If you are hoping to sell more when the prospect “doesn’t want to speak with you”, then this article may be for you. This article isn’t going to make you a sales pro. The only way you can do that is to attend someone’s sales training for a minimum of one year. Anything less, in my opinion, is probably a waste of time and resources. Why? Because sales training, if done the right way, is about changing habits. In order to be proficient at some of these techniques you have to be willing to let go of some of those habits. It’s very difficult to read something or hear it in a seminar and expect to remove some of these habits or even execute them shortly thereafter. Think about it: if it was that easy, you would simply read a book or attend a seminar and become a rockstar overnight. It just doesn’t work that way. The good news is it also doesn’t take a lifetime to become good at it. Through weekly training for a minimum of one year you can become 50% better than where you were yesterday, sometimes more. That means potentially 50% fewer bad habits, 50% better habits, 50% more sales and even 50% more income. Not bad.
So, although you may not be a sales rockstar by reading this, we can give you something to think about and maybe even a few things to try. The content in this article is part of the granular language that we teach. Language that presents an argument in a different way. Remember hearing the phrase, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it?” Some of that rule applies here. Let’s see if we can offer a few things to say differently to give you a better chance at selling when they don’t want to speak with you. The only thing I will address in this article is how to get a decision maker to say “yes” to a meeting, even if it is something that they don’t want to talk about or are not ready to discuss. Armed with the “right” statements and questions you can compel others to at least meet with you. Here we go:
Bidding isn’t selling. If you simply ask to be on a bid list or send unsolicited bids, your odds won’t be high. You will likely spend hour after hour creating proposals, only to find out that most of the time you will not win the business. For understanding what we are about to suggest, consider this: Don’t tell them all about you, your company or even how you think you do things differently. Why? Because everyone does that, you aren’t differentiating yourself like you think you are and frankly, they don’t believe you. Your questions should focus on what concerns they have, what didn’t go well last season, where they have issues. If you play it like a stereotypical salesperson or organization, telling them about you, your company and how you do things, you’re in trouble. Bragging, telling them about how great you are, sharing all of the ways you are special, you’re in trouble. Trying to convince them that you’re better, pointing out inefficiencies on their sites and simply dropping your price in hopes of getting interest, you’re in trouble.
Now, because most salespeople have actually never attended long-term reinforcement type consultative sales training, these are the strategies they employ. Let’s not pretend that it can’t work ever. It can. But at an extremely low close rate and with lots and lots of quotes, beating down doors and lots of rejection. Thus, the first strategy to compel others to want to speak to you is to ask about what concerns, frustrations, annoyances and worries that they had in the past. A good way to do this is to simply throw a few on the table and see if they bite. As example, “Some site managers that we now work with had told us that they were really disappointed with how long it took their snow contractor to arrive.” Or, “Others told us how frustrating it was to have new, inexperienced people working on their complicated projects, which also created issues.” “Have you experienced anything like that this in the past?” If they give any type of “yes” answer, ask questions. If they give any type of “no” answer, ask them why they weren’t happy. If we can dig into their issues, our chances go up. People buy when they are unhappy. The challenge is how to draw that out without being obvious.
Another effective granular technique is to not answer the way most stereotypical salespeople answer. Tell me this isn’t true: When the average salesperson, with very little training, is asked:
Prospect: “Have ever worked on projects like ours?” they reply...
Stereotypical Salesperson: “Absolutely”
When the average salesperson, with very little training, is asked:
Prospect: “Are you working with anyone else our size?” they reply...
Stereotypical Salesperson: “Absolutely”
Prospect: “Are you able to treat our projects with ‘VIP’ type service?”
Stereotypical Salesperson: “Absolutely”. Remember, that’s what everyone says and they likely DO NOT BELIEVE YOU.
Instead, here is some granular language to try:
Prospect: “Have ever worked on projects like ours?” Reply instead...
Trained Salesperson: “Well sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean we would be a good fit. Can I ask you some questions?”
Prospect: “Are you working with anyone else our size?” Reply instead...
Trained Salesperson: “Great question. Can you tell me why that is important to you?”
Prospect: “Are you able to treat our projects with ‘VIP’ type service?” Reply instead...
Trained Salesperson: “Interesting question. Before I tell you how we treat that situation, can I ask what you mean by VIP service?”
Sales is meant to be a discovery process. We need to know what they want, what they mean by what they say, why they are asking the questions they are asking and what they are hoping to hear...before we reply. Give the wrong answer, we’re in trouble. Done correctly and you are not simply quoting. You become a problem solver, an understander of their frustrations, issues and concerns and gain credibility. They will more likely invite you in, invite you to quote and order your services if you can achieve this.
One more technique: Sounding different.
When you call into a potential customer and they don’t want to talk with you, try some of these:
a) “Can I tell you what might make some sense? Rather than waiting until the fall, meet with me this month to see if there is any reason for us to quote in the fall” or “Meet with me briefly so I can I ask some questions. If we can’t figure this out quickly, it may not make sense to quote”
b) “If there was one thing your current company could be doing better for you, what would it be?”
c) “Can I share something with you? Many of the companies we are currently working with, also wanted to wait at first. Meet with me for a ½ hour, let me ask some questions and if there’s nothing there, I’ll take off. Fair?”
d) “I know you probably want to wait until the fall. Correct? Despite that, would you mind if we took a few minutes and talked about why more and more companies are not waiting?”
Although some might think some of these are too bold, or not natural, done with the right tonality, they can compel some to meet sooner.
Additionally, it takes guts to be good at sales. If you always play it safe...well, you might just end up where you already have been. The bottom line; If you’re going to make big numbers, you can’t wait. If you wait, you will always wait. Try some of these and let us know how they work for you