Looking for good sales principles...
July 1, 2013 12:30 AM Subscribe
I may soon be entering a field where sales will become an important part of my income. I am looking for book recommendations for how to approach this challenge. I am not looking for super advanced sales "secrets" or any type of mumbo-jumbo, just the basic sort of business texts a beginner should absorb before taking a job where closing sales is a major part of the challenge. I am a dummy, but I am looking for a bit more than a "For Dummies" intro to sales could deliver. I want the state of the art for a beginner with an open mind and a willingness to work.
Learning to sell is like most other learned skills - it really helps to have live, personal instruction that can watch your efforts, demonstrate and then test your acquisition of skills, and help you become a balanced, resourceful, successful professional. It is also vital to recognize, from the outset, what skills your particular selling/job situation prioritizes, and to be able to adapt your skill set flexibly when you change jobs or employers. For example, if you're taking a job as a first line sales rep with a large industrial company doing industrial sales in a traditional defined territory, you need time management, consultative selling techniques, and product/competitor knowledge more than you do power closing techniques, whereas, if you're selling Bibles door-to-door, you need to be able interview/qualify and to close effectively and efficiently a lot more than you need divinity school level knowledge of what is in the product that you sell.
If you're joining an established company, you need to pay attention to their sales training program first and foremost, and work closely and cooperatively with your sales and marketing management as you get going. If you're starting your own business, or joining a company without established sales training, intending to "read and reap," your row is going to be a lot longer and harder to hoe, no matter what books you read, simply because it is damned hard to watch yourself objectively do a job, while you do that job to the maximum of your potential and correct your own actual problems. Nobody has that much spare brain power.
But if you must read your way to sales riches:
Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends and Influence People
Charles M. Futrell Fundamentals of Selling
Tom Hopkins How To Master the Art of Selling
Tom Snyder Escaping the Price Driven Sale
Green & Howe The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook
Good luck, grasshopper...
posted by paulsc at 3:17 AM on July 1, 2013
If you're joining an established company, you need to pay attention to their sales training program first and foremost, and work closely and cooperatively with your sales and marketing management as you get going. If you're starting your own business, or joining a company without established sales training, intending to "read and reap," your row is going to be a lot longer and harder to hoe, no matter what books you read, simply because it is damned hard to watch yourself objectively do a job, while you do that job to the maximum of your potential and correct your own actual problems. Nobody has that much spare brain power.
But if you must read your way to sales riches:
Dale Carnegie How to Win Friends and Influence People
Charles M. Futrell Fundamentals of Selling
Tom Hopkins How To Master the Art of Selling
Tom Snyder Escaping the Price Driven Sale
Green & Howe The Trusted Advisor Fieldbook
Good luck, grasshopper...
posted by paulsc at 3:17 AM on July 1, 2013
Sales is really about asking one question: "Do you plan to make a purchase today?" You should know what you're selling, what the uses are, what customers say, know all the what about your product to make it better than X. But, really the most important question is "Do you plan to make a purchase today?" This question saves so much time and effort. If you know someone won't be making a purchase today you can start to find out when they will be interested, this will allow you to build your leads quickly - a good negotiating tactic long-term.
A good book is Selling Skills for Complete Amateurs. I recommend.
posted by parmanparman at 3:22 AM on July 1, 2013
A good book is Selling Skills for Complete Amateurs. I recommend.
posted by parmanparman at 3:22 AM on July 1, 2013
Never promise -- even tentatively -- something you are not certain your company can deliver to the customer as you describe it.
"How can I promise something tentatively?" you ask. Simple:
Customer: "Can your house-window-cleaning widget clean my car windows too?"
Salesperson: "I think it can, but let me make sure and get back to you."
What the customer heard: "Yes."
What the salesperson should have said: "I don't know. Let me find out."
posted by Etrigan at 4:44 AM on July 1, 2013
"How can I promise something tentatively?" you ask. Simple:
Customer: "Can your house-window-cleaning widget clean my car windows too?"
