In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains 4 awful sales phrases that most salespeople use, and why they will cost them (and you) business going forwards……

Whenever I’m listening to salespeople on the phones (or face-to-face) they often use awful sales phrases that cause them problems in the sales process, and often cost them sales! Here are 4 typical ones you need to avoid using (but appear to be in ‘common’ use in most sales teams)….

AWFUL SALES PHRASE No 1 – “I’m Your New Account Manager”…..

SITUATION – When you’ve just taken over an account from a colleague, who may also have just left the business

WHY IT’S BAD – The effect your words have on the client. They hear something like “the last guy was crap so we fired him” or “our company isn’t very good so lots of people leave” (especially if the last person wasn’t the only account manager they’ve had’

Or even worse “I’m new here, haven’t a clue what I’m doing, and YOUR ACCOUNT is going to be the one I learn and practice on!”

Can you imagine the impact on the client, and what they’re thinking when they hear those words?!!! Awful!

Even worse (and I hear people doing this FAR too often) is using this phrase when the ‘customer’ you’re calling has never spent any money with you!!

That’s right. They’re NOT a customer. They are a prospect. So when they hear you say “I’m your new account manager”, the impact of that is “well it hasn’t been ‘managed’ very well, as we’ve not got any account with you and have never spent any money with you!” Often closely followed with “and we’ve got a supplier we’re happy with for that anyway!”

Why would you be so stupid as to walk into all of that stuff, and a strong objection as well? Yet still I hear a lot of people doing it…….

AWFUL SALES PHRASE No 2 – “I’m ‘Just’ Calling”…..

SITUATION – Making an outbound sales call

WHY IT’S BAD – You’re ‘just’ calling? No you’re not! You’re not ‘just’ doing anything!

In this circumstance it’s a ‘downgrading’ word. It downgrades your call in the mind of the prospect (or the client), and downgrades your own credibility!

In this situation, it takes your call from being positioned as important and valuable, and reduces it to ‘unimportant’, ‘an interruption’ and about as valuable as ‘market research’

Why would you want to start your call by giving the recipient extra motivation to want to get rid of you?!!!

AWFUL SALES PHRASE No 3 – “Thank You For The Opportunity To Quote”……

SITUATION – Client/Prospect has just asked you to quote them

WHY IT’S BAD – This is awful!!! Truly awful! Your positioning on this is terrible! Are your seriously ‘thanking’ someone for asking you to give a quote?!!

This is the problem with all the ‘Customer Service’ stuff that’s been spouted over the last few years. ‘The Customer Is King’ and ‘The Customer Is Always Right’. I’m in agreement that we need to give people good service, but when it comes to sales there is a difference between ‘Service’ and ‘Subservience’.

You want to be perceived as an ‘equal’ by the client. Not more important than them. Not less important than them. As an equal.

When prospects and clients perceive you as an equal, it changes the way they treat you. Generally speaking, they respect your opinion more, they ask your advice more, they tell you more and are more honest with you! All things that would help us make more sales!

When you are ‘subservient’ to a client, you typically lose control of the sales process, get beaten up on price, you waste lots of time ‘running around’ after them, and then not getting the sale anyway!

Using this phrase so early in the sales process will count against you afterwards. It ruins your positioning and the prospect/client’s opinion of you. Don’t do it!

AWFUL SALES PHRASE No 4 – “How Are You Today?”

SITUATION – On An Outbound Sales Call

WHY IT’S BAD – This is my ‘pet hate’. It’s probably THE WORST thing you can say as the introduction to a sales call, but many people still say it, and even worse, are TRAINED to say it! Terrible! And the colder the call is, the worse it is!

Now if you’re making a call to someone where you have the level of rapport to say ‘John, how are you doing? How are the kids? And how was your weekend?’, you’ve obviously making a call to someone you know extremely well, and have a very high level of rapport with, so that circumstance is exempt from this.

When however, as many people do, if you’re using this on a call where you don’t know someone that well at all (or even worse, on a cold call) this will cause you major problems!

It comes across as fake. Insincere. And a ‘cheap’ attempt at trying to gain rapport with someone that you hardly know. And it will cause you big problems. Stop it. Now!

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on…..

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2016. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading sales expert Andy Preston talks about the problem of ‘hidden’ revenue, and how you can find the hidden revenue in your business…..

I’m often asked by business owners, sales managers and sales directors to help their sales team increase sales. And part of that focus is always on driving new-business revenue.

But what about the ‘hidden’ revenue that’s already in the business? The revenue that’s there to be had, but isn’t being unlocked currently by your salespeople? There’s often lots of that, especially in low-transaction-value, repeat order businesses!

