Accelerated Sales Training

Presentation Tips by Herb Rubinstein

Know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs. Know your material thoroughly. Put what you have to say in a logical sequence. Ensure your speech will be captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention.

Practice and rehearse your presentation at home or where you can be at ease and comfortable, in front of a mirror, your family, friends or colleagues. Use a tape-recorder and listen to yourself. Videotape your presentation and analyze it. Know what your strong and weak points are. Emphasize your strong points during your presentation.

Body language is important. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is preferred to sitting down or standing still with head down and reading from a prepared speech. Use audio-visual aids or props for enhancement if appropriate and necessary.

Do not read from notes for any extended length of time although it is quite acceptable to glance at your notes infrequently. Speak loudly and clearly. Sound confident. Do not mumble. If you made an error, correct it, and continue. No need to make excuses or apologize profusely.

Maintain sincere eye contact with your audience. Use the 3-second method, e.g. look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience, and every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking. Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved.

Speak to your audience, listen to their questions, respond to their reactions, adjust and adapt. Pause. Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think. Don't race through your presentation and leave your audience, as well as yourself, feeling out of breath.

When using audio-visual aids to enhance your presentation, be sure all necessary equipment is set up and in good working order prior to the presentation. If possible, have an emergency backup system readily available. Check out the location ahead of time to ensure seating arrangements for audience, whiteboard, blackboard, lighting, location of projection screen, sound system, etc. are suitable for your presentation.

Have handouts ready and give them out at the appropriate time. Tell the audience ahead of time that you will be giving out an outline of your presentation so that they will not waste time taking unnecessary notes during your presentation. I like to give out the notes in advance, so they can make any notes directly on them.

Know when to STOP talking. Use a timer or the microwave oven clock to time your presentation when preparing it at home. Just as you don't use unnecessary words in your written paper, you don't bore your audience with repetitious or unnecessary words in your oral presentation. To end your presentation, summarize your main points in the same way as you normally do in the CONCLUSION of a written paper.

Whatever you do, do not read off the bullet points on your slide. This is a sure way of putting your audience to sleep!

Terminate your presentation with an interesting remark or a funny video clip. Leave your listeners with a positive impression and a sense of completion. Do not belabor your closing remarks. Thank your audience and sit down.

Herb Rubinstein is the author of the new book and resource CD PowerPoint for Sales Professionals, now scheduling workshops thru ASR, contact Ron La Vine.

How to Sell More to Existing Clients

This week I had the privilege of working with a client care software sales renewal group in Maryland. These people are tasked with getting clients to continue to renew their software license maintenance agreements and to uncover opportunities to sell more software.

We had three objectives.

1. How can we find out more information about what the client was doing or planned to do without upsetting our existing contact by going over their head?

2. How can we uncover additional revenue we were unaware of from both the people who paid the bills and the people who did the application development?

3. How can this process be simplified so it could easily be implemented over the phone?

I came up with a set of questions some of which I can share with you. We started off by explaining to the person we were calling that their company was a client of ours. This of course immediately got their attention. They were thinking "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"

We followed this up with a simple explanation of the purpose of the call which was to let them know that this was a client care call to make sure they received the next release and the latest information on our software. No problems there.

Next came the magic "Is this a good time to speak?" About 9 times out of 10 they person said yes or maybe and began to answer our list of questions. After all, why wouldn't a client want to speak with their vendor?

After making sure that we were in fact speaking with the right person who paid the bills, we asked if they might be interested in gaining a discount and price protection by extending their maintenance agreement over multiple years.

Then we asked if we could help them save them both time and money by syncing up the renewal dates of all there different packages of our software. We usually drew a positive response from this question. This question also benefited us by saving our time and money too so it was a win-win question.

Now that we had our major concern which was the maintenance renewal handled we needed to find the person who actually used the software to find out how it was being used and if there was a need for more software, training or consulting services.

Often the person who paid or approved the bills was one in the same however sometimes it was a different person. Once we were sure we were in fact speaking with (not talking to) the right person, we asked the "money question".

What Are You Selling?

In this issue we are going to talk about value.

Value in the business world is defined in terms of results.

Results are an increase or decrease, more or less. The most powerful results statements begin with a word that ends in an “ed” and then followed by a connecting statement of what happened (these usually have an "ing" ) and finish with a numeric result such as X percent increase or X decrease or $X dollar savings over a X period of years, months, weeks or days.

