New Jersey Entrepreneur

We are wrapping up our article on common selling mistakes of individuals who are new to sales with mistakes seven through ten.  If you have been following the article series you may have had some situations already come up where some of the situations may have applied.

?simply because you don?t know what else to do. Sounds familiar?: You talk to prospective customers who underestimate their problems. They always paint a simplistic picture of what their “needs” are and say, “Well, I think I'm paying too much. What can you do for me?” The problem, as you know firsthand, is you don?t really know how much it?s going to cost up front until you get in and look. Most of the time, when you quote a price, it's almost always winds up being more. But because the person hasn't been straight with you and has underestimated his needs, now you have the problem of saying to a brand new client, “I know I told you $5,000, but it's really going to be 7 or 8.” You felt the pressure from the prospect earlier to give him a number, so you come up with a number too soon. Try this instead: “Based on what you have shared with me, it sounds like it should run somewhere between 4 and 5 thousand dollars. Now, do you have any idea what the problem is when I give you a number like that?” (The prospect says, ?no.?) “The problem is it?s just an estimate. Once we get in there and start looking at what you have, chances are it?s going to be more. Let me tell you what typically happens when I talk to people like yourself. They tell me that they have this, this, and this, and once we get in there, we find out about that, that, that, too. Now, if we come in there for $4,000 or $5,000 it's going to include this, this and this. Understand that when we get in there, and there are some other things you need, it's going to be extra. So if we ever get to that point, and I say to you, ?remember this conversation we had about the estimate,? you will remember, right?”

Yes, it?s a gutsy thing to say. But that?s what running a business is all about?it?s about not being taken advantage of just because you are new in business, new in sales and new to the industry. Charge what you are worth, get your price and make it stick.

Mistake Number Eight: you fail to tell your prospective client how you get paid and that you have to get paid on time.

Collections are a touchy area in most companies, and this holds true for most service firms as well. Wouldn?t it be wonderful if you could say, “Sam, let me share with you how we get paid. If we decide to do business, you?re going to need to give me an up-front retainer of $3,000 and then we will expect a payment on the first of the month, whatever that number turns out to be. If that's a problem, let's deal with it now, because if it is, it may not make sense getting started together.” Now, what most new salesepople might say is, "It's going to cost $5,000”, but they never tell the client how much she must pay up front, so when it?s time to “close,” the money becomes very awkward because now they must ask for "the check." They never talked about the amount of the check although they were talking about this “mystical” method of doing business; they never talked about expectations as to how they were going to get paid.

?and set them up on the tee properly. This is such a huge void in your marketing efforts we?ve given it double billing: mistakes number nine and ten! The biggest resource any company has, including service companies, is their client base. You may be very uncomfortable going to your clients and asking for referrals. Of course, if you?ve just opened up your doors, you may not even have any customers, yet, but you are still expected to actively seek others out and ask them for help?for referrals?and that may very well be an uncomfortable behavior for you.

You may be able to approach other professionals, like accountants, attorneys, bankers, etc. and say, “OK, if you have some prospective clients, can you send them our way?” Unfortunately, chances are you?re not using the Sandler up-front contract principle. You most likely are just taking them to lunch, and saying, “and by the way, if you would send some people our way, we'd appreciate it.” Then, when nothing happens, you don't know what to do. You think you?re doing the right activities (the “schmoozing”) because you have gone to the Chamber meetings, the lunches, etc. but nothing materializes.

Wouldn?t it be nice if somewhere in your conversation, you could easily and honestly say, “My experience has been that either one or two things is going to happen. Either we will decide that we have a fit or we don't have a fit. Once we decide that we don't have a fit, that's ok. Any time during lunch, you can stop and say, "Sam, I don't think we can help each other. Why don't we just enjoy lunch.” It's okay to say “No Fit.”(The first up-front contract). In order for us to work together, it has to be a win-win situation. So it might make sense for me to tell you about the types of people I'm looking for and what you might be able to do for me. Then, you can tell me a little about the types of people you do business with and what I might be able to do for you. Then we can decide whether or not we can help each other. Does that make sense?”

Wouldn?t it also be nice if you could get comfortable with a system (that feels natural to you) in approaching your present customers and clients and giving them a reason to help you, without feeling like a beggar? Using the Sandler Selling System, there are ways to not only get referrals, but something even better?an “introduction”?where your customer is paving the way for you to meet with a referral, and feeling gratified in being able to help you.

Welcome to the world of stress-free professional selling. That?s right, selling! ?in a manner which is congruent with how you view your new profession?and yourself?with integrity. And welcome to the world of more client.

1998-2005 Sandler Systems Inc. All rights reserved.

Danny Wood is President of Danny Wood Enterprises LLC, a Sales Training and Development Company. He may be reached at 201-842-0055 or email danny@dwesalesgrowth.com.

Mistakes Number Nine & Ten: failure to effectively generate referrals and introductions from present clients and other professionals?