There’s gold in them thar hills! So let’s have a look at where it might be in your business……

Hidden Revenue Number 1 – Annual Existing Customer Orders

One of the areas where you may be missing out on revenue, is in orders from your existing customer base. Don’t get me wrong – if you’ve already locked down 100% of your customer’s spend then that will help – but even then you could be missing out!

Some customers will buy on an annual basis. Especially if they buy for an event, trade show or exhibition for example. Why not think about getting together a list of customer orders from 12/13 months ago (depending on your lead-times), and calling those people to see if they need anything?

And if you make a note on your CRM or database that they are ordering for a particular event, you can ring them next year as well, talk about the event, and seem really informed and on the ball!

Some customers need a prompt to buy. And not ‘prompting’ them might mean they don’t buy. Or they don’t buy as much as they would have with a ‘prompt’ much earlier.

Hidden Revenue Area Number 2 – Your ‘Lapsed’ Client List

Another source of revenue that you’re currently losing lies in your ‘lapsed’ client list. You know the companies that used to order from you, but haven’t bought anything for ages.

You probably feel a little awkward contacting these people, as it’s likely they are now using someone else, yet they are one of the easiest types of prospect to persuade to buy!

They made a decision to buy from you at some stage. So they must have been happy at that time. They are already set up on your system. They probably also have credit facilities with you.

You may have a problem to solve, or a difficulty to overcome when you contact them (as that may be the reason they no longer buy from you), but most people change suppliers based on ‘perceived indifference’ – so just the act of getting back in touch might bring you business!

Hidden Revenue Area Number 3 – Your ‘Lost’ Deals

Another area of ‘hidden’ revenue is your lost deals. You know, those deals you pitched for that you didn’t win? The ones that chose to go with someone else when their annual contract came up, or they called you in for a review?

Just because you didn’t win the contract, doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t buy from you! Even people who say ‘we are under contract’ and ‘we don’t buy outside of it’ often still do – especially when they need something that their existing provider cannot provide in time!

There’s no harm at all in ringing up your ‘lost deals’ 3 months, 6 months or 12 months later, to see what’s changed. Who knows, the person responsible for buying may have changed, and suddenly you have an ‘in’. Same if their existing supplier has just let them down with something!

Remember – if you don’t call them, you have no chance of winning 😉

Hidden Revenue Area Number 4 – Your Existing Client Base

Interestingly, your existing client base can also be an area of ‘hidden’ revenue that you’re not currently unlocking!

Most companies I work with tell me they have ‘clients’ or ‘customers’. Yet what they really have is ‘transactions’. Unless you have locked down the majority (if not ALL) of your customers’ spend for the products and services you provide, you’re leaving money on the table!

Do you have any idea what percentage of spend you have of your clients business? How much currently goes to you, and how much currently goes to your competitors (for the products and services that you could provide).

Customers will say things like ‘I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket’, or ‘we like to keep 2 or 3 suppliers on the go’. What they really mean is they’re not giving all their business to you! But they could be giving MORE of it to you!

If you can get an idea of how much they spend with others (and perhaps in what product areas), then you can get an idea what the potential for extra revenue is for you! Remember, we don’t need to take all the business off another supplier (and usually that isn’t possible), but you CAN get more of it to come to you!

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2017. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains why buyers lie to salespeople…..and what they really mean when they say those things to you…….

I’m often amazed how many salespeople and business owners are surprised when, after we’ve de-briefed their sales meeting or phone call, they realise the ‘buyer’ or decision maker they were talking to has lied to them.

Do buyers lie? Of course they do! Having been one, I GUARANTEE you that’s the case!

In many cases the salesperson will actually defend the buyer – saying things like ‘well they’re just not ready to buy’, or ‘they have to see all the salespeople first and then make a decision’, or ‘they need to check with a couple of colleagues first’.

If there are any sales managers or directors that are hearing things like this from their sales team, then get in touch with me right now! What the salesperson often means when they say something like the above is ‘I haven’t done my job properly’ – yet not many are willing to admit it (and some aren’t even aware of it!)

So here are some phrases that buyers or decision makers will say to you or your team – and what they really mean…….

Buyer Phrase Number 1 – ‘I’m Happy With My Existing Supplier’

Don’t you just love this old chestnut? I’m still astounded when most salespeople fall for this one, and either exit the call or almost mentally ‘give up’ when they hear this phrase.

The average salesperson hears this so often, you’d think they would have learnt to deal with it by now, wouldn’t you?!!

