Others To Sell Others

Most major sales involve several people. It’s what goes on between your
sales calls that is the most important…when you’re not there.

By asking problem questions, probing deeper and asking solution questions,
you allow the “influencers” you’re selling to discover their own problems.
They then become the “experts” and present your product or service as the
solution to problems “they” discovered. (Don’t you just love this?)

8. Don’t Ever Close

Traditional sales closes will hurt you in the major sale. But what are you
to do? Simple. You tell or suggest to the buyer what you want him to do.
This is done in three steps:

a. You make sure you’ve covered all of the important concerns of the buyer.
You ask her if there is anything else that’s important to talk about.

b. You summarize the problems explored and the benefits (solutions) of your
product or service.

c. You suggest an appropriate step to take: setting up a meeting with key
players, getting your prospect agreeing to give you previously inaccessible
information or simply ask for the order. (No multiple closes here.)

9. The Right Way To Demonstrate

Before you present your product or service, it’s critical that you build a
strong need to have problems solved. You build tremendous value in what you
sell if you can get the prospect telling you the frustrations he or she has
and the determination to get those situations taken care of. When that
happens, you then simply demonstrate how your product or service will solve
the problems and the close is almost automatic.

10. Practice On The Small-Fry

It’s amazing how many salespeople will go on an important sales call to
“practice” a new sales behavior. This is a terrible mistake.

Before taking on a major sales prospect, be sure you write out all of the
problems that that person or organization may have; create specific
questions to ask that draw those problems out into the open; develop even
more questions that will allow you to explore deeper to find other problems
that may be lurking under the surface; and then practice those new sales
behaviors in unimportant sales situations or with family or friends…but
not practice in the real world with a major sales prospect.

Hilton Johnson has graciously provided many of the ideas for this article, you can get a lot more sales advice from him online by visiting his website at http://www.salesuniversity.com.

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Does this apply when making major sales?

The first statement is implied and the second statement is explicit.

A top salesperson must be able to identify these differences because the questions to ask afterward differ dramatically.

If you want to truly understand these differences and how they effect the sale go and download my free ebook.
You can do so simply by submitting your email address and name in the box on the side of this blog.

It shouldn’t turn up as a bolt from the blue that the techniques which bring about so well at moving gallons of milk off of a store’s shelves don’t succeed as well when applied to say, purchasing mutual funds or buying a residence, yet Rackham appears to be flouting different ground in the area of applying these main beliefs to sales thanks to the extensive research compiled by the Huthwaite Institute.

While Rackham’s examination and reports on the subject matter are framed to help an outside sales person play his/her job more effectively, we will use his observations to help your marketing/advertising message work as yet an extra productive member of your sales force.

To determine which type of transaction your establishment offers, consider the following:

MINOR SALES

According to Rackham, your business is making Minor Sales if:
There is a single decision-maker The buyer’s financial or emotional investment is low or insignificant The acquisition does not warrant the time/energy needed to research alternatives There is little interaction involving you and the customer The cost of making a purchasing blunder are inconsequential or insignificant.

On the other hand, your business is making Major Sales if:
There is more than one decision-maker The buyer’s economic and/or emotional investment is considerable The purchase warrants considerable period and investigation into alternatives There is the prospective for a long-term association involving you and/or your business and the customer The penalty of making a purchasing error are high

In general, Minor Sales allow a selling cycle that is short and are often driven by “desires.” On the other hand, Major Sales have a tendency to involve more time and examination on the part of the consumer. While needs drive Minor Sales, goals more often than not drive Major Sales. Purchasing shampoo is a Minor Sale. Purchasing real estate is a Major Sale.

However, it’s of great consequence to be aware of that Major Sales aren’t always expensive. Outlay is but one of the qualifying criteria in support of the type of sale. Choosing a babysitter, while not a major expense, certainly qualifies as a Major Sale in the minds of the concerned parents.

