Here’s How

            It happens to every person who ever set out on the great adventure of selling something.  Eventually you will experience that moment in sales when you FEEL Salesy.  You know it when it happens and it’s not a good feeling.  Learn how to recognize it, self-correct for it, learn from it & get better.  Sometimes the immediate reaction sales people have is to get bitter.  You get mad that this customer or prospect made you feel this way.  A friend of mine used to say, “Get Bitter or Get Better.  You decide”

Why does it happen?

Might be due to the customer:

• They just had 4 sales people call on them that day and have no patience left
• Maybe a major disaster in their business just happened and they have no time to talk to you
• Might be an extremely busy time in their business and again, they have no time to talk
• Maybe they just had something go on in their personal life
• Maybe they are just having a bad day

Might be due to You:

#7 Follow the Sales Process:    Last week, I sent the “7 Ways to not be Salesy for the Ag Sales Professional”.  See last week’s story for 1-6.  Here’s the 7^th way to not be Salesy:  Follow the Sales Process. 

The sales process has 5 major steps.  Follow them.  I know what you are thinking (I don’t want to sound like I’m reading a script from a How-To Sales book).  Neither do I but I’d prefer that over someone doing a lousy job of trying to sell me something.  Take the process and do it your way.  Modify the technique for each customer but not the steps.  This will make you feel like you aren’t using a “Canned” approach.

Step 1:  Find and Qualify

– if you aren’t selling to the right segment of your market, you’re going to be shoving a lot of square pegs into round holes.  Stop, go back and do your homework on who your target market is.  Quit trying to sell your product to everyone.  Focus in tighter on who is the best fit.

– Ever run across that sales person who sells one product and thinks it will be the answer to everything you need.  Sunday morning radio has a lot of dietary supplement shows on.  These products cure everything from athlete’s foot to balding.  Reminds me of the old Elixir salesmen.  Said another way, “when you give a 6-year-old a hammer for Christmas, everything becomes a nail”.  Focus on your core segment and quit hammering the furniture.

Step 2:  Understand the Customer

– I know it’s that time of year when customers need to sign up for crop insurance or need to lock in their feed contracts or your promotion is only for the next 5 days and you want to reach as many people as you can before it’s over.  So, you rush in, don’t ask questions, go immediately into presentation mode and get shot down.  Why?  Because you came off as Salesy.  You “pitched” instead of seeking to understand the customer.

– A big part of understanding your customer is doing your homework.  We have all been caught on this one.  Prior to going on the call, you need to find out as much as you can about your customer and your product.  You don’t have to know it all, but you have to want to learn it all.  Dig into your company information on the history with this account.  Talk to your peers if they know the account.  Go online.  Do your Pre-call plan.  As the years roll along and we get really comfortable with a customer, we get lazy and stop doing pre-call plans.  This might suffice once in a while, but stop and do your homework before heading to the farm.  Failure to prepare and your sales calls become social visits.  These might be okay occasionally, but too many social visits become Salesy to your customer.  Even if they don’t tell you, which they won’t.

Step 3:  Present

If you begin your sales call with a presentation, you are going to look Salesy more often than not.  After the niceties and initial small talk, farmers will often say- “So, what have you got for me today?”  We feel compelled to jump right into our presentation mode.  Stop.  Pause for a second and begin with your questions from your pre-call plan.  If you take the bait and jump in with your presentation, you are taking a shot in the dark as to the need for this product.  This is why the pre-call plan with questions thought out is so important.  You will appear professional and prepared, because you are.

I’ve told the story about one of my presentations to horse owners.  It was February and prime time to talk about Mare & Foal feed.  So, that’s what I did for my 30-minute presentation.  I got to the end and didn’t see much reaction from the crowd.  When I got no questions, I asked my own question – “How many in the audience tonight have a pregnant mare or a newborn foal?”  Not one hand went up.  I should have asked that at the beginning and then just sat back down without wasting their time.

Another example happened last week.  I received an unsolicited phone call from a cable company.  They had an amazing offer for me.  I could bundle my internet & TV for $30/month less than what I’m currently paying.  Want to know the problem?  I already have it bundled and it’s with them.  Now I’m unhappy with what I’m paying.  Do your prep work and know your customer.

Step 4:  Close

Tie the needs of this customer to the product you presented on or you’re simply going to come across as pushing a product

There used to be a saying “Close early and often”.  I sort of agree with it depending on the sales person.  Frequently, I see extremes in this step while coaching sales people.  Most often, they fail to actually close.  That’s an issue for another day.  However, the opposite problem of not closing is closing a 2^nd, 3^rd or 4^th time without dealing with the objection to the previous close.  By not dealing with the objection, you come across as pestering or Salesy.  It shows you aren’t listening and are trying to just push past the issue.

Step 5: Follow Up

– Simply put – Do What you said you would do

– Listen – Take notes – and Follow Up on those notes.  You’ll be miles ahead of your competition if you do

There are several different versions of a famous quote that says – no one can make you feel a certain way without your permission.  This “Salesy” dilemma that you are grappling with fits this quote.  If you have done the hard work that being in sales requires and followed the 7 steps above, you have nothing to fear.  That feeling is on this customer and not you.  Continue to follow the steps and have confidence that you aren’t Salesy.

As my friend Wayne used to say – “Make It Happen”

To Schedule a Free initial coaching session today, contact me directly at Greg@GregMartinelli.net

For more on Ag Sales Training, Ag Sales Coaching and Leading Ag Sales Teams, go to  http://www.GregMartinelli.net/