When the buyer says something like ‘I’m happy with my existing supplier’, in most cases what they may actually mean is ‘I don’t know you well enough to consider you as an alternative supplier just yet’ or ‘I don’t like you as much as I like my existing supplier’ or even ‘Your call or visit has interrupted me and I’m going to use a phrase that gets rid of most salespeople (but might not even be true)’.

Yet still most salespeople hear this ‘objection’ and let it affect them in a negative way – and some don’t even get as far as asking another question. How crazy is that?!! Let’s be honest here – if this is your first decent conversation or visit with the potential new client, isn’t it fairly normal for them to be ‘happy’ with their existing supplier at this stage?

It’s your job as a salesperson to understand their current solution, and how your product or service adds value to what they’re trying to achieve with it. If you only relied on being ‘lucky’ as mentioned above – you’re missing out on the majority of your sales opportunities!

Buyer Phrase Number 2 – ‘I Need To Think About This And Come Back To You’

Another classic example of something a lot of salespeople fall for! I was doing some ‘field sales assessments’ where I attend appointments with the salesperson last week. The decision maker said to the salesperson ‘I need to think about this and come back to you’. The salesperson’s reply? ‘That’s fine, here’s my card. Give me a call when you’ve had time to decide, or need some help deciding.’

No, No, No, No, No! When someone says the phrase ‘I need to think about this and come back to you’ what they might well mean is ‘I haven’t got enough information to be able to make a decision on this yet (or you haven’t given me enough!) What they might also mean is ‘I’m not sure about you, so I’m going to check you and your company out on the internet while you’re not here’. Or even ‘I’ve already decided not to use you but I’m not willing to tell you that!’

Whichever of those it is, leaving the appointment or phone call at this stage is the worst thing you can do! Even if they are considering you and truly thinking about it in more detail, what that means is that they’re going through that process (and even reaching their decision) without you being involved. What chance have you got of putting any element of persuasion into that process? None whatsoever! Not the best use of your sales skills, is it?

Buyer Phrase Number 3 – ‘I’m Under Contract At The Moment’

Another old favourite! Again something a lot of salespeople fall for. This has even got to the stage where the buyer or decision maker is starting to take the mickey out of the salesperson! I was out with a client doing some door-to-door cold calls last month when the salesperson was lucky enough to meet the decision maker when we walked in! What a great bonus you might think? Not if you don’t deal with it properly!

The decision maker’s first objection was ‘We’re under contract at the moment’. The salesperson replied ‘and when does that contract finish?’ (Which is a really stupid question by the way). The decision maker then said ‘Oh, not for another 5 years!!’

Now even though the salesperson knows that 5 year contracts don’t even exist in his industry, he still accepted it without challenging! Isn’t that crazy?

When a buyer or decision maker says the phrase ‘I’m under contract at the moment’, what they might well mean is simply ‘Go away!’ Or perhaps ‘I don’t want to be pitched by you right now’. Or even as a challenge, as in ‘Let’s see how he handles this one!’

Again if you fall for this, you’ve only got yourself to blame.

Buyer Phrase Number 4 – ‘I’ve Had A Better Price’

What a great negotiation tactic this is! Yet many salespeople don’t realise it and fall for it almost every time – particularly if they’re struggling for sales figures or income.

Often, when the buyer or decision maker says ‘I’ve had a better price’ what they may well mean is ‘Let’s see how much you can reduce your price by’ or even ‘Let’s get a cheaper quote from you, so I can go to my existing supplier and get their price down as well!’

Buyers and decision makers know this works because the salesperson’s first thought is ‘I need to drop my price to get the deal’ rather than ‘I need to find out more about this’.

The conversation then turns to how much the buyer or decision maker wants the price reduced by – also known as ‘haggling’ – and in some cases the price ends up somewhere between 50-70% of what the salesperson originally stated.

The salesperson then justifies to themselves that what just occurred what necessary to ‘win the order’, whereas the buyer or decision maker thinks ‘Fantastic! Just got 30-50% off something I would have paid full price for!’

Not the outcome you really want as a salesperson, is it?

Want ideas on getting Buyers and Decision Makers to tell you the truth more often, and stop lying to you?  (like they do to most salespeople).

Call Andy on +44 (0) 161 401 0142 or Contact Andy here.

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2010-2019. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston discusses 5 ideas that will help qualify your sales meetings with prospects better…..

Okay, so I’m a big fan of qualification. Qualification of the prospect. Qualification of the opportunity. Qualification of the individual. And most certainly, qualification of the meeting.

This is something that most salespeople miss (or are scared to do), that often comes back to haunt them later on in the sales process!

