Sales Kit: 90 Percent People Hate Selling Because They Follow Up

Most of them out there with a sales career hate rejection and find the whole sales process extremely frustrating. They have their reasons:

ü  The anticipation a lead triggers in the sales cycle is that of revenue (Read commission) and if that does not materialize, the efforts go waste

ü  They cannot handle the price war with competition

ü  They are ill equipped to manage objections effectively

ü  It is time consuming and the gap is wide between lead and deal

And the reasons continue.

There is a whole crowd out there who firmly thinks, they can win the order only

ü  If their company agreed to give that discount

ü  If their product had that feature - that extra tray or pin or needle which competitor’s product had.

ü  If there was something extra or incentive for the client that is offered for free, along with every purchase.

ü  If there were enough positive reviews online

ü  If company image is gets better in the reputation scale

And the excuses continue.

Being in sales for a considerably long time across industries, the few simple acts that work for me are

           I.        Do not Sell, Just Pitch

ü  People love to buy however they hate to be sold. What is new about this? – Once you switch focus from product to people, you will automatically know whether to pitch or not.

ü  When you just pitch, you act as a facilitator, the torch bearer showing the path, not pushing them to walk on that road.

ü  How do you feel when the same person tells you the very same thing (to buy) every time he meets you – You feel great or guilty or disgusted? You take a call if you want your buyer to feel that way about you.

                II.        Establish the need

ü  Do this right the first time and do this with utmost honesty to build trust - You are done for the moment.

ü  You establish need not by providing a dozen answers but by asking the right questions.

ü  Your role is to just assist the buyer to think about the needs he is likely to have today, tomorrow and day after.

ü  You need not control the decision making process, you just have to influence their thinking patterns and horizon – Are they able to see that far where you know they will need what

             III.        Position your product/ service

ü  You offer your product or service as solution and leave it at that.

ü  Once you have appropriately established the need or critical pain points, step III is a natural drift and the most predictable conclusion to the first connect.

ü  In all probability the buyer will be eagerly waiting for the solution you have

               IV.        Do not follow up

ü  I know this last bit contradicts age old advice to follow up.

ü  The simple rationale is - the one whose need is more severe should ideally be the person/ entity to follow up.

ü  If you have established the need well in the first place, they will follow up and if you have not done step II right, your follow up will face a flat response.

Do you know your client enough to make the right pitch?