When you’re cold calling, your best chance of success is to be self assured, confident, and 100% well versed in what you are selling. If you’re using the word ‘maybe’ in your sales scripts, you run the risk of sounding wishy washy. It either is or isn’t. Pick one.

Don’t

In fact, any negative, when describing your product or service, is a definite no. You want to list the positive attributes – not the negative. So instead of thinking about what you don’t do, can’t offer, or won’t provide, think about what you do, can and will. Then write about those.

Hope

When you tell your client you’re ‘hoping’ for something, you’re not sure, are you? If you’re not sure, then why should they be? Never let a prospect hear that you’re not 100% behind your product, your company or your service, or it’s entirely likely you will lose the sale.

Contract

It may sound innocuous enough, but the word contract conjures up all sorts of unpleasant pictures of lawyers, being ‘tied down’ and other negative thoughts. When you’re writing a new sales script, you want to avoid those negative ideas, so make sure that any words like contract that indicate your prospect will be locked in are on your list of what to avoid when cold calling.

Cheap

We all know people want to pay less for goods and services, but the word cheap just sounds, well, cheap. Think ‘cheap and nasty’ and you have some idea of what’s going through your prospects mind when you say cheap. Stick to ‘cost effective’, ‘value for money’, or ‘highly competitive pricing.’ All of them sound better, and say the same thing, without making your prospect think of badly made, low cost goods or services.

This certainly isn’t a complete list of words to avoid when you are wondering what to avoid when cold calling, but it’s a start. As a general rule of thumb, you should avoid any word that has a negative connotation, even if you use it in a positive way. Consumers tend to hear the negative word, and form a negative connection with your brand, without even realizing it.

Always remember that it’s not only what you say, but how you say it, that determines sales success!

What to avoid when cold calling – part 2 is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

The process of discovery is of paramount importance in your selling career and learning to ask the correct questions is a very necessary skill to acquire. Only when you have discovered what it is that your customers require can you begin to present them with the appropriate solution. Cold-calling can become a thing of the past if you become adept at learning as much as possible about your potential customers (before you call them). With this pre-knowledge in hand, you can be way more confident when approaching your client. You’ll also be better equipped to ask the best, most pertinent types of questions that will give you the necessary information to assist you in presenting the best possible solution.

By knowing your client, you’ll know what kind of questions to ask. Instead of coming across as a salesperson who is simply taking a swing at getting the sale, you present yourself as knowledgeable and as having an understanding of your client’s business. This already puts you in a far more superior position than those salespeople who will go in blindly.

Take the time to learn about your client; listen to his needs; and ask the best questions. This will help to fast-track your sales career as you continue to perfect your sales skills.

Sales Tip #31: ask more questions is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

The cry of “hard times” is heard at all times, and not just in these hard days and that is where you should refresh your knowledge of how to handle objections during your sales process.

“Times are too hard, I can’t afford to buy anything“ – how often have you heard that in the last few months?

This objection is made during the most prosperous times, as well as during periods of financial depression. Customers are confronting sales people all over the world with this before even they had a chance to show them the products, or tell them how they can benefit of them.

It is seldom, however, that the objection is made seriously. Oftentimes prospects don’t have anything else to say. They don’t mention it seriously and don’t expect you to take it seriously.

So what to do?

Pay no attention to the cry of potential new recession!

Don’t forget that you create the value through how you’re selling, not just through what you’re selling. You can create the value in each step of sales process, but the most value can be created early in the process by helping customers to define their needs (use trigger events!).

Here is the list of 10 things to do:

1. Go back to prospecting and find customers who want to buy in any market, and spend your time only with the decision maker.
2. Use open-ended questions, use clarifying questions, and remember that great questions produce great answers.
3. Make it easy for customers to say “yes”.
4. Ask for the order. Ask for the order. Again, ask for the order.
5. Use direct questions such as: “Are we ready to move on this? When can we get started? Shall I write up the order?”
6. Use active listening skills. Ask for the feedback.
7. Remember to read buying signals.
8. Don’t forget to send a thank you note.
9. If you get the sale, send them a note thanking them for their order.
10. If you don’t get the sale, send them a little note thanking them for taking time to meet with you.

