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Casual Articles - What Is The Most Crucial Stage In The Sales Cycle?
The Law of Social Proof. The Law of Authority. The Law of Contrast. Do these terms mean anything to you? They will in a moment!You won't find these laws in your country's Constitution or legal writings, but whether you realize it or not they affect your life every day. That's because these laws are being used to influence your thoughts and actions all the time, without your even realizing it.We all know, of course, that the advertising industry is constantly "pushing our buttons" --- that's how they persuade us to buy the goods and services they are selling. We accept that. Sometimes we are aware of the tactics and consciously decide whether or not to respond, but for most of the time we're oblivious to them. We simply react, and very often with the desired response --- THEIR desired response!These laws are psychological laws, and they work because we human beings are remarkably predictable. We may be different from each other in our personalities, our backgrounds, our belief systems, our characters and other ways, but our basic human psychological responses are surprisingly similar.So advertisers and other promoters have found ways to use these psychologi
Decision Making Unit:
Ask who else is involved in this project, identify the buying influences, but also ask what the process is going to be, what are they expecting, benchmarks, reference visits? If you have already enquired as to their position and role then asking about the DMU will be a natural progression and should not attract any resistance. Remember though do not use the term DMU in an
There are hundreds if not thousands of ways of marketing your therapy or coaching skills. Some cost just pennies and others require a bigger investment and are maybe more of a risk. The risk being that you won’t regain your investment. There are some marketing methods that require something other than your hard earned cash and this article is about those particular methods.Instead of parting with money to promote your therapy or business, give your time. Your time is valuable and in a profitable business should not be wasted. So unless this is an altruistic occasion you should look at the benefits you will gain from giving your time away for free or a token fee.One idea could be to offer group talks and taster sessions for free to various focus groups. This has a number of advantages for all concerned.Advantages for the therapist or coach :1) Meeting potential clients to help form a professional relationship (Clients feel more relaxed with a therapist or coach they have already met than a stranger from an advertisement) 2) Networking opportunities (A member of this focus group might tell other groups about you) 3)Increases possibility of focus gr
Key Elements to a Successful Exploratory Meeting:
Pre-planning & Preparation:
• You will have confirmed your appointment in writing or e-mail.
• You will have already carried out some initial investigation into the company, the ethics etc and if time has allowed, you will have probably obtained some company literature and a copy of their annual report.
• You will be armed with names of clients your company has already successfully helped within their market.
• You will be dressed smartly.
• You will arrive in plenty of time.
• You will act professionally and friendly to the receptionist,theymay be a relative of the Chairman.
• Remember: Never sit down in reception areas, be psychologically prepared.
Rapport/Empathy:
It is important that you do not ‘launch’ into your sales pitch as soon as you meet, but that you try and put your client (and therefore yourself) at ease by finding some common mutual ground to ‘break the ice’ with e.g. the weather, their premises, pictures on the wall, sports trophies etc. Good rapport will result in the potential client being less defensive.
Remember: 86% of buying decisions are based first on emotion, i.e. do they trust you?
Courtesy:
This should be obvious but is often forgotten through nerves etc. Remember you are a ‘guest’ in their environment so always be courteous. Time,ask the client how long he/she is able to put aside for the meeting and adjust your itinerary accordingly, if the time allocated is insufficient then you need to make a judgement as to whether you wish to carry on or reschedule when they can give you more time.
If a time is given and agreed upon. Do not ignore it, they may have a meeting with the Chairman!! Five minutes before the time allocation is up, reconfirm that they need to finish, more often than not if they are interested they will find more time,if they can’t then use the last five minutes to summarise and agree the next stage.
Notes. You will need to make notes, these are invaluable as they are a record of your meeting and you will find yourself referring back to them throughout the sales cycle. Ask the client if you can make notes,it’s polite!
Confirm Company Business:
You need to confirm the market they are in, ask them who they supply to, who they buy from, who are their competitors, they may be clients of yours,if so tell them,it’s reassuring to a potential client that you have knowledge of their industry. If they are not clients and you get this order, they should definitely become prospects,so make a note of them. By asking what the company actually does will differentiate you from the traditional sales rep, who is only interested in the sale, you will get an insight into the companys culture, its strategies etc. People like people who are interested in what they are doing and trying to achieve or have achieved,that’s a fact!
Remember: Every organisation has commercial concerns,what are theirs?