Salesperson: "I think it can, but let me make sure and get back to you."
What the customer heard: "Yes."
What the salesperson should have said: "I don't know. Let me find out."
posted by Etrigan at 4:44 AM on July 1, 2013
There are 100 potential good answers to this question. And 1,000,000 bad answers. I've been in sales since 1990. Spin Selling is a book you want to read.
The actual question you are asking when you sell is, "How can I help you today?" People buy because they think what you are selling makes their life better. In a business sense, that means whatever you sell either increases revenue, decreases costs, makes their job easier, or some combo of all 3. Spin Selling will help you learn how to ask the right questions to uncover how you can help the potential customer.
But really, if you go into every interaction focused on understanding how you can help that person you'll do fine.
posted by COD at 5:30 AM on July 1, 2013
The actual question you are asking when you sell is, "How can I help you today?" People buy because they think what you are selling makes their life better. In a business sense, that means whatever you sell either increases revenue, decreases costs, makes their job easier, or some combo of all 3. Spin Selling will help you learn how to ask the right questions to uncover how you can help the potential customer.
But really, if you go into every interaction focused on understanding how you can help that person you'll do fine.
posted by COD at 5:30 AM on July 1, 2013
Sandler Sales Training the whole training package is likely a bit overpriced, but in our particular field it's gotten our final meeting close rate up to 85-90%. (This is after a fair bit of self-selection and pre-qualifying; it's not magic)
posted by leotrotsky at 5:36 AM on July 1, 2013
posted by leotrotsky at 5:36 AM on July 1, 2013
I've been doing sales in some form or another for almost 30 years, having started when I was 17 (if you count band candy sales, I'm well over the 30 year mark) because I started out working for my Dad's business, which was what I'd call a "sales organization," meaning we distributed (sold) stuff to industry and there weren't many jobs in the business that weren't customer-facing like that. Wish I'd joined the USAF instead. But anyway...
The books paulsc are probably among the main ones in the "canon," but note his very wise boulder of salt that he gave you along with it. I happened to read and listen to Tom Hopkins early on, and I liked his style, but if you take any "memorized closes" that he or anyone else gives you into a client meeting, prepared to get scorned out of the room. There are stories, perhaps legendary but I hope not, of purchasing agents who wrote phrases like "alternate advance of choice" on index cards and kept them in their desk. If a salesperson used a technique like that, the index card would come out and be laid in view of the rep. The Purchasing Agent would then say "2 strikes left."
In general be wary of any text (and there are a lot worse ones than the ones mentioned; those are relatively sane) that makes it seem like you're going to do Jedi mind tricks on prospects to make them buy stuff. Also, if it occurs to you "this seems like stalker techniques" to prospect customers, yeah, it's nuts, don't do it. If you're good at taking what you need from a book and leaving the rest, or reading about an extreme technique and maybe toning it down a LOT, read this stuff for some ideas.
The best book I ever actually got on sales was my college textbook when I took a class on selling as a marketing elective. That was a long time ago, so I'm not recommending THAT book, but you might go to a college bookstore and look at those texts. What I found that book did that the pop culture sales books didn't is take a long, slow comprehensive look at a lot of stuff like how successful salespeople spend their time, what the environment for sales is like, etc. This kind of thing would never sell in the mainsteam market because most salespeople are kind of impatient with training and reading and want results NOW.
Here's the very condensed version of the two problems that a lot of the mainstream books are trying to help with:
- salespeople get shut down. A lot. It's obviously worse the more your job is prospecting all over the place, i.e. a lot of cold calling - but even people who come in my door and even some of my best customers can be incredibly rude and hostile. At the prospecting end salespeople are unwelcome interruptions; at the problem-solving end salespeople are often the bearers of bad news; they get to be the ones who say that X won't solve Y, or that it will cost more than the budget allows. Etrigan's advice is true, but you will get fussed at anyway. So you have to learn to not take it personally.
