Selling to Consumers | Sales Training Blog by Skip Anderson

The One Thing Better Than Selling with Enthusiasm

"Enthusiasm really IS contagious, and many times your customers buy your belief in your product as well as the product itself."

-Mike Brooks

"People naturally get swept up into excitement and enthusiasm when they are surrounded by what they think is natural and authentic excitement."

-K.B.

"...come to the realization that enthusiasm is the ultimate secret weapon of all the great salespeople in this business."

-Jeffrey F. Knott

* * * * *

Enthusiasm transfers emotion from the salesperson to the prospect, right? Enthusiasm is contagious, yes? Enthusiasm breeds more enthusiasm, correct? Enthusiasm sells, doesn't it?

I'd say the answer is "sometimes."

And sometimes not. Have you ever witnessed a sales interaction with a salesperson who is inappropriately enthusiastic talk to someone who is naturally reserved, even when they're enthused? Ouch, it hurts just to think about it.

All humans have a natural "enthusiasm comfort level" whether we're talking about someone working in the sales profession or a customer who doesn't work in our field. Everyone has high, low, or medium propensity to feel and communicate enthusiasm. This enthusiasm comfort level helps determine how we'll react to enthusiasm in others, including salespeople selling to us.

The mother in the front row of the auditorium at the piano recital who is standing up and cheering for her seven-year-old as he finishes "Scale Study No. 6" probably will react to a salesperson's enthusiasm differently than the father of another child in the back row who zones out during his daughter's performance of the "Sonatina for Piano."

So with this in mind, enthusiasm from a salesperson can be either an engaging or an off-putting element during a sales interaction.

Let's say all individuals can be charted on the following "Enthusiasm Propensity Scale":

 
 

The enthusiasm propensity ratings of five individuals have been placed on the scale. Rachel has the greatest propensity to feel and show enthusiasm, while Josh has the least. The remaining individuals lie somewhere between those two extremes.

We can easily relate to others who have the same or similar comfort with enthusiasm as we do. I propose that one's enthusiasm will have a positive effect on anybody that is within two points on either side of that individual's rating on the scale. Therefore, if Jose or Linda are selling to me, or vice versa, we should be in pretty good shape, because both lie within two points on either side of my score.

 

But the farther apart two people lie on the scale, the greater the potential negative effect on the sales relationship. 

I'm a fairly enthusiastic individual at 7.5. But, simply put, Rachel's enthusiasm is going to irritate me. She's too enthusiastic for my tastes - we're just too far apart on the scale. Rachel selling to Linda is going to be an even greater challenge, because the separation is more pronounced. And it would likely be a disaster if Linda were selling to Josh.

So where does this leave the role of "enthusiasm" in selling?

I think we can safely conclude that appropriate enthusiasm is an asset in the selling profession, and inappropriate enthusiasm is a negative factor, and that the appropriateness we are talking about here is determined by the prospect/customer. The one thing better than enthusiasm when selling is appropriate enthusiasm when welling.

So as the three quotes at the top of this article point out, enthusiasm can be helpful in working with sales prospects. But be aware that you may need to moderate your enthusiasm to prevent unintended negative consequences!

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

Contact Skip | Join Mailing List

Follow on Twitter | Connect on Facebook | Connect on LinkedIn

That Buying Fog: 4 Ways to Fight It

Much of the time, consumers are in a fog - a buying fog. The buying fog is fueled by a lack of personal clarity about what they really want or desire, by their dislike or fear of salespeople (whether it be strong or mild), and by their lack of: time, money, clarity, silence, or priorities.

But it's difficult to make progress when someone is in a buying fog. The fog blurs common sense. It limits emotional buy-in to what you're selling.

Here are 4 ways to clear the buying fog of your prospects this week:

1. Be engaging. 

Have your prospect take notes, or fill out a worksheet while you give your presentation. Get him up out of his chair if you sell in a sit-down environment (office), or get him into a chair if you sell in a stand-up environment (retail). Have him help you measure, search a brochure, look up data, call your vendor, punch 3 holes in a document, take something to the copier, listen to your voicemail, try to break your product, take your product apart, press a button, drive you to a demo, open a carton, hold the controller, wipe it down, lift something up, etc.

2. Be undeniably funny.

When someone is laughing, they're not in a fog. So figure out how to entertain your prospect. If you're funny and can elicit a belly laugh - or at least a smile - that buying fog will lift. Would you rather watch a public speaker with no sense of humor? Or one that lets you laugh several times during the presentation?

3. Be outrageously helpful.

Are you offering to get coffee for your prospect during a meeting? Great! But instead of "coffee," hand them a menu of your four different coffee choices. Then bring in a huge tray of different coffee mugs and cups and let the prospect choose one that is to their liking. Don't just offer one sweetener, offer five. Clean your prospect's raindrop-laden glasses. Walk them to their car with an umbrella. Don't just tell them where the restroom is, walk them there. Be a concierge, not just a salesperson.

4. Be outrageous.

Consumers live in a noisy environment. There's noise from their families, their banks, their kids' schools, and their places of worship. The noise continues at work: who is noisier than your manager? Or your employees? Or coworkers? Add the noise of media, of advertising, of mailers and TV and internet marketing and emails and you have one hugely noisy existence for most of us. Constant noise elevates mental fog, and when one of these individuals shop, their fog turns into buying fog. Fight the fog by being outrageous. Do the unexpected. Be the unexpected. Be outrageously you, but in a fog-fighting bigger and better way than you ever have been you before.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

Contact Skip | Join Mailing List

Follow on Twitter | Connect on Facebook | Connect on LinkedIn

Skip Anderson Interviews Shane Gibson, Co-Author of "Sociable!"

