You have learned, in the early grades at school, that the five senses are sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste.  These five senses may be called the avenues to the mind. It is impossible for any sensation to reach the objective mind except through one of the five senses.

You should give some time to this thought. Classify all the facts you can know about anything.

• Did you see them?
• Did you hear them?
• Did you hear about them?
• Did you touch the object?
• Or taste it?
• Or smell it?

Is there anything you ever learned or could learn, except through one of these five avenues to the mind? Memory connects the mind with the past; imagination, with the future; but memory and imagination can’t grasp any impression except through its association with one of the five senses.

Imagination, like memory, is bound by the experiences and sensations that have approached the royal throne of the mind through its five avenues, though the combination of the sense impressions may be, and usually are, new.

With this thought in mind, we see that, in learning to control the mind of the buyer, it is essential that the salesperson learn to appeal to each of the five senses successfully and to cultivate his own by practical exercises.

How to train your senses?

In all sense training the method used is to improve each one of the five senses by specific exercises.  The most common evidence that this method is a correct one is found in the success with which those who lack one of the senses are trained to greater expertness in the use of others.

The blind are infinitely better in their sense of hearing and feeling, tasting, and smelling than they would otherwise be, because the lack of sight compels them to rely upon their other senses. The deaf correspondingly have keener sight, feeling, taste, and smell, except, of course, when their deafness is caused by a physical ailment that has injured their other senses as well.

Cases have been known where persons deprived of sight and hearing could detect the presence of other persons, animals, and many objects by the sense of smell, and it is well known that the blind can feel the presence of persons through air pressure and very slight disturbances of the air, due to the motion of those who pass them or whom they pass.

For the salesperson the point is this: each one of the five senses can be cultivated by specific exercises.

The cultivation of any one of the five senses depends upon three things:

• First, the general physical condition of the person;
• second, attention of the will;
• and third, specific exercises.

It should also be said that the training of one of the senses increases the capacity of the others. People who are hard of hearing look closely at the speaker to read his lips and this very process adds to the sensitiveness of hearing.  A person who can’t see a distant object distinctly, listens to another person describe it, in order to assist the eye to see the thing that he knows is there.

Exercises improving your mental or physical quality will exercise a beneficial influence over others (your prospects).

Every effort at self -development increases all the related powers of the body or mind. It is a scientific fact that has the greatest encouragement for all who are endeavoring to increase their personal power.

In the cultivation of each one of the five senses, just as in the cultivation of the character qualities which I have previously mentioned in this blog, your object as a student should be to improve the work of each as to its quantity, quality, time (speed), and mode of use.

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Next time: the sense of sight (including exercises)

Please keep following this blog to learn more about the five senses and how to use them to improve your sales numbers.

Using the Five Senses in Selling is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Closing is so often regarded as the most difficult part of the selling process.  But this should never be the case! Getting the order from a prospect whose interest and desire have been secured and whose objections have been effectively eliminated should simply be the next logical step in the process.

By the closing stage, the prospect has already been convinced that she NEEDS the products; she has the means to pay for them; she WANTS them and she feels assured that they will satisfy her needs. Thereafter, it would seem that getting the order is the natural course of action to take and is really a mere formality.

Perhaps closing is regarded as being difficult because of a salesperson’s inability to secure a “yes” in the final stage of his presentation. However, if the salesperson has been successful in his pitch then the prospect should be primed to buy. So if the prospect says “no” even after his objections have been properly handled something new must have come up that has balked his desire; or the salesperson has failed to perform some final service for the prospect that has prevented completion of the sale. It’s up to you to discover what may have gone wrong and then jump into action in order to secure the order.

Of course, it is difficult to close a prospect whose objections have not been efficiently and effectively dealt with.  It’s even harder to get an order from a prospect whose desire for the products hasn’t been aroused. The sale is nearly impossible to secure if the prospect has shown no interest either. If any of the steps of the selling process have been handled inefficiently then closing the deal becomes all the more difficult.

Next week: The First Step of the Closing Stage

The Art of Closing – Part One is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

“Results are the only things that count. We are perfectly willing to pay a salesperson $100,000 a year if they deliver the goods; we are willing to pay $250,000 a year if that person delivers, and a person’s earnings from $10,000 a month up to almost anything is in their own hands.”

The heads of ninety-nine out of every hundred companies employing salespeople reflects that sentiment. Often the main limit to the salesperson’s earning power is a self-imposed one.

