Salesmanship Primer by B. Tracy

How to sell creatively? Creativity is a characteristic of
all top salespeople. You have a self-concept in creativity
too. Many people believe they are not particularly creative
and this impacts their performance in that area. They
'create' a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Creativity is stimulated by focused and specific questions,
and by pressing problems, and by burning desires and goals.
These fuel creativity.
Be creative to find new and better prospects. To uncover
buying motives (what will cause a particular prospect to
buy). Many people have ingrained buyer resistance and they
don't want to tell you why they don't want to buy. They are
afraid you will find out what will motivate them and they
are afraid you will keep pushing that button and get them to
buy.
To discover new product uses and applications, or new ways
to use old products. Every sales act is an act of pure
creativity. Sales agreements create our economy.
Creative selling begins with thorough knowledge of your
product or service. The fastest way to increase your income
is to spend more time with better prospects.
Basic analysis begins with 3 questions.
1. What are the 5-10 most attractive features of your
product (either Libertarianism of the LP or an upcoming
event)? List them in order of importance. You need to know
this in order to prepare a sales presentation.
2. What needs do these features of your product satisfy for
the prospect? What benefit does it offer? What's in it for
your prospect? Put these next to the 5-10 features above.
All customers are looking for benefits. They aren't
looking for features. Features are merely a means to an
end.
3. Assuming they are interested in the benefits, why should
they buy it from your company? List 5-10 reasons why they
should buy it from you. What does the LP offer that other
parties do not offer? Strategic selling requires answers to
these questions.
Strategic selling- you identify the best possible customer
market and concentrate on it single-mindedly. One big
mistake is to look at everyone as a prospect of equal value.
Actually one prospect may be worth 100 average prospects.
Always fish for whales, not minnows. One whale can fill up
an entire boat, but 1,000 minnows just fills up one bucket.
So carefully evaluate where your biggest breakthrough
opportunities are.
Who exactly is your customer? Who buys your product right
now?
Who might buy your product in the future? (you'll live the
rest of your life in the future,not the past). What
direction is your market going in? What markets are likely
to open up in the future?
Why does your customer buy? What benefits do they perceive
in your product?
Who is your major competitor? Often, your biggest
competitor is the ignorance of the market. People don't
know what is available. This might be your biggest
obstacle. But someone else might be selling the same thing
as you are.
Selling is similar to warfare. You must consider what your
competitors are doing. They aren't standing still.
What is your competitive advantage? What advantages does
the LP have vs. the other political parties? What is our
area of excellence? What is our unique product feature?
What can we offer that others can't? The answer is the key
to your sales presentation. It offers something that others
cannot.
What is the unique selling proposition? What makes it
better in their eyes, for their needs? Identify this
feature and build your presentation around this.
Creative method. The 20 idea method. Do this for one
month. Take your key problem or most pressing goal or
problem and write it as a question. For example, "How can I
close a greater percentage of the sales calls that I go on?"
or 'how can I utilize my time better today?"
Then sit down and write out 20 answers to the question. The
last ones will take a long time. ex start your day earlier,
start later but prepare before hand, etc. Generate hundreds
of ideas per year and implement the best ones. By the first
week, you'll have many good ways to increase business. All
you need is one new idea that is 10 % better and you can
make a breakthrough. Marginal improvements add up.
Develop 20 ideas a day and use the best ones.
Approaching the prospect. Many hang-ups in this area.
First
contact with the prospect will begin a process which will
either end in a sale or not. So, the initial contact should
be pre-planned.
Unless you must break the preoccupation of the prospect, you
never get to first base with them. People have their own
personal concerns all day long. Don't start your sales
presentation while the prospect is still on the phone,
shuffling papers, doing office work. Your first task is to
smash their preoccupation.
One approach was the Corning safety glass salesman. He took
a piece of unbreakable glass, hit it with a hammer, and
prospects dove for cover. But they saw that it did not
break. The next year, Corning gave all their salesmen a
ball peen hammer and the safety glass. A good opening can
break the preoccupation. A good, strong question, aimed at
the benefit of the product can also do the trick.
You only have 30 seconds in the beginning to get the
prospect's complete attention. The prospect decides in the
first 30 sec whether to listen to you. Your opening
question has to be planned and rehearsed and tried on real,
live prospects.
Brian Tracy spent days on his opening question. What is the
main need or concern of the person who can authorize sales
training? They want increased sales. Tracy's question will
deal with this specific need. "Mr. Smith, would you be
interested in a proven method that will increase your sales
by 20 to 30% ? Every single response was 'what is it?'
