I'm writing this post in the hopes that salespeople will remember that we have all have one mouth and two ears. For years, I have watched with utter bewilderment, salespeople who just keep talking and talking, then talk themselves right out of a sale, that was just sitting there ripe for the taking. They don't listen to the customer. They haven't made a friend, and think that by just continually talking, many times even interrupting, the customer will just lay down and say "let's do it."
However, the salesperson ends up hearing this...
"Yunno, the other company we visited with, is selling their product a whole lot cheaper than you are, so unless you can match their price, we are just going to go with them."
The majority of the time this could have all been avoided, had the salesperson just listened to the customer. But now it's out there, and the salesperson has to deal with it, or the potential sale goes bye bye.
When this happens, most salespeople that I have monitored throughout the years, become incredibly weak, flustered and confused at this point. They become completely unnerved and entirely lose their composure.
It's written all over their face. Their entire countenance changes.
I witness them fire back with stupid, ridiculous objection handlers, which immediately reveal to the customer how ill prepared they are,
which the customer readily identifies.
He is about to make the salesperson
pay dearly for not being prepared.
The customer now knows that he has the salesperson,
"right where I want em' Mildred. Just watch honey,
this guy is gonna give me the price I want,
because he needs the commission."
The customer is not going to verbalize this normally, but trust me,
just like the sun will rise tomorrow, this is exactly what he is thinking.
I have said this for years and I will continue to say it...
Commission breath smells like shit on a salesperson, however to the customer, it smells like a freshly baked Cinnamon Roll.
Until salespeople get this drilled into their heads, they will keep giving money away, and complaining that their commission check is so diminutively microscopic.
And all of this could have been avoided,
had the salesperson just listened to the customer.
The moment that a salesperson starts to fidget around, lose eye contact, squirm in their seat, look at their watch, clear their throat or what ever tell the salesperson has, it's game over!
As sales professionals, we have to be master objection handlers,
but also amazing listeners,
it's what we get paid to do, it is our bailiwick.
In this post I would like to share a close that I recently used with a customer. I was training a salesperson who can sell, however continually drops the price dramatically on his deals, in order to close them.
He is not doing his company nor himself any favors.
His wife is about done "with this whole nonsense sales experiment",
and now wants him to look for something "more stable."
Sound familiar?
Now I want to set the stage here...
I was observing this presentation, and all bullet points were being made regarding the service. (BTW it was for Home Improvement)
The salesperson however, was not acknowledging, nor listening to what the customer kept referring to; that he (the customer), was about to have heart surgery. He was needing to have a stint installed to remove blockage in his heart. Concurrently, he was needing to get his home repaired. With the money that he was about to spend on the surgery, in addition to the time he was going to have to take off work for recovery, money was of paramount importance to him.
This guy also was definitely a tough cookie, who was extremely decisive and pragmatic when raking salespeople over the coals,
to get the price he wants.
He said this at least a dozen times.
This salesperson was about to lose the deal,
so I needed to jump in, to save it and sell it.
So you want to know how I sold it?
All the numbers are on the table...
Bearzilla:
You know Darrell, (Name changed to protect the innocent) first of all, I want to say how sorry I am that you are going through all of these heart issues. How long have you been dealing with this?
Note: People don't care how much you know
until they know how much you care.
I wanted him to know that I did feel for his situation.
Darrell:
It's been about 2 years now, but it really has come to a head over the last 2 weeks, and the Doc said I need to get this handled right away, or I could be in real trouble. I still do however need to get this roof taken care of, I just want to make sure that I'm getting the best deal. I'm sure that you understand that, right?
Bearzilla:
"Absolutely, I get that entirely. Do you mind if I ask you something?"
Darrell:
"No"
Bearzilla:
"Now I'm not trying to make any light of your situation here, but when you found out that you needed a heart stint, did you tell your cardiologist,
"hey Doc, just give me the cheapest one you got."
No, of course you didn't. You are expecting the cardiologist to not only give you the best stint he has, but also to do the job well, right?
Price isn't an issue here, is it?"
Darrell:
"Of course it's not, but it's my life were talking about here, not a roof."
Bearzilla:
"Agreed, and when it comes to your health there's just no room for shortcuts. It's the same for the health and well being of your house. If you put cheap on your house you end up with cheap results. Just because another company is selling their roof cheaper, does that make their roof better?
Heck no my friend, as a matter of fact, it's the complete opposite.
You're a smart guy.
You cannot be the highest in quality and the cheapest in price, good business doesn't work that way. Just like you wouldn't take a shortcut and go for the cheapest heart stint lying on the shelf because the results could be devastating, you cannot take shortcuts with your roof.
Those results could be devastating as well.
It protects your most valuable monetary asset,
as well as your family, and you can't put a price on that.
Benjamin Franklin said this the best. "The bitterness of poor quality will long remain, when the sweetness of the bargain price has been long forgotten about." You get that right?
Darrell:
"Yeah"
Bearzilla:
"Just like the surgeon is going to diagnose, and repair your heart, we are going to do the same with your roof. We are going to diagnose this patient,
(I pointed to the roof) we are going to use the best product available, and we are going to make sure you don't have to worry about it for the next 50 years.
Just like that surgeon has your back, we have your back here with this.
It's going to be our honor to take care of this for you,
and it will be one less thing you will have to worry about.
Note: I then just threw out my hand right towards his chest,
and followed up with this.
We will handle this just as if this were our own personal house.
You just worry about taking care of yourself; Doctor's orders."
Darrell:
"Ok, you got me, just make sure the job is done right."
Bearzilla:
"Always do my friend."
Note: I just grabbed the paperwork, and had him sign.
I just assumed the sale.
That was it. I just listened to what the customer was saying, empathized with him and made a friend. No psycho babble bullshit necessary. I just made sense to him that good things aren't cheap and cheap things aren't good. I simply used an analogy which made it easy for him to grasp, due to his medical situation.
So here's the short word track.
It works, so learn it.
"Mr. Customer, if you needed to have a heart stint placed in your body, would you tell the Doctor,
"just give me the cheapest one you got."
Not a chance.
You would want him to give you the best one he has period.
You wouldn't sacrifice, or shortcut anything,
because your life would depend on it.
We know that with an important purchase like this,
you can't take shortcuts either.
You work hard for your money, and you need to spend it wisely.
Not only are we the best with quality, we are amazing at pricing,
and we are honored to be taking care of this for you."
Note:
Throw out your hand
and assume the sale,
watch what happens.
Look, I am a firm believer that if salespeople
would just listen to a customer, a customer will have their own tell,
that will allow a salesperson to close the deal.
The problem with most salespeople is that they just don't listen.
Listen to everything the customer is telling you.
Don't interrupt, don't talk over your customer.
Remember, It is the customer who pays our commission,
not the company you work for.
so you better have to have a show worth paying for.
Until next time
Da Bear