Shane Gibson and Stephen Jagger have written a brand new social media book titled "Sociable! How Social Media is Turning Sales and Marketing Upside Down." I interviewed Shane on the new episode of The Selling to Consumers Podcast.

I recommend the book to B2C companies and individuals who are trying to figure out if or how social media plays a role in everyday business. Listen to my interview with Shane Gibson at sales training podcast.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

Contact Skip | Join Mailing List

Follow on Twitter | Connect on Facebook | Connect on LinkedIn

7 Indicators of High Pressure Selling

The vast majority of salespeople working today don't want to be high pressure sellers. In fact, some have a fear of using pressure to gain sales and avoid assertive, professional selling techniques because of their hyper-sensitivity to high pressure selling.

I also have a disdain for high pressure selling. But I know that professional salespeople need to be assertive, to be willing to put themselves out in the public's eye, to be able to take control, to drive their prospect's decisions, and to bring in the orders.

High pressure selling is something completely different. But what, exactly, is the high pressure selling that most of us dislike so much?

I think high pressure selling can be identified by the following seven indicators:

1. When the salesperson hasn't generated sufficient rapport with, or trust from, the prospect.

2. When the sales representative dominates the sales conversation and does not create customer engagement. 

3. When the salesperson lets the product dominate the conversation rather than the prospect's needs and desires, and their unique circumstances.

4. When the salesperson displays behavior that is disrespectful, rude, or offensive.

5. When the sales representative attempts to close the sale too early or in the wrong way.

6. When the salesperson crosses the line from being assertive (a valuable trait in selling) to being aggressive (attempting to dominate the prospect).

7. When the customer has incorrectly implied or communicated a high level of interest of commitment in the salesperson's product, and then feels taken advantage of when the salesperson acts congruently with that interest or commitment.

You'll see that six of the indicators listed above are the responsibility of the salesperson, and the last one is the responsibility of the prospect. Go ahead and hate aggressive selling. But don't let that keep you from selling.

Are there any sales behaviors missing from my list that you think is an indicator of high pressure or aggressive selling?

If you like this post (or don't) please click on "comments" below and share your comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, in the financial, real estate, and insurance markets, and other consumer-selling industries.

Contact Skip | Join Mailing List

Follow on Twitter | Connect on Facebook | Connect on LinkedIn

More Hang Time Means More Sales

One factor limiting sales success is the salespersons' insufficient time with the prospect, especially in one-call close sales scenarios.

Since we need to get the prospect to hang in there with us and not end the conversation, I call the time we spend with our prospects "hang time." Often, more hang time equals means more sales.

One reason sellers fail at handling objections from customers successfully is that they aren't able to extend the conversation long enough to adequately deal with issues in the objection. "I'm going to hold off," for example, begs for a response, but you only have the opportunity to provide a response if you're able to engineer enough hang time into the sales interaction.

What many salespeople do to try to extend hang time is babble about more features or repeat themselves from earlier in the sales interaction. But these are ineffective ways of extending time with the prospect. What is far more effective is to address each objection with a customized response to that particular objection.

Or, responding to "I'm going to hold off" with a simple question such as "Tell me what you're thinking" can help reengage the prospect to continue the dialog. Important information, such as the true customer objection, can then surface. Once this objection sees the light of day, it can be examined and discussed, giving the seller the opportunity to change the outcome of the sales interaction.

If you're challenged with overcoming objections, develop the ability to increase the hang time with your prospect.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

Contact Skip | Join Mailing List

Follow on Twitter | Connect on Facebook | Connect on LinkedIn

The Power of a Sincere Compliment

Retail sales reps and salespeople who sell in customers' homes usually have a brief time to establish customer engagement. In the retail environment, customers get distracted, realize other priorities, or leave the premises. When selling in the home, the sales representative is on the prospect's home turf, so she can exercise very little control over the meeting.

In selling, sometimes small tidbits can create wonderful results. Sharing a sincere compliment with your prospect is one of those tidbits.

Although some individuals need recognition more than others, any human being loves to be recognized, and a compliment is a small way to recognize the value of another. I'm not suggesting fake compliments, wherein a salesperson shares a compliment in a sleazy manner to try to manipulate the prospect. I'm suggesting sincerity here.

There are some interesting gender and sexual-preference dynamics in the realm of complimenting customers. Sometimes women can compliment other women in a way that men can't. I've seen gay men interact with female customers in a way a straight man probably couldn't do successfully, and vice versa. Women salespeople sometimes need to adjust compliments to men customers if the men customers' wives are with them. It can be easier for a woman salesperson to compliment a woman customer than it is a male salesperson to compliment a male customer, so sometimes male sales reps have to work extra hard at complimenting effectively and inoffensively.

Here are compliments for you to ponder. Some of these are appropriate for retail settings, while others are appropriate for selling in the customer's home, yet others will work for office meetings. To engage your customer better, compliment better:

I love your glasses! Where did you get them?

You have the best laugh!

What a lovely purse!

Oh, what a beautiful baby! What's her name?

You have the most wonderful kitchen countertop. What is it?

This floor looks so exotic. I love it!

What a gorgeous family portrait - you have a beautiful family!

You look like you're relaxed and ready for the weekend.

You two make an adorable couple.

I love how you parent your little one. We see such poor parenting here sometimes; it's nice to see someone who sets boundaries for their kids.

I love looking at men's ties and I think yours is great!

I can see how much your wife means to you.

Oh my gosh, may I ask where you got those amazing SHOES?