The task of qualification is made a little more difficult is someone else is making the calls for you, particularly if it’s not someone in your organisation, i.e. you’ve given the task to a telemarketing agency or similar. You now have two choices. You can either get the person making the initial call to do some qualification for you (if it’s an internal person) or make a call once the appointment has been booked to do some additional qualification yourself.

A good rule of thumb to use here is that the more time and energy you’re investing in an appointment (in terms of research, driving time, appointment time and paperwork), the harder you should qualify. Most salespeople should certainly thing twice about attending an appointment made for them “blind” – without much knowledge of the company, their potential needs or what they’re after.

If you haven’t made the appointment yourself, then it’s always a good idea to make a call to do some additional qualification. First of all, this will give you a good idea of the quality of the appointment, but it will also allow you to build up valuable rapport with the prospect and start to understand more about their potential needs – making the face-to-face meeting much easier.

Now I know some of you will be saying “But Andy, doesn’t that make it easier for them to cancel the meeting?” Yes, at some level it does. But let’s be realistic about it, an appointment that cancels when you ring them to do some additional qualification was very likely going to cancel anyway, or turn into a “no show” or an “I forgot you were coming”.

Also if it’s done in the right way, very few (if any) meetings cancel, and the ones that are attended are more serious!

So let’s take a look at the sort of things that we should consider qualifying or finding out before the meeting……

Qualification Question 1 – Is The Meeting With The Decision Maker/s?

I know this sounds obvious, but you’d be amazed how many appointments are booked with people who aren’t the decision maker for what you offer! There are many reasons for this, ranging from people being scared to ask the question, just assuming the person the person they’re talking to is the decision maker and even the old favourite “I need as many appointments as possible to hit my activity target, so any appointment will do!”

Qualification Question 2 – Is There A Budget For The Product Or Service I’m Offering?

Now I know this is not needed for most salespeople, but for some of my clients it’s essential! The larger the purchase and the longer the sales cycle would mean that there has to be some sort of budget set aside, or “financial sponsor” in place, otherwise the project has little chance of moving ahead.

Qualification Question 3 – What Are Their Expectations Of The Meeting?

Are they expecting you to come and do a presentation? Or come and look at their challenges and suggest potential solutions? Or are they interested in what you have to offer? Depending on what their expectations are, the meeting will need to be prepared for and conducted in a different way.

Qualification Question 4 – What Solutions Have They Already Looked At?

How have they tried to solve the problem already? Have they looked at any of your competitors? What are the other solutions they could do? (including doing nothing).

Qualification Question 5 – Have You Confirmed All The Appointment Details?

This is the last step and one of the most important! I’ve lost count of the amount of salespeople who’ve told me that they’ve arrived at the wrong premises, for an appointment with someone who works at another office! Make sure you confirm time, date, location, who will be attending, any equipment or facilities needed etc.

Obviously the suggestions on the list above are purely ideas of qualifying questions you could ask. Depending on your market, your role and your industry you will have various things that you may need to qualify before it’s worth going to an appointment – including distance, potential spend, potential of future business etc.

The exact questions asked are entirely up to you. Just make sure you ask them and start to qualify your appointments properly!

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2017. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains what sales lessons we can learn from a barber shop…. and we can do to implement the learning to improve our own sales figures….

Recently I needed to get my hair cut. Those of you that know me know that I like to keep my hair fairly short, and therefore go to my local village hairdresser about every 2 weeks or so. On this occasion, the hairdresser wasn’t able to fit me in, and as I was travelling all around the UK as normal, I needed to find a hairdresser in central London.

So what do I do? Use the internet of course! I knew I wanted more of a barber than a hairdresser, as I’d heard horror stories of central London prices for a simple cut like mine being £50 or more.

Starting The Search…..

Therefore I searched for barbers in the London postcode that my hotel was in and looked at a few. A few of those were eliminated straightaway as they didn’t have websites – there’s a lesson there about being accessible! I was only looking for simple information – opening hours and pricing, but if I can’t even get that, you’re unlikely to be winning much business from that source.

Anyway, I managed to find a barbers that I liked the look of, was local to the hotel that I was staying at and was able cut my hair for £35 – not bad in central London I thought. Therefore I made a note of the address and opening times, and decided arrive there the minute they opened to get my hair cut and make the rest of my appointments for the day.

Now, before I tell you any more, there’s something really important here. £35 is nearly 3 times the price I pay for my haircut at my local hairdresser at home. Why was I willing to pay nearly 3 times as much for perceivably the same service?

