” 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 ?
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