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SAVVY
SELLING - NOVEMBER
4, 2005
Anatomy
of a Sales Strikeout
By Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
Develop - or update - an elevator
speech and teach it to everyone
in your company so they are
all effective ambassadors for
your products and services
Analyzing
this blunder offers useful lessons.
The key one: Be prepared to
quickly explain the benefits
you bring your clients at any
time
Sales mistakes are like outs
in baseball: We try to limit
them to singles, but sometimes
we fall victim to double and
even triple plays. Recently,
I was on the receiving end of
a triple sales blunder. Ouch!
Here's a breakdown of what happened
-- and the sales lessons that
can keep you from making this
triple faux pas.
I met a gentleman socially,
and I casually asked him what
he did for a living. He told
me that he was in sales and
that he sold composites. Then
he mumbled something about pipelines,
saying it was very complicated
and that he couldn't explain
further.
Assuming he doesn't work for
the CIA and wasn't in danger
of having his cover blown, he
made three sales mistakes in
that one exchange. First of
all, he didn't sound too bright.
I mean, you ought to be able
to enlighten anyone -- your
mother, a new Chamber of Commerce
member, or a fellow soccer parent
-- on what you do for a living.
In this case, I was genuinely
interested in what he did, since
I write and speak about sales
for a living.
THE PERFECT ONE-LINER. This
is an example of why you need
a good "elevator speech,"
so called because you should
be able to explain what you
do and how it benefits your
clients in the time it takes
to ride an elevator with a prospective
customer. All you need is one
sentence. In his case, he could
have said something like, "I
sell plastic composites to oil
companies to help their pipelines
last longer."
If you don't have an elevator
speech, now is the time to develop
one. If you do have one, review
it to see if it should be updated
or strengthened.
In my elevator speech, I say,
"I work with organizations
to develop creative new strategies
that dramatically increase their
sales." I can't take full
credit for it -- I worked on
it with marketing consultant
Lois Creamer of St. Louis, Mo.
Notice that my elevator speech
doesn't talk about how I deliver
my expertise -- I don't say
I'm a speaker or a writer or
a consultant. Rather, I use
the general word, "work,"
then focus on the benefit: "dramatically
increase their sales."
I've found that if folks are
looking for someone to do a
particular job in my area, they'll
ask me.
TEAMWORK PAYS. Creamer recommends
that once you craft your one-sentence
elevator speech, you should
repeat it 20 times a day for
a week or two to hammer it into
your brain. Write it down where
you can see it throughout the
day -- in your car, at your
computer, or on your PDA. Even
add it to your signature on
e-mail and written correspondence.
Teach your one-sentence speech
to all of your co-workers, from
the receptionist to the chief
financial officer to the shipping
clerk. No company can afford
to waste opportunities to let
everyone know what they can
do for their customers.
Think about it: Your company's
employees go more places and
make contact with more people
than your sales team could ever
hope to cover. They're like
ambassadors. It's entirely possible
that your newest file clerk,
at her son's next Cub Scout
meeting, will meet someone who
needs to buy a lot of what you
sell.
Remember to reward anyone who
helps bring in a lead that results
in a sale. That stimulates teamwork
at the most meaningful level
and leads to increased revenues.
This sales-teamwork strategy
also lowers sales costs, because
it bypasses gatekeepers and
establishes trust right from
the start.
KEEP AN OPEN MIND. The aforementioned
gentleman's second sales mistake
was that he insulted me. He
implied that I wasn't bright
or worldly enough to understand
what composites were. How did
he know I didn't have a PhD
in composites? He never tried
to find out.
If you sell a technically complex
product, start by asking folks
something like, "Are you
familiar with plastic composites?"
-- or whatever the product is.
If they say yes, ask them more
about their experience, so you'll
know at what technical level
to respond. If they say "no,"
use an analogy to explain, in
general, what you sell and how
it benefits your customers.
The third mistake this man
committed: He missed an opportunity
to sell me something. Because
he never asked, he had no idea
what I do for a living. Maybe
I own a major corporation that
buys millions of dollars in
composites every year. He'll
never write that order -- not
because his product or his company
is inferior, but because his
sales abilities are.
GIVE AND TAKE. After you give
your elevator speech, be sure
to ask immediately what they
do. I hate to sound sexist,
but I've found that men are
particularly bad about asking
this question of women, especially
in nonbusiness settings. I go
crazy when I think of all the
sales lost every day because
salespeople don't think to ask
new acquaintances about their
occupations.
In my brief exchange with this
composite salesman, he completely
struck out. Hopefully, analyzing
the situation resulted in several
good lessons for you. If you
implement them, you will stay
in the sales game longer, and
your revenues will rise like
the score after a grand slam.
Happy selling!
Michelle Nichols is a professional
sales speaker and consultant
based in Reno, NV. She welcomes
your questions and comments.
You can visit her web site at
www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her direct line is (775) 303-8201
and her
toll-free number is (877) 352-9684.
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