Results tied to a timeframe are even more effective.

Initiated a safety program resulting in a reduction of accidents by 15% over a 30 day period.

Delivered a marketing plan enabling them to increase their sales by 25% during a three week period.

Promoted a trade show generating over 10,000 qualified leads for our clients over 6 months.

Decreased the defect rate by 15% bringing about an annual savings of over $250,000.

These are all examples of value statements tied to numeric results which in turn relate the value that prospects are looking for. People buy value.

Although it may seem that buyers are interested in the physical or intangible aspects of a solution which are usually the benefits couched in terms such as faster, better, less expensive, easier or harder these are typically not the basis for a buying decision.

When buyers buy, they want to know their investment will produce results. The most powerful examples of results have a numeric value attached to them.

These are some examples taken from the testimonials on my website at

http://www.accelerated-sales-results.com/testimonials.htm.

Over the past month our Call Center has tripled their lead generation performance, and our Inside Sales group has doubled their results in setting qualified appointments.

Because two days after I sent the email, the director called me saying that they wanted to move forward with a purchase, and 11 days later, the purchase order for $65,000 came to my fax machine!

We immediately put into practice your techniques and strategies learned during our live training. In the first week, our appointment volume increased over 25%.

This questioning has taken a single sale with a value of $12,400.00 to an additional opportunity within the same company for over $60,000.00.

Perhaps what I appreciated most about your training is that my telephone time is 100% more enjoyable.

Because of it, my telephone prospecting and qualifying has tripled in efficiency and I'm getting into companies I formerly had regarded as impossible.

Your assignment is to develop value statements which have numeric results attached to them.

Having trouble developing metrics for your value statements? Speak with your customers to find out what results they achieved over a specific time period and use these results to help build your value statements.

Bringing in these value statements into the conversation with your prospects will not only increase your credibility but it will also lead to more sales.

How to Ask Questions that Produce Results

I could not resist sharing this with you when I came across this set of ideas which apply to both verbal and non-verbal communication (body language) in the same book I mentioned last week. The book (which I highly recommend you buy a copy for your sales library) was written by Ferdinand Fournies and is titled "How to get better results from your employees!

Coaching for Improved Work Performance" and is available at: (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0071352937/qid=1058293293/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-6382085-7484030) and I must say that this is one of the most practical "how to" books I've ever come across.

Understanding How Communication Really Works

Mr. Fournies writes that "The problem is not a hearing problem. The problem is that there is no similarity between electrical or electronic communication and the communication between people.

In the first place, the mind thinks at least six times faster than we can speak, and because the mind thinks so much faster, its primary function is a reactive function. Of course, the mind receives the information transmitted, but the information is received so fast that the mind reacts even before the message is completed." This maybe why we interrupt others who are speaking or why we are thinking other thoughts while someone else is speaking.

"You can demonstrate this reactive principle yourself by saying to a number of people, "Say what comes to your mind when I say something to you." Then you say a single word to each of them, such as black, up, or hard. The responses you will most likely get will be white, down, and soft, but no one will respond with the word you said. In fact, you can say any word you chose and they will never repeat what you said. If you said to them dot dot dash dot their response might be "you are crazy."

"This means if you have an idea in your head that you want to communicate to someone else, the worst thing you can do is to put that idea into the most precise and correct words you can think of and speak them. Because as soon as you say these words, the listener will hear them, but think something else. Because the mind is primarily a reactive instrument, successful communication is a function of thought transmission, rather than information transmission. Therefore, if you have an idea you wish to transmit to someone else, you must say or do something that will cause that idea to appear in the other person's head as a reaction to what you said or did."

"For example, let's say I wanted you to be frightened, and I said to you; "Be frightened! Be frightened! Be frightened!" Obviously, you will not be frightened, so I will improve my diction and say the same words even louder. Is it likely that you are going to be frightened? More likely, you are going to wonder what kind of nut I am, and why am I carrying on this way."

"If I recognize that communication is thought transmission however, and I want to transmit the thought fright to your mind, I might wait until you are relaxed, sneak up behind you, and yell as loud as I can, "Boo!" or I may approach you with a glass of water and stumble theatrically in front of you to make believe I'm going to spill water all over you. In both instances, you would probably jump out of your chair."