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 1 – Be Convenient

Firstly, I was willing to pay a much higher price, because it was convenient! I was able to get the information I needed in order to make a buying decision. How many of you are preventing your customers from making buying decisions right now?

How convenient are you to your customers? If they need you out of hours, can they get essential information on your website? This was the first lesson – in the example above, some barbers that were more local to my hotel missed out on my business because they didn’t have a website! I wasn’t looking for anything fancy, just some basic information.

If they didn’t have that, they missed out on my business. How much business could you be missing out on right now by not being “convenient” enough to your customers or potential customers?

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 2 – Demonstrate Value

Secondly, I was happy to pay a much higher price because the barbers I chose were able to demonstrate value. Whilst I was looking for the basic information on price and opening times, the look and feel of the website was able to demonstrate value to me.

Classic yet contemporary, I immediately felt I was not just going for a haircut, but more of a time to relax and unwind. They’d obviously spent time thinking about their target customers and what they wanted and this was evident when they’d had their website put together.

How often do you demonstrate value to your customers or potential customers? Or is your website just a list of your products and services?

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 3 – Motivate Your Buyers

Thirdly, I was happy to pay a higher price because the barber shop got me motivated to spend my money! Once I’d been on their website and seen what they were about, I actually became more motivated and excited about spending my money with them.

I was motivated by their company brand as well as what they offered in terms of products and services (they also sold shaving and grooming products).

How often do we think about what would motivate and excite our buyers? How often do we include this within our core messages, whether that be from our salespeople, our marketing or our website?

If we’re looking for our buyers to be excited, motivated, and enthusiastic we need to help make them that way! If they’re bored, tired or disinterested when they examine our products and services, is it any wonder they don’t buy, or don’t buy as much as they could?

Andy’s Sales Lesson No 4 – First Impressions Are Vital

Fourthly, think about how crucial the first impressions of your business are to your customers or potential customers. The first impression of your company may come from one of your salespeople, your website, your marketing literature or even perhaps their first “inbound” phone call to your business.

It is imperative that you get this right – that is if you want to maximise your potential new business opportunities. If you don’t create that positive first impression of our business you may be missing out on business that you didn’t know existed – from a lot of potential customers that have chose to “walk away” rather than spend their money with you.

And this unfortunately was where the barber shop fell down. They managed to do the other 3 points really well, but failed to impress on this point which will result in them losing business.

The barber shop in question opened at 9am, so I decided in my wisdom that I’d turn up at 8.50am in order to get my hair cut, then get on with the rest of my appointments for the day. Finally at 9.25am, just as I was beginning to wonder what on earth had happened (no one was answering the phone either) a guy came to unlock the door and said “do you have an appointment?”

Was I The Inconvenience?!!

What on earth was he thinking? Talk about destroying most of the “goodwill” and any positive impression the shop had already built up with me! He arrived 25 minutes late and was asking me if I had an appointment, as if it was my fault!

In one sentence (added to the fact he was late) he managed to destroy most of my positive impressions and potentially lose future profitable business. I did proceed with my haircut, but left feeling a little deflated and like my expectations hadn’t been met.

Which lead me to wonder….how many of you do that to your potential customers? People who actually want their problems solved? People that are actively looking to spend money with you on a regular basis and you do something that prevents that from happening?

You can also ask any questions about this article or sales in general, by contacting Andy here

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2010-2019. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains the ‘sales lessons’ you can learn from a cupcake shop, and what you can put into practice……. right now…… to increase your sales…..

This particular ‘Sales Lessons’ article was inspired by a visit to St Martins Tea Room and Grill, Bowness-On-Windermere – located in the Lake District, Cumbria, UK. The owner, Stephen, had created some amazing cupcakes and was looking at ways of selling and promoting them (and his tea room) better.

While I was there I gave him a few ideas for the business….. and so far they have made a significant difference to the way he’s promoting and selling the cupcakes! So I thought I’d share some of the ideas in order that you all can use them to increase your sales as well!

So, here are some of the ‘sales lessons’ we can learn from Stephen’s ‘cupcake shop’….

Sales Lesson Number 1 – You Don’t Have To Have A ‘Unique’ Product

One of the first things to realise is that you don’t necessarily have to have a ‘unique’ product to gain a market (or sales) advantage. As business gets tougher, and markets become more competitive, the chance of your product or service being ‘better’ than the competition is small…… and getting smaller by the day!

The speed at which your competition can copy you, your products and your service is quickening by the day – so therefore any ‘market advantage’ you could gain isn’t likely to be an advantage for long!

