Sales Help NEEDED!!!

I agree with Wowsap - find out was has been happening - pick it up from there and run with it - if something doesn't seem to work you will pick it up on the way and you can make changes from there.

Going the "needing help" route generally seems to works for me because people like to rescue people in need. For instance:
"I'm not sure you are the right person to talk to, but...."
"I was hoping that you could help me, I have this (product) and I am new in the area. Do you use (this)? Who would I talk to about (this)?"

If you are given a current client base, I would start there. if you are phoning, introduce yourself, ask for an appointment to meet them and to discuss their current situation. If you are walking in, same thing, ask if this is a good time to talk or if they would rather make an appointment for a later date. Get a sense of their company/store and understand what their goals are for the store. Talk to them about the current products they are buying and anything new that might be available. Look at the products that they are currently buying and see if you can figure out how you can help them increase sales by switching up or adding to their current product line.

Hi Liz

I will be happy to help you write a script. I think you probably need one to start with as long as you can keep from sounding canned. Learn as much as you can about your product. Roll play with friends and family. Be yourself and don't be afraid to tell your prospects your are new, that will cover a multitude of mistakes. If your prospect asks a question you don't know then say, "I don't know but I will find out for you." If you can make face to face calls do that as often as possible. People like to know who they are doing business with.

Again, I think a script will be good for you and I will help you write one for you but I will need to know what your product is and what you do. Just give me a little background.

Warmest Regards

Martha Prince
Advertising Executive

Ok... I'm not an expert by any means, however, I personally think that there are three things one should be doing when one is new to the business.

Knowing your product inside and out is of course essential. Knowing how you use it, how they use it, and how people get along without your product is also of necessity, IN MY OPINION.

I think having a script to run on makes sense regardless of whether you're a new sales person or an old one. Whether you have it in front of you all the time probably depends on how well you learn't your tradecraft.

Learning comes from practice, and practice comes hard for some, so you have to keep doing it. Doing it with a script works. This mindgame thing... mind map thing has one thing in common with what we do when we do calls...

We have a script with "spokes" to points of objection, deferral, etc, etc... little keys to trigger responses. For example... my son and I use a script something like this....

Hi my name is tom and I work for/represent a company named/called AFLAC, is Mr. BigOne in this morning? Mr BigOne, Hi, my name is tom and the reason for my call this morning is to ask if we could schedule a few minutes in order to get your opinion on whether or not one of our makeyourichtoday programs would have a positive impact on your company. Could we get together for a few minutes later on this morning?

Yes.... schedule...

What is this about?

That's the reason I'm asking you for an appointment you nitwit... Nah... kidding.... more like…

The reason I’m asking for a few minutes of your time, and by that I mean probably no longer than it would take for us to have a cup of coffee together, is that there are several elements to this that are difficult to express over the phone. Could we have a few minutes this morning so that we can evaluate this together and I promise you, if we can’t come to agreement that this would have a positive impact on your business I’ll help you walk me out the door, fair enough? How about 10:00, would that work? (time)

What do you mean by makeyourichtoday programs?

Mr. BigOne, I'm not trying to be evasive; I appreciate that you want to save time and come to a decision on whether you want to go forward with learning about something like this, but we’ll spend more time on the phone than we can in person. Many of our clients have felt the same way you do right now, but after hearing and seeing how it would benefit their companies, have found that these programs have had a favorable impact on their companies performance/morale/productivity/benefit program/retention etc. Is 10:00 a good time for us to evaluate this this together? (feel, felt, found)

I have spokes from this relating to certain objections… such as…

I’m not interested!

Mr BigOne I understand that. I wouldn’t expect you to be interested in something you have little information about, but that is why I’m asking for your help with this and would like you to give me your opinion on whether or not this would be of benefit to you and your employees. (help/opinion)

Look, I promise to not take up any more of your time than it’d take us to have a cup of coffee, and I’ll help you walk me out the door if we aren’t a good fit for your company. You won’t regret learning about these opportunities for your company. Would 10:00 be Ok? (no regrets)

And on …. J

Aloha...

Before writing a script or figuring out what you need to start saying. Go visit the retail storss to see for youself how you can help them with your product.Isn't the first step finding out how you can help the client?Do they have space for your product and finding the space for your product .
When you do fact finding it becomes easier for you to address the conversation with your clients and what to say.

Hello msmarly

This is what has worked well for me; Reguardless of whether you phone or you make an in person cold call, your first call should be for an appointment only. In my experience, and I have tried several ways of doing, what works best for me is to simply walk in with a business card, introduce myself and ask for a time that would be good for me to return. If you want ot use the phone of appointment setting a script would be useful in the beginning however,I don't know what your product is so I can't advise on a script. If you want to give me more product information I will be happy to help you with a script if you feel you need one. Then at the second call you are ready to get down to business because you have the clients permission to be there and you are comfortable and ready to present your great product!

Warmest Regards

__________________
Martha Prince
Advertising Executive
http://howtosalemedia.blogspot.com/

Liz

After having read all these posts you are probably more confused then you were before although some of them given good advice...let me tell you what has worked for me; I listen to every bit of advice I can. I take it to heart and be grateful for it; I then use what works for me. We are not all the same and the way I do things may be very uncomfortable for you. You must do what feels comfortable to you! If you are not comfortable with what you are saying you will come across as phony. Be yourself, keep the clients best interest at heart and you will do just fine!

Warmest Regards

Liz,
Here's a little different approach. Do most of your buyers purchase your products in a similar fashion? If so, are there benefits to buying the product from you over a competitor? In other words, are there any portions of the buying criteria that clearly favor your company? If there are, prepare a short report that highlights those things in conjunction with some helpful information about using the product and offer to send it to your prospects for free (through email). Title the report something like "10 Things You Must Know Before Purchasing . . . " (whatever your product happens to be).

This way you'll be offering them something of value when you call, and you wont get as much sales call reluctance, and you'll be more confident when you call because you are trying to be helpful before attempting to sell anything. You'll also be able to build a list of interested prospects by doing this because they'll either agree to receive the report or not. If the report is valuable to the prospect, you may even get some incoming calls versus having to make a bunch of cold calls.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

__________________
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Hi I wonder if you'd help me.

I've kinda been thrown in at the deep end with this new job selling (xyz) and I am completely lost as to how I should start. Is there anyone in your company that could point me in the right direction or give me a little guidance.

It's honest, earnest, truthful and cannot be faked.

What would all the experts here do if they received such a call?

Rather than having someone help you write a script, it is far more important for you to understand the basics of selling ... for example, the types of questions to ask in openings, how to handle objections etc etc. It sounds as though you have not had much sales training ?

A script may be helpful to remind you of some key points but your conversation will be more natural, and you will be far more successful if you understand how to sell well, and throw your script away.

__________________
http://www.SalesOlympian.com