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strategy
Ask for the sale -- why silence is your best closer
There's an old selling belief that when a salesperson asks for the sale, they should stop talking because the first person who speaks loses. While this isn't entirely accurate philosophically, it IS an effective action.
When you ask for the sale, your intention should be to get it. A closing question naturally demands a response, so give the customer the opportunity to answer. The silence that follows your question can be a powerful tool. Here’s how to use it effectively:
Helpful Tips for Mas…
Actions for achieving your goals
Completing ACTIONS is the only way to produce results. Period.
Your actions need to align with your strategy and your goal. Similar to your goals and strategies, you want your actions to be specific, clear, measurable. When writing actions, begin with a verb. For example:” ASK the BADAS Questions with 90% of your opportunities.”
Consider quantity (how many) and quality (when and how well) as you write these actions. You want to calendar them to DO at the time of day that will allow you to …
HOW do I reach my goals?
Now that your goals are written, we move to creating a strategy for achievement.
This is kind of fun because you can focus on HOW you will achieve this. During your evaluation and assessment of the year, you might have noticed that you like doing some strategies more than others, or you were better at some than others, or some strategies were more effective than others. You may have found that the market or buying habits of your customers/clients has changed and you need to adjust your appro…
What exactly are goals?
Consider WHAT you WANT to create and achieve next year. What matters to you so much that you are going to “make it happen,” as my father used to say by setting a strategy. Those are your goals.
Goals should always be written as RESULTS. Articulation is important. I like the S-M-A-R-T process because it’s clear and simple.
Specific Clear, not ambiguous or vague.
Measurable It can be counted. Numbers or percentages…
Goals Again
Yes. Goals again!
In most showrooms, December is rather quiet, with customers, clients and designers preparing for and celebrating the holidays. Prior to setting goals for the new year, December is a good month for evaluation and analysis if you didn’t do so in November. If not, see my November blogs for assistance.
Are you noticing any resistance to writing goals for next year? Do you have any sense that you don’t really need to do write goals? Perhaps you feel that you have figured out a p…
Differently
Differently? What?
We have looked at what to do more of, less of…and now differently.
Doing things differently is just that. If you have been ‘white-knuckle attached’ to using a paper
calendar and absolutely resisting using technology…it might finally be time to do things
differently.
Or you don’t want to make appointments with prospects you haven’t closed, preferring to follow
up in 2 days, because you think appointments are too pushy. Look at what it cost you in time and effectiveness.
C…
C…
Less of...
Yes, it is possible to do LESS of something!
It seems counter-intuitive to look at what we might do less of following a blog that focused on
MORE!
Maybe we could have talked less or talked less about things that were unimportant to the buyer
and only important to us. Or have spent less time on an interaction that was ineffective
(combine that with talking too much – ouch). Or we might have spent less time on non-sales
actions that kept sales actions from happening.
Or brought less resista…
Coming From Behind
Are you falling short of your goal this period? Do you have ground to make up before the period ends?
Coming from behind is a skill and a process. And it’s a skill and a process that you will use more than once, as falling short of goal is not unusual even when the intention is to make goal consistently and to stay on track.
The process needs to be high impact…meaning it needs to produce results quickly. To do that, look to the business that is closest and easiest to close: appointments that …
Take the Actions That Create Appointments
Actions are the only things that produce results. When appointments are the target, there are specific actions to take, in a sequence, that will get them on the calendar, get them accepted via invitation, and get the result intended – namely, the sale. Here they are in chronological order:
- Organize your calendar to schedule 8-10 appointments per week – at times YOU set.
- Enter EACH customer interaction INTENDING to accomplish a sale or an appointment.
- Recognize when an appointment WILL be …
Be Organized BY Appointment
Last month my blogs were about ‘leading by example’ as a sales manager: to demonstrate Sell it or Schedule it with a guest, to coach a sales associate from Sell it or Schedule it, and to use Sell it or Schedule it as an operating system for interactions and intentional outcomes.
The same goes for being organized - by appointment.
When one is committed to making appointments and sees the value in making them, they will organize their calendar accordingly, with slots dedicated to appointment…
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