- closely related to #1, people do not say what they mean. Ever, really, but especially in the context of buying something. Here IS something I learned from Tom Hopkins: People buy based on emotion and rationalize with facts, NOT buy based on needs and facts. You might think that's true of consumer goods but not true of window cleaner, but you would be wrong. So as a salesperson you must learn to distinguish what people are SAYING versus what they are DOING and THINKING. This is both the most fascinating thing about being in sales and also the superpower (discerning this) that I heartily wish I could just turn off sometimes, because it has made being around some of my friends very awkward when they're showing off their new car.
THEM: And it gets 34 mpg!
ME: it's an extension of your penis. Congratulations!
My core belief about what you do and say as a sales representative in light of all this is kind of zen - you just live in the question. I feel your job is to help them float down the stream toward buying it, if that is where they're going, or get them out of your hair if they're not. Be nice, be KNOWLEDGEABLE, and be disinterested enough that they can truthfully feel you're helping them, not pressuring them. Some companies won't let you do this, by the way. If your manager asks questions like "What are you doing to get Johnson to buy from you today?" - RUN!
Let me hit another lick on product knowledge. I can't tell you what you need to know to be a super salesperson unless I know what you sell. If it's cars, it's engines, upholstery and paint choices, etc. If it's real estate, it's location, what builders are good, etc. Know more about your product than the people you're selling it to. To the extent that people think you're kind of weird. THOSE people are the ones who consistently beat other salespeople with their numbers.
Also, I firmly believe that we live in kind of a post-prospecting world. In my early days, there was some excuse for riding around the countryside dropping in on people with catalogs. 6-7 times out of 10 it ended with being shown the door, but there were enough golden moments when someone said "I've been looking for someone to help me with..." that it was worth it. Today I can think of the most obscure product or problem, search for it on the internet, and contact that company if I need to buy it or see someone about buying it. If you're doing a job where you cold-call a lot (meaning bothering people who have expressed no interest in your product), you're probably cannon-fodder for some out-of-date, out-of-touch management who still believes in "that personal touch," and you're going to have to figure out a better way.
posted by randomkeystrike at 5:45 AM on July 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
The books paulsc are probably among the main ones in the "canon," but note his very wise boulder of salt that he gave you along with it. I happened to read and listen to Tom Hopkins early on, and I liked his style, but if you take any "memorized closes" that he or anyone else gives you into a client meeting, prepared to get scorned out of the room. There are stories, perhaps legendary but I hope not, of purchasing agents who wrote phrases like "alternate advance of choice" on index cards and kept them in their desk. If a salesperson used a technique like that, the index card would come out and be laid in view of the rep. The Purchasing Agent would then say "2 strikes left."
In general be wary of any text (and there are a lot worse ones than the ones mentioned; those are relatively sane) that makes it seem like you're going to do Jedi mind tricks on prospects to make them buy stuff. Also, if it occurs to you "this seems like stalker techniques" to prospect customers, yeah, it's nuts, don't do it. If you're good at taking what you need from a book and leaving the rest, or reading about an extreme technique and maybe toning it down a LOT, read this stuff for some ideas.
The best book I ever actually got on sales was my college textbook when I took a class on selling as a marketing elective. That was a long time ago, so I'm not recommending THAT book, but you might go to a college bookstore and look at those texts. What I found that book did that the pop culture sales books didn't is take a long, slow comprehensive look at a lot of stuff like how successful salespeople spend their time, what the environment for sales is like, etc. This kind of thing would never sell in the mainsteam market because most salespeople are kind of impatient with training and reading and want results NOW.