"In neither instance did I say the word fright to you. I did something in front of the thought called fright so it appeared in your head. I used thought transmission."

"If you recognize that communication is thought transmission and not information transmission, you will realize that your communication efforts must be directed to doing or saying something in front of the thoughts you want to appear in someone's head."

"The simple fact of communication is that when you are talking to others, the only things you can be sure are working on the subject you are talking about are your brain, your mouth and maybe their ears. If you want to know what a person's brain is working on, you have to make sounds come out of that person's mouth."

"Rather than making the sounds come out of your mouth (telling people all the things you want them to know) you must do or say something to make the sounds come out of their mouths. That something is ask questions the answer to which, is what you want to tell them."

For example I might state or write "It appears that the majority of you readers have been salespeople for a long time; therefore I assume you have been doing that thing called selling or prospecting or cold calling for a long time. The question that occurs to me is this: Realizing how important time is to you sales reps, I wonder why you would want to take your time to read this newsletter and spend it on a subject that you obviously have been doing for many years.

Then you would tell me all the reasons why you should spend time reading this newsletter or about these subjects, and your reasons would be exactly what I would have told you.

"The major difference is that if we were writing or speaking the thoughts would have come out of your mouth or via your writing rather than mine. Moreover, because you did that I would know those thoughts were in your head. Viola! I have been successful at transferring those thoughts from my head to yours."

Now your assignment is to think up questions that will cause your prospects to communicate to you the answers or results you want to hear.

Are You Missing the Close?

I think you'll find this article on closing of great value. Enjoy!

Are You Missing the Close?

By Robert Middleton

I tend to spend a lot of time writing about the front-end of marketing -- getting attention -- but not so much about the tail end -- the close. I'm becoming convinced that people are just as bad, if not worse, at closing than they are at getting attention. And this means that business that should by all rights be yours is slipping through your fingers.

And there's a lot of misunderstanding about closing. Closing isn't a one- time thing you do at the end of the sales process; it's something you do several times throughout the process.

But first, what exactly is a close?

A close is a question that asks for some kind of commitment. It asks for a decision (yes or no) or for a choice (this or that).

If you're not closing, you're "pouring from the empty into the void"; that is, just talking is going on. Information is being conveyed, questions are being asked, answers are being given, but no decision or choice is ever asked for or made. And the sale never happens.

Here are some opportunities for closes that you may be missing.

You meet someone in person and they show interest in your services. Instead of just exchanging cards, you use this close: "I have a report on improving teamwork. Can I send you a copy?"

You have asked and they will usually agree to receive your report. This first close paves the way for the next step in the process. And you have also put the "law of value" into action, which increases their level of interest in you and your services.

Add even more value by offering to assist in some way. You might be able to offer a resource, an idea or provide feedback of some kind. You make a suggestion and close by asking for a decision: "I'd be happy to review your brochure. I'll take a look and get back to you with some suggestions. Can you send me a copy?" Close accomplished, which gets you an automatic invitation to follow up.

Closes can also be used to screen out or qualify prospects and save you a lot of time and misunderstanding.

If someone calls and asks if you do a certain type of consulting, for instance, you answer with your Audio Logo and then close:

"What I specialize in is working with companies whose meetings are killing their productivity and who want meetings to actually increase productivity. Is this what you're looking for?" If the answer is "yes," you've saved a lot of time and can take the next step.

Closes can be used to nail down commitment when people are showing real interest, but haven't yet taken the final step. This is when you tell them exactly what to do.

They say, "I think executive coaching for our management team is a good idea." You say, "So do I. Here's the first step I recommend. (Name the step.) How does that sound to you? If they say "good," you have the sale.

My favorite close, however, is getting the prospect to ask you to close. If closing is the prospect's idea, then there is little or no resistance. I find this works well when I have a qualified prospect on the phone.

I spend most of the time asking questions, giving examples of results I've produced with other clients, and suggesting ideas they might try as well. I never explain how my services work until they ask. When they ask how I work they are really asking me to close. Don't miss it. It's time to nail down a decision or choice.

I usually explain briefly how my services are structured and how they are priced and then ask a very non-threatening question: "Does that work for your budget right now?" This is so much less stressful than directly asking if they'd like to work with you. If it works for their budget, then they have said they are ready to move forward.