It is intelligence that makes times easy, and it is the lack of intelligence that makes times hard. Go back to basics. Invest in your knowledge and sharpen your skills, that is the best way of not buying the cry of “hard times” from your customers.

Going Back To Basics – 10 Things To Do is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Action Step:

Ensure that you are able to identify the causes of various objections. This way you will be well-positioned to educate your customers when they don’t fully appreciate the product that you’re selling. A lack of understanding on the client’s part will put an end to any further negotiations regarding the sale. Clear up any misunderstandings before proceeding with your presentation.

Answer These Questions:

• Do you listen carefully to the objections made by your customers or do you simply bypass them and continue with your presentation?
• Are you easily able to identify the causes behind the various objections made by your customers?
• Are you adept at stopping to take care of your customer’s objections and clearing up any issues before continuing with the sales talk?

Sales Tip #12: Educate your customers is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

In order to understand the cause of a lost sale and to find ways of overcoming these in the future, it is necessary to make a careful analysis of the factors that come into a potential sale:

1. The Salesperson
2. The Product or Service
3. The Prospect

The Salesperson

-    I didn’t pay enough attention to my service delivery

As the salesperson, top-notch service and attentiveness is par for the course. You cannot expect to woo a prospect and then obtain his business if you pay no attention to the details of your dealings with him. Even the finer points make a difference, such as keeping your appointments and being on time, EVERY time! If your service delivery is poor before you’ve even met with the prospect he probably expects it to become even worse once he’s purchased your product. Your prospect will be inclined to head for the hills before he’ll commit to a contract with you.

-    I couldn’t control my frustration when the prospect kept me waiting

Patience and self-control are admirable and indispensable tools that you will need in order to maintain high levels of service. The business that you don’t get today might just come through to you tomorrow, as long as your prospect has been impressed by your knowledge, dedication and professionalism.

-    I didn’t have a good understanding of the prospect’s business or his needs

When it comes to success in selling, first-class service is an absolutely essential part of the deal. This includes being prepared for your prospect in every possible way by understanding his business and his potential needs, before you even meet with him. It will prove to be a great asset to your selling pitch if you can demonstrate a high level of understanding surrounding your prospect’s particular requirements. This will ensure that your approach is appropriate and that the talking points are pertinent to his business.

-    I was not well-prepared for the meeting

Conduct yourself properly at all times, demonstrating the fact that you are well-prepared for your meeting. When you’re unprepared, you may tend to ramble and talk about points that are not at all applicable to the prospect’s situation. He will lose interest and he may also wonder as to your level of expertise, if you have not managed to understand his business sufficiently.

-    I dropped my professional guard and tried to be too friendly with the prospect

Each of us is different and will tolerate familiarity in varying degrees. It is only appropriate to enjoy a professional relationship where you conduct yourself respectfully and from a polite distance, at all times. Unless there is an invitation from your prospect on a social basis, it’s never wise to become his friend when you’re dealing with a business situation.

-    I’m not particularly enthusiastic about the product that I sell

You MUST be enthusiastic about your product. If you are not enthused, how can you expect others to be? Also, if you’re not interested in the product yourself, you’ll have no desire to learn more about it and will be ineffective at sharing that information with potential buyers.

-    I couldn’t answer the prospect’s questions

If you are unprepared and do not know your product well enough, you will be unable to answer your prospect’s questions or even understand his needs. In order to sell a product effectively, you need to understand it thoroughly and believe in its value.

- I bullied the prospect into listening to my sales pitch

It’s your duty to educate the prospect on the finer details of your product and all its features and benefits. You also need to LISTEN to his concerns so that you may address them effectively and be an asset to the process of discovering his ultimate business solution, as opposed to “just another salesperson”.

