Business review

B’s Immutable Laws of Selling

From the workshop: Recession-Proof Selling

By: Brenda Abdilla/ Sales Coach/Author

If you feel like you are working harder than ever to get the same—or worse—results, it is not your imagination. There are literally fewer prospects, and for most of you the prospects you have are more cautious than ever. This is the perfect time to invest in yourself and change your game up a bit. In my twenty-plus years working with salespeople all over the globe I have found some things to be absolutely true—but they are not always the easy paths. I call them my Immutable Laws of Selling:

Law: a generalization based on consistent experience or results

Immutable: not capable of or susceptible to change

B’s Immutable Laws of Selling

Law #1- It is not about you!

This law applies to that prospect who told you that they were ready to sign and would bring the agreement today but then does not show up. Or, the million dollar deal that will literally make or break your career goes south and the client will not return your calls. Your new mantra is, “It is not about me. It is not about me. It is not about me.”

A few years ago I had a deal put together with a large company that was going to equate to about 40% of my revenue that year. I invested a lot of time in the “romancing” phase with this client and had jumped through all of the hoops necessary in dealing with an institution of a large magnitude. The decision-maker, the V.P. of Sales, was very grateful for all that I had done and asked me to send over my agreement promising to sign it and return it that day. He did not return it that day or the next or the next or the next.

In fact, he did not answer my e-mails or my phone calls for more than two weeks. Nothing! I was outraged and feeling very stupid. My temptation was to lash out by going above his head or sending a nasty-gram (angry e-mail or voicemail) and I would have felt totally justified in doing so. Instead, I stuck with my rule and repeated my mantra to myself about thirty times per day. “It is not about me.”

Two and a half weeks later I got a voicemail from the V.P. apologizing for the delay and explaining to me that he had had a heart attack. A heart attack! This man, in his 40s, with four children and a wife, had gone home from work one day and had a heart attack. Imagine how regretful I would have been had I lobbed a perfectly justifiable negative e-mail or voicemail demanding that he keep his promise to sign my agreement. Instead he received a few, but not too many, gentle and kind reminders from me along with a perky voicemail letting him know that I knew he was busy and would be happy to hear from him at his earliest convenience. I got my deal and it all worked out just fine in the end. It was not about me!

Law #2-Timing IS Everything!

A wise person once told me, “never continue a lover’s quarrel when it is late and you are both tired and weary—it will almost always lead to catastrophe.” This advice has proved invaluable and is probably the bedrock of my 13-year marriage. Fatigue mixed with insecurity and uncertainty can cause a downward spiral that may not be recoverable. Yet the same argument may seem quite fixable the very next morning. Timing—it is all in the timing.

If you examine timing closely it really comes down to something called impulse control. Impulse control in this area simply comes down to being able to resist our first impulses—to be able to forego the immediate gratification of taking some action.

I have been testing the Emotional Intelligence (EQ) levels of salespeople for years and while most of us have a high EQ, very few of us have high impulse control (including me). Lower impulse control can be good since it makes us impatient and thus eager to get the deal. However, when it comes to timing, low impulse control can kill a deal, scare off a prospect or anger a decision-maker like nothing else. Did you ever make that call and wish you had just waited? Or pushed too hard or said the wrong thing because you were especially tired or hungry? Some of us were taught to ignore our sales instincts and that selling was a numbers game—just plow through those calls. This is a mistake in today’s world. Regular, thoughtless follow-up with no regard for timing will strike today’s prospect as CANNED, and canned is bad—very bad.

Selling in today’s market is a timing game and the antidote to low impulse control is to THINK. Think about your prospect, their business, their struggles, pains and issues. Then, and only then, are you ready to make your move. If it is the same move and the same time for all of your prospects you are not yet on the right track. When experts talk about creating an experience for the buyer, about relationship selling or about needs-based selling, it all comes down to timing. Just think and pay attention—your sales instincts will tell you what to do.

Law #3- Doing the right thing may cost you in the short run, but not doing the right thing will likely cost you more in the long run. Also, doing the right thing can pay unseen benefits that you will never know about unless you do the right thing. (I know, a long law—but an important one.)

This law sort of relates to the impulse control thing (above) in that the sales impulse is often to take the “faster” route vs. doing the right thing. If you cannot think of five examples in the past five days where you had to choose to take the fast route or do the right thing at work you are probably in MAJOR denial. Or, you made the decision long ago to do the right thing and have simply become accustomed to it.

I could go on all day about doing the right thing at work but if we keep the discussion to sales that will help narrow down the field a bit. Let’s say there is a component or feature of your product which is missing or confusing to your customers and it is not something your company plans to fix. Do you tell your prospects? Do you actually point out a flaw that could lose the sale for you?

I recently purchased recruitment software for my company. After doing my research I was ready to sign with the big player in the market even though recruitment is only part of what my company does. The “big player” had the most impressive virtual sales tour, sales presentation and follow-up, and I was extremely excited to make my purchase. During the technical tutorial for this product I pieced together some information that would have dramatically changed the price I was quoted and when I confronted the rep he cowered and had very little to say for himself. I was not happy and ended up going with a competitor and actually paying more than I would have on the original deal. If he had been up-front with me and provided some logic as to the “real price” he would have likely won my business and I would be singing his praises to thousands of people. Instead, he did the fast thing, which ended up costing him my business.

Doing the right thing can be uncomfortable and awkward and difficult. I once had to tell a client that their key person was robbing them blind. This was a painful decision for me and an even more painful conversation with the client. It could have blown up in my face. But it was the right thing to do and that client is still my client today—nearly 20 years later.

Law #4- Improve yourself, improve your numbers

Psychologists catalog stressors differently. Apparently the stress from stuff like economic downturn can be quite impressive and they call it “ambiguous uncertainty.” Ambiguous uncertainty is essentially doubt mixed with a fear and not knowing. This is not good. As salespeople, our main instrument of work is ourselves. We can either wait around to find out what kind of long-term effect “ambiguous uncertainty” is going to have on us, or we can get busy improving ourselves.

I belong to a business mastermind group and I never, ever feel I have time to make the meetings. Yet, every single time that I do attend and work on my business, it pays off. Every single time. So schedule that therapy appointment you have been putting off, buy a new suit (they are cheaper than ever), invest in that software for your company, read a book, take a class or schedule lunch with your mentor. Not only will your numbers improve almost immediately—you will be helping the economy at the same time.

Brenda Abdilla: www.managementmomentum.net

Brenda Abdilla is the President of Management Momentum. After a 15-year career of professional speaking and consulting, Brenda founded Management Momentum to allow her to focus on fewer companies and focus on her intense passion for improving sales and management performance. Brenda has authored two books, Selling for Results and Marketing for Results (1996 Cardinal Business Media), and her articles have appeared in over 50 publications. Brenda served as the Editor of an award-winning management journal (Club Success/Seattle) for two years and received the high audience scores for her speaking/consulting work worldwide in England, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and more.

In addition to her formal education, Brenda holds several professional personality typing certifications including the DiSC, PDP, Enneagram and the BarOn Emotional Intelligence Quotient. Brenda finds the use of scientifically validated instruments incredibly useful in recruitment, coaching and in critical management decisions regarding personnel.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - B's Immutable Laws of Selling