I am sure you know the question in the mind of the person starting out with a cell phone in one hand and an expense check in the other is: “How can I sell?”

The question in the mind of the salesperson producing now is: “How can I increase my sales?”

Please understand in advance that I offer no theories. The source of the methods offered herein derives from the operation of thousands of successful salespeople in different industries across the North America.

These people are working more than the average salesperson because they are better than the average. And here is what they have found produce real results.

Are You an Order Taker or an Order Maker?

Let’s take a look at the order-taker, not as a negative example, and not as an object of pity, but only to make a point.
Chris the “order-taker” visits on Smith, Brown, Jones, James, and Robinson. They are not in the market. Then she opens her portfolio in Harrison’s store and Harrison buys.

Mind you, she didn’t sell anything. Harrison was ready; the order taker had the products, showed them and took the order. Why? Simply because the prospect was in the market, ready to buy.

She encountered a favorable situation; she was standing directly under the apple with a bushel basket when it dropped from the tree. That is what makes it possible for the order-taker to exist. If the order-taker calls on enough people they are bound to find a certain percentage needing what is sold and ready to order.

Let’s leave the subject of order taking. Let’s deal with the problem of the person who really sells. What is it? What’s the difference? Simply this – the salesperson must create a specialized situation, and place people in the market who didn’t feel that way when they walked in the store. It has been said that sometimes a good salesperson sells to buyers who don’t think they want what they buy.

The reason why is this: the good salesperson makes the buyers realize they want what is being offered.

Let this sink in deeply. The order-taker is prospecting for people who want to buy. However, the professional salesperson tries to make every person he or she calls on wants to buy.

The order-taker accepts the advantage of the situation he or she finds. But the order maker, a professional salesperson creates specialized situations to suit his purpose.

Now, the question you should ask yourself is:

Are You an Order Taker or an Order Maker?

Are You an Order Taker or an Order Maker? is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

The author, Conan Doyle, takes pains to explain in every story that Sherlock Holmes did nothing by chance, and did not rely upon any invisible, peculiar, or mystic power to aid him in making his forensic science deductions. He had simply cultivated a remarkable shrewdness of observation. This is a quality that the salesperson must cultivate. It will enable you to understand your customer.

One of the first things a salesperson must do is to find out certain facts about his customer which are sure to be necessary or valuable to him in his work. (I call this Trigger Events – you have to look for any event that might create the opportunity for you, or better said you are looking for event that can trigger the sales for you.)

These facts will vary in different cases. There are certain facts that it is usually necessary to know, such as the name and address, when they are essential to the transaction or needed for future reference. There are certain facts of personality and business conditions in respect to which no two customers will be exactly alike, and these facts (especially such of them as show a difference from the normal on the part of the customer) are of extraordinary importance to the salesperson.

In short, the salesperson must understand his customer, and his understanding must be based on facts.

All needs are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Read more about Trigger Events here.

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Get the book Trigger Events today and start selling to new customers tomorrow!

What Can You Learn From Sherlock Holmes? is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

To learn more about the History of American Sales Culture, read my post about it.

Evolution of a Salesperson [INFOGRAPHIC] is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Your mission as a sales person should be to find companies that have immediate wants and needs. This means that something happened or is happening to them – a move, a merger, new investors, etc. You have to look for any event that might create the opportunity for you, or better said you are looking for event that can trigger the sales for you.

It could be something internal or inside the company, like a new direction from management, a merger or an acquisition, rapid growth, or maybe a new product introduction. And it could mean the company is turning “Green” and needs new and different supplies and services.

It could be external or outside the company, like the new strategies of their competition or new legislation (Sarbanes- Oxley Act). Maybe even a natural disaster, which is a well-known external trigger for many customers.

Generally speaking, trigger events have effects inside the whole company. Suddenly new needs are recognized; previous decisions need to be revisited. Very often, management becomes aware of new priorities and changes the direction of the company.

Trigger events are extremely important when we are in the search mode, looking for our next customer, and when we need to identify our sales opportunities at a particular company from our target list.

Every company has something new happening. Maybe they improved or reintroduced their products or service. There could be new faces in the boardroom or on the sales floor. A new office may have opened up in the Midwest. A new vendor or strategic partner could have been added. Even new money or investor may come into the company.

Most important for a buyer is that the provider understands the buyer’s situation, needs and business.

Every change in the business environment causes a search for new suppliers or new service providers, and your main goal is to be in front of qualified buyers when they are ready to buy.