So if you don’t have a ‘market’ advantage, you have to make your own advantage – by being better, faster or more specialised than your competition, or your competitors salespeople.

The cupcake is not a new invention….. nor is it ‘exclusive’ to Stephen and his tearoom, yet because of the way he’s selling and marketing his home-made offering, it’s making a massive difference to the amount of people he’s getting in his tearoom – and the amount of sales he’s making!

Sales Lesson Number 2 – You Have To Get Excited First!

I’ve met Stephen a few times now, and whenever I see him, he’s always excited about what he does! If you’ve seen me speak, you’ll know I’m a big fan of being passionate and excited about what you do – because if you want others to be passionate and excited about what you do, guess where it has to come from first? That’s right, you!

The way Stephen talks about his cupcakes and other cakes, you can’t help but get ‘drawn in’ and you’re far more likely to purchase! How passionate and excited are you about your products and services right now?…..

Sales Lesson Number 3 – Make It A Good ‘Experience’

From the moment you step into Stephen’s shop, you have a great experience! The food, the service and the quality all stand out! The cupcakes and other cakes are all home-made by Stephen himself and he takes time to ‘connect’ with every customer possible, so they’re coming back as much to see him as they are to experience the cupcakes!

By creating such a good, positive experience, Stephen is increasing the likelihood that people will return to his shop, and also tell their friends about it! This is where the real value comes in, as word-of-mouth advertising costs nothing, yet can be the most effective advertising of all!

What kind of ‘buying experience’ do you and your company provide your customers with? One that encourages them to ‘rave’ about how amazing you are to their friends and contacts? Or is it more of a ‘rant?’….

Sales Lesson Number 4 – Find Out Where Your Market Lives….

This is one of the most effective things that Stephen has done. When I originally met with him, I talked about the massive advantages Facebook could bring to his business. Now, those of you that have trained with me in the past know that I’m a MASSIVE fan of LinkedIn, but Stephen is selling business-to-consumer, not business-to-business, so that changes the ‘game‘ for him slightly….

His target market live on Facebook. They recommend and ‘share‘ things with their friends on Facebook. They post pictures of themselves with his cupcakes on Facebook! What better place to start his marketing and promotional activities, than somewhere his target market is already interacting?

Where does your target market ‘live?’ Are you marketing and selling to them in the most effective way at the moment?

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2010-2017. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains why clients beat you down on price…… and what you need to do about it to get your profits back where they belong!….

As an ex-professional buyer, ‘negotiation‘ is always an interesting topic for me! Whenever I’m working with salespeople or business owners, they often fail to get the price for their products or services that they wanted – and often get even less than they deserve for their offering!

This has become even more true in the current market conditions – where savvy buyers and decision makers are looking to get the best value when they’re purchasing. Therefore to get good results, the salesperson or business owner has to be able to ‘stand their ground’ in a negotiation in order to get the price they deserve. Sadly, this often isn’t the case?

So why is it that the buyer or decision maker often has the ‘upper hand’ when it comes to negotiation?….

Andy’s Reason Number 1 – They’re Better Prepared To Negotiate

One simple reason why the buyer or decision maker often does better than the salesperson in a negotiation, is that they’re better prepared to negotiate than the salesperson is! Often a salesperson gets caught up in a negotiation when they aren’t ready for it – and this is a recipe for the salesperson losing the majority of the profit from a deal!

Most salespeople get negotiated with before they’re ready! So if you think that a meeting or phone call could result in a negotiation, make sure you prepare for it beforehand! If if a negotiation starts before you’re ready, don’t be afraid to postpone it and re-schedule it for another time when you’ve had chance to prepare!

Andy’s Reason Number 2 – You’re Too Desperate!

Another main reason that salespeople struggle to get better results from their negotiation is that on most occasions, they’re so ‘desperate’ to win the deal that this comes across to clients, and the clients use that as ‘leverage’ to swing the negotiation in their favour!

Prospects and clients can ‘smell’ desperation. It isn’t big. It isn’t clever. And it certainly isn’t attractive! One a client knows the salesperson is more ‘desperate’ to do the deal than they are, that’s just given them the ‘green light’ to get the best deal they can – at the expense of the salesperson!

It’s about time as salespeople that we got some pride back. And realised that prospects and clients often want to do the deal as much (or sometimes even more) than we do – but often we don’t know it….

Andy’s Reason Number 3 – You Fail To Spot Their ‘Tricks’

Any buyer or decision maker worth their salt will attempt to play ‘tricks’ during a negotiation. If you can spot these and deal with them, then you’re usually fine. However, most salespeople aren’t even aware what the other party is doing, think that their ‘tricks’ are real, and end up falling for them!