Confirm Position, Role within the Company:
Check that they are who you believe then to be, find out if their title is indeed just a title or whether they have the authority that goes with it. Never assume because they have the title that they have the authority, life is not always that straight forward. Remember also that people like talking about themselves, their responsibilities, their achievements so ask the questions and then listen, it is at this stage you can often pick up the political elements of the company, it will also enhance and strengthen the rapport between you, especially if nobody has ever bothered to ask them in the past about themselves and their background.
Decision Making Unit:
Ask who else is involved in this project, identify the buying influences, but also ask what the process is going to be, what are they expecting, benchmarks, reference visits? If you have already enquired as to their position and role then asking about the DMU will be a natural progression and should not attract any resistance. Remember though do not use the term DMU in any
One of the most important tasks legal assistants and paralegals perform is to assist lawyers as they prepare for corporate meetings, closings, trials and hearings. Although the lawyers take ownership for the legal work, they will often delegate many tasks to legal assistants and paralegals. As a result, they continue to take on a growing range of tasks inside the nation's legal offices and perform many of tasks traditional done by lawyers.On the other hand, they are still strictly prohibited from performing any duty that is considered to be the "practice of law" - such as setting legal fees, giving legal advice, and presenting cases in court. Legal Assistants and paralegals also do much of leg work like verifying and looking into the facts of cases to ensure that all points are thoroughly covered. They also identify appropriate laws, judicial decisions, legal articles and other materials that are relevant to assigned cases.After they analyze and organize the information, paralegals may prepare written reports that attorneys use in determining how cases should be handled. Should the decision be made to file a lawsuit, a paralegal may then be given the responsibility to h
• You will be armed with names of clients your company has already successfully helped within their market.
• You will be dressed smartly.
• You will arrive in plenty of time.
• You will act professionally and friendly to the receptionist,theymay be a relative of the Chairman.
• Remember: Never sit down in reception areas, be psychologically prepared.
Rapport/Empathy:
It is important that you do not ‘launch’ into your sales pitch as soon as you meet, but that you try and put your client (and therefore yourself) at ease by finding some common mutual ground to ‘break the ice’ with e.g. the weather, their premises, pictures on the wall, sports trophies etc. Good rapport will result in the potential client being less defensive.
Remember: 86% of buying decisions are based first on emotion, i.e. do they trust you?
Courtesy:
This should be obvious but is often forgotten through nerves etc. Remember you are a ‘guest’ in their environment so always be courteous. Time,ask the client how long he/she is able to put aside for the meeting and adjust your itinerary accordingly, if the time allocated is insufficient then you need to make a judgement as to whether you wish to carry on or reschedule when they can give you more time.
If a time is given and agreed upon. Do not ignore it, they may have a meeting with the Chairman!! Five minutes before the time allocation is up, reconfirm that they need to finish, more often than not if they are interested they will find more time,if they can’t then use the last five minutes to summarise and agree the next stage.
Notes. You will need to make notes, these are invaluable as they are a record of your meeting and you will find yourself referring back to them throughout the sales cycle. Ask the client if you can make notes,it’s polite!
Confirm Company Business:
You need to confirm the market they are in, ask them who they supply to, who they buy from, who are their competitors, they may be clients of yours,if so tell them,it’s reassuring to a potential client that you have knowledge of their industry. If they are not clients and you get this order, they should definitely become prospects,so make a note of them. By asking what the company actually does will differentiate you from the traditional sales rep, who is only interested in the sale, you will get an insight into the companys culture, its strategies etc. People like people who are interested in what they are doing and trying to achieve or have achieved,that’s a fact!
Remember: Every organisation has commercial concerns,what are theirs?
Confirm Position, Role within the Company:
Check that they are who you believe then to be, find out if their title is indeed just a title or whether they have the authority that goes with it. Never assume because they have the title that they have the authority, life is not always that straight forward. Remember also that people like talking about themselves, their responsibilities, their achievements so ask the questions and then listen, it is at this stage you can often pick up the political elements of the company, it will also enhance and strengthen the rapport between you, especially if nobody has ever bothered to ask them in the past about themselves and their background.