In these situations, I would say this is almost the perfect position for every sales person. You know there is something happening with the accounts from your list of targeted accounts and you know that as it happens – perfect timing is a key of success many times. This is equally true no matter if it is with small or large companies.

An example of the above is a situation where through your trigger event research you determine that your customer is planning to switch its ordering system to one of the new software solutions. So you know there is something going to happen. Whether the company is large or small, it can be perfect timing for you to be able to provide products and services to them using that kind of ordering/sales process.

How to use that information?

When you get the information related to a trigger event, you need to adjust your approach so the benefits of your products (or services) are closely related to the trigger event, and you are able to show your customers that you can create a value for them early in the buying process.

This is a good way to start working on the relationship and developing the customer’s perception of your value to them. This means when you speak with the decision maker and if you know exactly what this trigger event is about, you will be able to tailor your story and the benefits of your product in a way that sounds appealing and is related to the customers’ growth trigger event.

You need to adjust your presentation in the way to recognize that event and to present your offering in the most effective way.

Questions you will ask on your calls or meetings with prospects will be targeted towards their needs and you will be able to demonstrate your understanding of business situation. That should bring you step closer to get the deal done.

You definitely want to discover their hot buttons and why they could be on the market now for your products or services. Also you should find out why they are qualified now, at this particular moment, and why you should be very active with this prospect.

It is actually very simple – when you show your prospects that you actually care and you have done your homework and you know about trigger events happening inside their company (new CFO, merger and acquisition, bad 3rd quarter…) you also show them that you are interested about their issues, and most importantly concerned about their wants and needs.

You will create interest in their eyes because you are different then anyone else who contacts them who is simply trying to sell something without really understanding their needs.

When you know about different trigger events it will be much easier for you to ask questions that lead to uncovered customer’s needs and buying motives, and to put them in the market even if they feel there are not buying anything now.

If you try to make a sale without necessary information about your customers, you are just shooting blanks in the air, hoping to hit something. With full information about your prospects situation you will be able to sell easier, and that is the main purpose of this article (and my blog) – to help you to find your next customer in a much easier way for you, and yet maintain a professional, knowledgeable approach.

All needs are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

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Get the book Trigger Events today and start selling to new customers tomorrow!

What are Trigger Events and how to use them is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

From 263 people who participated in this survey, 57% of voters said that sales people are trained, 24% don’t care if sales person knows how to sell, and only 19% think that sales people are born that way.

I believe that the discussion that salespeople are born and not made is mainly false. The element of falsity lies in the fact that those who make the statement forget that a strong personality can be developed. This would be a sorry place if people believe that it is possible to improve in knowledge by study and impossible to improve personality and character in the same way. You may broaden and deepen your inner self just as you may add to your knowledge or to your bank account.

• Can we honestly say that you can learn about your products or services and increase your knowledge of them, but that it is impossible for you to increase your understanding of yourself?
• Can we say that you can analyze your customer’s state of mind and learn to understand it, but not be able to increase your own power to win the customer’s mind over to yourself?

The fact is that personality, like everything else in the world, is not a vague, intangible, indescribable, undefinable, nebulous, hazy attribute of a person, but is in truth a definite and positive factor of a person’s being that is capable of being improved by direct and practical methods. There is no more absurd and dangerous opinion for the sales person to have than that a good personality is purely a “gift” in the sense that it cannot be acquired.

The idea that you can learn only by experience is an especially absurd and dangerous idea when applied to character building. The whole history of the world’s advancement disproves it, for we are able to advance beyond what others have accomplished by learning what they know, and making our start from that point. That is the purpose of reading sales books, and many sales authors would agree that they are writing books to improve other people’s situation. If not, what is the purpose of writing (and reading) books?

You always need training. A great salesperson is always trying to make him or herself better.

More research about this topic is done by my dear colleagues from UK (http://www.phoenix-training.co.uk) – take a look at the image below, or you can download it here: http://www.alenmajer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/poll-blog.jpg

Are Sales People Born or Made? is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

1. Stress the value of ownership versus the cost of purchasing.
2. Stress the value of the service versus the cost of the service.
3. Stress the value of long-term benefits versus the up-front costs.
4. Stress benefits rather than features.

Daily Sales Tip #97 is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

Objections that are raised to price are probably the most frequent of all honest reasons for prospects refusing to buy. It’s important to understand where the price objection is coming from, before you can handle it effectively.

Sometimes a prospect will object to price because it is simply more than he can afford to pay. The products or services are too expensive and the buyer can only afford something of a cheaper grade. As the salesperson, it is your duty to enrich the prospect with the knowledge of how the purchase of a quality item will be more economical in the long-term as opposed to buying the cheaper product.