I remember back to my days as a professional buyer, on my first ‘buying’ course. By the afternoon we’d been given a list of 5 tricks to play on salespeople to negotiate better deals, and squeeze their profit margins to a minimum. By lunchtime on day 2 it was 10. By the end of day 3 it was 20!! Can you see why some salespeople struggle to get the best deal when they’re negotiating!

If you can learn how the buyers and decision makers are ‘tricking’ you into losing profit, then learn how to deal with them, then you’re fine. Fail to identify them however, and you could continue to struggle……

Andy’s Reason Number 4 – You Don’t Know Enough About The Other Party

Another reason salespeople often come off worst in a negotiation is that they fail to find out enough about the other party before the negotiation starts! The buyer or decision maker might well have strong reasons for wanting the product or service the salesperson is offering, and strong reasons to purchase now!! But often the salesperson doesn’t find that out, and ends up ‘worse off’ in the negotiation.

Very often there are pressing issues, or demands on the buyer or decision maker’s time – which would force them to do a ‘quick deal’ – but often the salesperson fails to find that out! Therefore they end up the ‘keener’ party to do the deal – and often miss out on vital profit that could have been gained, had they bothered to find out more in the first place!

Andy’s Reason Number 5 – They Have More ‘Skills’ Than You

Think for a moment….. When was the last time you went (or sent a member of your team) on a professional negotiation skills course, lasting from between 1 and 3 days in total? A course that taught you all the ‘tricks’ a buyer or decision maker could play on you, how to spot them, and what to do about them? My guess is that it’s been a while….possibly never!

Think about the other side….. If they’re a professional buyer, you can GUARANTEE that they will have been on such a course. If they’re a decision maker in a business, they’re also likely to have been on a similar course! At the very least, they’re far more experienced at negotiation than you!

If you’d like to ‘right the balance’ and get an advantage over the other side in a negotiation, call Andy Preston now on 0161 401 0142 or contact us here – and we’ll happily help you and your team get back on top!

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2019. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains 7 things you need to consider finding out, before sending your proposal or quote to the prospect….

I’m often astounded when someone says ‘send me a proposal’ or ‘can I have a price on that’ to a salesperson, they go away and work on a proposal or quotation, then ‘blindly’ send it off to the prospect, just assuming it’s going to go ahead!

These same salespeople are the ones that wonder afterwards why they never hear from that prospect ever again!

If you follow these tips below, you and your team won’t get caught in that trap – and will not only convert more sales opportunities, but also be able to prioritise your time and have more idea which are likely to convert the fastest, for the most money!

So let’s have a look at the 7 things you MUST do, before sending that proposal….

Andy’s Tip No 1 – Establish FULL Specification Of The Project/Job

This might sound simple, but you’d be astounded how many salespeople fail to do this properly!  Most salespeople will get the majority of the specification down, but some have to call back a second time to get things they forgot, or that their colleagues tell them will be needed in order to produce an accurate quotation or proposal.  Some salespeople have to call back a third time to get information they failed to get on the second time!

You can imagine the impact this has on the prospect!  If you’re in a competitive market with other people ‘pitching’ for the work, you’ve put yourself on the ‘back foot’ before you’ve even started!  Not a clever move….

Andy’s Tip No 2 – Establish WHY NOW?  And WHY YOU?

These two areas are ESSENTIAL areas to question around in EVERY sales opportunity, not just at ‘proposal time’.  However, when someone says ‘send me a proposal’ and you DON’T get these answered, you’re setting yourself up for a fall.

You need to establish early on in your sales conversation how serious they are, and how serious the project/job is.  Even more important however is getting the WHY YOU bit answered.

The aim here is to uncover both the buying motivation, and also what chance you have of picking up this business!  Remember – the ‘fluffier’ the answers to the questions you ask here – the less likely you are to win the work!

Andy’s Tip No 3 – Establish Decision Makers and DM Process

This is again something that most salespeople fail to do properly!  Failure to establish the decision makers involved will mean that you could go all the way through the process, and then fall at the final hurdle as someone else comes in to influence the buying decision that you weren’t aware of!

Once you’ve identified the decision makers, you can then decide your approach for ‘engaging’ them.  It’s pointless knowing who they are without getting ‘airtime’ with them either over the phone or face-to-face, otherwise the same thing will happen as if you didn’t know who they were!

You also need to identify the process they’re going through in order to make the decision.  If they’re cagey about the process this time, it might be that the person you’re talking to is low-level in the organisation (and the decision).  In which case, simply asking about a previous process for similar projects will uncover most of what you need to know.