-    I frequently repeated my statements

Repetition is sometimes necessary and can be of great value, when properly used. But to do so too frequently only displays a lack of training and an indefinite plan of presentation. It can also indicate a loss of self-control. If you’re well-prepared, you will use repetition as a tool to highlight noteworthy points, instead of rambling while you try to find your place.

-    I couldn’t identify the appropriate time to close the deal

You need to constantly keep your finger on the pulse of the deal and be ready to close the deal at the critical moment. Always be aware of where the meeting is heading and take control of how the discussions pan out. If you’re a step ahead at all times, you will be prepared to seal the deal when the critical moment occurs.

As the salesperson, you are the driving factor of the sale. Your strength and determination in closing the deal will ensure its success or failure. Being properly prepared to meet your client’s needs gives you the strength that you need to address the deal successfully.

Don’t simply be the force behind the sale. Be an EFFECTIVE and EFFICIENT force – and ensure your success. Most importantly, CONNECT with your client. Nothing can work on a broken connection.

——————

Over 30 tips and ideas are included in my special report “3 reasons why you lose a sale… and what to do about it!” to help you be better equipped for your next sales presentation.  Get this special report now!

The Lost Sales – Causes and Remedies is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

You might account for that by saying that this type of salesperson does not “feel” when the prospect is ready. But that is not a fact. They do feel it, but they figure something like this,

“I’ve got them coming now, but if I try to get an order they may say no. I’ll just keep on selling and make the thing a little surer.”

And in making it a little surer they lose out altogether.

Most of us hesitate to face a crisis. We are afraid of an adverse decision. That is largely why some people oversell their prospects. But no matter how diffident you feel about it, and no matter how great your hesitation, the secret of success lies in driving in and bearing down for the order just the second you feel the time is ripe.

And if you follow the rules, you’ll get the order.

Here they are:

1. Bring your prospect to the buying point.
2. The minute you feel the prospect is ready try to take the order.
3. Don’t directly ask the prospect to buy. Without giving offense, take it for granted the prospect is purchasing and start settling up the details just as if they had verbally said “Yes.”
4. If they are not ready to buy, drop your purchase order form and start selling them again.

And remember, no matter how you interest your prospect in your approach – no matter how convincing your presentation – no matter how strong his desire for your proposition, all the work that has gone before is wasted, and absolutely lost if you fail actually to get the order.

Someone said once, “Ask, or the answer is always no”. If you don’t ask for the order, rarely you will receive the business and commission you desire.

The Mistake of Overselling is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

What you say or do during the first few minutes of your conversation is the one thing which largely controls the later course of the sale. It doesn’t take brains to make a sale difficult or impossible. Your task is to pave the path and make it easy. And it’s just as easy to make a sale easy, as it is to spoil it altogether.

The whole object of your approach is to arouse fully your prospect’s interest, and bring them to the point where they want to see your product and hear your proposition.

That is the first specialized situation – to make the person you’re talking to really want particulars – arouse their interest and put them in a buying frame of mind.

How are you going to go about creating this situation?

In the first place, there is a factor in selling which few men seem to have recognized; yet it is a block over which we stumble time and time again, when by knowing that it was there we could just as easily walk around it.

This stumbling block is this:
The average person’s instinctive antagonism to being sold.

It exists and is a force with which we have to contend just as surely as the wind blows, the rain falls, and the sun shines. The minute a person realizes that you have something to sell, they instinctively – without realizing it – throw up the mental barrier.

Though they will hardly put it in words or even admit it. More likely they will respond this way in their mind:

“This person has something to sell. He thinks he is going to make me take it. I’ll show him he is wrong. I will not buy.”

You see the idea? The mere fact that you are a salesperson influences your prospect partly to make up their mind that they are not going to buy. This feeling is based on the fact that every person instinctively hates to admit that another person can make or control him or her to do anything. And remember, all this happens before either of you say one word. So your first task is to get past this barrier of instinctive antagonism to being sold.