"How does it work?," "can you come in and demonstrate it?"
etc.
The opening question also must answer the question, "Why
should I listen to you?" Because I can increase your sales
by 20-30% over the next year.
The next question 'What is it?" should be generated from
your opening question. They must ask , "What have you got?"
If your opening question doesn't generate a 'what is it?'
response, then it isn't a good enough opening question. You
must break their preoccupation. If they say they aren't
interested, then your opening question is not emphatic
enough, is too weak, etc. It's not aimed at something the
customer wants.
Telling people how long you've been in business, the details
of your product line, etc is of no interest to the prospect
unless you can first address the key benefit that you think
the prospect cares the most about. If you are selling
computers, don't say "Do you currently have a computer?" as
an opening question. Say something like, "How would you
like to save $1,000 per month on your administrative costs?"
This will make the prospect say "Okay, what is it?" For
that kind of potential benefit, I'm willing to listen to you
for a few minutes.
95% of people wing their opening question. The first job is
to get the prospect to listen to you. They want to be sure
of five things:
1. That you have something important to communicate. So you
hint at your benefit in your first sentence.
2. You want to be sure you are talking to the right buyer.
You must pre-qualify the prospect through the receptionist,
etc
to make sure you are dealing with the person in the
organization who can authorize a sale. If you have doubts,
ask "Are you the person that I should talk to about
increasing sales in your organization?" Are you the person
I should talk to about cutting costs in administration?
They will either say yes or no, or point you to the right
people. But there's no point in giving a wonderful sales
presentation to someone who won't be in on the buying
decision.
3. They must be assured that your visit will be short.
People are pressed for time. Just a couple of minutes to
explain the benefit that you have suggested in your first
sentence.
4. They want assurance that they will be under no
obligation,
5.and that you will use no high pressure.
Simple approach. Ask a well-structured question which is
aimed at the chief benefit. Their natural response is to
answer your question before they can say anything else.
Would you like to hear a proven method where you can improve
your sales by 20% a year? They will think about the
question and then say "What is it?" This particular
question is 95% effective.
I would just need about 10 minutes of your time to show you
what I've got, and you can judge for yourself. They will
say to just tell them what it is. But you say, Mr.
Prospect, I would like to come down and show you what it is,
and it will only take about 10 minutes of your time. (you
aren't selling the product yet, you are selling the prospect
on talking to you in person for 10 minutes to find out how
their chief benefit will be realized). One step at a time.
You can decide for yourself if this is something you are
interested in. You might have to repeat this several times.
Don't get sidetracked and send them literature, offer to
drop the literature off and ask if you can have 10 minutes
of their time to explain the benefits. If you can get this
message across on the phone, you will be all right. Anyone
can give you 10 minutes today if you have something of
interest to them.
Would you have 10 minutes free sometime around 3 o'clock
tomorrow? etc. If they say no, then suggest another time.
If they say, 'call me next Monday and we can set a time'
this will cause your momentum to stall and the odds start to
work against you. Get the appt on the first phone call.
Say that you have your address book handy and that we can
set a time right now. This is excellent salesmanship to set
the appt right now. This eliminates another step in the
selling process.
Always call and confirm any appts before you show up there.
Many appts fall through because the workplaces are busy. If
you call to confirm and something has come up, you can get
out your datebook and reschedule over the phone.
On the phone, all you really want to do is to set up that
first appointment and get it firmly scheduled and confirmed.
You can't sell your product over the phone, it must be in
person. Smile into the phone. Don't frown because they
will feel it. An insincere smile on the phone is better
than a sincere frown. Never try to sell your proposition
over the phone. Don't completely describe it, only hint at
it to get them to see you in person. You have the
curiosity factor going for you.
You must be insistent and retain the initiative, yet be
friendly. Never mail information because it is better left
with them in person than mailed. If they want you to mail
them something, they are really saying, 'Can I get rid of
you this easily?" Say that you'll be going past their
office or home in a day or two and that you could just drop
the info off and explain it in a few minutes.
If they say, I'll be in all day tomorrow, just drop it off"
then they are more interested, and you have the opportunity
to make a short presentation.
Say "I will drop it off personally, will you be there? If
they say, no, no no, just mail it to me, then they aren't
really that interested. They aren't interested enough to
buy. The percentages are much much higher with prospects
who will see you in person. Mailing has a low percentage.
Unprofessional salespeople mail stuff to avoid rejection.
