|
 Hi!
My name is c.j., and
here's the November 2007 issue of Psyche-Selling
TM
eNewsletter, and be sure to get some complimentary sales management
tools as you read on.
On 5 Dec
2007, I'll be organising an Executive Briefing session together with
Shi Bisset & Associates on "Stop Your Sales Training Now", which is based on
last
issue's main article, from 14:00-17:00 hrs at Mesa Manifesto on a
strictly "by invitation" basis. e-Mail me
info@psycheselling.com if
you would like to be invited.
If
you want to find out how to lead, manage and motivate winning sales
teams, join us on 13-14 Dec here:
http://www.trainershubcn.com/eflyer.php?fid=221
BTW, if you are a trainer/ speaker (aspiring or experienced), and
would like to know how you can promote your training/ speaking business
better, pls. join us for this Professional Speakers' Association of
China chapter meeting:
http://www.psycheselling.com/PSAC-121107.htm
This issue's main article is on "Getting
into the Minds of Customers and Make the Sale", and it
deals with some fundamental issues that could help facilitate
communication with customers. This topic will also be featured as part of an evening workshop organised by the
AustCham Shanghai
on 29 Nov 2007.
In brief:
-
While
making money is a high priority on most customers' minds, it's NOT
the first priority in most cases. More often, "saving money" is the
number 1 concern that most customers have.
-
While
customers would like to save money most of the time, that does not
mean that the product with the lowest price always wins. To the
customer, there is a huge difference between the price of a product
and the cost of purchasing it.;
-
While the purpose of
selling is to make money, and the objective of the customer is to
save money, there seems to be some eternal conflict between buyer
and seller. The good news is that there are simple ways to
circumvent this "conflict", if you are willing to challenge some
entrenched thinking and beliefs about selling.
To read the rest of this
newsletter, pls. click
here (http://www.psycheselling.com/page4.html).
Getting
into the Minds of Customers and Make the Sale
by c.j. Ng
Without a doubt, selling is all about facilitating customers to buy. If
the customer doesn't want to make a purchase, there's no way you can
close your sale. Forcing your way to close the sale in such
circumstances isn't selling, it's daylight robbery.
Hence, if you are keen on ensuring customers want to buy from you again
and again, one way to do so is to simply get into the minds of
customers, and find out what they want.
The
First 3 Things on Customer's Mind
If
you are selling to corporate customers, you'll know that you will
get some kind of reaction when you talk about money.
Most sales people will assume that the first thing on the minds of
corporate customers will be about making money. On the contrary, it
isn't.
Human beings are
more or less motivated by 2 issues (adapted from Herzberg's
motivation theory) , that is:
-
Seeking pleasure; or
-
Avoiding pain
Between the 2,
however, "avoiding pain" tends to give us more urgency to act, since
it's nature's way of protecting us from harm. While "making money"
is a notion that many corporate customers might be interested to
discuss, it is NOT the first thing on customers' minds. In fact, on
the money issue, here's how most customers will prioritise:
-
Save money;
-
Make money;
-
Don't spend money
Apart from money
issues, customers tend to prioritise based on avoiding pain first,
then gaining pleasure later. This is why customers are
-
Less likely to switch suppliers,
-
More likely to stick to a certain brand if that brand has
proven to work well, and
-
More likely to buy from established names in the market
This is even very
much evident in cases when you have a much better product, but still
customers prefer to stick with their tried-and-proven existing
solution, than would they want to take any risk to "give yours a
try"
Price vs. Cost
If customers are so conscious about saving money and not spending
money, does that mean that they will always buy the lowest-price
product?
Fortunately not.
The un-educated customer will equate the price they
pay with the cost of purchase, which in actual fact, isn't
the case.
Just
think about this, if you are the cost-conscious customer.
If you were to buy a new car for instance, will you buy the
cheapest car available, or would you consider buying
something that you deem as value for money?
Similarly, your customer will also
be very much concerned about issues such as:
-
Easy maintenance;
-
Costs and availability of parts;
-
Lifespan of product and parts;
-
Productivity gains;
-
Amount of training required;
-
Safety;
-
Delivery times; etc.
If there are customers who are just simply
going after the lowest cost no matter what, there are 2 likely
scenarios:
- You haven't done your job in educating
your customer in differentiating between the cost of their purchase
and the price they pay; or
- You found the wrong customer
Warren Buffet has got a great definition
between price vs. value:
"Price is what you pay; Value is what you get"
Given that customers want to avoid pain, before they seek
pleasure, the value they want to get from you are likely to be:
- How to reduce costs;
- How to reduce risks;
- How to maintain market share; etc.
If you pitch the right value that your
customer want, and then educate them how they can achieve it, you
have a sale right in your hands.
The Eternal Conflict Between Buyer and
Seller
Many times, sales people complain that
while they would like to educate their customers, the latter just
wouldn't want to listen.