How are you going to do it? Here’s the way to overcome that instinctive antagonism to being sold the quick way:

Forget forever that there is such a thing as forcing your business on the other: put yourself in their place and start right – working with the potential buyer to find out how their business will be benefited by your proposition.

In this way you can overcome this instinctive antagonism to being sold in much less time than it takes to tell about it. The earliest you manage this antagonism the better.

There is a right and a wrong way of meeting the objection of antagonism. Here is an example.

The salesperson says to the prospect:

“Your vacuum cleaner is a loser; mine has twice the power and suction. I can’t even give you a trade in on that piece of junk.”

The right way:

“I know you are interested in a clean environment and my company is too. This is the reason they designed this vacuum cleaner; it does not recycle the dust – it picks it up and securely holds it. It’s the best help you can get toward maintaining a clean home environment. Here, let’s compare in a operation test your old one with this new model.”

The question has been turned from salesperson’s proposition to discussing customer’s problem. The instinctive antagonism to being sold has been passed. And if he’s the right salesperson, the eventual solution of your problem will be his proposition.

Overcoming instinctive antagonism to being sold is a good deal like starting your plane by doing a pre-flight walk around first; it has nothing to do with your initial purpose but it is a necessary preliminary.

The real purpose of your approach is to arouse the interest of your prospective purchaser – to put him in the mental attitude of:

“If this is what he says it is – I’ll buy.”

Get the idea?

And once you have created the specialized situation, all you have to do is to prove that your statements are true; then the order is yours.

Nobody likes to be sold is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

It is not true that new products are manufactured to supply the demand.

There is no demand. Both the demand and the goods have to be manufactured. The public has always held fast to its old-fashioned discomforts, until the salesperson persuaded it to let go.

• There was no demand for the Railroad, and for years many people believed that thirty miles an hour would stop the circulation of the blood.
• There was no demand for the Steamboat, and when Brunei drove the first boat by steam on the Thames, he became so unpopular that the London hotels refused to give him a room.
• There was no demand for the Sewing machine, and the first machine that Howe put on exhibition was smashed to pieces by a Boston mob.
• There was no demand for the Telegraph, and Morse had to plead and beg before ten Congresses before he received any attention.
• There was no demand for the Air-brake, and Westinghouse was called a fool by every railroad expert, because he asserted that he could stop a train with wind.
• There was no demand for Gas-light, and all the candle-burners sneered at Murdoch for trying to have a lamp without a wick.
• There was no demand for the Reaper, and McCormick preached his gospel of efficient harvesting for fourteen years before he sold his first hundred machines.

No, it is not true, as learned theorists have said that every great invention springs into life because it is demanded by the nation. It springs into life and nobody wants it. It is the Ugly Duckling. Everybody prefers dollar to it, until a few salespeople take it in hand and explain it.

• When Frederick E. Sickles first exhibited his Steam steering-gear, all the sailors looked upon it with contempt. “Nobody seemed to take the slightest interest in it,” wrote Sickles.
• When Charles T. Porter first showed his High-speed engine in England, it was not taken seriously by anyone. “My engine,” says  Porter “was visited by every engineer in England and by a multitude of engine-users; and yet in all that six months not a builder ever said a word about building neither it, nor a user said a word about using it. I was stupefied with astonishment and distress.”
• When Bell first showed his Telephone at the Philadelphia Centennial, it was endorsed by the greatest scientists of America and England. It was tested and proved. But the average man called it a “scientific toy” and refused to either use it or finance it. Bell preached telephony for years before the public bought it.

When the new product has been perfected and produced, the manufacturer must step back and make way for the salesperson. The salesperson can’t invent. A sales mind is not in-growing but out-growing. They aren’t manufacturers. Whenever they have tried it, the costs go skyward. But they know how to interest and convince the public.

The truth is that we, salespeople, have done more for progress and civilization than anyone imagines.