Decision Making Unit:
Ask who else is involved in this project, identify the buying influences, but also ask what the process is going to be, what are they expecting, benchmarks, reference visits? If you have already enquired as to their position and role then asking about the DMU will be a natural progression and should not attract any resistance. Remember though do not use the term DMU in an
What is it about overhead projectors that causes us to become lousy communicators? Why do our speeches or presentations lose much of their steam when we use overheads?Well, for starters, we often give more attention to the overheads than the audience. It can't be helped. After all, we have to pick up the right overhead, separate it from the next one, get it on the projector properly, check it out on the screen, and so on.While doing those things, we're taking our eyes off the audience. At the same time, the audience spends a lot of time looking at the screen, rather than at us. And, nothing detracts from good communication like loss of eye contact with the audience.We're also taking our mind off the audience. Instead, we're focusing our thoughts on the technical issues involved in showing the overhead, including our explanations of the visuals.Then there's the amount of material. Almost every time I see a speech with overheads, I see way too much content. One of the best lessons I've learned in several years at Toastmasters is that less is more. Don't try to explain everything to your audience, just pick one small sliver of an issue and explain it well - a
Courtesy:
This should be obvious but is often forgotten through nerves etc. Remember you are a ‘guest’ in their environment so always be courteous. Time,ask the client how long he/she is able to put aside for the meeting and adjust your itinerary accordingly, if the time allocated is insufficient then you need to make a judgement as to whether you wish to carry on or reschedule when they can give you more time.
If a time is given and agreed upon. Do not ignore it, they may have a meeting with the Chairman!! Five minutes before the time allocation is up, reconfirm that they need to finish, more often than not if they are interested they will find more time,if they can’t then use the last five minutes to summarise and agree the next stage.
Notes. You will need to make notes, these are invaluable as they are a record of your meeting and you will find yourself referring back to them throughout the sales cycle. Ask the client if you can make notes,it’s polite!
Confirm Company Business:
You need to confirm the market they are in, ask them who they supply to, who they buy from, who are their competitors, they may be clients of yours,if so tell them,it’s reassuring to a potential client that you have knowledge of their industry. If they are not clients and you get this order, they should definitely become prospects,so make a note of them. By asking what the company actually does will differentiate you from the traditional sales rep, who is only interested in the sale, you will get an insight into the companys culture, its strategies etc. People like people who are interested in what they are doing and trying to achieve or have achieved,that’s a fact!
Remember: Every organisation has commercial concerns,what are theirs?
Confirm Position, Role within the Company:
Check that they are who you believe then to be, find out if their title is indeed just a title or whether they have the authority that goes with it. Never assume because they have the title that they have the authority, life is not always that straight forward. Remember also that people like talking about themselves, their responsibilities, their achievements so ask the questions and then listen, it is at this stage you can often pick up the political elements of the company, it will also enhance and strengthen the rapport between you, especially if nobody has ever bothered to ask them in the past about themselves and their background.
Decision Making Unit:
Ask who else is involved in this project, identify the buying influences, but also ask what the process is going to be, what are they expecting, benchmarks, reference visits? If you have already enquired as to their position and role then asking about the DMU will be a natural progression and should not attract any resistance. Remember though do not use the term DMU in an
Certainly, we’ve all observed the scene unfold: A salesperson behaving in a fashion that indicates he or she desperately wants to lose their customer. You know, that behavior that reminds you of a hungry bear stalking spawning salmon. Unfortunately, every one of us has experienced this wonderful feeling of disrespect. Having performed at many levels in the sales process, I have no idea why sales people act this way, but the fact is they do.Throughout the years, I have had the opportunity to deliver my “Selling Skills” workshops to thousands of sales people. Often, I ask half of the participants to brainstorm the attributes of “Good” sales people, and the other half to brainstorm the same for “Bad” salespeople. As you might guess, the majority of the descriptions on one list are the exact opposite of those items on the other list. Participants can always create more examples of negative traits for sales folks. When asked why the list of negative characteristics is longer, participants always say they better remember their negative experiences (they can't forget it.) Therefore, I feel a sense of obligation to share the following traits of ineffective sales practices to make eve
Confirm Company Business:
You need to confirm the market they are in, ask them who they supply to, who they buy from, who are their competitors, they may be clients of yours,if so tell them,it’s reassuring to a potential client that you have knowledge of their industry. If they are not clients and you get this order, they should definitely become prospects,so make a note of them. By asking what the company actually does will differentiate you from the traditional sales rep, who is only interested in the sale, you will get an insight into the companys culture, its strategies etc. People like people who are interested in what they are doing and trying to achieve or have achieved,that’s a fact!
Remember: Every organisation has commercial concerns,what are theirs?