Everything we do to avoid someone saying 'no' is a waste of
time and will not lead to a sale. Nail down the appt by
being aggressive yet polite. Thank them and make sure the
prospect wrote down the right date. This reconfirms
everything. But still call again before you go in, just
leave a quick message with the receptionist stating that you
will be there as previously promised.
Reconfirm, thank them, build some expectancy before hanging
up.
March 15th at 3pm? Great. Thank you for your time. I"m
looking forward to seeing you. You're really going to like
what I have to show you. Leave then thinking you are going
to show them something really interesting.
When you go to the initial appointment, before you go in,
stop and get a clear mental picture of yourself calm,
confident, smiling, in complete control of the interview.
See yourself performing well and think about your last
successful sales call. This will smooth out your entire
presentation and put you in the proper mindset to do well.
Deep breathing. Positive affirmations. These help you get
into the right mood to have a positive impact on others.
Prepare yourself with positive visualizations. Build
positive expectancy.
More closing techniques. Try to figure out how to use each
of these with your product or service. A Good salesperson
should have about ten different ways to close a sale.
These assume that you have prospected, found a prequalified
lead, have asked appropriate questions to determine the
buyer's real needs, have made a relevant presentation that
is customized for this particular prospect, have answered
objections, and so forth.
The Secondary Close - Closing on a minor point, accepance of
which denotes acceptance of the entire offer. Do you want it
in blue or green? Do you want it delivered, or do you want
to take it with you? The question isn't the 'yes or no' do
you want to take it? The question is 'how are you going to
take it?" Get the customer focused off of the major buying
decision. This relieves the pressure of saying yes or no,
and gets the customer focused on taking it home.
Do you want the regular tires or the radials? If they still
can't decide to take the car, say "Well, with this car,
would you want the radial tires or the regular ones? The
Radials? Well, lets see if we can get this written up and
get the tires changed. The pressure of the buying decision
has passed and the focus is on wrapping up the details.
The Alternative Close. Give customer a choice between
something and something. Never between something and
nothing. Never say, "Do you want this or not?" because the
customer can easily say No. Would you like a tall one or a
short one? Would you like the one year membership or the
discounted five year membership? Any answer is a yes.
The Assumption Close. You assume that the purchace decision
has been made, and you focus on the delivery. Would you
like this delivered to your home or to your office? Well,
let's just put it through right now (then start filling out
the order form). Or 'Which one will you be taking home
today?" Will that be cash or charge? This is powerful
because it helps the customer get over that moment of
indecision.
Once you finish your presentation, you must switch gears
smoothly and go straight into the close. Don't sit there
as though you have just gone a round in a boxing match. Go
smoothly into the close. Have it rehearsed beforehand.
Smoothly get out the contract or business proposal or
application form from your briefcase. This is like the end
of a stage play. They don't figure out the climax of a play
each time. Everything is planned out ahead of time. Just
automatically switch into the close at the appropriate
moment, just like you turn into your driveway.
The Puppy Dog Close. Let the person touch, feel, try out
the product for a few days. The pet shop owner does this
when kids want a puppy, but the parents aren't so sure. He
lets them take the puppy home for the weekend. By Sunday,
the parents have fallen in love with the puppy and they keep
it. "Why don't you take this beautiful, soft little puppy
home for the weekend, and you can bring him back on Monday
if you decide that you don't want him?"
One photocopier company had a great copier. All they had to
do was to let people use it for a week or so, and most of
them bought it. They hired a bunch of minimally-trained
salespeople and they trained them to convince businesses to
try one of their machines free of charge for a few weeks.
They sold hundreds of copiers because it was a great machine
and everyone wanted one. Their salespeople were basically
order-takers, but they were fantastically successful.
The Ben Franklin Close. This mirrors the decision making
process that most people use. We weigh the pros and cons,
then decide. Ben was one of the best decision makers of his
day. He was the first self-made millionaire in America, a
politician, inventor and a scholar. Ben Franklin drew a
line down the middle of a sheet of paper and put 'reasons in
favor' and 'reasons opposed' on both sides. (Actually get
out a sheet of paper.) You and the prospect work together
to fill it out. You help the most with the 'reasons for'
side.
Make sure the prospect has about a dozen reasons to
buy. On the 'reasons against' side, don't be much help at
all. The net result is about 3 reasons against (the price,
we have to dispose of the old machine, etc) and about a
dozen or more reasons to buy it. Look at the paper and say,
"Well, Mr. Prospect, it looks like you've made your
decision." Make sure you know 12 reasons to buy beforehand.