We have done more than all the colleges to develop the peasantry of Europe into enterprising American citizens.

We have transformed the “Man with the Hoe” into the person with the computer.

We have given to general public the radiator for the fireplace, the automobile for the push-cart, the computer and voice recognition for the quill pen.

We have put more comforts into everyone’s homes than the king used to have in his palace.

The main thing in selling is to make people want to buy. A selling atmosphere must be created, and if you fail to do that – you will not sell. Simple as that. The professional salesperson makes the customers realize they want what is being offered.

Continue reading in depth on creating the demand: Are You an Order Taker or an Order Maker?

Make People Want to Buy is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Weak people get cold feet, and cold feet make weak people. The sad thing is they could and would have succeeded if they had but known and paid the price. Most of the failures would have been successes if there were just a little more grit and patience and wide-awake zeal, a little more integrity, a little more perseverance. Nothing is ever saved or gained or accomplished by turning back.

It is a sad sight to see a person turn back when he is in over his shoe tops. If you plan to pass the creek, go across even if there is a yard or so that seems a little deep. You can swim a little if necessary, and when you are through the deepest it gets shallower all the time. Don’t turn back. When you do, you are not only disappointed tremendously and your friends taunt you with “I told you so,” but you are soaking wet. Get across. Deny everything but success.

Difficulties will make a path for your feet; and if you mean it, obstacles will flee on your approach. The turbulent waters of fear will be divided and will become a wall on your right hand and on your left, and you shall march through on dry land. It is staying with it until the last second of the last minute that wins the game. Every salesperson carries the price of success within himself.

The majority of salespeople could immortalize themselves if they would appropriate the earnestness of any great business builder. No one needs to go into the selling business to try it. It has already been tried. You need to try yourself; and if you don’t make it go at first, make yourself make it go. Mix hard work, intelligence, and enthusiasm together, and if taken in sufficient quantities you will succeed.

Never wait, but hustle. You can do more business by trying than by not trying.

There are two classes of salespeople who lose time – the one because business is too good and the other because business isn’t good enough. The salesperson who does more business than he expects thinks he can afford to take a day off. The one who doesn’t do as much as he expects gets a little blue and concludes that he will go to his office and work harder so that he won’t waste time and opportunities. When he goes to his office, he thinks of but one thing, the dark side of his business. Instead of being lifted up and enthused, he gets bluer and bluer, and often gives up on cold calling and prospecting.

Better stay focused. Work will overcome the blues. Keep the blood circulating. Keeping everlastingly at it brings success; waiting until you feel more like it brings failure. The steady worker is the better person, because keeping constantly at it develops brilliancy. Brilliancy and hard work make the genius.

Take advantage of every opportunity. Defeat for some is opportunity for others. Don’t judge your work by one sale or by one day or by one week. Judge it as a whole. Judge it by the month and by the quarter.

When a person fails it is because of an unconscious preparation for failure. It is thinking over what may happen. Things may seem a little dark occasionally, but when you take the blues home with you it will be dark all the time. Fear not, doubt not, linger not on the ragged edge of failure.

Physical exercise is necessary. Take a run through the woods. Get into the sunshine. Get up in the morning and hear the birds sing. Become active mentally and physically. When you are blue, your brain, so to speak, is covered with a thick scum like that of a stagnant pool. Turn on the thought currents, and this dark scum will disappear.

Read something that will electrify you with new hope (Selling Is Better Than Sex, anyone?). Do anything but reflect. Don’t sympathize with yourself or ask sympathy from others, and don’t tell your troubles to others.

There is only one thing that is worse than not getting sales, and that is everlastingly finding fault. See the good. Get encouragement and orders.

Sales Pitfalls: Giving Up is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

The sense of taste is important in case of groceries, drinks, and other things the sale of which depends materially upon the taste. In other cases it can’t have much to do with the salesperson’s business, if anything.

