Sales Tips

What makes a good sales presentation? Many salespeople get the idea that if they are able to dump everything they know about the product onto the client they have made a good presentation. They try to entice clients with the product hoping they'll see their need as a result of the presentation. They feel that if they have good product knowledge, are able to keep control of the conversation, and give the client every possible bit of information they'll get the sale... right? Wrong.

As people get more and more refined with their sales process they begin to execute on the individual steps of the sale with more confidence.

Consider this ... your personal success has far more to do with you than with market conditions. In good times and bad, top performers remain top performers. Why? There has been an enormous amount of study into what accounts for the huge variances in sales success from one individual to another. We have heard Brian Tracy and others talk about the concept of Winning Edge as "small differences in ability translating into enormous differences in results."

It's RSP season again and for some reason, this is when sales people start to get lazy. They know they should be getting a client to acknowledge a problem first before they present a solution (i.e. a product) but for some reason, when it comes to selling RSP's at this time of year they resort back to a money grab by just asking if they have contributed yet. Oh, I know that is not their intention, but by just asking someone if they have contributed yet, that's essentially what they are doing.

There is a simple rule we advocate to help people avoid coming across as being pushy sales people: Don't present a solution (product) to a problem (need) that is not been acknowledged by the client. Generally speaking most people dislike having someone try to sell them a product that they don't need. By asking good questions you can get a client to acknowledge that they have a need which clears the path for you to comfortably present a solution.

Problem questions

Watching the Olympic Games coverage and the in-depth analysis provided in slow motion by sports physiologists got me thinking about sales process and the variance in results we see between individuals playing the same game. The sports analogy for sales has been used so often because it really does fit. In both pursuits the difference in results comes down to preparation and desire. Preparation is technique, practice, and effort. Desire is that attitude or drive to win.

We deal with a lot of lenders that have a requirement to sell insurance on their lending products. It's a big money maker for the financial institution and there is a lot of pressure to have high insurance penetration numbers. The challenge is that many lenders are "untrained" when it comes to insurance sales. They go into it with a bad attitude that affects their ability to sell. To begin with, they feel like the insurance is overpriced so that affects their ability to talk about the products with any real conviction.

There are many reasons why people procrastinate when buying your products: they might not like the price, they may not think the product you selected will work for them, and/or they might not like you or your company. Rather than tell us exactly what they are thinking these kind-hearted individuals let us down easy with objections like "Let me think about it and I'll get back to you" or "I think I'll keep looking around and I'll let you know".

Companies spend thousands and thousands of dollars in marketing and advertising with one primary objective: to have prospective customers contact them to purchase their products and services. One of the primary ways many consumers do their initial shopping is still by picking up the phone and calling.

Is It Working?

With all of this money being spent, it’s shocking to hear how few branches really have a concrete strategy in place for dealing with the incoming rate inquiry. Most will tell you that they routinely get these calls and despite a lack of tracking, most will tell you that very few of the callers book appointments. With so many financial institutions vying for the same investment dollars, why wouldn't a manager make a more concerted effort to ensure his team knew what to do/say to maximize the number of callers that turn into appointments?