The Order Sheet Close. When you talk to the prospect, take
out the order sheet and start filling it out. Take it out
and boldly write down the date. If the prospect says, 'wait
a minute, I just came in for some information." Then you
say, 'Don't worry, I just have a terrible memory for details
and I like to get all of my thoughts down on paper. If you
don't want to buy anything, we can just void out the form
and throw it away." If they do start to get interested in
buying, then the form is already halfway filled out.
Just keep filling out the form. Whatever the customer is
interested in ( a blue one, the deluxe model, etc) write it
on the order form. This personalizes the order form for the
prospect. The prospect begins to identify with the order
form, which has his preferences on it. At the end of the
sales transaction, often you can just say, "By the way, what
is the correct spelling of your last name?" J-O-N-E-S?
Okay.
Once they give you the spelling of their last name,
they will go ahead with the purchace. We can do this with
LPPa applications. Even if they don't join, we have a lot
of their contact information.
Another variation. Take out the order form at the end of
the sales conversation and just start filling it out. Then
ask for the correct spelling of their last name. If they
spell it for you, then they will go ahead with the purchace.
If they give you the mailing address, they have decided to
go ahead. If they don't give this to you, then uncover the
prospect's objection and overcome it, and try another close.
The Walk-Away Close. These work in retail especially.
Customer wants to check prices all over town. Just say that
we have been in business around here for many years. Most
of our customers are regulars and they have already compared
prices all over town. Why go all over the place when
everyone else has already done it for you? Why not go ahead
with the purchace today, and we can wrap it up and you can
take it home right now? You gave them a good reason not to
spend hours visiting every other store in town. The reason
that all the other customers have already done that for you.
Why go all over town when you'll end up back here anyway, as
all our other customers have done?
Today Only Close. If they insist on checking all over town,
then use an incentive, the 'today only' close. Mr.Prospect,
this is the end of our fiscal period/ the end of a sales
contest/ we only have one or two left/ the new ones are
coming in tomorrow/ there is a price increase next week. If
you take it tonight, I can try to get an additional $25
taken off. This is an incentive to buy it now, rather than
put it off and compare prices.
If you join the LPPgh before the end of the meeting, we will
knock the price down from $24 to $20.
The Go Ahead Close. If they still want to check prices,
then use the 'go ahead' close. Don't argue. Just promise
me that before you make a decision, come back and see me,
and I'll give you the best deal in town. Now they are
stuck. They have to come back and see you, to make sure
they get the best deal. Don't give them a final price. I
have to check with my manager, etc. But go out and find the
best price you can, then check back with me and I'll give
you the best deal in town.
They come back with a price. Beat them on price if you can.
If you can't beat the competition on price, then you can try
to put together a package with free delivery, a warranty,
throw in a power cord, etc. Then write it all out and say it
is the best deal in town. Even if the price is higher, it
has warranty, set-up, delivery, and some extras. This is
the best deal in town. Then they can either buy it from you
right now, or they can go back to the other stores with your
offer and try to get them to beat it. "Why don't you give
us a try? Why don't we wrap it up now, and have it
delivered? What is the exact spelling of your last name,
etc.?
The Doorknob Close. After you try to sell something and
they don't buy it. They are resisting you, but they have a
hidden objection that you haven't been able to find out.
You gracefully thank them for their time, and you head for
the door. They start to relax, their minds wander to what
they will do once you are gone, their sales resistance
starts to drop. As you put your hand on the doorknob, you
turn and say, "Mr. Prospect, before I go, just let me ask
you one question. I have tried to present my product
information the best way that I know how, but I'm not very
experienced selling this product. I would really appreciate
it if you would just tell me one thing. What was the real
reason that you didn't buy this product from me today?
The person will be under no pressure, so they will usually
tell you the final objection. Then you say, Oh, didn't I
explain that to you properly? Oh, that's my fault, doggone
it. Then you wak right back in (This will only take a
second, Mr. Prospect). Then you walk right back in, open
your briefcase, and you start closing on that final
objection.
Well, I didn't think that that copier could make the fancy
copies that we need here.
Mr. Prospect, you mean I didn't explain that properly? We
have a warranty and a guarantee that takes care of that, and
if could get you that, will you be willing to go ahead right
now? You go right back in and close on the customer's
objection, only there is less sales resistance. Show him
that it can make those kinds of copies.
Closing On Referrals. One referral is worth 15 cold calls.
Every single buyer or non-buyer is a source of referrals.
With a referral, you are piggybacking on the credibility of
the person who has referred you. You can get in to see
anybody, if you have a referral from someone who knows them
closely.
