unpleasant experiences – which might further sabotage his self-image. One tactic top salespeople use to
overcome this fear is to create a men- tal image of themselves making the sale. Football hall-of-famer Joe Mon- tana used this technique with the San Francisco 49ers football team. If he had a bad series of downs, he imme- diately blocked out any thoughts of throwing an interception. He stopped and mentally recreated the problem plays as successes – seeing himself throwing the football perfectly and focused on the times that worked. Although it may be difficult to
remember to do this – especially after someone just said no – salespeople can use this tactic, too.
THE PROSPECT’S FEARS The prospect is anxious about making a mistake. If he works for a company, he may fear criticism of his decisions. Maybe he fears that the service he purchased wasn’t as it had been represented. Maybe he fears the loss of control.
After years of dealing with sales- people who may not be professionally trained, customers have developed a strong sales resistance. This is es- pecially true with big-ticket items like insurance or investments. Salespeople can expect to encounter prospects who have developed techniques to counter being pushed into making a buying decision. Buyers look to fill their needs – not the salesperson’s.
WHEN THE TWO FEARS COLLIDE In the traditional model of selling, there is a point just before the close when the prospect feels maximum sales pressure. His guard is up and he is the most resistant. He is operating out of his fear of being pushed into making a bad decision. At the same time the salesperson’s fear of rejec- tion is at its peak.
In this model, both parties’ fears are at the highest point at the same time. This is why most salespeople have a very low closing ratio when following the traditional sales models.
THE TRADITIONAL SALES MODEL This traditional model is the most widely accepted model of selling. It is transaction driven, and works great for low-ticket items where a mistake is not that big a deal. It also allows a salesperson to spend only about 10 percent of call time to build rapport while a full 20 percent of the time is spent qualifying the prospect and 30 percent presenting the product. When you have reached this point, you spend the balance of your time closing – early, often, and hard. However, one problem with the traditional type of selling model is that it requires more conversation on the part of the salesperson. The professional spends little, if any, time asking questions to determine the prospect’s needs.
NEEDS MODEL OF SELLING In this model, salespeople spend the first 40 percent of their time develop- ing a relationship with the prospect and building trust – asking well- thought-out questions and listening carefully to the prospect’s responses. Then salespeople spend the next 30 percent of their selling time identify- ing their prospect’s needs, concerns, and objectives. From there, evaluation of the prospect’s situation should lead naturally into the presentation of the
product, with the following 30 percent of the salesperson’s time spent dis- cussing the product – as a solution. At this point, the close becomes very comfortable as a result of the process and, because the salesperson has spent time discussing concerns and needs, the prospect’s fears have all but vanished.
At this point, the salesperson’s fear
of rejection is very low. In this model, because there is rapport and trust – and the prospect realizes the sales- person has taken the time to identify his needs, concerns, and objectives – both salesperson and prospect are ready to close.
This model, by design, allows the
product to become the vehicle that will help the prospect get from where he or she is now to where he or she would like to be.
In the traditional model, the sales- person spent his time thinking, “What am I going to tell this prospect about my product?” In the needs model, however, the salesperson is thinking about what questions he needs to ask. He has moved from his personal operating environment to the custom- er’s. At the same time, the salesper- son has eliminated one of the major obstacles to closing – fear.
SALES TRAINING BOOK SELLING POWER AUGUST 2016
CLARA SHIH: THE SOCIAL BUSINESS IMPERATIVE
| 9 © 2016 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.
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