(with all due apologies and credit to the inspiration, Jeffrey Gitomer)
#1: Never take advice from, or pay attention in class led by, someone who hasn’t ‘been there and done that.’
Everybody's got advice for you. Your pals know how to sell your product. Your mom knows how to sell your product. That weird guy in accounting knows how to sell your product. Everybody seems to know exactly what needs to be done to increase your sales... except the people who actually go out and sell it.
Experience is a great teacher, and an idea is just a theory until it's proven. You wouldn't learn to do brain surgery from a McDonald's manager, and you know you won't become a rocket scientist by listening to a history teacher - so why do we take sales advice from people who don't sell?
Don't go to a sales class without finding out if the trainer has ever been a successful salesperson. Don't visit a seminar where the facilitator hasn't ever done what you do. Find the learning experiences led by those who have been there and done that - they're the ones that will make you better.
#2: A good salesperson makes you want their product more than you want your money.
It's a simple value proposition - money is currency, and human nature is to hold onto it. Why? Maybe we want to swim in it one day like Scrooge McDuck always did. Until then, we're looking for something we want more, and when we find what we want, we'll spend our money happily. Would you buy a Corvette for the ten bucks in your wallet right now? You probably would, because the Corvette is worth more to you than your ten bucks is, I assume (for the resale value, if nothing else).
A good salesperson makes you see how their product or service is more valuable to you than the money you already have. How do they create this value? By showing a moneymaking opportunity or by showing a strong intangible gain. How much money is, say, a full stomach worth? Is peace of mind in the security of your family more valuable to you than that hundred dollar bill in your pocket? If I could give you a long distance solution that would save you $600 per year, would that be more valuable to you than $20 per month?
If you make the customer see the value in your product or service; specifically, how it's more valuable than the customer's money, then you've done your job.
#3: Knowing your product’s features is important, but knowing your product’s benefits is ESSENTIAL.
Hybrid cars have specially designed systems that are more fuel-efficient, reducing the gas-guzzling strains on the engine and channeling as much energy as possible from the fuel into pure driving power. But that's not the reason anybody is interested in buying a hybrid car.
The reason people are interested in buying hybrids is because it will save them money. The technology behind the fuel-efficiency is an impressive feature of the car, but the end benefit to the consumer is that it will save them money. Imagine you're shopping for a car, and you visit two different sales reps. The first one tells you:
"The SY-7 features a new technology that moves fuel through the system faster but at timed intervals, relying on electric power to run extraneous systems and using the precious gasoline only for essential functions."
Sounds impressive, doesn't it? But then the second sales rep says:
"I've analyzed your current fuel usage, and with this car you'd save over $1,000 per year at the gas pump. What would you do with that thousand dollars?"
Which sales rep would you buy from? The first sales rep attempted to dazzle you with the features of the product, reading the company line the same way he'd read it to just about anybody - without thought, without creativity, without thinking about the end result of how you'll actually use the car. The second sales rep took some time to understand your exact situation, and derived what your direct benefit would be from the product's features. Instead of trying to blow your mind and impress you with technical jargon, he created real value in your head - this car will save me a thousand dollars a year, which is enough to take my family on a great vacation. That's salesmanship.
#4: “Good” sucks. “Great” sucks. Use the power of adjectives: Sizzle Words.
So I was meeting with two sales reps at the Schwan's Food Company, and I asked Rep #1 to describe the pizza he'd just sampled. "It was great!" he said with some enthusiasm. Then I asked him about the cheesebread he'd had with it, and he replied, "Oh, yeah, it was really good, too."
"Just 'really good'?" I asked.
"No, really great!" he corrected himself happily, not understanding the point of what I was asking.
"Okay, so sell it to me. Pretend I don't know anything about it. Describe it and sell it."
"All right," he began, "the pizza's really good. Believe me, I tried it. And the cheesebread is just as good, if not better. They're both great!"
I just sighed.
Sales Representative #2 did a bit of a better job. "The pizza features a light, flaky crust, topped with a tangy Italian blend of real cheeses. The pepperoni is flavorful without being too spicy, and juicy without burning your tongue. Seasonings enhance the experience, along with a delicious, creamy tomato sauce. The cheesebread is so soft and tender it melts in your mouth, and the cheese is a cheese-lover's dream. Bite into it and the cheese will squirt onto your tongue!"
Guess which sales rep has higher monthly sales.
Heck, guess which sales rep is on track to get a big bonus. 'Cause only of them is.
"Good" sucks. "Great" sucks. Bow to the power of adjectives. Make a list for the products or services you sell. Use them with customers, and watch their eyes light up as they imagine themselves enjoying your product.
And if they can imagine it, they'll buy it.
#5: There’s often a difference between what a customer says they want, and what they actually need/want.
Customers don't really know what they want. But if you can help them figure it out, they'll buy from you.
There are countless examples: the woman who walked into a cell phone store, for instance, who asked for the most basic phone and the cheapest plan. Many sales reps, smelling an easy, quick sale, would have just made it happen. But not the sales rep this woman met - he asked her probing questions to find out why she was looking for a phone and what she really needed. By the time he learned about her extended family and her penchant for gabbiness, she had agreed to purchase no fewer than 5 phones on a family share plan, all with accessories and add-ons.
And the commission added up nicely.
Or take the small business who approached a local technology firm asking about internet security. Instead of going for the easy virus protection sale, the representative asked questions and learned that what the business was really looking for was a full technology partner, to provide all hardware, software, networking, and comprehensive I.T. needs. A small sale became a big sale, because probing questions were asked.