Confirm Position, Role within the Company:
Check that they are who you believe then to be, find out if their title is indeed just a title or whether they have the authority that goes with it. Never assume because they have the title that they have the authority, life is not always that straight forward. Remember also that people like talking about themselves, their responsibilities, their achievements so ask the questions and then listen, it is at this stage you can often pick up the political elements of the company, it will also enhance and strengthen the rapport between you, especially if nobody has ever bothered to ask them in the past about themselves and their background.
Decision Making Unit:
Ask who else is involved in this project, identify the buying influences, but also ask what the process is going to be, what are they expecting, benchmarks, reference visits? If you have already enquired as to their position and role then asking about the DMU will be a natural progression and should not attract any resistance. Remember though do not use the term DMU in an
You can make the sale. You know your core message. You know your target market inside out, right?But if you have even one employee than you've got another sales job to do. Everyone in your organization must also be sold on the dream you have. Everyone who answers the phone, walks the sales floor, attends that Chamber event, or follow-up on a sales lead in your company’s name must be sold first.Let’s start to think of your employees and strategic partners as internal prospects. What have you done to really light their fire about what your company does, about how it is different, about the unique value you can bring to a service relationship?Most of the time small business owners completely neglect the notion of what might be called “marketing training.” But then they wonder why no one in the organization get pumped up about providing over the top service. Or why no one really has a clear picture of who or what makes a good lead.I can stress this notion enough. Any person in your organization that comes into contact with a client or prospect in any fashion is performing a marketing function.So, now that you know who the first target market is, get out
Decision Making Unit:
Ask who else is involved in this project, identify the buying influences, but also ask what the process is going to be, what are they expecting, benchmarks, reference visits? If you have already enquired as to their position and role then asking about the DMU will be a natural progression and should not attract any resistance. Remember though do not use the term DMU in any shape or form.
Budget:
You need to know whether there is a budget, has it been approved and if so how much. There is no way of hiding this request for information. However if you have followed the previous elements your client should by now see you as a partner, someone who can help and therefore should not feel threatened by you asking such a straightforward question. If they ask why you need to know the budget,tell them you need to ensure that neither of you are wasting your time nor that you can supply a solution that they can afford.
Time Scales:
Part of your telephone qualification should have been to establish timescales, however these can often change so you need to confirm them not only in this meeting but also periodically throughout the sales cycle.
Resistance/Constraints:
You need to be aware of any resistance that the client feels may occur to this purchase and where possible offer advice on how to neutralise such resistance, e.g. if they feel that the IT department are going to resist then would it not be wise to get them involved or at least keep them informed so they do not feel threatened, maybe that is something you could do? If the resistance could come from the users, you can get them or a representative of theirs involved, so that they feel they have some ownership.They are then less likely to resist when the goods are delivered. Is there anything that may restrain them from progressing further? E.g. is the purchase directly linked to them receiving a large order?
Buying Criteria:
You need to find out how they will decide upon the final supplier orsolution, what will differentiate them or it from the rest? You then need to match your solution and credentials with their buying criteria. If you are dealing with a larger company they may have a preferred suppliers list so ask how you get on it, who can you talk to in the buying department so that you may introduce yourself as a potential supplier and find out what they require it will save a lot of headaches if you establish it now rather than at decision time. It is also advisable to find out what their standard terms of payment are as you will need to bear this in mind when you quote.
Competition:
It is imperative to find out who else they are talking to and why, e.g. are they the existing supplier. If so how have they been performing although it would suggest not that well if the client is talking to you, but remember never assume, it may be company policy to go out to three suppliers, in that case are you just making up the numbers? Never criticise the competition but rather emphasise your strengths that will illuminate their weaknesses.
Expectation:
Ask them what are they hoping to achieve? The answer to this question is always interesting, hopefully it will confirm what you have already surmised but sometimes it can throw up some unusual reasons for wishing to purchase.If the latter is the case you need to ensure that this is a good enough reason to progress with the sales cycle and for both you and the company to spend further time and money on your solution. Whatever they are hoping to achieve you must ensure that your proposal proves that it can match that achievement.
Other Information:
Always ask if there is any other information that they feel would be useful for you to have at this point. This will give them the opportunity to volunteer any other data which you may not have asked for,it is also a great get out clause if during the sales cycle something crops up that you are not aware of, after all you did ask them if there was anything else they felt you should know.
Summarise:
A good exploratory meeting will contain a number of summaries to confirm that you have interpreted the answers to your questions correctly. If you are unable to summarise duri
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