I recently delivered a virtual seminar on Seven Top Sales Secrets and we had more than 3,200 professional salespeople register. The following week we did another virtual workshop on Secrets to Closing the Sale and there were more than 5,000 views in the first 72 hours. Clearly salespeople are looking for solutions and ways in which they can get an edge. I know you don’t have three hours right now so I wanted to share the condensed version here.
The average salesperson never gets great, not because of a lack of skill or ability, but because of a lack of commitment. Without commitment you cannot be great. Commit now to being great and then these strategies can become a benefit.
Tip #1: Understanding Rejection
Rejection is that thing responsible for the death of more automobile sales careers and entrepreneurs than probably any other thing. But rejection is not what you think it is and once you come to understand what it really means the way I did, it will no longer take you down. It took me 25 years to learn this, but when I did, it changed me forever as a businessperson. The secret is that rejection is actually an indication that your business model is broken. The reason you have an emotional response of disappointment is not because of the obvious outcome or lack of outcome in front of you, but the unconscious realization that something about what you are doing is broken.
If the customer says no and doesn’t buy, it is not a reason to be upset unless, of course, you don’t have any more customers in your pipeline. If the customer says no and there are four more people waiting to buy from you, you may actually find relief and satisfaction that you can move onto those that are able and willing to do business with you. Understand that when you experience rejection it is an indication that you have moved away from a scene that is good for you and you have become too dependent upon too few prospects.
If you don’t have enough appointments you aren’t going to sell anything. If you aren’t prospecting daily then you will be forever waiting at the front door hoping someone comes in and then you will complain because they have done all their homework and have True Car prices and Kelly Blue Book in hand.
Tip #2: The Buyer’s Insistence ‘Tell’
This is a crazy negotiating secret that has never failed me. I have been in transactions from 38,000 vehicles to 38-million dollar apartment deals where the buyer tries pushing the seller around. When the “bully”, I mean buyer, adamantly and aggressively insists that they will not do something, or that you must do this and that, it is an indication that they will, in fact, do the exact thing they suggest they will not.
In fact the more they insist they will not, the more likely they will. People that take very strong positions are almost always hiding something. Rather than reacting to this, remind yourself that you have someone that is spending a lot of energy telling you what they want to do.
Think about how many times you scream at your kids, “Don’t ask me again,” and the kids asked one more time and you gave in, doing exactly what just moments ago swore you would not do. How about the gambler who says, “This is my last bet,” and then makes another wager after losing that one. When the buyer takes a strong position in the negotiations and they adamantly take a position consider this a ‘tell’ as to some weakness they are hiding from you. As in poker, when the player across from you acts strong they may in fact be weak. When the buyer yells, “we will only pay X” know that if you just keep your cool they will move – but you must stay cool.
Tip #3: Always, Always, Always, Agree
No matter what the buyer says, states or demands you should under no situation ever disagree or make the buyer wrong or suggest their request is impossible. This simple strategy is very powerful and will save you lots of sales once you perfect it. If you have ever been to one of my seminars you know this little secret, but it’s amazing how many people still blow this one.
The old saying, “the customer is never wrong,” is not true and in fact, more often than not, the customer is wrong and sometimes they even lie. That doesn’t mean you should call them out or make them look wrong. When you tell someone you can’t, won’t, not allowed to or that’s impossible, you only cause this customer to become more dug in to their position and difficult to come to an agreement with. Just agree with the buyer and show them what you can do. Agree with them, tell them they are right, take their position, but that does not mean you have to do what they said. The customer says, “The payments are too high.” You can agree and close without adjusting the payments.
This selling secret is so powerful but to pull it off you must train, drill and rehearse yourself avoiding all variations of no, not, never, can’t and won’t. My cloud based sales university, CardoneUniversity.com actually has built in drills to make sure you get this handled and quit blowing deals. Any and all variation of no and can’t must be eliminated from your vocabulary.
Tip #4: Show A Proposal To Every Customer
Seventy-two percent of all salespeople never present a proposal to their customer and 87 percent of all salespeople miss quota! Simply increase the number of people you show a written proposal to and you will close more deals. Interestingly enough I have found that if a customer is not presented any form of a proposal, it is quite difficult for them to purchase anything – sarcasm intended.
No matter at what stage your buyer or prospect is, you should always present every prospect with a written proposal. I have worked in industries from appliances to automotive, construction to consulting to real estate, and I have yet to see an industry where this didn’t apply. Start presenting figures to every prospect, every time, no exception.
Tip #5: Third Party Touch
Use third parties to improve your position with the buyer and learn things you would have otherwise not uncovered. Put your manager to work on every customer by having the manager or third party touch your customer. Having another person touch your customer takes the relationship with you and your company to another level. Using third-party touches can move a prospect to a customer. As a young salesperson in retail, I made it a habit to use a third party to speak to the customer to ensure that I actually had secured the sale or to help assist me in moving the sale to a close. Even when I thought I was successful with a customer and had closed a sale, I would get management involved. This involvement with senior management didn’t make me look weak it made me look strong.
Make your manager, general manager, finance manager, even the dealer, touch your customer before they leave and you will close more deals. If they can’t see the customer before they left, have them send a quick video text message to the customer. I did this last month for my sales team and it probably resulted in eight extra deals.
Tip #6: Always Provide Options
Buyers love options and salespeople are terrified of them, but a great salesperson knows to always provide the buyer with options. Even when it appears that your buyer is committed to what is in front of them, offer them an option to secure the decision and close the deal. Presenting an option will help them view you in a more consultative role, as well as open the door to used inventory, packages and offerings as a way to negotiate instead of using price. When you offer a proposal, make sure you always give the buyer two other options on both sides of the target offer.
One option should be something that would include less product or services that may or may not solve the customer’s communicated problem. The primary goal of doing this is to help the buyer see more value in the initially proposed solution. The other additional option should always be a move up or a more expensive or comprehensive alternative to your main proposal. This will either help the prospect see more value in the primary proposal or, better yet, show them that the next level up may be an even more appropriate solution to their problem.
Tip #7: The Second Sale
The second sale is the most often missed opportunity in almost every sales transaction. The second sale is, in fact, the easiest money you can get from a customer, yet 96 percent of salespeople never attempt it. Understand you never get all the money from any one customer, no matter what they tell you. Most salespeople never ask for the second purchase because they are selling scared and haven’t done the math. Now you have to start over from scratch with another buyer. It is easier to make a second sale – another product or extra product – to the person that just bought. The rapport has already been built, the client is already comfortable with you, they trust you as the expert and people use second money to validate their original decisions. This is deep-closing psychology here, but it validates why you almost never seen anyone with one package or why a grocery store has 34,000 products or why candy and gossip magazines work at check out.
Not only does a second sale make you more money, it is the best way to own the client. If you believe in your product, your company and in yourself, the more the customer has to benefit from its use. Now that you understand the opportunity with the second sale it is important to understand how to ask for it. Beware! If not properly executed not only will you not secure the second sale, but you also run the risk of losing the initial purchase. So in terms of actually executing the offering of the second sale remember it’s all about timing. When asking for the second sale it is vital to first secure the initial purchase. The first purchase must be done, finished, sold and completed prior to offering the second sale. If you want to dramatically increase sales volumes and deal profitability immediately add the second sale offering to every pitch.
