A client asks, "Many of my peers tell me
that their sales
representatives are having a very difficult
time getting decision makers to agree to meet
with them or participate in product
demonstrations. My sales staff doesn't seem
to be having a problem with that. For them,
everything goes well until it's time to close
the deal; then the whole sales process
slows down. Prospects constantly put them
off while insisting that they are still very
interested."
Adaptation is Necessary
Experienced sales representatives have a
"toolkit" of sales skills that they use on a
regular
basis: an introduction, a list of
qualifying questions, a response to a
common objection, etc. Though these tools
may have been developed over many years,
good salespeople know that their toolkit has
to be revised
to adapt to new situations that arise. This
applies
whether the change is a new competitor or a
downturn in the economy.
If your sales staff has never been through a
recession like the one we are currently
experiencing, or they have never had to
adjust their sales
approach, they may be saying and doing the
same things over and over again. Further,
they may not understand why they aren't
seeing any
positive results.
Qualify Now to Close Sales Later
If there is a problem when it comes time to
close, it can usually be traced back to the
qualifying questions asked during the
beginning of the sales process. Your sales
representatives probably have a list of tried
and true questions that they ask the prospect
during their initial calls and meetings. The
problem
is that those won't necessarily be the right
questions to ask any more. Even the most
mature and experienced sales representative
may not have dealt with the economic
conditions that exist today, and may not know
how to change their approach to adapt.
Meet with your sales staff, discuss what the
prospects are saying when they start to
stall, and talk about what sorts of questions
could be asked, during the discovery
process, to prevent this problem from
occurring. Some suggestions are as
follows:
- How has the current economy impacted your
budgeting process?
- How has the current economy impacted
your decision-making process?
- What types of capital expenditures /
major purchases are scheduled for this year?
- How many of those will proceed as
planned?
- How many were put on hold last quarter?
- What were the main reasons that some were
put on hold?
- Of those that are going forward, why were
those projects chosen over others?
- Approximately how long did it take to
make the decision to buy those
services / products?
- How does that compare to the length of
time it took to make buying decisions prior
to this most recent recession?
- Are some committee members more cautious
than others with regard to spending?
- How does that affect discussions about
spending?
A funny thing happens during difficult
economic times: weaker sales
representatives start asking fewer and less
pointed qualifying questions out of fear of
chasing even the strongest prospect away.
All reps should be asking more - not fewer
- questions and they should be specific as
opposed to general. If they fail to ask some
of the questions above they will be put into
"check back with us in a few weeks" mode and
then wish they had gone ahead and asked the
questions to begin with.
Meet with your reps and come up with a list
of qualifying questions that better reflect
today's marketplace. Rehearse them so they
don't sound confrontational or accusatory,
and then start asking them of clients and
prospects. Discuss customer responses. This
exercise should help prevent at least some of
the stalled sales you have been experiencing.
