Tag: sales

Creative selling (8)

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Post-match analysis

Analyse in detail how you succeeded when you were successful, and what went wrong when you failed - learn from your successes and your failures.

Before calling a potential new customer - a prospect - or an existing supplier, we should have in our mind a sequence of logically progressive steps that lead to a conclusion that can only be a sale – a close.

We should, therefore, decide:

  • What do we already know about the buyer and his/her business?
  • What else do we need to find out?
  • How can we find this out?
  • What benefits are most likely to appeal?
  • What is the most effective way in which we can present these benefits?
  • What problems, snags, objections are likely to arise?
  • How can we deal with them?
  • What sales aids, literature, examples of our work, do we need?
  • What is the specific objective to be achieved on this call?

Our checklist for successful creative selling is:

  • Focus - we must focus the attention of the customer on what we want to talk about.
  • Involvement - we involve the customer by asking questions.
  • Need - we must identify the buying motives of customers.
  • Suitability - we must match the benefits of our products or service to the buying motives of the customer.
  • Objections - objections must be handled.
  • Action - remember to ASK FOR THE ORDER (we're bad at this bit).

Good luck.

 

Creative selling (7)

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Closing the deal

In sales jargon making the sale is called the close. And there are a number of ways you can close a sale. You have to judge which is suitable for each particular situation and each client (on the subject of jargon, someone who has not bought from you before is not yet called a customer or a client but a “prospect”).

Here are some types of close

  • Alternative close  - You give the buyer two alternatives: "Shall I deliver on Wednesday or Thursday?", "Would you like part of the order this week and part next or would it be more convenient to send it all at the same time?", "Would you like one or two?".
  • Summary close - Briefly summarise the major benefits, get agreement and start to write out or type up the order.
  • Comparison close - Compare a short list of disadvantages with a longer list of advantages and assume an order to be the logical outcome.
  • Assume order close - Ask a question, such as: "What time is best for delivery?" “When do you want it by?” “When do you need me to start?”
  • Last objection close - Get agreement that, if this one, final, objection can be overcome, an order will follow -  then overcome it.
  • Fear close - Show that some severe loss or inconvenience will result if the order is not placed. This can be used to close on a stall objection, such as "I won’t be able to do it at all if you leave it until next week".
  • Concession close - Offer to make a special concession in the case of this particular buyer.

Creative selling (6)

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Coping with rejection

First, think of it as an objection, not a rejection. It’s not that final yet. And let’s embrace and welcome objections. Points of disagreement help us to know that the buyer is at least interested.

An objection at this stage means:

  • We have not chosen the right benefits for that particular buyer
  • We have failed to get full agreement at each stage

It means that we have failed to sell effectively.

Objections should not come as a surprise. We need to anticipate objections and plan how to handle them. If possible, we need to build the answers to objections into our sales presentation.

We also want to keep objections small. That means checking continuously that the buyer understands and agrees with all points made so far, so they can raise small objections or ask minor questions early on rather than save them all up to the end. A good salesperson asks for the order, sale or commission early and often to see if any objections remain.

When an objection is raised, we must first of all decide what sort of objection it is. Ask yourself:

  • Is it a real objection?
  • Is it an excuse, a smoke screen?
  • Is there a hidden objective? Are they really just trying to barter down the price?

The smoke-screen

Confronted by a smoke-screen objection our objective should be to get it out of the way as quickly as possible.

There are various techniques that enable us to do this:

Simply repeat it (with a slight tone of astonishment) and pause. We should at this stage be in control of the situation, and able to be frank, without being belligerent. In effect, we are throwing out a challenge to the buyer to substantiate the objection. If it is really only an excuse, it is likely to evaporate.

Switch immediately to another topic, and ignore it. By ignoring it we are saying that we recognise it to be an excuse and we hope it will not be raised again. If what we thought was a smoke-screen is in fact a real objection, you customer will repeat it. In either event we will have made progress.

The stall

Confronted by a stall, our objective should be to prove that nothing will be gained by delaying but that something will be lost. We need to confirm with the client that there are gains that have been discussed. We then need to get them to accept that a delay will be costly.

The price

Confronted by a price objection, our objective should be to get agreement that what we are offering is value for money and that the client’s need for our product is greater than the need for the money or for some alternative. One options to propose reducing your offering in order to cut the price and ask which bit of the service they want you to drop to come in at the price they seek.

Use "yes, but" to agree that you may seem expensive but there are excellent reasons for you being value for money, and why the client, in particular, would benefit in important and specific ways by using you rather than someone cheaper.

What about hidden objections ?