What cool sunglasses you have on! They're stunning!

I could sit and listen to your accent all day! Where'd you get that?

Looks like you're bright-eyed and raring to go this morning!

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

Contact Skip | Join Mailing List

Follow on Twitter | Connect on Facebook | Connect on LinkedIn

Jewelry Sales Training

The great thing about selling jewelry in a retail location is you've got lots of beautiful pieces in your store to show your customers.

The bad thing about selling jewelry in a retail location is you've got lots of beautiful pieces in your store that distracts you from the a most important factor in successful selling: engagement of the shopper in the buying process.

Can beautiful jewelry engage a prospect? Yes, it can. But far more effective at engaging a human (shopper) is another human (the salesperson). The problem is, we human salespeople start to think that selling jewelry is all about the jewelry surrounding us, so we focus on that instead of our shopper.

Buying jewelry, just like all consumer purchases, is a means to an end. People buy jewelry for a variety of reasons, most of which has nothing to do with jewelry. It might be to feel important, to treat yourself, to make someone else feel important, to get attention from others, and so on.

The more we know about the macro-needs and micro-needs of our prospects, the more likely we will be to engage the prospect in a very meaningful way, and when engagement occurs, the buyer-seller relationship enters and entirely different realm. Find out what is important to your customers and you'll earn a sale more often. But show them case after case of product, and you're just crossing your fingers that the customer will see something she likes enough to bring out that credit card.

Engage more = sell more.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

Contact Skip | Join Mailing List

Follow on Twitter | Connect on Facebook | Connect on LinkedIn

5 Ways to Increase Customer Engagement With Better Goodbyes

I read a very interesting post this week by Rodney Johnson. I love the title: "The Power Goodbye." Read it.

In his article, Rodney discusses how society places more importance on beginnings (the "hellos") than on endings (the "goodbyes"). This is an interesting thought that got me thinking about how this concept  applies to prospects, customers, salespeople, and the sales process.

First, let me say I am a big believer in the power of effective openings during the sales process. The companies I work have salespeople who sell in customers' homes or in retail or in other B2C selling venues. They often have very limited time to establish a trust relationship, and while a B2B salesperson can rely upon prospecting activity to create a vibrant pipeline of prospects, many business-to-consumer salespeople can only rely on the leads supplied to them or the traffic in their store.

For instance, in a retail setting, you wait for your prospect to come through the door. When they do, you have a limited window of opportunity to engage that prospect in conversation. If you fail at opening up that conversation, the prospect will likely either leave the premises (perhaps to visit with your competitor!), or end up engaging with another sales representative at your store. Since the prospect traffic in a retail setting is a finite set, a salesperson must maximize their openings  with these visitors if they are to maximize their sales results.

But let's also look at, as Mr. Johnson calls them, the "goodbyes." 

Let's imagine your customer has just purchased a new barbecue grill, or an entertainment center, or a sunroom. How should the salesperson handle this engagement opportunity?

Here are five tactics to help you maximize engagement with your customer immediately after the sale:

1. CONGRATULATE.

It's very common to thank a customer for their order. One might even be able to argue that it's such a  common occurrence that it's lost its effectiveness. So, congratulate your prospect instead. "Betty and Bob, congratulations on your new health club membership!" has a nice ring to it. And when you follow it with a handshake and appropriate eye contact, you are supporting your prospects underlying needs and desires that motivated them to spend this money on this product or service.

2. SEND A THANK-YOU NOTE, BUT...

Thank you cards are nice. Send one after your customer buys 1 house-full of window treatments or a riding lawnmower or hardwood flooring from you.

But do something different, fun, or unexpected. Send an applicable article clipped from a newspaper or magazine with the thank-you. Take a picture of the customer next to his new recliner before he leaves your store and mail the photo the the customer along with the thank-you note. Send a lottery ticket. Have the entire staff of your store or company sign the card. Send an unconventional card - maybe something that doesn't even look like a traditional greeting card.

When customer engagement processes become unimaginative and routine, their effectiveness is reduced. But when we make them clever, entertaining, or different, we increase the odds of engagement. 

3. BRING A MANAGER INTO THE PICTURE.

When I bought my Sony laptop at Micro Center last year, the cashier called a manager over to her station to  personally thank me for my purchase. Did they have to do this? No, of course not. But did it have an impact on the customer. Yes!

If you work in a venue other than retail, the manager could phone the customer to thank the customer, or send a note or an email.

4. MAKE IT EASY FOR CUSTOMERS TO WEIGH IN ON THEIR EXPERIENCE.

The proper instrument may be a written comment card, a mailed comment card, an online survey, or a phone follow-up, but when you ask prospects about their experience, and it's clear to the customer that you really want their feedback, you increase engagement, trust, and respect.

5. FEATURE YOUR NEW CUSTOMER AND THEIR NEW PRODUCT.

A photo of your new customer standing next to their brand new boat (or, better yet, fishing on it) could be featured on a billboard, in an ad campaign, or in an email newsletter. Making human being customers the focus of your marketing activities can help engage customers because your company is more human-centric and less product-centric. Could insurance companies, for example, benefit from this? Yes! And maybe your company could, too.

Put more effort into your "goodbyes" and you'll increase your customer engagement.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

Contact Skip | Join Mailing List

Follow on Twitter | Connect on Facebook | Connect on LinkedIn

The Law of Distraction

The so called "Law of Attraction" has been much talked about in the last few years. But my sense is that it's becoming less trendy to talk about lately. Perhaps it's becoming a bit passe (he says, not intending to offend the Law of Attraction fans out there).