Start looking for opportunities to close; that is, opportunities to ask for a decision or a choice. Several positive decisions inevitably lead to the final decision to work with you.

* An old sales saying goes, "Close early and close often." This is good advice, but usually misunderstood. It doesn't mean put on the pressure and make your prospects feel uncomfortable. It simply means asking for small decisions in the course of the sales process.

* Closes should never look formulaic. That is, when you close, you shouldn't look like you're using a technique. That's a turn- off and feels manipulative. Every time you ask a closing question you should sincerely want to know the answer. Your attention is very much on the prospect.

* Sales-closing techniques are neutral. That is, they are not manipulative in and of themselves. They become manipulative if your intention is to trick, deceive or cheat. So don't avoid using closing techniques just because you don't want to be seen as a "sales type."

* The opposite of closing is "order-taking." That is, you don't try to do anything to move the sale forward. You just wait to see what they want to do and then you tell them what you offer. Order- takers think they are being low-pressure and appropriate. They're really just missing the boat.

* In closing, timing is everything. It takes real listening and tuning into your prospect to close at the right time. You only get good at it by doing it a lot. The more contact you have with prospects, the better closer you'll become -- but only if you work at it!

"By Robert Middleton of Action Plan Marketing. Please visit Robert's web site at (http://www.actionplan.com) for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service business."

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Has Your Career Derailed?

Dr. Frankel, in her book "Overcoming Your Strengths, 8 Reasons Why Successful People Derail and How to Get Back on Track provides the following reasons why people maybe letting their strengths be their downfall.

Reason 1. Overlooking the Importance of People
Strategy: Build strong one on one relationships.
We build our reputations early in our careers on competence. We remain successful, however, based on a combination and the eight reasons listed here.

Reason 2. Inability to Function Effectively in a Work Group
Strategy: Become an integral member of your team.
People who create strong support systems consisting of relationships with individuals may derail due to their inability to participate as members of task forces or project teams.

Reason 3. Failure to Focus on Image and Communication
Strategy: Capitalize on the power of perception.
Research shows that a full 90% of the impression you make is based upon how you look (50%), how you sound (40%) and what you say (10%). A rule of thumb in business is that you should not dress for the job that you have, but rather dress for the one you want.

Reason 4. Insensitivity to the Reactions of Others
Strategy: Craft a winning personality.
A pleasing personality includes having self-confidence and insight into how you affect others, relating to all kinds of people and making them feel easy around you, knowing that you don't control everyone and everything, striving to act with integrity at all times, treating others the way you would want to be treated and acting graciously even in the most difficult situations.

Reason 5. Difficulty Working with Authority
Strategy: Learn how to manage up.
Managing up means that you are aware of the need to cultivate a relationship with management that produces satisfactory results for both parties.

Reason 6. Too Broad or Too Narrow Vision
Strategy: Balance detail organization with strategic thinking.
To avoid derailment become good at both. Don't sacrifice close attention to detail for broader, more strategic thinking and vice versa.

Reason 7. Indifference to Customer or Client Needs
Strategy: Develop a "Can-Do" attitude.
People who avoid career derailment go above and beyond the obvious job requirements or requests - they anticipate needs and meet them without being prodded.

Reason 8. Working in Isolation
Strategy: Network for success.
With the proliferation of information technology, and the increasingly popular movement towards team-based efforts, individuals are no longer expected to perform their job responsibilities in isolation. Today's sales rep is expected to function interdependently with a large base of information accessible through his or her relationships with others.

In conclusion, until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiatives (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.

Consider your strengths and take steps to break old patterns and overcome them. Life is too short not to get the success you deserve.

Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D.
LPFrankel@corporatecoachingintl.com
(http://www.corporatecoachingintl.com)
626-405-7310 (phone)
626-405-7312 (fax)

Customizable Cost Justification Template

Employee's annual compensation (excluding benefits,
overhead, opportunity costs (1), etc.) $_______
Divided by 222 working days per year / 222
Cost per person per day $_______

Cost per person per day $_______
Divided by 8 working hours per day / 8
Cost per hour (excluding benefits, overhead, etc.) $_______

Cost per hour (excluding benefits, overhead, etc.) $_______
Multiplied by the potential wasted hour(s) per day x ______
Cost of wasted hour per day
(excluding benefits, overhead, etc.) $_______
Multiplied by the number employees wasting those
hours per day x ______
Total cost of wasted time per day by employees $_______

Total costs of a wasted time per day
(excluding benefits, etc.) $_______
Multiplied by 222 working days per year x 222
Annual cost of wasted time per day $_______

Annual cost of wasted time per day $_______
Multiplied by ___ employees affected* x_______
Total costs of a wasted time annually by employees $_______

This means, through the use of our solution, if that
Number of employees _______
Learn how to re-gain X hours per day _____ hrs.
Multiplied by the hourly rate x $_____
Multiplied by 222 working days x 222
that translates into a payback to your organization of $_______
per employee per year.

If there is a group of ___ people involved in the same solution and they all receive a similar result, the return on your $_______ investment to your organization is $_______ per year. If you divide that amount by 365 days, your investment works out to be only $ _______ per day to recoup the recurring cost of wasted time which equals $_______ per year.

This does not even count two other major benefits to your organization, a significant increase in productivity (1) and a decrease in expenses. The payback per year $_______ multiplied by 5 years = $_______.

What would your organization be willing to invest to achieve that return and payback?

Now you are saying it is difficult to find time for evaluating and implementing this type of solution. When someone says they cannot afford to take ___ days out of one month for implementing, I know they are looking at this type of solution as an "expense", rather than an "investment". ___ days out of 5 days in a week is ____% of a week and that would be a big expense.

However ___ days out of 222 days is a small amount to invest even if that investment regains just one hour of productivity per day, every working day. The payback on your investment is over 220 hours just in the next year alone.

* This excludes the opportunity costs of what the employee(s) could be doing instead with the recaptured time.

Actions Sales Reps Should Avoid

Actions Sales Reps Should Avoid

Sales reps should avoid talking too much and listening too little. Using close-ended questions, which tend to kill a conversation with a yes or no answer instead of open-ended questions that extend a conversation because they cannot be easily answered with a yes or no.

Sales reps should avoid not getting people to commit to a yes or no decision rather than a perhaps or a maybe. Get rid of the prospects that keep dragging their feet. Simply ask, "Is there still an interest in [your product or service]? If yes, what's the next step?" The sooner you know the quicker you can invest your time in those prospects who have an interest and are willing to take action or "move forward".

Sales reps should avoid forgetting to ask permission to speak or lack respect for the other person's time. An executive's time is one of their most limited and valuable assets. If it is not respected you will quickly find yourself disconnected. Would you want to speak with someone if you were in the middle of an important meeting? No. So remember a little common courtesy goes a long way. ALWAYS ask permission to speak. I happen to like "Is this a good time to speak?" or "Do you have a minute?"

Sales reps should avoid asking too many questions in a row. Too many questions in a row are frustrating because the prospect doesn't know which question to answer first and the conversation becomes confusing real fast. Remember one question at a time, then STOP! You'll have plenty of time to ask more questions and the prospect won't be defensive since they are unable to answer multiple questions at once.

Sales reps should avoid talking over other the prospect's answer to a question or interrupting while the prospect is speaking. Since most if not all of us like to hear ourselves speak, it takes tremendous discipline to remain silent until someone has finished what they have to say. What if the part of the answer that you spoke over was a crucial piece of information? You'll never know, will you?

Sales reps should avoid calling on the wrong people who have no authority to buy. Many reps would rather spend their limited selling time calling upon lower level people who, while they maybe good sources of information, they lack the authority to buy. These people can stymie the sales process by saying don't go above me and don't go below me. I am the only person you need to speak with. What happens then? You become in the "let's talk some more and more or show me more and more" position. This type of scenario will drag your sales process to a halt.

Sales reps should avoid speaking too fast, too slow, in a monotone or without enthusiasm or conviction. People buy from people they know, like and trust and trust means similar to them. Learn to match and mirror the rate of speed, tone and the volume of the prospect's voice. Listening to a person's voice mail often provides a clue as to what type of speaker they are. If they speak fast, speed up. If they speak slowly, then slow done. The same applies to louder and softer. As for tone, learn to move your voice up and down and enunciate clearly.

