• 
  Put listeners in a positive frame of mind, instead of causing
  them to begin thinking of ways to get rid of you


• Get
  them participating, willingly, in the call


• Avoid
  getting shot down in the first few seconds
  
  
  
  For more information visit: http://www.salestrainingcamp.com/products_main_cd_art_openings.htm)

Greetings!

A humorous Century
21 commercial illustrates a great sales point.

A real estate
agent is showing a couple a house. He pulls in a driveway of one
that looks exactly like the 20 others on the block. "How about
this one?"

The wife says,
"We said no ranches."

He backs out
of the driveway and pulls into one directly across the street. "This
is more of a Colonial-inspired ranch."

"No ranches,"
they respond in unison.

So he then drives
them across the street again to a another identical house: "Well,
this is a Tudor-inspired ranch."

"NO!"
the husband shrieks.

At that point
the narrator comes on and states "Century 21's Pledge Point
#13." It's a sales concept that is so simple, but yet so often
broken:

Century 21 agents
will show only the houses you want to see.

Wow, what a
novel concept, I say with my tongue firmly planted in cheek.

Why in the world
wouldn't that be the first thing that all new agents hear?

"Ladies
and gentlemen, welcome to sales training. Our first point: show
only homes that people want to see. Thank you and go get 'em."

Matter of fact,
it should be one of the first things any new sales reps hears: talk
only about what prospects or customers are interested in.

There you go.
Follow that point. Live it. Make it an ironclad rule.

It will reduce
or eliminate objections.

Matter of fact,
one thing you should never hear is "We don't need that."

Here are specific
action items to help you avoid hearing the "We don't need it"
objection.

Have
a "Needs" Mindset

Never begin a call, or the planning of a call, from a product/service
presentation perspective. Such as "I'm going to call today
to present our new product line to customers."

Instead, adopt
the mindset of "What needs, problems, and desires must my customers
be aware of in order for our new product line to be of value?"
Take your product/service benefits and results and define what needs
or problems must exist before the benefits truly would be of value.
Then create questions you'll ask. For example, a sorter/collator
attachment for the prospect's copy machine would only be of value
if,

1. they don't
   have one already;


2. they have--or
   anticipate--copy jobs that require sorting and collating; and,
   


3. they're
   doing it manually and it's taking the time of a person who could
   be doing something else, or they want to prevent that from occurring.

Embellish their Needs and Problems

The hungrier someone is, the better that scrumptious dish sounds,
and the more desirous they become. You enhance their hunger with
your questions so that when they hear your presentation, they're
listening from an open, receptive, salivating state of mind. This
is the key to helping them want to buy instead of selling them.
Using the sorting and collating attachment example mentioned above,
taking point 3, where the company had a person performing the tasks
manually, embellishment questions would include,

"How
much time are they spending?" "How often?"

"What
does that cost in terms of labor?"

"What
other things could they be doing?"

Recommend
AFTER Questioning

Only present after you've identified their needs, problems, and
potential gains they desire. Make this an unbendable rule! It's
here that you ensure you won't hear the "Don't need it"
objection. Get information before you give it. I define a "pushy"
salesperson as one who presents something a person doesn't want
or need. Asking the questions first eliminates that possibility.

Know
When to Punt.

In some cases you'll come up empty in the needs department. In that
case, don't hesitate letting go without a time-wasting presentation
that would only create objections. You might, however, want to ask
one more catch-all question to drag your net through the sea to
catch anything you might have missed:

"Joe I'm
not sure if what I have would be of any value to you. Could you
see any possible circumstances changing where you would be expanding
your assembly line?"

Again, a simple
concept: talk about only what they have interest in. It's the difference
between "pitching," and giving someone what they want.
And it's simple to understand which approach works better.

Copyright, 2003,
Art Sobczak, Business By Phone Inc.

Subscribe to
Art’s TelE-Sales Hot Tips of the Week. To subscribe, free,
visit http://www.businessbyphone.com.

About
the author:

Art Sobczak, President of Business By Phone Inc., specializes in
one area only: working with business-to-business salespeople--both
inside and outside--designing and delivering content-rich programs
that participants begin showing results from the very next time
they get on the phone. Audiences love his “down-to-earth,”
entertaining style, and low-pressure, easy-to-use, customer oriented
ideas and techniques.

He works with
thousands of sales reps each year helping them get more businesses
by phone. Art provides real world, how-to ideas and techniques that
help salespeople use the phone more effectively to prospect, sell,
and service, without morale-killing “rejection.”

Using the phone
in sales is only difficult for people who use outdated, salesy,
manipulative tactics, or for those who aren’t quite sure what
to do, or aren’t confident in their abilities. Art’s
audiences always comment how he simplifies the telesales process,
making it easily adaptable for anyone with the right attitude.

Contact
Information:

Art Sobczak

Business By Phone Inc.

13254 Stevens St.

Omaha, NE 68137

(402)895-9399

http://www.businessbyphone.com

arts@businessbyphone.com

© Copyright 2003 by SalesVault.com

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