If I'm right, then I'd like to propose a new law that we should embrace: The Law of Distraction.

Prospects are distracted. Especially the consumer shoppers that are the focus of my client companies. The default state of most consumer prospects is that of distraction: They're always in a hurry to get somewhere; They have conflicting requests for their time and energy and attention; They have too much to do in too little time; They're concerned about finances and the economy. They can't focus. They are challenged by making decisions and giving sufficient mental energy to those decisions.

How can a B2C salesperson use the Law of Distraction to his advantage?

1. Accept it.

Assume you will have less time with your prospects now than you did a few years ago. Assume they'll be frazzled. Assume they'll be conflicted. Engineer a sales strategy that accepts these realities but yet allows you to deal with them successfully.

2. Engage your prospect.

The enemy of distraction is customer engagement. Create new ways to engage your customers. Use surveys, polls, videos, displays (retail), and most of all, improved questioning skills. Get them involved in the buying process more effectively than ever before.

3. Buy time.

If you sell in a retail venue, find ways to keep your prospects in the stores. Promotions, kids play areas, novelties, entertainment, refreshments, and anything that will keep distracted prospects in your store longer might be a plus. If you sell on the phone, offer an incentive for talking with you. If you sell in customers' homes, create an incentive for listening to your entire presentation.

4. Simplify the buying process.

Get out your paring knife and see what can be discarded that's currently a part of your selling process. Keep only the elements that help you sell. Say 20% fewer words (contrary to what some believe, fewer words are often more engaging than more words). Skip the hollow verbiage, the wasted words, the trite salesisms.

5. Get back to sales basics.

There are no magic wands in selling, but there are magical sales skills that work time and time again. Brush up on all the elements of selling because great sales skills work even for distracted customers.

6. Be less distracted.

The more distracted your prospects, the less distracted you must be if you want to overcome the law of distraction.

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

Selling to Consumers: It's Mostly About Relationships

When we think of "relationships" we usually think of those that matter most to us: partners, children, parents, friends, and the like. But those aren't just relationships, those are strong, meaningful relationships. There are other relationships, too. Those other relationships are the ones we have when we end up chatting with someone at the neighborhood coffee shop or meeting someone new at the bar while having a cold one.

And what about the relationship with the front desk clerk at the hotel we check into? It only lasts a few minutes, but isn't that a relationship? Or the parent we meet at the playground while our kids are playing. Or the person that talks to us in a retail store...isn't that a relationship? They're not deep, long-term relationships, but they are relationships, right?

Enter Doyle Slayton

My good friend (and rising star sales guru) Doyle Slayton through up quite a post on his blog Wednesday. It's gotten a lot of people thinking and discussing his topic, which is something that I think is very important for all of us in the sales profession (when I last checked, he had dozens of comments on this blog post). His post, "It's nothing personal, it's just business," takes a contrarian point-of-view to the the commonly held belief that selling is all about relationships.

While I understand what Doyle is getting at, and I definitely agree that sales results are king (everything else is just a means to that end), I somewhat disagree with Doyle's point of view, probably because Doyle's sales background and my sales background are in different types of selling.

My post today is about poking holes in Doyle's post (I warned you, Doyle!). The following are several excerpts from Doyle's article (I encourage you to read the whole thing so you can put everything into proper context). I've added some of my B2C-oriented commentary below. I hope you find the "debate" interesting at least, and thought-provoking at best:

“The relationship begins after the sale, not before.” 

Here's my bias, and why I've chosen to offer a differing point-of-view to Doyle's post:

Most of my sales experience, like many B2C and retail salespeople, has involved sales interactions where you must quickly establish rapport and trust (the basis of any relationship, in my opinion), so you can make a sale while the sales opportunity exists. If you sell windows, for instance, you're going to have a 90 minute (more or less) in-home consultation in order to complete the sale. If you close that opportunity often, you'll be a sales superstar. If you never do it, you'll just be one of the long list of salespeople who tried this job but failed at it.

For a salesperson to sell windows in an in-home sales appointment, one must absolutely, without question, create a relationship with the prospect as a means to achieving the sale. This relationship will be different than the relationship with your good friend, different from the one with your neighbor, your love interest, or your college buddies, but it will be a relationship.

Building a relationship isn't something you do TO someone, it's something you do WITH someone. And to be successful in these types of selling scenarios, the relationship has to be there, because you likely won't get a second chance to sell if you come up empty on the first call. The prospect will be on to his next appointment with your competitor, and if your competitor is able, he'll button up the business while you're left on the sidelines watching from afar.

The same thing holds true in selling jewelry, furniture, fine clothing, or cosmetics at retail. Or selling basement finishing, custom closets, landscaping, or home remodeling in the home. We may never see the customer again (therefore, a relationship after the sale is a moot point), but the relationship almost always has to be there if we're going to win the business.

Most people who sell to consumers don't act as account managers (insurance and financial products are two exceptions). Once the transaction is complete, the relationship, if it exists at all, is of minimal importance. "The relationship begins after the sale?" Nope. I don't think so. Not in the B2C world.

"If there are no results, there is no relationship. Period!"

I disagree with this statement for reasons I've already stated. In my world (consumer selling), there is a relationship, and almost always that relationship exists from the point of contact to the close of the sale, and rarely lasts longer than that.

"If there are no results, there is no relationship" strikes me as being a "which came first, the chicken or the egg" dilemma. Having said that, in B2C selling, the relationship almost always comes first.