Here's the very condensed version of the two problems that a lot of the mainstream books are trying to help with:
- salespeople get shut down. A lot. It's obviously worse the more your job is prospecting all over the place, i.e. a lot of cold calling - but even people who come in my door and even some of my best customers can be incredibly rude and hostile. At the prospecting end salespeople are unwelcome interruptions; at the problem-solving end salespeople are often the bearers of bad news; they get to be the ones who say that X won't solve Y, or that it will cost more than the budget allows. Etrigan's advice is true, but you will get fussed at anyway. So you have to learn to not take it personally.
- closely related to #1, people do not say what they mean. Ever, really, but especially in the context of buying something. Here IS something I learned from Tom Hopkins: People buy based on emotion and rationalize with facts, NOT buy based on needs and facts. You might think that's true of consumer goods but not true of window cleaner, but you would be wrong. So as a salesperson you must learn to distinguish what people are SAYING versus what they are DOING and THINKING. This is both the most fascinating thing about being in sales and also the superpower (discerning this) that I heartily wish I could just turn off sometimes, because it has made being around some of my friends very awkward when they're showing off their new car.
THEM: And it gets 34 mpg!
ME: it's an extension of your penis. Congratulations!
My core belief about what you do and say as a sales representative in light of all this is kind of zen - you just live in the question. I feel your job is to help them float down the stream toward buying it, if that is where they're going, or get them out of your hair if they're not. Be nice, be KNOWLEDGEABLE, and be disinterested enough that they can truthfully feel you're helping them, not pressuring them. Some companies won't let you do this, by the way. If your manager asks questions like "What are you doing to get Johnson to buy from you today?" - RUN!
Let me hit another lick on product knowledge. I can't tell you what you need to know to be a super salesperson unless I know what you sell. If it's cars, it's engines, upholstery and paint choices, etc. If it's real estate, it's location, what builders are good, etc. Know more about your product than the people you're selling it to. To the extent that people think you're kind of weird. THOSE people are the ones who consistently beat other salespeople with their numbers.
Also, I firmly believe that we live in kind of a post-prospecting world. In my early days, there was some excuse for riding around the countryside dropping in on people with catalogs. 6-7 times out of 10 it ended with being shown the door, but there were enough golden moments when someone said "I've been looking for someone to help me with..." that it was worth it. Today I can think of the most obscure product or problem, search for it on the internet, and contact that company if I need to buy it or see someone about buying it. If you're doing a job where you cold-call a lot (meaning bothering people who have expressed no interest in your product), you're probably cannon-fodder for some out-of-date, out-of-touch management who still believes in "that personal touch," and you're going to have to figure out a better way.
posted by randomkeystrike at 5:45 AM on July 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
I was in sales forever and I went to Club and make a pile of dough. I will tell you the secret to being an excellent sales person. You are selling to another person. If you relate to people as you'd like to be related to. If you really listen to what they need. If you can educate them on your products, solutions, etc. If you educate yourself, then my son, you'll be a salesman.
It's a philiosophy, if you view your customers as people, and if you make them your friends, if you help them, even if there's nothing in it for you, then you'll be successful.
Also, remember to ask for the sale.
That's it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:00 AM on July 1, 2013
It's a philiosophy, if you view your customers as people, and if you make them your friends, if you help them, even if there's nothing in it for you, then you'll be successful.
Also, remember to ask for the sale.
That's it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:00 AM on July 1, 2013
Sales skills can only be mastered by actually practicing them, but here are the key things you need to do:
1. Be a good listener.
2. While matching the tone and tempo of the other person, ask questions that bring out information that is needed to determine whether the other party is a potential customer (i.e., can benefit from your product or service).
3. Sell benefits rather than products and services. And make sure the benefits you are selling are relevant to that particular customer. There are many possible benefits, you just need to find out which ones any particular customer is in need of. That's the art of salesmanship.
4. If you can't make a sale right off the bat, try to get one small commitment at a time, such as a commitment for a future follow-up/action time/date, evaluating a sample, doing a test or trial order, etc. A series of small commitments can be a path to a big commitment (making a purchase).