Person either buys or does not buy. You are now looking for
referrals. One salesperson spends all of January looking
for referrals. He stops by everyone who bought or almost
bought stuff from him last year, and does a service call,
then asks for referrals. How are you doing, how's it going,
are you having any problems? Are you satisfied with the
service? If there is a problem, he jots it down and takes
care of it. If no problems, it is just a courtesy call. He
then says, It's always slow just after the New Year. Who
else do you know who might need my product or service this
year. Since they have had a nice 15 minute visit, the
customer will say, Why don't you talk to Bill Smith at XYZ
company?
Would you happen to know 2 or 3 other people who could use
my product? Yes, I know a couple of people. (this is an
alternative close, you give them a choice of 2 or 3 names
and they picked 2).
Then, I would really appreciate it if I could get their
names. Bill Smith and Tom Jones. Do you have their phone
numbers handy? They usually give referrals for people they
know pretty well. You write down the phone numbers and say,
Mr. Prospect (or customer), out of these two names, which
one is the most likely to need my product in the next year?
Who should I call on first? Well, call on Old Bill, because
he just opened a new office.
Mr. Prospect, would you do me a favor? Would you call Bill
and tell him that I am coming over to see him about this?
So far, he has said yes to you several times. Yes, I know 2
people. Yes, I have their phone numbers. Yes, Bill is the
best prospect. Yes, I'll call Bill for you.
He then calls bill for you and says, Tom Smith is coming
over right now to show you something that I found very
interesting. I think you should talk to him.
Then you go over, get in to see Bill in a few minutes, and
tell him what you've got. Use a good opening question from
the earlier tape. The Secretary lets you go right in.
If you have a good referral-generating system, then you
never have to do cold calls again. If you are still doing
cold calls, then you haven't developed your referral system
yet. Insurance agents talk to 10 people whom they know, get
five names from each, then get two referrals from each of
them, and they never have to make cold calls again.
10 keys to success in selling (helpful hints)
1. Learn to love your work, and commit yourself to becoming
outstanding at it. Take the time, pay the price, to become
the best at what they do. Many salespeople spend their
entire careers without deciding to become excellent at it.
The race goes to the person who is a little bit better in
the critical areas. The excellent salespeople make lots of
money. You can't really like yourself until you become
good at whatever you do. Many people are unhappy for this
reason. Everyone can become good at something.
2. Decide exactly what you want from life. Set it as a
goal, think about how to achieve it every day. Nothing
worthwhile ever comes without sacrifice. Only 3% of people
have written goals. Most don't write it down or think about
it every day. If someone wakes you up at 3AM and asks you
what your major, definite goal in life is, you should be
able to tell them (then shoot them).
3. Back every goal and plan with determination and
willpower. Don't hold back, don't get discouraged. Your
level of persistence in the face of adversity and setbacks
is the exact measure of your belief in yourself. How you
respond to setbacks determines how your life will turn out.
Circumstances do not make the man -- they simply reveal him
to himself. It's not how far you fall, but how high you
bounce, that counts.
4. Commit to lifelong learning. Read, listen to tapes,
attend seminars, take courses. Your mind and what you put
into it is your most valuable asset. Gather information and
put it to practical purposes, and the rewards will follow.
Practice something new every day.
5. Use your time wisely. Always ask, 'What is the most
valuable use of my time right now?' If you are always
spending your time in the most valuable way, then you will
get ahead of most other people.
6. Find some role models and follow what they do. Follow
the leaders, don't follow the followers. Look at the best
people in your field and emulate them. Hang out with them.
A Harvard study said that If you associate with a reference
group (friends and associates and family) who are not
success-oriented, then that alone can stop you from becoming
a success in life. Your choice of associates is important.
If you associate with turkeys, you won't be able to fly with
the eagles. We are strongly affected by the suggestive
influences of those around us, good or bad.
7. Guard your integrity as a sacred thing. Integerity goes
beyond not lying, cheating or embezzling. The vast majority
don't do these things. Be true to your own self, and to
your own goals.
8. Use your inborn creativity. Everyone can be excellent
at something. The belief that we are just average holds most
people back. Most people have unused reserves of
creativity. Look at obstacles as challenges.
9. Treat every prospect like a million dollar customer.
Use the Golden Rule. Also ask yourself, What kind of company
would my company be, if everyone in it acted just like I do?
This is Kant's Universal Maxim. Conduct your life as though
everything you do would become a Universal Maxim, or the
general rule for everyone.
10. Work hard, and you will succeed.
the end.