WHO IS IN CONTROL - YOUR SALESPEOPLE OR YOUR PROSPECTS?
In the "sales dance" between seller and prospect, you can either lead, follow, or get stepped on. Traditional selling techniques often place the sales professional in the awkward position of responding to the prospect's initiatives, rather than confidently managing the sales process. After a while, even the sharpest salespeople begin to feel like they are dancing with two left feet.
To address the problem, many sales trainers promote "quick fix" sales solutions that teach dance-weary professionals the "fancy footwork" they need to cope with a bad situation. These programs focus on one-liners and techniques that rapidly lose their effectiveness because today's sophisticated prospect simply will not tolerate them. Not to mention, they hear them almost everyday!
Our selling system is non-traditional. Instead of emphasizing just technique, it fosters an attitude of leadership. Our selling system breaks all the conventional rules that have made the sales process ineffective and demeaning. From the approach to the close, our clients learn how to assertively, not aggressively, take charge of the sales process. And once they take the lead, they learn how to never surrender the initiative. Our selling system gives our clients something far more valuable than canned phrases and clever retorts. It provides them with an entirely new road map . . . the path to lasting success.
I received a call from a previous customer in the thinking process of design for a new 24,000 sq. ft. building. He gave me some guidelines and wanted a price. After some rough figuring, I verbally gave a wide range for the budget figure. I explained that with only guidelines to work with, I could only give him a ballpark quote. After some discussion why I couldn't "nail down" the price without a drawing of what he wanted, he said that was what he needed. He is proceeding with the drawings, and we will be getting back together.
I was stressing over getting some kind of figure to him, but when I gave up and put together a range of numbers, he accepted it.
Bruce Beckwith, Beckwith Heating & Cooling, Inc.