Francesca at the gourmet store probably has one chance to sell you a set of All-Clad stainless steel cookware for a thousand dollars or more. If you don't buy it from her, you'll likely go to another store, or order it online, or decide that something else has a higher priority in your life at this moment than cookware. Many consumer purchases take place in a very limited window of opportunity.

I offer this spin on Doyle's statement: "If you can't quickly create a relationship with your prospect, you probably don't have a sale."

"Do you really think the majority of your prospects are interested in building a relationship? We might be pretty good people, but I don’t think any of us are that cool."

If you ask your prospects if they're interested in building a relationship, they'll say no. I agree with Doyle here. But I can also say that consumer prospects prefer to have a positive and productive interaction with their appliance salesperson or their interior designer at the end of the day. As salespeople, we shoot ourselves in the foot when we don't create a positive relationship, albeit a usually short-lived one, with our prospects.

Our prospects probably don't want us to ask for the sale, either. But we still do it. We have to to excel.

"Ok, point made. Let’s transition to look at our current client base."

Many of us in consumer selling don't have much of a "current client base."

While the B2B salesperson has the luxury of getting ongoing orders for steel or paper products or industrial finishes, or IT services, we B2C folks hunker down and look for new selling opportunities. You can make a nice sale selling window treatments to your prospect today, but aside from selling them window coverings at their second home or for their new home when they move in seven years, you're not going to get much repeat business from your customer (again, there are some exceptions, like insurance and financial services).

In my opinion, it's must more important to maximize your relationships with all your prospects, whether those relationships last five minutes, half-an-hour, or several hours (or if you're lucky enough to leverage a longer-term relationship into ongoing revenue). If you want to sell more, get better at creating relationships quickly.

That reminds me: Years ago I created a sales training program for a national chain of furniture stores called "Have a Relationship with a Customer." The point of the training was to look at the sales interaction as a relationship, not just two ships passing in the night.

Thanks, Doyle, for your thought-provoking post. Let the discussion continue!

[One of my favorite sales books is Relationship Selling, the 8 competencies of top sales producers by Jim Cathcart. Although this book has a bit of a business-to-business bias, it's filled with great insight and wise recommendations.]

If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training. He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance markets.

Contact Skip | Join Mailing List

Follow on Twitter | Connect on Facebook | Connect on LinkedIn

I'll Know It When I See It and Top 100 Sales Blogs

Here's the scenario: You're working in sales at a furniture store, and you greet a couple who has entered your store. You quickly find out they are looking for a sofa, so you begin to ask probing questions about their need so you can be helpful. Then the prospects say this:

"We'll know it when we see it."

I know people who sell cars, homes, clothing, jewelry, and many other products also here this distancing statement. Having spent many years working in a range of business-to-consumer selling roles (yes, even selling furniture for quite some time), I would cringe when I would hear a prospect say something like, "We'll know it when we see it!"

Why would I cringe? Because I would feel like I had been marginalized. Prospects saying this succeeded at keeping their distance from me. They had effectively prevented me from doing my job. Although "I'll know it when I see it" limited me early in my sales career, I eventually figured out why prospects would say this. And here's the reason:

Lack of prospect engagement. 

When a sales professional doesn't succeed at creating an engaging relationship with a prospect,  the prospect can see the salesperson as a foe rather than trusted advisor. Engaging the prospect draws them in, makes them feel comfortable, and encourages them to enter into conversation with their salesperson.

When prospects are engaged, they are actively involved in the buying (and selling!) process. They speak, they share, they challenge, they ask, they joke, they relax, they relate, they laugh, and on the list goes. In my sales training, I talk a lot about how better engagement of the customer cures many sales ills, but one of my favorites is putting an end to hearing prospects say "I'll know it when I see it."

Engage more if you want to sell more.

* * * * *

News flash: The Selling to Consumers blog was recently named to a list of the Top 100 Sales Blogs. See the list the here.

 

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter to read more sales tips and commentary about selling and sales.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip works with companies and individuals to unlock the buying potential of every prospect through improved selling.

Engage More...Sell More: A Sales Webinar

Presented by Skip Anderson

Wednesday June 17, 2009

1:00 PM Eastern / 10:00 PM Pacific

Are you losing sales you should be winning? Is your sales approach sluggish? Would creating more sales momentum during your sales interactions help you close more sales?

The answer to these and other selling challenges is to do a better job of engaging your prospects in the buying (and selling) process. By engaging prospects more fully, salespeople are able to maximize opportunities that exist with each and every prospect.

Salespeople who are highly skilled at engaging their prospects are more likely to become top sales performers, more likely to earn repeat business from their custom base, and more likely to achieve higher customer satisfaction.

In "Engage More...Sell More" you will:

• Learn how to win your prospects over;

• Hear what actual salespeople sound like when they are non-engaging in their behavior;

• Analyze your past sales behaviors to evaluate your engagement proficiency;

• Learn ten simple yet effective strategies to achieve richer customer engagement with your prospects and customers;

• Leverage your engagement skills to more and bigger sales.

INVEST IN YOUR SUCCESS:

OPTION A: The webinar is free with a VIP membership in Top Sales Experts (only $25 a year - AND you can attend all TSE webinars and master classes for FREE with your VIP membership; You can even listen to a recording if you can't make a live session). To take the Top Sales Experts VIP tour, click here.

[After becoming a TSE VIP member, make sure to go here to register for the webinar].

OPTION B: Attend the webinar for $59.50 without a TSE membership. To register, go here.

Begin engaging your prospects more effectively starting next week. Take the "Engage More...Sell More" webinar! Register now!