THE TYPE OF SALE DETERMINES HOW YOU PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS

As soon as you’ve identified the type of transaction your business makes, let’s look at how the type of transaction affects the composition of your marketing.

Just as in the Minor Sale, your advertising message for the Major Sale has to generate a grand impression on prospective customers in ten seconds or less. You should be able to anticipate the conversation going on inside your prospective customer’s mind so you can join in the conversation and you should stay focused on the needs of the customer. In almost every other way, the advertising message for a Major Sale is very different.

A large amount of the information you’ll get regarding marketing does not take the characteristics of the Major Sale into consideration. While the Minor Sale customer usually buys at the first store that carries the product, the Major Sale customer puts a lot of time and examination into the business decision. The Major Sale customer may perhaps visit dozens of different web sites over a period of weeks, or even months, before making a purchase.

By nature, the buyer in a Major Sale requires a lot of information; therefore, the advertising message for the Major Sale needs to provide as much information as feasible. Don’t be troubled about “information overload.” If someone isn’t interested in your product or service then s/he isn’t going to bother to read or listen to your advertising message anyway. In the Major Sale, too much “information” isn’t going to “scare away” an interested potential customer.

When you’re making a Minor Sale, you’re really trying to induce individuals into your store; however, once you’re involved in a Major Sale, the line of attack is different.

Every corporation can benefit from a web location. However, a net presence… Especially a blog, is especially beneficial in serving to provide the information needed to get on to the Major Sale. An “authority style blog” can straightforwardly convey the greater amount of information needed to initiate gaining the customer’s trust, which is essential to the Major Sale.

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HOW DO I GET INTO MEDICAL SALES? PART 1- Pharmaceutical Sales …

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Sales skills training and selling in Sydney | How to use online …

1. INSPIRATION.

Inspiration is critical to staying motivated and improving oneself. If you are not interested in your business,or sales career your motivation level will never be high and you will not be able to sustain interest for very long.

Take an honest look at your inspiration level. Are you excited about going to work or is it an obligation? You would be surprised at the number of people who choose a business that looks good on paper, but in reality does not interest them in the least.

These individuals will grow weary and uninterested pretty quickly because they have no inspiration or passion to sustain them during the difficult times they will encounter as a small business owner.

If you do not like your work, then think how you can re-focus your sales career to better match your needs. Or consider making a change entirely. Without inspiration, there will not be motivated to even try self improvement.

2. SETTING GOALS.

Short and long-term goal setting is vital for any salesperson. If you do not set goals, you would have no definite purpose on which path of self improvement to take.

How could you possibly be motivated if you were unsure about the direction of you or your company?

Take the time to put your goals in writing. A sales plan may sound daunting, but it is really nothing more than goals, strategies, implementation and a budget. Write your own sales plan and update it weekly.

Include “mini-goals” that can be accomplished in a matter of hours, as well as the more ambitious “grand-goals” that may take longer to complete. Refer to these plans throughout the year.

But can a sales plan really help motivate you? Of course. Written goals will make you feel more professional and certainly more connected to your business. It will also free you from having to reinvent your sales goals every single day.

3. TEAM NETWORKING.

Another key factor in getting and staying motivated is networking with your sales team if you belong to one. No one person knows all the knowledge.

However, when a number of people begin working together, the challenges will just be there waiting to be conquered.

In fact, the isolation of working alone is of one the most difficult parts of being an effective sales person. You can never be on your way to self improvement without the help of others. Mutual support is motivating.
Make it easier on yourself by connecting with others either in your community or online. Even when businesses are not related, you will often find common ground and ways to work together.

Many successful sales people report that finding the right networking group was a turning point in the growth of the business. Working together, a networking group can help its members generate more qualified sales leads and solve problems faster and more efficiently.

Sharing ideas, expertise and experience is also an invaluable aspect of motivation and self improvement.
Your own personal team of other sales people will help re-energize you when the burdens of running your own patch seem too much.