Ask whether there are any other objections. Ask whether the objection raised is the only objection. Above all, listen to every single thing the customer says. The customer is certain to give hints if there are hidden objections.

The most effective way to handle objections is to anticipate them and to tailor your presentation so you overcome them step by step.

Creative selling (5)

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It’s the way you tell ‘em

What do we have to do in order to persuade someone to buy? We have to communicate. We have to influence another person's thinking and attitudes in such a way as to convince them of the desirability of a course of action that had previously either not been considered or, if considered, had not been thought desirable.

Such influence is brought about by a two-way flow of comment, information, views and suggestions and this can only happen in the right environment, in the right atmosphere.

We have two important communication functions:

  • To create a situation that allows easy communication, a natural flow of conversation
  • To control the process of communication in order to lead it to a specific conclusion

We communicate in two ways:

  • By what we say
  • By what we do

Everything we do, everything we say, must be effective in terms of creating and controlling the situation.

Communicating by what we do

  • Show respect
  • Look directly at the buyer
  • Don't fidget
  • Be a good listener
  • Demonstrate points visually
  • Use hands effectively
  • Make the buyer feel important

Communicating by what we say

  • Use the customer’s name
  • Use "you" and "we", not "I" and "me"
  • Use language that the buyer understands
  • Speak with enthusiasm
  • Use the full range of your voice
  • Do not talk too quickly - or too slowly
  • Never interrupt
  • Avoid arguments
  • Admit mistakes
  • Show an appreciation of what the buyer does - praise them
  • Never mislead the customer
  • Avoid undue familiarity
  • Do not "knock competitors"

Neither of these lists is exclusive – think of your own add-ons and learn to stick to them.

Selling is a specialised form of persuasion. We have to help the buyer to decide to buy from us. To persuade successfully, we normally have to progress by stages:

  • Gain attention
  • Create interest
  • Arouse desire
  • Enable action

And that last one is often a stumbling block. We may have convinced someone that they want to buy from us but they may have contractual, legal, administrative or budgetary hurdles to jump before they can buy from us. We need to work with them to get over those hurdles. We need empathy.

Creative selling (4)

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Sticking to the script

It’s time for you to do some work. Think of a client you want to sell to (or you want to work for). Run through what might motivate them and how you might stress that what you provide or the way you provide it will meet their need.

Write yourself six short presentations that will convince them that using you as their freelance will help them:

  • Make money
  • Save time
  • Reduce effort
  • Get convenience
  • Get good quality
  • Get good service.

Now try it on someone you know and see what their reaction is. What questions do they ask – did you have an answer prepared? Are they convinced and if not, why not? Work out what more you’d need to say and how you’d need to demonstrate it to convince them.

Remember, you may have to repeat the same message several times, so think of different ways of getting your message across so you don’t use exactly the same words.

A good salesman may look like they have been forced into providing discounts or offering extra for free in an unplanned moment of madness but it is all a script. You need to have worked out everything you need to say in advance and what price you are prepared to sell at – and stick to it.

Creative Selling (3)

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The Hierarchy of Needs

Your potential buyer is an individual human being. Buyers bring with them their own motivations but they also have motivations inspired by their business. The business, as a corporate entity, will have its needs and these are not necessarily identical to the buyer’s needs.

You may have to try to satisfy both needs - perhaps flagging up different benefits.

And if that sounds complicated enough, people’s needs change so you may have to push different benefits each time you try to sell to the same buyer.

A psychologist, Abraham Maslow, famously suggested that there are only five reasons why anybody ever does anything. He expressed this theory in what he called The Hierarchy of Needs. Some of these needs are pretty basic – to eat, sleep, have sex, excrete etc - so we need not concern ourselves with those. Instead, we’ll simplify the important ones into two groups of needs.

1. People buy to save

  • Time - speed of delivery; availability; ease of use; punctuality; deadlines
  • Money – cheapness; low cost in use; quality giving long life; quantity discounts; economy
  • Labour - you have skills they don’t; you can work faster; you can work for a fixed time or longer hours
  • Worry - simpler to use a well-known and well-tried supplier; a strong brand name

2. People buy to gain

  • Prestige - quality supplier; well-known; brand name
  • Respect – high-quality work; speed, a well-known product
  • Reward - in business this is usually financial; but it can also be public recognition or recognition by their boss; cost savings bringing them in under budget; quality
  • Fulfilment - Usually related to a quality service where recognition is the main aim; quality materials; examples of supplying similar products in the past; knowledge of materials
  • Profit - cost in use; cheapness; quality; special offers; large discounts; demand; scarcity
  • Comfort - pleasant to use; easy to use; tried and tested product or service; sensory satisfaction
  • Love - in business, this usually means appreciation: appreciation of work, people, and from the supplying freelance

If you can identify the need that is uppermost in the customer’s mind, and demonstrate that you provide a particular benefit that will satisfy that need, it is likely that the customer will buy from you.

