Whether it is in person or on the phone, the initial sales call is critical. Salespeople start building a relationship from the opening words and begin the discovery process that will tell them if this person is a potential customer. These posts can help.
Virtual selling created the first level playing field in sales since the playing field existed.
New, veteran and every sales professional in between were practically neophytes to virtual selling when the coronavirus hit. And now, nearly every sales professional has been forced to do it.
Virtual meetings work, but they have limits. Salespeople still need in-person meetings.
Some day, face-to-face meetings will be all the rage again. In fact, they need to be: One Harvard Business School study found face-to-face meetings are 34 times more successful than email efforts!
But until we’re back to meetings as we knew them, sales pros want to make in-person get-togethers safe and successful.
“Remote work may be the new normal, but there are also times when getting everyone together in the same room is extremely valuable,” says Howard Tiersky, CEO of FROM and owner of New York City’s Innovation Loft, which has made extensive updates for the coronavirus era. “Periodic in-person meetings—where you are thinking, strategizing, and innovating in physical proximity—make daily remote work far more effective.”
Think your recent gaffe was the most embarrassing sales moment ever?
We’re here to make you feel better. Show you that awkward sales moments happen to everyone. Even the best sales professionals.
In fact, the best salespeople might be the best because of their embarrassments. Awkward anecdotes, weird words and stressful situations build sales character.
You’re in the door. You got the field sales meeting. It’s a done deal!
Not so fast, tiger.
Just because you landed a meeting at the prospect’s site, doesn’t mean you’re a shoe-in. Far from it.
Field sales meetings can derail so quickly you’ll find yourself in the next state before the door closes behind you.
That is unless you prepare, present and follow up better than the other Joe and Jane Salesperson.
And you can. Here are 17 best practices for field sales meetings (or whatever you might call the meetings – onsite, customer facility, face-to-face, etc.)
The most awkward moments are over: You made the cold call. You stirred some interest. You earned the privilege to have a discovery call.
That single call could be the most important step in the sales process. You established some rapport through the cold call or successful marketing effort, but the discovery call will set the tone for the relationship with prospects (or soon-to-be-customers).
Now’s the time to learn and understand the prospects’ needs, pain points and goals. Then build the bridge between those and your solution.
You finally got the prospect to agree to a sale. You can breathe a sigh of relief … or not.
Getting to the close is seldom easy. And the next one will require the same kind of hard work.
Here’s what researchers have found salespeople are up against – and what works well – when it comes to closing.
We surveyed customers to find out the leading causes of why they decided not to buy from a particular salesperson. We compiled the results and ranked the worst sales gaffes by the number of times they were cited.
Some sales slumps linger far too long because salespeople get so hung up on the effect they stop looking for the cause. If they spent more time looking for the cause, they may be able to break out of the slump earlier.
Here are four causes of sales slumps and tips on how to overcome them:
Some things in business are crystal clear. One of them is that people will not buy unless they believe they’ll get what they want and avoid what they don’t want. You become indispensable to your customer when you demonstrate that you both understand his or her problems and goals — and have the ability to help with them.
That requires great customer conversations.
If your salespeople can’t answer this question, prospects and customers may either demand the lowest price or buy from someone else.
The No. 1 sales question buyers want you to answer: Why should I buy from you?
Selling to prospects and customers without determining their needs is irrelevant selling. Lack of relevance distorts your aim. It’s like shooting at a target with a gun that has a bent sight.