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter to read more sales tips and commentary about selling and sales.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is mad about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

What Selling Is About: A Review of an Actual Sales Call

Someone (I'll call him Steve) stopped by yesterday to try to sell me some knives. I let him give me his presentation at the kitchen table. He was energetic, positive in his demeanor, and he asked for the order. Those are all very good things.

But Steve could have improved his salesmanship in a number of ways. The biggest was this:

Steve came in and got out his knives and his 3-ring binder and started telling me about the manufacturer of his knives. It wasn't offensive. It wasn't overbearing. It was mildly informative. But it didn't influence me, the prospect, to nearly the level it could have. What was missing? 

ENGAGEMENT!

Here are my suggestions for how Steve could make his sales meetings even more effective when selling in his customers' homes: 

1. While Steve was getting his knives, note pad, order form and pens ready, he could talk to me as a fellow human being. A little chit-chat, some friendly banter, goes a long way to put a prospect at ease. Steve could have asked about the dog, or the pile of rocks in our back yard.   

2. After Steve had everything ready, he should have engaged me in conversation and not been so quick to tell me about his company and his knives. Here is the type of conversation that I think it's important for in-home salespeople to have with their prospects so their sales appointments don't end up being infomercials:  

Salesperson: So who does the cooking in your house?

Prospect: My wife does.

Salesperson: What's your wife's name?"

Prospect: Leona

Salesperson: What are some of the dishes Leona prepares that are your favorites?

Customer: Italian Beef Roast, Stuffed Peppers, Chicken and Dumplings, and Marinated Pork Chops with Wine Sauce.

Salesperson: Wow! I'm impressed! She sounds like quite the cook. And how about you? Do you do any of the cooking? 

Customer: Yeah, once or twice a week, but I cook the more simple things like burgers or pasta. One thing I make, though, is the best cheesecake in Oklahoma! 

Salesperson: I love cheesecake! What's your secret to making it "the best?"

Customer: I put a little lemon peel in it, but there's also a little bit of lemon liquor in it too. Not so much that you can really taste it, but just a little bit so it enhances the flavor. It's like a secret ingredient because nobody can really tell it's there, but everybody compliments me on it. People really love it! 

Salesperson: Well good for you! That sounds delicious! What I have to show you today will change your experience cooking, and I know it will make life so much more simple for Leona. [presentation continues].

Later, when Steve is presenting his knives, he can refer back to the Italian beef roast, the cheesecake, and the other dishes. He can call the prospect's wife by name. He can customize the sales presentation to the particulars of the prospect, rather than merely reciting a memorized script about each knife.

Steve can now use tie-downs during his presentation. Let's say Steve is presenting a slicing knife. Steve can present the features and benefits, but then can ask, "Do you think you and Leona would find this knife with it's chroma-cut edge useful when serving her famous Italian beef roast?" 

Steve did a good job during his sales interaction with me. But he could have done a great job. 

Selling is not so much about you, your product, or your company. It's more about your prospect. We can't make it about our prospect unless we strive to understand him, his needs, and the particulars of his situation. If you want to sell more, engage your prospects more.  

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter to read more sales tips and commentary about selling and sales.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is mad about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

The 3 Sales Pressure Points

I'm not a fan of manipulation or pressure in the selling process. In fact, I'm soundly against it.

There are three occasions during the selling process when sales representatives need to get the prospect beyond any reluctance the prospect might be feeling. How should the salesperson get past this reluctance? Should the salesperson use pressure and manipulation? Or something else?

A skilled sales professional can get their prospects past the following sales pressure points by utilizing selling skills, persuasion, and the impact of sales momentum without resorting to using sales pressure or manipulation. 

1. PROSPECTING.

If you prospect for business, you must be able to get your suspect to talk to you. Whether you prospect on the phone, or door-to-door, or another method, you must find a way to have a conversation with your subject. If you can't do that, you have zero opportunity to sell your product or service to this individual. The best salespeople in our industry are able to make conversation happen with reluctant suspects.

2. BEGINNING OF SALES APPOINTMENT.

Some prospects are reluctant to enter into a conversation at the beginning of a sales meeting, even if the prospect has taken the lead in calling the meeting (this is something I observed repeatedly when I was selling in customers' homes and in retail). It's vital that salespeople overcome prospect reluctance so the prospect can become actively engaged in the process of purchasing, even if the prospect isn't ready to buy. The best salespeople in our industry are able to create engagement with their prospect even when the prospect is highly reluctant.

3. CLOSING.

The product in question might be the perfect product for your prospect. She might have the funds to pay for the product. She might like you and your company. She might need and want your product. Yet, she tells you she has to think about the purchase, or shop around some more, or do some more research, or some other stalling tactic. [This isn't true in every instance, of course, but it is often true.]

She says these things not because she has to think about it, or shop around, or do more research; she says these things because of the phenomena of status quo paralysis. Despite her interest, her ability to pay, and her desire to own what you have, she finds comfort in NOT making a change, and the very act of buying IS change. Salespeople must get their prospects beyond status quo paralysis.

- - - - - - - - - -

To excel at selling, we must deal with the pressure points inherent in the selling process. But we can learn to do that without applying pressure.

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter to read more sales tips and commentary about selling and sales.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is mad about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Think Outside the Sales Rut

We all get into ruts. This happens without us being aware of it. Ruts are bad. Perhaps you'd like to try some of these anti-rut sales suggestions:

1. If you're a waiter in a restaurant, step out of your rut and take the dessert order first.

You don't have to serve dessert first, but elevate the importance of your fabulous desserts presenting the dessert tray after taking your customer's drink and appetizer order. That dessert tray will look glorious when presented to your hungry customers.

