Use The S.A.L.E. Method To Sell More
” On the road again ….”
Driving down the road today, doing my thang - selling - I was thinking about, uh … selling.
Naturally.
I was thinking that a large percentage of sales people don’t study sales or marketing. I know the one’s I run across sure as hell don’t study or they wouldn’t be as awful as they are at selling.
They don’t even come close, for the most part, to anything that faintly resembles a sales person.
They mostly are lazy order takers or maulers.
Lazy Order Takers just wander around and hope that enough customers call them and do all the work for them.
Maulers show up, mostly unannounced and ask you what you want to buy.
If you don’t want to be like either of these groups, all you have to do is learn The S.A.L.E. Method.
Stop. Ask. Listen. Elevate.
Stop - You absolutely must find a quiet place and think about the ways your product or service can alleviate some type of pain that your customer has.
If they have no pain, you have no shot. Literally.
Your product or service must be more tolerable than the pain they’re experiencing.
People email me every week and ask about how to fight the issue of pricing.
It’s pretty simple. When you figure out how much their pain is costing them, price your solution accordingly.
If you can’t find out how much their pain costs them …
Ask - Simply sit down with them and say something like this:
” I’m not sure our product/service is a good fit for you, so I’m just going to ask you to tell me what causes you the most pain. If my product can alleviate that pain, we can proceed, if not, I’ll move on down the line. “
If the company you work for or are thinking of going to work for won’t allow you to work like this, find one that will.
You’ll enjoy life a helluva lot more and you’ll make more money.
Don’t try to sell your product, just try to cure pain.
Think about it this way:
You go see your physician. Does he come out with a prescription before he finds out what your symptoms are or does he sit down and ask you a few questions first ?
Does he start pricing you right away or does he run a few tests and get back to you ?
Simple.
Listen - Just like a great physician does, you need to really listen to your customer.
How many times have you heard someone say their doctor is the best ever because he sits down, looks them eye to eye and listens to them.
There are doctors out there who make six-figures for listening. Just listening.
Don’t listen and try to think of an answer, just listen.
Don’t listen and look for a place to try and interject a great feature of your product or service, just listen.
Listen.
Because when you actually listen your sales will …
Elevate - You’ll complete ( I refuse to use the word close ) more opportunities than you ever have. You’ll elevate your standing with your customers. You’ll elevate your standing within your organization.
Nothing makes your confidence grow like success. Nothing.
Try the S.A.L.E. Method for 30, 60 or 90 days and if it doesn’t work for you, I refund every penny you paid for this post.
What have you got to lose ?
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Here are a few more points to garnish the S.A.L.E. Method
# When talking about products, always think of the benefit, which is really important to the client.
# Do not make exaggerated claims! Do not say your products, service or company is better than it really is.
# Ensure any big changes are based on solid feedback from your sales force.
# Save and make more money through client retention, which usually costs less than acquiring new and unknown customers.
# Modify and refine your methods, and strive for consistency
Thanks Shamelle !
I appreciate you adding to the conversation.
One thing about benefits to remember, like I hinted at, but didn’t flesh out above, unless the payoff is of more value than the payout, even a benefit is worthless.
If my new red widget enables my team to work faster, but I don’t have a pain point there, it means nothing to me.
My pain point is that they need to work more efficiently, not faster, so even though it’s a benefit, I can’t really appreciate what it does or will do for me.
If my new blue widget enables me to save $17.37 per person per day, well, that’s a benefit.
If it costs me $16.92 per person per day to implement, it’s still a benefit, but it’s of little value to me.
Or if implementing it will cause me to have to buy every person on my sales team a new iPhone and the cost is $22,000, the initial payout is more daunting than saving $.45 per person per day.
Or, using the doctor analogy again, if he prescribes a cream that makes my acne go away, but I was suffering from stomach cramps, the benefit of no acne doesn’t mean squat to me, ’cause my stomach still hurts.
Even benefits have to pay for themselves, which I know you know, because I read enough of your blog to know you know it !
Hi Mike,
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that a “large percentage of sales people don’t study sales or marketing”.
In many organizations, there’s a disconnect between the sales function that closes sales and the marketing function that generates leads.
At the risk of oversimplifying things or reinforcing stereotypes, many sales people are not analytical, but they’re great “people” people.
Most marketing people tend to be pretty analytical, but not big into the schmoozing and hounding department.
In smaller companies, where one person is often forced to wear both hats, that can get either very frustrating (in most cases)… or very interesting, if you’re lucky enough to find someone talented enough to properly fill both roles.
Of the SALE acronym, Listen is probably the most ignored.
As a result, if you simply take time to LISTEN, you’ll enjoy a huge competitive advantage.
Thanks for the great post, so there’s no need for me to take you up on your guarantee
Joshua Feinberg
Thanks Joshua !
Glad you appreciated the post.
I appreciate you taking time to comment.
You had me at salespeople being lazy order takers. Yes, it makes sense to harvest the low-hanging fruit, but it also makes sense to foster the more rewarding fruit that requires a little more tending. The most successful salespeople will tell you this, I think.
Too often, I work with a sales force that takes on my product thinking more tricks in the bag is always better, but they expect customers to come to them rather than creating the need (or creating the value of a pain-free life).
Thanks Brett.
I’ve already left a comment and subscribed to your RSS feed.
Great blog.
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