Sales reps should avoid pitching. Pitching is for baseball games not selling. Pitching implies something will be caught yet not necessarily the "right thing or solution". A good salesperson never needs to pitch since by asking the right questions and listening they know what the prospect wants resented to them and the close becomes a natural conclusion.

Sales reps should avoid leaving their phone number only once and speaking too fast when they leave a voice mail. This means the prospect has to play the message over and over again when it is much easy to just erase it. Make it easy for people to do business with you. SLOW DOWN when you leave a message and leave your phone number twice in a row. The first time you leave your number gives the prospect time to find a pen and the second gives them time to write down the number.

Sales reps should avoid forgetting to make eye contact. In Nicholas Boothman's book, How to Connect in Business in 90 Seconds (Workman Publishing $16.95) he claims people make "like/don't like" decisions within the first 90 seconds of meeting someone. This means you must be able to win someone over fast. For you field reps it is a known fact that looking people directly in the eyes establishes you as trustworthy and open. Practice making a mental note of each person's eye color and you'll automatically look each person you meet right in the eye.

Sales reps should avoid making selling too complicated. Often it is better to be reminded and return to the basics above rather than to continue behavior, which should be avoided, if you want to be successful in sales.

Where are IT Dollars being Spent Now?

A recent study by Forrester Research of technology decision- makers shows vendors where to look for prospective buyers.

1. Develop a vertical marketing strategy to target specific market segments since each segment has a unique set of economic challenges and IT priorities.

Industries such as manufacturing and retail, and consumer- service segments such as health care will show above-average spending. In contrast, the utilities and financial-services industries, which face regulatory scrutiny and slimmer margins are cutting back or being very judicious on what they are spending on IT.

2. Identify the Technologies in Demand
The two hot growth technologies right now are application software and storage. For both categories, 34 percent of companies will increase their spending over last year, according to Forrester Research (www.forrester.com).

Look for potential consulting and training opportunities as companies shift towards more internal development and customization work.

Both enterprise-application software spending and the demand for CRM should increase over past years. As for technologies that will enjoy a definite demand, disaster-recovery and business-continuity products and services this year will both be high on the list.

Another sure winner will be business-intelligence and data analysis software used for data mining, analytics and reporting. Finally, for those of you involved in the sales of enterprise application integration (EAI) products, Forrester says you should see an increase, with more than one-third of IT executives expecting to buy integration software this year.

3. Line up with the Customer's Priorities.
Many IT models are being re-thought and rebuilt after recent economic disasters in the corporate world. Customer relationships are becoming increasingly more valuable as is the need to design an optimal customer experience both online and face to face.

It is important to know that IT organizations have moved heavily towards a centralized decision making model and now a large number of line executives need to be identified rather than just upper management since more and more they are getting involved in IT direction-setting. This means you need to learn how to quickly and easily navigate the large corporate labyrinths today's organizations have created.

Most business-unit executives see their IT shop's top objective as decreasing expenses which has a direct effect on the bottom line. Yet a large percentage of these executives also believe customer acquisition and retention should also be top priorities for IT since revenues are a major driver of a successful company.

Other areas of concern for IT executives include:
* Disconnected IT systems
* Poor project performance
* Meeting business goals
* Ensuring vendors' delivery capabilities

The bottom line is that IT solutions today need to show a direct relation to decreasing expenses and/or increasing revenues. Everything else will remain a lower priority.

This article was adapted from the April 28, 2003 edition of VARBUSINESS Magazine article entitled: "Enterprise Spending: Three Steps to Finding Enterprise IT Spending Opportunities." The article was written by Tom Pohlmann, a research director at Forrester Research (www.forrester.com)." Tom Pohlmann can be reached by sending <mailto:TPohlmann@forrester.com>. I encourage you to visit Forrester Research (www.forrester.com) where you will find additional useful spending trend information.

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Enterprise Spending: Clinching the Deal
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DECISION MAKERS
The person responsible for making/influencing technology product purchase or service decisions when a solution provider engages with the enterprise.

52% IT Manager
42% CIO
21% IT Staff
20% CTO
20% Line of Business/Business Unit Manager
16% CFO/Finance Executive
11% CEO/President/Owner
10% Purchasing/Procurement Manager
Source: VARBusiness' 2003 State of Enterprise Spending study

How many of these types of buyers/stakeholders have you identified in your enterprise wide selling opportunities?

MEASURING UP
What enterprise executives look for when selecting an outside IT solution provider.

39% Technical Expertise
16% Cost
14% Strategic Business Expertise
9% Creative Expertise
8% Scope of Offerings
6% Implementation Time
4% Market Awareness
2% Staff Size
Source: VARBusiness' 2003 State of Enterprise Spending study

What are your company’s strength’s and are they documented?

I Object! - How to Handle Objections - Part 2 of 2

In the last column I presented the first two steps to overcoming objections - empathizing and asking for clarification. The next two steps are seeking permission and offering a solution.

Step 3 - Seek permission. As it states, it means that you ask permission to offer a solution. You do this to make them more receptive to your solution. Seeking permission puts the prospect in a better state of mind. If you just barrel ahead and offer a solution after you empathize and clarify the customer will still be slightly defensive so your solution could fall on deaf ears. This may sound like a very simple approach. I've learned that most people don't seek permission and try to overcome the objection instead.

However, this approach changes the dynamics in the sales process. When your prospects gives you permission to solve the objection, he is more likely going to listen to your solution than wondering how he is going to say no. The sales process will then change to more of a dialogue than an attempt to push the customer into making a decision. Here is how the process looks and sounds so far:

Customer: "I'll think about it."

You: "No problem, I think it's smart to think about your decision rather than rushing into it. What particular concerns do you have?"

Customer: "What you've said makes sense, but I'm concerned about the down time in the event of a breakdown. My machines generate a fair bit of income and I don't want to lose money while I wait for someone to come out and fix my machine."

You: "I can definitely appreciate that. So if I understand you correctly, you're primarily concern about how long it will take to get a machine fixed if it breaks down. Is that it?"

Customer: "Yes."

You: "Would it be okay if I explained our service policy to you?"

Customer: "Sure."

If you use the proper tone of voice and appropriate body positioning, you won't sound aggressive or pushy. If you have established a good level of rapport with your prospect, she will allow you ask her such questions. Remember, your actions and behavior in the early part of the sales process will influence what happens later in the sale. Here are more advantages and benefits to following the steps I've outlined so far:

- You will reduce the customer's potential hostility.
- You will earn more trust from him.
- You will accurately understand her true objection.
- You will make him more receptive to a solution.
- You will give yourself some additional time to think.

Step 4 - Provide a solution. The final step in handling objections is to provide a solution. I cannot repeat too often that I don't believe in scripted answers for objections - except for empathizing and clarifying - because every customer is different and requires a different response.

The real key to solving objections is to fully and accurately assess their needs early in the sales process. Gather enough information and you will be able to overcome just about any objection. By focusing on what is important to each prospect and adapting your response accordingly you will be more effective.

One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to overcome an objection is to talk too much. My recommendation is for you to KISS your customer. Keep It Short and Sweet. Rambling on too long not only gives your prospect the impression that you are desperate for the sale; it also wastes his time as well as yours. Your goal should be to talk for no more than twenty to thirty seconds before you check with other person to see of the solution you are suggesting is appropriate. For example, "Mr. Prospect, we offer a guarantee that we will be on site within four hours of receiving a service call. How does that sound to you?"

You will soon find this approach much more effective than rattling off a long list of reasons why the customer should use your machines instead of a competitor's. Another reason to avoid presenting several options or solutions is that you will quickly run out of responses and, if the prospect has other objections, you may find yourself out of ammunition.

It is also important to distinguish between an objection and a condition of sale. An objection is something you can provide a solution to. A condition of sale is something you cannot control or change. Some examples of a condition of sale are:

- A customer wants a product you don't carry.
- Your machine is too big for the space available.
- They want a specialized logo that you can't reproduce.

Lastly, I'll repeat the importance of learning as much as you can about your customer. It is this information that will ultimately help you position your product and service to meet the specific needs of your prospect. It will also address some objections before they occur and allow you to close more sales.

Kelley Robertson is a Senior Partner of The Robertson Training Group and the author of, "Stop, Ask & Listen - How to welcome your customers and increase your sales." Gain practical advice on how to increase your sales by subscribing to his 59-Second Tip, a no charge weekly e-zine @ www.robertsontraininggroup.com. Kelley can be reached at 905-633-7750 or by sending mailto:Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.