Say something like this: "I don't know if you love dessert as much as most of our customers do, but I find that when we order dessert first, we can anticipate it's arrival throughout the dinner, and that makes for some excitement. What can I bring for you at the end of tonight's meal?"

Would you rather have people order their dessert when they're stuffed, or when their famished?

2. Nobody watches a flat screen TV standing up (at least for long).

Yet, most electronics stores require their prospects to stand in front of TVs to view them. I propose you place a bunch of very comfy chairs on wheels throughout your TV showroom. I suggest you place a single row of TVs at normal viewing height instead of stacking 2 or 3 rows of TVs on top of each other. Let your shoppers sit in the comfy chairs and move them around your showroom to help them emulate how TVs are really viewed in their homes.

Customers will enjoy the tactile experience of jockeying chairs to and fro, and they'll definitely enjoy sitting down. It will increase the engagement of your customer in the buying process and you'll sell more TVs.

After they've made their TV selection and committed to the purchase, give them an opportunity to purchase the comfy chair they've been sitting in for hour. Some will.

3. Car dealerships seem to go out of their way to make shoppers uncomfortable. Why not make it comfortable instead? And easier?

Anybody who has read much of my material knows that I'm a fanatic about engaging your customer. But when a salesperson at the auto dealership tries her best to get the prospect talking and yet the prospect insists he just wants to browse, let him browse. In fact, encourage him to browse. And make it easy for him to summon you to ask you a question or get help.

Hand him a small handheld paging device. When the customer needs you, he simply presses the button. The receiver in your pocket vibrates or dings, and you go outside to assist your prospect. This is good for the customer and good for the salesperson. And it will help minimize the omnipresent row of hungry salespeople lined up and staring out front window of the dealership waiting to pounce on their victim.

Since the customer needs to return the paging device before they leave your dealership, you'll have another opportunity to engage them in your showroom before they leave...without following them around the car lot and making him extraordinarily uncomfortable for their entire visit to your establishment.

4. Give your massage customers a choice of music...or no music.

I don't like the sound of dreamy sitar music (with the sound of waves and birds in the background) being played during my massage. It lessens my massage experience.

I want music that I like to be massaged to. Give me some downtempo classical chamber music and I'm in heaven. So offer your customers a dozen music options (solo guitar, new age, environmental, downtempo classical chamber music, electronic chill, etc.) and let the customer select one. Or make it easy for her to select no music. Doing this will help engage your customer and involve their senses in the experience, thereby giving them a fuller, richer experience with you.

Increase your customer's engagement by inviting them to bring iiPods to their next massage appointment. Play their preferred playlists through your sound system. Your invitation will cause some of your customers to go home and prepare a special playlist especially for their next massage. How great is that? Your customer is at home thinking about their next visit to your spa! That's customer engagement!

Think outside the sales rut.

What ruts are you in in your business? What can you do to give your customers a more fulfilling experience? To create improved sales performance? To better engage your customers? To close more sales? To increase your dollars per transaction? Please share your thoughts.

If you like this post (or don't!), please consider leaving a comment, or subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Customer Engagement: Two Retail Tales

I had two shopping experiences recently, and the customer engagement skills of the two salespeople could not have been different.

First, I stopped at a local garage storage products showroom. This is a higher-end showroom that sells garage storage cabinetry and accessories. I had been to one of the company's other showrooms about five years ago, but hadn't seen this particular showroom.

"Hi," said the salesperson.

"Good morning," I replied.

"Have you been into our store before?" was his first question.

"Not this one, but one of your other stores, but it's been about five years ago," I offered.

The salesperson continued, "Well over in this corner we have some of our clearance product including the Gladiator line which we're discontinuing. And over there is our top-of-the-line product. And we've got accessories over here and such-and-such over here."

"Great," I responded.

"I'll let you look around; let me know if you have any questions," he said.

I looked around for 5-10 minutes and then left. Business must be very good for the salesperson because he didn't show much of an interest in engaging me.

This interaction had almost zero customer engagement. I can think of a hundred questions the salesperson could have asked me to engage me in honest, sincere, human-to-human conversation. But he took the ineffectual selling route instead. What about:

"What kind of garage do you have?"
"What are you thinking about doing to your garage?"
"What brings you in today?"
"How does your garage work for you now?"
"If you could improve your garage, what would you do to it?"
"What's happening in your garage?"
"Do you own a garage? Tell me about it."
"Who else uses your garage besides you?"
"What's your biggest frustration with your garage?"
"What kind of improvements to your garage would help out you and your family?"
"What kind of interest do you have in sprucing up your garage?"
"Tell me how your garage is working for storage now"

And so on.

My advice to this salesperson? Ditch your sales pitch. Engage customers instead. Have real life conversations that matter.

My other story is about when my wife and I stopped at West Elm, a contemporary furnishings store owned by Williams-Sonoma. The energetic salesperson with a fabulous smile greeted us with abundant positive vibes. After saying hello to us, her opening question was, "What did you come in to look at today?"

This is a great opening question, and far surpasses the bland and typical, "How can I help you?" that I often hear from retail salespeople. My wife told her that we were on their mailing list and got their catalogs, and thought we'd stop in. I added that we were on our way home when my wife said, "Let's stop at West Elm."