If this happens to you as well, you
probably have to understand the inherent conflict between buyer and
seller.
The purpose of selling, from the seller's
point of view, is to make money from the customer. The customer, on
the other hand, would like to prevent anyone from taking away his/
her money. Hence, the inherent conflict.
Now if having money taken away is painful
for the customer, what would make the customer want to pay money to
buy anything at all?
Simply put, the customer pays
money to buy because the pain of NOT buying is greater than the pain
of forking that money out and buy.
So if customers aren't willing to listen
to you, there are again 2 possibilities:
-
They haven't realised the pain of NOT buying yet; and
-
They don't trust you enough to divulge their pains yet
If you approach customers with the sole
intention to take away their money, then guess what? Customers
avoid you! On the other hand, however, if you are able to approach
customers with a strong Valid Business Reason, and with the
sincerity to just find out if there's a fit between what they need
and what you can provide, then you may have some of them wanting to
listen more from you.
If you
would like to find out how you can get into the
minds of customers, find their pain and make the
sale, simply
e-mail
info@psycheselling.com
or call +86-13671902505 or Skype:
cydj001 and
arrange to buy me coffee.
All information shall be kept in confidence
Practical Tips:
Practical Tips on
Tele-Selling v 2.0
by c.j. Ng
Recently, I was doing some
e-mail coaching with an American company, and here's an amended copy
(with names omitted to protect the innocent) of their tele-marketing
script:
"Good Morning, (Prospect name)
, My name is (employee name), with XYZ, Inc.
I am the assistant to our Director, (Employee name).
He has asked me to contact you and schedule a time to speak about some
of your competitors and your business. He may have some suggestions
related to some of the issues that you face in your business and the
(industry type). Some of our clients in your industry have had concerns
such as (Hot Button Issues).
(Mr \ Mrs Business Owner), what time would you be available tomorrow to
speak with them on this subject?"
Here's
my reply:
He has asked me to contact you and schedule a
time to speak about some of your competitors and your business. He
may have some suggestions related to some of the issues that you
face in your business and the (industry type). Some of our clients
in your industry have had concerns such as (Hot Button Issues).
In saying so, this may create the impression that they are dealing with a
very junior person, and hence may not give the respect that the
staff deserves. The part on "competitors and your business" may
back fire as well, since there are some companies insisting that
they are streets ahead of the competition. Whether they really are
much better than their competition is immaterial, because as long as
they perceive as such, they won't want to talk to you any further.
The 2nd and 3rd sentences can be combined to make it more compact:
"I'd like to
arrange for a time for you to have a discussion with (Director's
name) regarding the (hot button issue) that is affecting your
industry right now."
(Mr \ Mrs Business Owner), what
time would you be available tomorrow to speak with them on this
subject?
The usage of
the customer's name for a second time is best done when you
are emphasising a key selling point , but re-phrasing it to be their
best interests. Using the customer's name here tends to put people
off, as it just sounds too salesy. The phrase "available
tomorrow to speak on this subject" sounds very
"ancient" English. To customers, it sounds
deliberate and not authentic. It will be best use
everyday language, i.e. they way you would have said if you have
asked a friend if he can speak to you tomorrow.
"Would it be
OK if I get him to call you at (specific time) tomorrow to discuss/
explore further?" is how I would have said it.
In a nutshell, there's no "one perfect
script", as whoever is using it has to be comfortable and then sound
natural and authentic on the phone.
If you think you need help, with your scripts, just e-mail
info@psycheselling.com and
I'll help whenever I can.
About PsycheSelling.com
As you might have heard of them,
the most common
challenges faced by sales people in any country, and across
nearly every industry, are as follow:
-
Unable to qualify for the right customers;
-
Unable to generate interest through the telephone;
-
Unable to get to the right people (who may or may not be whom
you think);
-
Unable to define the decision making structure of customers;
-
Unable to get customers interested and excited about what you
have to offer;
-
Unable to sustain customers’ interest through the sales cycle;
-
Unable to get past clients’ objections and close the sale
-
Spending too much time with proposals that seem to go nowhere
-
Unable to sell deeper to the same customers
Having these concerns in mind,
the Psyche-Selling
TM
is created
as a result of 1-to-1 coaching with sales people from a variety of
industries across 13 cities in Asia.
Psyche-Selling TM
is currently a co-affiliate of the
HR Chally Group, together with
Shi Bisset & Associates,
to help you identify gaps in your current sales force, and then
formulate ways to help you get better results.
The HR Chally Group is a talent management, leadership
development, and sales improvement corporation providing personnel
assessment and research services for over 33 years. Chally is
recognised as an international technology leader in scientific
assessment and prediction for selection, job alignment and leadership
development, and for management assessment. For more information
about implementing Total Quality Sales Management in your company, pls.
log on to
http://www.psycheselling.com/TQSM-ExecBrief_email.pdf to get more
insights.
|