5. Make sure you are aware of who the actual decision maker is.
6. Remember that sales is somewhat of a numbers game. Just for example, if you call 100 people, maybe 5 will be potential customers, and of those, maybe 2 or 3 will flake out on you or otherwise no longer be potential customers at some point for various reasons, and the remaining ones will be where you potentially have business. All kinds of things can happen, including people changing jobs, new factors popping up, etc. If you always remember it's just a numbers game, it will help you not take obstacles, bumps in the road, and rejections personally and will help you not let those things get you down. You can even say to yourself "Next" when one situation fails as a way of cleanly and quickly getting past it and not letting it have any negative impact on your confidence.
7. Learn the art of finding the positive in every situation. Try to turn customer concerns around so that there is a positive outcome to every conversation/interaction.
8. Constantly prospect for new opportunities while you are working on developing existing opportunities.
9. Your job is to make the customer's life easier. As much as possible, don't ask them to do work. Instead, do work for them (unless they are just taking advantage of you) and they will appreciate the fact that you are the person who is making life easier for them.
10. Anticipate questions. So that means being proactive rather than reactive. For example, if you can't provide something the customer needs, anticipate that their next question is going to be "OK, well what can you provide that might help me". Being prepared is part of being proactive.
11. Provide solutions, not just information. Your job is to solve a problem for the customer, and only solutions can solve problems. Information alone does not usually solve problems.
12. Follow up as promptly as you can, and do it consistently. That will put you ahead of a big chunk of your competitors.
Feel free to MeMail me if you need any other specific guidance.
posted by Dansaman at 9:16 AM on July 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
1. Be a good listener.
2. While matching the tone and tempo of the other person, ask questions that bring out information that is needed to determine whether the other party is a potential customer (i.e., can benefit from your product or service).
3. Sell benefits rather than products and services. And make sure the benefits you are selling are relevant to that particular customer. There are many possible benefits, you just need to find out which ones any particular customer is in need of. That's the art of salesmanship.
4. If you can't make a sale right off the bat, try to get one small commitment at a time, such as a commitment for a future follow-up/action time/date, evaluating a sample, doing a test or trial order, etc. A series of small commitments can be a path to a big commitment (making a purchase).
5. Make sure you are aware of who the actual decision maker is.
6. Remember that sales is somewhat of a numbers game. Just for example, if you call 100 people, maybe 5 will be potential customers, and of those, maybe 2 or 3 will flake out on you or otherwise no longer be potential customers at some point for various reasons, and the remaining ones will be where you potentially have business. All kinds of things can happen, including people changing jobs, new factors popping up, etc. If you always remember it's just a numbers game, it will help you not take obstacles, bumps in the road, and rejections personally and will help you not let those things get you down. You can even say to yourself "Next" when one situation fails as a way of cleanly and quickly getting past it and not letting it have any negative impact on your confidence.
7. Learn the art of finding the positive in every situation. Try to turn customer concerns around so that there is a positive outcome to every conversation/interaction.
8. Constantly prospect for new opportunities while you are working on developing existing opportunities.
9. Your job is to make the customer's life easier. As much as possible, don't ask them to do work. Instead, do work for them (unless they are just taking advantage of you) and they will appreciate the fact that you are the person who is making life easier for them.
10. Anticipate questions. So that means being proactive rather than reactive. For example, if you can't provide something the customer needs, anticipate that their next question is going to be "OK, well what can you provide that might help me". Being prepared is part of being proactive.
11. Provide solutions, not just information. Your job is to solve a problem for the customer, and only solutions can solve problems. Information alone does not usually solve problems.
12. Follow up as promptly as you can, and do it consistently. That will put you ahead of a big chunk of your competitors.
Feel free to MeMail me if you need any other specific guidance.
posted by Dansaman at 9:16 AM on July 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by HuronBob at 2:34 AM on July 1, 2013 [2 favorites]