Then the salesperson asked us if we shopped at Williams-Sonoma or Pottery Barn. We confirmed that we did, and she told us they were owned by the same company, which would explain why we get their catalogs. She told us about their stores opening up all of the country, and then asked us this question: (again):

"What did you come in to look at today/"

I love that. She purposefully came back to a question she had already asked, but wasn't sure she had gotten very good information from us yet. We truly were just there to look around, and had no needs and no intention of buying anything, but she handled herself very well. If we had been in the market for a chair or a desk or a bed, her questioning would likely have gotten it out of us, which is one of the key skills of top-performing retail salespeople. She engaged us, checked back with us, and showed a lot of class, appropriate enthusiasm, and some decent selling skill. She had ditched her sales pitch.

If you sell, be more like the West Elm salesperson and less like the garage storage guy. Engagement of prospects is vital in selling. The right questions engage prospects. Selling is about asking the right questions.

If you like this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

The Miracle of Customer Engagement

I'll be speaking at the Closets and Home Organization Conference and Expo next week in Schaumburg, Illinois (suburban Chicago). My presentation, "The Miracle of Customer Engagement," will teach one of the three dimensions in our 3D Selling™ model.

Back when I was selling employed as a full time salesperson, I started to have incredible sales success when I noticed that doing a better job of engaging prospects in the selling/buying process resulted in much better sales results. Eventually, I developed a system around this concept and started teaching it to others when I became a sales manager and training manager. Now, a couple of decades later as the founder of Selling to Consumers, I teach 3D Selling to my corporate and individual clients to help them ignite the buying potential of each prospect.

Many salespeople limit their sales success because they don't spend enough effort, or have sufficient expertise, to fully engage their prospects. I'll present my 10 Paths to Customer Engagement which will present concrete strategies to develop and leverage customer engagement in attendee's individual selling situations in the field.

The conference is for sellers of customer closet systems and home storage products who sell primarily in customers' homes, but also in showrooms and trade shows. For more information on the conference, go to www.closets-expo.com.

For more information on how our training on 3D Selling can help you or your company, contact Selling to Consumers at www.sellingtoconsumers.com/contact or call us at 651.681.8568.

If you like this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Windows to the Salesperson's Soul

I meet lots of salespeople every week. I teach them. I observe them in selling situations. I talk to them. I listen to them. I watch them.

Some have mastered the art of eye contact. An individual's eyes can draw you into conversation. They can put you at ease. They can make you listen. Great salespeople make great eye contact.

On the other hand, I see many salespeople that have very weak eye contact with others. They look down. Their eyes dart left and right and up and down. Their eyes fidget. They avoid eye contact or give up eye contact too quickly.

You know what Shakespeare said: "Eyes are the windows to the soul." Here's what I say:

"If eyes are the windows to people's souls, then eyes are certainly the windows to salespeople's souls, too. If you have a soul, and you want your customer to see it, make plentiful eye contact. And you might even see the customer's soul looking back at you."

-Skip Anderson

If you like this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to our free sales tips newsletter.

Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more. 

Trying to Get a Date vs. Trying to Make a Sale

In my sales training seminars, I sometimes use analogies that compare dating and selling. The interpersonal dynamics of an individual attempting to get a date with someone to whom he's attracted (we'll call her the "subject") is similar to the dynamics of trying to complete a sale to a prospect (who we'll also call the "subject").

Both the dater and the seller must engage their subject. Both must get information from the subject. Both must have a compelling "product." Both must ask their subject to "buy." Both must provide outstanding service after the sale to get repeat orders. 

James Chartrand wrote a guest post over at Copyblogger that illustrates how to sell effectively using the story of an attractive woman sitting at a bar. Although his article is about effective online marketing, his "sales" scenario is perfectly well suited to our sales training purposes here.

Many "pick-up artists," as James calls them, think their role is to talk about themselves. Many salespeople think their role is to talk about themselves. They're both wrong.

Which of the two men in James' article is most like you when you're selling?

Your comments are always appreciated. Please share your comment by clicking "comments" below.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to our free sales tips newsletter.

Love Your Customer Award (#3)

A Our family got our new Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier puppy this past summer. LuLu joined our family after our 12-1/2 year old Wheaten, Chloe, had to be put down a year ago. 

I've been a dog owner all my life. I was pleasantly surprised when we took LuLu to a new vet for her first check-up. The personnel at Pet Crossing in Bloomington, Minnesota came over to us to meet Chloe. They kneeled down to pet her and talk with her and welcome her. The smiles on their faces were genuine. I've never had that experience at a veterinary clinic before.

The clinic mailed a greeting card to welcome us to their practice. Everybody hand-signed it. This was a gesture that took only a few minutes of effort, but made my wife and daughter very happy.

A few weeks ago, it was time to spay LuLu, so my wife and daughter took her to the clinic once again. The staff was, once again, welcoming and genuinely welcoming. When we came to pick her up, Pet Crossing provided us with the familiar "lampshade" cone to keep LuLu from biting her stitches and staples.

The staff had decorated LuLu's cone, complete with her name and stickers of Disney princesses. How much effort did this take? Not much. But how many veterinary clinics bother to delight their customers the way Pet Crossing did?

 

LuLu didn't care if the lampshade was adorned with these accouterments, but my wife and seven year-old daughter sure did. The folks at Pet Crossing understand that giving a little extra effort pays off big in customer satisfaction.

What little things can you do to delight your customers?

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.

Customer Engagement | Talbots

One key to maintaining sales success during this economic downturn is customer engagement. Companies that engage their customer base and keep them engaged are positioned to keep sales at acceptable (or better?) levels.

Retailer Talbots is now putting customers in the role of hostess at their stores. What a remarkable way to engage their customer base.

Read all the details.

Skip Anderson is a professional speaker, sales coach, and the Founder of Selling to Consumers, a B2C and retail sales training and consulting company. Subscribe to the free Sales Tips newsletter.