Scripts:

• “Compared to what?”
• “You know that our quality is the highest you can find, which means that you pay much less over the life of the product. The higher quality saves you money in the long run. Why not order today?”
• “If our products were cheaper, would you want it? If yes, let’s find the way you can afford it!”
  

Alternatively, an item which is more expensive usually offers additional features that may convince the buyer of the validity of such a purchase. In other words, there are times when a quality item will speak for itself. At other times it is up to you, as the salesperson, to educate the buyer of all the features and the value it holds, before he can make an informed decision.

Script:

• “Yes, we can lower the price right now, however you need to decide on what options to cut from our proposal.”

An objection to price doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the end of the line. A buyer may be in a position to arrange alternative funding, if he sees that there is just cause. It is the duty of the salesperson to discover the cause of the price objection before being able to deal with it appropriately.

Another common objection when it comes to price is the follow-on that “times are tough” and “we’re in a recession”. Naturally, a business depression will send most buyers running for cover. However, a skilled salesperson will quash this objection by agreeing that times are indeed bad and the recession has affected all aspects of daily life; but that the product on offer has been specifically engineered and priced to accommodate the current recessive period and its characteristics. In fact, a buyer can only benefit from purchasing your product in a particularly recessive time, for all the various reasons that you can provide. You don’t have to succumb to the pessimistic mood that surrounds a recession. You can provide a quality product at a price that is uplifting in a time of downsizing and depression.

With price being the most common objection made to many sales people, a skilled manner of dealing with such a sensitive issue is to delay any mention of money matters until the very end of a discussion. In this way, you have had the opportunity to demonstrate to the prospect the quality and worth of the product and ensure that these have been firmly established before the price is mentioned. If a price is requested early on in the presentation, a skillful side-step would be to say something like,

Script:

• “…let’s decide if you actually want to buy this product. If you do, I’m sure I can put it within your reach…”

The point is to sell the item and all that it’s worth before you’ve even mentioned the price.

Learning to handle price objections effectively is one of the most vital skills that a successful salesperson can acquire. Remember, you can’t sell an item without agreeing on a price. There is no success without the sale – and there is no sale without the price.

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If you want to learn how to recognize and handle objections effectively, our one-day workshop can help you overcome objections and close more sales. Even better – at this workshop we will give you exact objection-handling techniques and scripts that sell!

Hurry up, register today because seats are limited!

Become an Expert at Handling Price Objections is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer

If you’ve been in sales any length of time, you are familiar with objections. They stand in the way of your goal; closing a sale. The path to success lies in how to handle objections effectively. Being able to turn a negative viewpoint into a positive profit is a transaction sales people and consumers will mutually benefit from. The techniques outlined below can help you identify, address, and nullify objections that keep you from making sales.

Task one: mental preparation and personal perception matter, so make them a priority.  If you have a negative view of consumer sales resistance it will affect the sale of your product. Your audience can hear, see, and feel your attitude toward them and the pitch you’re making. If you give them the impression they are being “sold” everyone is likely to leave the appointment empty handed. Instead, keep your body language positive and your approach friendly. If you come across an objection you haven’t heard before, don’t beat yourself up. Embrace the opportunity to learn. Your response may be rough at first, practice it and you’ll do better the next time around.

Task two: learn the difference between an excuse and an objection. Addressing all negative responses as objections is a common mistake when learning how to handle objections. How do you know the difference? Ask, listen, and respond/resolve. If a consumer says, “I’m not interested” start by asking qualifying questions. A response like that is a generalization used to shut down the conversation. Instead of walking away, offer an affirmative alternative like, “I understand how you feel. I’ve talked to many people who feel the same way, but after a short meeting with them I’ve heard comments like, “I had no idea you could do that. Let’s meet and talk about this in more detail. Afterall, it never hurts to take a second look.” After satisfying the objections if their response is still negative, it’s an excuse, not an objection. In other words, it’s a sale that won’t close. Politely end the appointment and move on.

Task three: learn to stop objections before they start. As you become more comfortable in sales, you’ll recognize objection patterns that consumers use. Integrate the objections and answers into your pitch. If disinterest is a common issue make the “second look rebuttal” part of your presentation.  You’ll close more sales if you address/reduce purchase barriers right away.

How to Handle the “I Am Not Interested” Objection is a post from: The Science and Art of Selling by Alen Mayer