Customers don't always need or want what they ask for - sometimes they want more, sometimes they need less. But if you sell them what they truly need or want, you'll have a loyal customer for life, because they'll appreciate the fact that you took the time to understand them, and they walked away from you with a better solution.
#6: Stereotypes will kill you.
We use stereotypes all the time: we assume the kid with the doo-rag likes rap music, we believe the skinny girl drinks diet sodas, we tell ourselves that surely that old man never watches Cartoon Network.
But we could, very, very easily, be 100% wrong.
We assume the poorly dressed, slightly smelly man in plaid flannel has entered our store looking for something cheap, something not worth our time. Then the coworker we pawned him off on gets a huge sale, because it turns out this guy is one of the richest men in town - he's just a bit eccentric. Sound unlikely? It shouldn't - I've seen that exact situation happen.
What's more, this rich and smelly man told his friends about the great service he received from the second sales rep, giving that rep even more sales and commission dollars - dollars that would belong to Sales Rep #1 if he hadn't used stereotypes.
You know nothing about anybody until you ask them questions. Speaking of which,
#7: Ask questions. The best salespeople make the customer talk more than they do.
Whenever someone interviews with me for a sales job, I make them attempt to sell me something (call me crazy, but I think sales skills are important for sales jobs). I'll hand them something from around the office (like a box of markers or a digital camera) and tell them, "You're a sales rep. You need to sell this to me. Make me buy it." I use this as a good indicator of their people skills, their speaking skills, how well they can think on their feet, and what their sales style is.
It also tells me how many people really care about meeting the customer's needs and creating value, and how many are just looking to make a quick buck.
I say this because the vast majority of people who do this exercise with me never ask me a question. They'll go into a great sales schpiel (is that a word?), they'll give a fantastic demonstration of the product, they'll tout how wonderful it is... but they'll never ask me a single question about who I am, why I want the product, or how I plan on using it.
So basically, they know nothing about me as a customer. What's worse, they don't really care about me as a customer. And they miss sales opportunities because of that. After all, if they asked, I might tell them, "I'm not really interested in a single digital camera - I'm a buyer for a photo supply store and I'm looking to carry your product in bulk quantities." But since they didn't ask me, I'll assume they're not interested in that type of business...
... and I'll take my business elsewhere.
Another cool thing about asking lots of questions is that it makes your sales pitch much easier - you do less talking. And when you do talk, you know exactly what to say to appeal to the customer, because you were listening as they told you. And the best part? If you ask smart questions, and you listen, and you base your pitch on the customer's wants and needs, you'll have them convinced that you didn't do a thing to sell them; they'll just really, really want to buy.
#8: The more unique you are, the more people will remember me, the more referrals you’ll get, the more money you’ll make.
I'm not going to go too in depth specifically on this, because I don't want to just give away my best ideas in an overly public forum (after all, the competition might be watching). Contact me or invite me to come speak to your group if you want specific ideas.
The best form of advertising in the world is word-of-mouth advertising, and they key to getting people to talk about you, your product, or your service, is to do something or be something that sets you apart dramatically from everybody else. This may be a bold new direction for your product or a big competitive differentiator, but more often than not, word-of-mouth is driven by a great sales or customer service experience.
This means that as a salesman, as a sales manager, as someone who's concerned about the customer, it's up to you to try new things and take risks. It's up to you to do things the customer or prospect would never, ever expect... and it's up to you to make them work. Be creative. Leave a wacky voice-mail message (wacky, but professional). Deliver an interesting gift to a prospect. Prepare a customized report for them on how your product does the job better than anything else.
The customer will notice, remember, and tell their friends. That's called "free advertising."
#9: Only amateurs apologize for price. If you’ve done your job, the customer should be overjoyed to pay.
I like to think that the definition of sales is "making the customer want your product or service more than they want their own money." If you have to apologize for your price, then you've done a poor job of making your customer understand the true value of what you have to offer. If you have to apologize for your price, the customer doesn't really see that value. If you have to apologize for your price, then you're a bad salesperson.
If you're a great salesperson, your customer will be overjoyed to give you their hard-earned money and complete the transaction, because you've helped them understand just how much better, how much easier, and how much more profitable your product will be for them, as opposed to the puny solution they're using right now. Note that you didn't tell them this; you helped them understand this - they really came up with it themselves, after they thought through those intelligent, open-ended questions you were asking them.
#10: If you don’t ask for the sale, you won’t get the sale.
Sounds like a stupid, obvious rule, doesn't it? Why, you must be asking yourself, would I possibly include something so obvious, something that everybody already knows?
Because they may know it, but they don't do it.
Asking for the sale is difficult because it opens you up to rejection (of course, if you've done your job properly, you won't be rejected at all, but often the fear is there anyway). The customer is able to say "no." Your hard work could go to waste. No, that fear is just too great to possibly ask them to buy. Much better to just wander off, let them think about it, and maybe if they're really interested they'll call you back, right?
Ha. Sales jobs like that are a major reason that I've been so successful... in stealing your customers from you!
"So when would you like to start service, ma'am?"
"How many of those can I get for you today?"
"Would you like to purchase the green one or the blue one? Just tell me which, and I'll get it boxed up for you right now!"
Who says this stuff is hard?
#10.5: Never stop practicing.
Think you know it all? You're wrong. I know I sure as hell don't know it all about sales - I'm really, really good, but I've got a long way to go to hit true sales perfection. And I lose my skills over time if I don't use them... or if I don't use them properly, getting lazy and just delivering or cashiering rather than truly selling.
Never stop practicing. Train others on sales. Do role plays. Sell to yourself in the mirror. But only stop practicing when you know you'll never, ever need sales skills again in your life...
... but that day will never come.
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