Let me give you real examples. I can produce highly researched financially literate articles including serious numerical analysis. I can also produce articles that have very little of that (or even none) but will be controversial. I have sold both to the same customer. With the first they will gain respect from running it - it will lend them an air of gravitas and enhance their reputation. The second I sold to them on the basis that it would wind up their audience and provoke a storm of comments, ensuring widespread engagement with their readers.

I have sold other pieces to the same customer on the basis that I am prepared to be available during anti-social hours or that I can turn round an article much faster than my competitors.

If someone is motivated by low cost, it may be possible to offer them a discount if they agree to one piece of work from you every month. For many freelances not knowing when the next pay cheque is coming, a regular monthly gig, even at a discount, can be enough to keep the wolves from the door.

Links (new windows)

 

Creative selling (2)

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What motivates your client?

In order to sell you have to think the way your client is thinking. When customers buy a product or a service they are buying what the product or service will do for them - not what it is.

When you buy a car you could well be buying a status symbol, or you might be buying the freedom to go wherever you like without the limitations of public transport. You are not buying a metal box on wheels. When you buy shampoo you are not buying a container full of oily liquid. You are buying beauty, cleanliness and admiration.

Advertising is based on the theory that people buy what things do for them - not what they are. What the product is is a feature. What the product does is a benefit.

Why do you buy?

Think about what you buy, why you buy that product at all and why you buy that particular brand. You then need to apply the same rules to selling your services, skills and products.

The main difference is that the motive of the buyer is usually less obviously emotional. The benefits you need to get across to your customer are usually related to the success of your customer’s business.

The customer is asking the question: "What’s in it for me?". To answer this question we have to tell the customer not what we will do but how what we will do helps meet their needs.

And a customer’s needs may be very different. An acting role may require a Deep South drawling accent but that may not be the key motivator of the director. If the director has just had a nightmare dealing with an actor who turned up late or who could only work mornings because he was drunk after lunch, then a prime motivator might be an actor who turns up on time and will work all day. Dick van Dyke didn’t get to play Bert the chimney sweep in Mary Poppins because of his perfect London accent.

Getting a job just because of punctuality may sound daft but you’d be amazed how many freelances are regularly late and miss deadlines, in all walks of life. Helping your client get over their deadline problem is a benefit. For that benefit they will be happy to pay.

Know your customers

To work out what benefits they would appreciate, you need to build a picture of the buyer and the business. Take every opportunity of learning as much as you can. Ask your agent about them, ask other freelances. Google them and read about them in the trade press or on industry websites and blogs.

Keep your eyes open when you visit. Talk to employees if you meet them. Get to know the buyer as a person and, if she or he is already a customer, study the buying record. Why did they buy when they did and why did they not buy everything you offered them?

The object is to decide whether your potential client is most concerned with quality, price, service or ease of operation. You will then know how to target your sales pitch.

 

Creative Selling (1)

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Why we must learn to sell

Selling – it’s almost a dirty word to us creative types. We tend to be artistic, have flair, create masterpieces. Our work should sell and our talents should be recognised just because. We’re good. We know we’re good. The world just needs to see that.

Unfortunately the world sometimes needs its eyes prised open. It needs to be sold the idea of just how great we are. The trouble is, we’re not very good at selling. It’s embarrassing. It’s uncomfortable. Selling is something that people who didn’t have our talent were forced to do.

Many of us use agents or intermediaries to sell for us. But even then, we all need to improve our selling skills. An agent can only get you so far – an audition, a screen test, an interview. Once there, we need to sell ourselves.

Why do people buy?

One of the key errors we freelances make is misunderstanding how to sell. To get it right we need to understand how people buy, and, in particular, how different people buy for different reasons. There is no one way to sell your skills – you need to tailor your approach to the buying motives of each potential customer.

Think why someone buys a particular make and model of car. The same car will be bought by one person for comfort and reliability, by a second for appearance and performance and by a third because the boot space is big enough for their golf clubs or their child’s buggy.

The salesman sells the same car in three different ways, pushing its different strengths to match the buying motivation of the customer. He sells the fully adjustable seats, the air conditioning and the arm rests to the first customer. He sells the engine size, acceleration and the alloy wheels to the second customer. And he sells the fold-away rear seats, boot width and luggage rack accessories to the third.

Customers have different reasons for buying

If you can work out which buying motives are influencing your potential customers you will know how best to present the benefits of your product or service to each customer.