Taste is a very much misunderstood sense. The tongue not only tastes, but it also feels, and many of the impressions that we consider taste are not taste at all, but feeling. Our senses of sight and smell are also often confused with our sense of taste.

The tastes are often classified as follows: sweet, salt, sour, and bitter. The cultivation of the sense of taste is of great importance commercially only to a few people, professional tasters of tea, tobacco, liquor, drugs, and groceries. To all other people it has no special commercial value, but is of great importance in the matter of digestion. The person who has accustomed his taste to strong seasonings or strong liquors, has, to that  extent, disqualified himself from using this beneficent sense as a protection and guide in eating and drinking.

Two exercises only are suggested, the second of which is of greatest importance.

Exercises for the Taste

Exercise One: Quality

Experiment with flavors, seasoning, and spices taken from your kitchen, until you are able to identify them.

Exercise Two: Practical Daily Exercise

Select some food of which you are fond and chew it slowly and thoughtfully, analyzing it until you are able to determine approximately what per cent of it is sweet, salt, sour, or bitter. Try eating slowly so that the food will become thoroughly chewed and mixed with saliva before being swallowed, and giving thought to the delightful taste of food while this process is going on. You will be surprised to find how pleasurable it is to eat simply a bit of bread and butter if you eat it in this thoughtful, careful way, thoroughly determined to get the utmost possible enjoyment from the taste. You  will require from one-third to one-half the quantity of food you formerly required and will be surprised to find how pleasant the process of eating really is.

Eating is one of the most important things we do, and taste is one of the most significant factors in proper eating. This exercise will tend greatly to develop your love for dishes that you are already like, and, more than that, it will enable you to learn to eat many things which you are not eating today.

Simply take a mouthful of the food you do not like, if it is known to be a healthful food, and chew it slowly and thoughtfully, analyzing it. You will discover that one of the chief reasons for our disliking certain foods is that we have never given them a trial sufficient to discover what qualities to expect in them. We therefore refuge to eat them, or we swallow them with loathing, which is sure to be bad for the digestion.

Smell

It should be unnecessary to state that the salesperson should be very careful of the way his clothing smells, but there are many salespeople who are careless in this regard. People are much more particular about this than we usually think they are. For a person’s clothing or his breath to reek of some obnoxious odor, is very damaging to his personal influence. Some salespeople have breath so offensive as to cause the loss of considerable business. Customers simply refuse to talk to them.

In the case of certain products, such as perfumery, the sense of smell is the chief factor in the sale.

Smell, like taste, has very little commercial value, except to those who use it professionally, as in the smelling of flowers, drugs, and groceries. Experts in smelling, like experts in tasting, frequently draw very high salaries, but for the ordinary person the major value of this sense consists in the added pleasure in life that its exercise gives. Smell is not so important as the other senses, but it is the sense that most powerfully appeals to the memory.

Exercises in Smell

Exercise One: Quality

Select a number of different flowers and vegetables that are convenient. Give yourself three seconds to smell of each one of, say twenty, different varieties. Then with the eyes blindfolded see if you can designate the flower or vegetable by the odor.

Exercise Two

Select a given flower or perfume, place it in a room devoid of other odors and measure the distance at which you can perceive the presence of the flower; or have some one else select one of several flowers with the odors of which you are familiar, and see at what distance you can determine which it is.

As in previous exercises, repeat daily for five days and notice your improvement on the sixth day.

About the Exercises for All Five Senses

It is strongly recommended that you devote from twenty to thirty minutes per day for one week to all previous exercises (read my previous posts about the five senses) in the cultivation of the five senses. You may not be able to see clearly before making these experiments what effect they will have upon the general awareness of your sense perceptions. After you perform them all, however, you will be in a position to judge of the value that they will be to you.

Read my previous posts:

- Using the Five Senses in Selling

- The Sense of Sight in Selling

- The Sense of Sight in Selling – part 2

- Hearing in Selling

- Touch in Selling

Taste and Smell in Selling is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer