So Sell Me, Already!

By Robert Middleton - Action Plan Marketing

This morning before getting out of bed I looked up at my skylight and recalled how I had tried to replace it a few years ago.

It had been leaking in the winter rains, and so I called a local skylight company to come and take a look to see if the frame needed to be sealed or if the whole thing needed replacing.

A young man came over a few days later, got up on the roof for a few minutes and then came down and told me, "You need a new skylight." When I asked if it was the wooden frame or the skylight itself, he couldn't help me.

He said someone from his company would give me a call in a few days and give me a price. When they called they told me, "We can give you a flat skylight or a domed one. It's $750 for the domed and $900 for the flat."

We talked about the pros and cons of each and I left it with, "Let me think about it and I'll get back to you."

I'm still thinking about it!

This skylight company made several selling mistakes that seemed very obvious to me. Ultimately they instilled zero confidence that if they installed a new skylight it wouldn't continue to leak. The young salesman never asked when it leaked, how often it leaked or how it leaked.

In other words, I never felt heard. After about two minutes on the roof, the diagnosis was clear (to him); I needed a new skylight. But it wasn't cheap, and after all, it was just a drip...

Do you make the same kind of mistakes when it comes to selling your services?

My experience in working with thousands of Independent Professionals, is that most are not only bad at the selling process, they are usually worse than the skylight salesman!

See if you recognize some of these selling mistakes:

1. You make recommendations, too early in the process. Selling starts with a diagnosis where you work to understand the prospect's situation in great depth.

If the skylight person had brought me up onto the roof with him to look at the skylight, asked some questions and pointed out where the leak originated, I'd probably have a new skylight today.

2. You don't learn the desired outcome or future of your prospect. It's one thing to point out the problem, it's quite another to explore where the prospect would prefer to be.

If I was a skylight salesperson I'd ask about all the time and hassle you spent during rainstorms putting pots and pans under the leaks, and then have you picture what it would be like with a leak-free roof no matter how hard the rain was falling.

3. You don't explain in enough depth what it will be like working with you. Your prospects don't get a clear picture of exactly what they'll get, how you'll work with them and what will happen. They need to be briefed in detail to feel reassured.

My skylight salesman didn't even mention the process of replacing the skylight. He didn't explain how they ensured that it would be leak-proof and how they guaranteed its performance. He simply gave me a choice of two skylights. 

4. You close weakly and tentatively. Instead of showing confidence that your service is what they need and demonstrating that working with you is a good choice, you tend to waffle with lame statements like, "Why don't you think about it?"

I never got a solid close from the salesman or the person that followed up. They essentially said, "Here is what we have." There was never a real invitation to choose one way or the other. And you know how that worked out.

Selling is a Conversation

The thing to understand about selling is that it's a conversation where you develop a real connection with your prospects. You must listen and strive to understand their situation and desired future.

When you are sure you have a solution for them, then explain in depth how they will benefit and how your services work to ensure the outcomes they desire. Finally, give them solid reasons to work with you and invite them to get started.

Now I don't know if I'm a particularly hard person to sell. Maybe I'm somewhat sales resistant. But I don't part with my money easily unless the salesperson follows these basic guidelines.

What happened with the skylight? I never replaced it and it leaks only every other year! I still don't know if it's the actual skylight or the frame, and I may never know until I talk to a salesperson who really knows how to sell.

*

The More Clients Bottom Line: Just because someone seems to need your services, doesn't mean it's a slam dunk sale. You have to know what you're doing in the selling process or you'll get a whole lot of people saying they'll think about working with you but never actually hiring you.

*
What selling mistakes are you making in your business? Please share on the More Clients Blog. Just click on the comments link below.

Comments

[Rosie]

How a good teacher you are Robert! As you said in an old post you are excellent at breaking things down into doable steps that don't seem difficult. Chapeau l'artiste!
As far I am concerned, I would add something it's very important for me. Because I need to build relationship with people that fit my ideal client portrait (I know with certain person I will do my best while with others I will be bored or have my energy drained by them), I check during the conversation wether the ideal client qualities are there. How I do that? I listen to the words the prospect used (I know from experience that some expressions tell me a lot about the person) and I have defined for each quality I am looking for one or more questions that help me to check that the quality is there.
Kind regards,
Rosie

[Lyle]

Robert
I really liked this post. I thought it was an excellent illustration of the Sales Conversation.

The story provided a great framework for making your points. In fact, this article was also a great example of using a story to make points in articles.

For me, you've covered two topics with one article: the sales conversation and article writing.

I've set a copy of this article aside for frequent reference during sales and article writing.

[Dru Jackman]

I really appreciated this article as well. It inspires me to keep learning and using the process you've described. Thank you!

[Vince Stevenson]

It's a very useful article. I think that anybody new to sales has lost focus and is too busy selling the product and not listening to the customer's needs and concerns. A very useful aide-memoir. Regards Vince

[Stacy Karacostas]

Hi Robert,
LOVE this article! I see so many small business owners basically walk away from a sale by making these mistakes and more.

As a Practical Marketing Expert specializing in helping small business owners take the stress, struggle and confusion out of marketing, I like to tell my clients to do the following to make a sale:
#1 Get to know the prospect by asking questions
#2 Find out what their biggest problem, want or need is, and what their goals are by asking questions
#3 Once you believe you understand their issues, explain how you can help them solve their problem and achieve their goal. Ideally use real life examples of how you helped others with the same problem, and what the end result looked like.
#4 Ask if this is an outcome they'd like as well.
#5 Tell them what they need to do next to take advantage of your solution and achieve that outcome. Assume they're going to do so and let them know what happens next (the assumptive close--one of my favorites).

Voila! Sale closed.

Best,
Stacy

Stacy Karacostas
Practical Marketing Expert
http://www.success-stream.com

[Judy Murdoch]

Your article really hit home for me.

Jumping in too quickly with recommendations is a real bug a boo for me. Where I struggle is people contact me because they're needing help. They're unhappy with some aspect of their marketing and they really want a solution.

It's hard to keep asking questions when I know the person on the other end just wants to know whether I can help them.

I'm inspired to do that the next time I talk with someone. To take a little more risk and ask enough questions so that I have the clarity I need in order to tell them what the next step is.

Owning a business is always such an adventure!

Judy

[Grace]

I just have to add, by hand in hand I meant were one and the same. But I am learning they are definitely NOT.

[Grace]

I am just passing the understanding of marketing and beginning to learn about sales. I actually thought they went hand in hand. With Marketing Ball I can get to second base quite easily. Now I need to learn and implement the second half of the game. These tips will start me to understand.

[Dennis Dilday]

Very well said. Thanks for the reminders and for the story. I find myself on both sides of the selling conversation watching myself and others making mistakes regularly. And when someone handles the conversation well, I notice.

For me it takes some effort, but it makes the process much more effective and much more meaningful and fun.