With your networking team to rely on, you can accomplish more in less time and probably have more fun in the process. You will feel motivated to accomplish self improvement when you know you are not alone.

When you are at work, do you get frustrated because things don’t seem to be happening the way they’re supposed to be? You see people milling around but nothing gets accomplished. And in the daily hustle and bustle, do you feel that your goals remain just that – goals. Then maybe its time for you to stand up and do something about it.

Most people are content just to stand around listening for orders. And it isn’t unusual to adopt a follow-the-leader mentality. But maybe, somewhere inside of you, you feel the desire to make things happen – to be the head, not the tail. Then maybe leadership just suits you fine.

Some people believe that great leaders are made, not born. Yes, it may be true that some people are born with natural talents. However, without practice, without drive, without enthusiasm, and without experience, there can be no true development in leadership.

You must also remember that good leaders are continually working and studying to improve their natural skills. This takes a commitment to constantly improve in whatever endeavor a person chooses.

First of all, let’s define leadership. To be a leader, one must be able to influence others to accomplish a goal, or an objective. He contributes to the organization and cohesion of a group.

Contrary to what most people believe, leadership is not about power. It is not about harassing people or driving them using fear. It is about encouraging others towards the goal of the organization. It is putting everyone on the same page and helping them see the big picture of the organization. You must be a leader not a boss.

First of all, you have to get people to follow you. How is this accomplished?

People follow others when they see a clear sense of purpose. People will only follow you if they see that you know where you are going. Remember that bumper sticker? The one that says, don’t follow me, I’m lost too? The same holds true for leadership. If you yourself do not know where you’re headed to, chances are people will not follow you at all.

You yourself must know the vision of the organization. Having a clear sense of hierarchy, knowing who the bosses are, who to talk to, the organization’s goals and objectives, and how the organization works is the only way to show others you know what you are doing.

Being a leader is not about what you make others do. It’s about who you are, what you know, and what you do. You are a reflection of what you’re subordinates must be.

Studies have shown that one other bases of good leadership is the trust and confidence your subordinates have of you. If they trust you they will go through hell and high water for you and for the organization.

Trust and confidence is built on good relationships, trustworthiness, and high ethics.

The way you deal with your people, and the relationships you build will lay the foundation for the strength of your group. The stronger your relationship, the stronger their trust and confidence is in your capabilities.

Once you have their trust and confidence, you may now proceed to communicate the goals and objectives you are to undertake.

Communication is a very important key to good leadership. Without this you can not be a good leader. The knowledge and technical expertise you have must be clearly imparted to other people.

Also, you can not be a good leader and unless you have good judgment. You must be able to assess situations, weigh the pros and cons of any decision, and actively seek out a solution.

It is this judgment that your subordinates will come to rely upon. Therefore, good decision-making is vital to the success of your organization.

Leaders are not do-it-all heroes. You should not claim to know everything, and you should not rely upon your skills alone.

You should recognize and take advantage of the skills and talents your subordinates have. Only when you come to this realization will you be able to work as one cohesive unit.

Remember being a leader takes a good deal of work and time. It is not learned overnight. Remember, also, that it is not about just you. It is about you and the people around you.

So, do you have the drive and the desire to serve required of leaders? Do you have the desire to work cooperatively with other people? Then start now. Take your stand and be leader today.

Original post: 
Spin Selling Technology — Hidden Business Treasures

It is a requirement as a Sales Manger’s Job that you and your sales staff have all relevant details about your clients at your fingertips.

you need to be able to build a worthwhile database, and to be able to track not only appointments but history of staff sales calls, outcomes of a sales call.

there are many programs out there to handle this and I am currently reviewing a number of them.

In the next few weeks I hope to be able to bring you the results and make some recommendations.

There is nothing worse than forgetting to contact your customers and by utilizing a good Customer Relationship Management program is paramount in and Sales Management position.