Andy’s Tip No 4 – Establish Their Other Options

Another word for ‘other options’ would be ‘competition’.  Yet I didn’t use the word ‘competition’ in the title because most salespeople then ask a question like ‘what other companies are you asking to quote on this?’

That’s a bad question because the person you’re speaking to will know that you’ll gain an advantage by knowing that information, so will usually say that they ‘can’t tell you’ or ‘it’s confidential’.  Therefore you need to ask the question differently 😉

Asking about the other options they’re considering will usually set the platform for you to get information about other potential suppliers/vendors.  It will also get you vital information about ‘alternative competition’ – either them finding another way to achieve the results they want, doing it themselves in-house, or not doing it at all!

In addition, any other project they could spend money on right now is ‘competition’ to your proposal being auctioned and approved – so question around this area as well….

Andy’s Tip No 5 – Establish Their Timescales

Another area you need to question around is their timescales.  In order to find out how serious they are about this project, you need to find out when they’re looking to move ahead.

Most salespeople make the mistake of only finding out about when the clients want to implement the project, or when they need to take delivery of the product.  If you only get this timescale then you’re missing out on something that’s potentially more important!

The other timescale you need to ask question about to uncover is when they are looking to make their decision on the project.  Just because they don’t want to implement the project for a few months, doesn’t mean that they aren’t deciding on it quicker than that!  Make sure you understand the timescales they have to buy in order to give yourself the best understanding of how to handle the proposal, and give yourself the best chance of winning it!

Andy’s Tip No 6 – Establish Budget Or Funding

It’s VITAL in ANY sales opportunity, let alone a proposal situation, that you identify budget or funding as early as possible.  As most decent-sized projects require money from someone’s budget, or the company to have thought about how they’re going to pay for it, failure to identify this can mean the project ‘stalling’ at the last minute – when you’ve put lots of time and effort into it!

Make sure that you’ve got the ‘budget’ area covered and you’ll reduce the risk of the project being put on hold, or shelved – plus it may also bring to your awareness other people involved in the buying process that you weren’t aware of! 

Andy’s Tip No 7 – Establish Commitment

The final (and most important part) of ANY sales situation, and even more vital at proposal stage!  Now for those of you with a short sales cycle, you could also think of the word ‘closing’ here.  For those of you on longer sales cycles, usually with higher-value items or projects at stake, think about gaining commitment to the next stage and to yourself and your company.

Failure to get commitment to the project and/or next stage, and also to you and your company will mean that you’re likely to be disappointed when it comes to announcing who won the business…..and who lost it.  So gain commitment to ensure you end up in the winner’s enclosure!

So, make sure you take action on the above and the best of luck with your sales!

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2019. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

In this article, leading Sales Expert Andy Preston explains why most people struggle with ‘selling by email’ – they don’t understand it, they don’t know when to use it (and when not to) and they don’t know how to use it for best results.

After reading this article you’ll be able to utilise email to add value to your sales efforts – instead of hampering them – and get your sales figures back where they belong!……..

When I working with sales teams all over the world, Sales Managers and Directors often tell me that they believe all salespeople are inherently lazy. I’m not sure I agree with that hugely sweeping statement, but I do think salespeople often look for the quickest way to do something!

I think this is partly down to the fact that a lot of salespeople only start earning real money when their commission kicks in, so any task that isn’t directly related to bringing in new customers, orders or money, they tend to try and find the quickest way to do! Hence why the managers think they’re lazy.

As salespeople though, this ‘quickest route’ habit can often cause us problems! Particularly as technology has advanced and email is a popular communication method for many. However, this often results in salespeople resorting to email communication – at the expense of their own sales figures! Have a look at the examples of common email sales mistakes below, and see if any ring true for you……

Email Sales Mistake Number 1 – Using It To ‘Follow Up‘

Let’s look at this from a ‘new business’ perspective. You’ve spoken with (or met with) a client previously, you’ve started to develop rapport, but they’ve probably got an existing supplier, or existing way of doing things. So you didn’t pick up their business from your initial call or appointment.

Your boss has probably been putting pressure on you about your sales figures or your sales pipeline. So you decide you need to ‘follow up’ with a few people, this particular prospect included. So what do you do next? Pick up the phone and call them, establish their current situation and needs and potentially see how you may be able to add value to what they’re trying to achieve over the next few months? Close for another appointment, attempt to dislodge the existing supplier (or existing process) and pick up their business? Or send an email?

If you’re in the ’email’ category, stop it! Right now!

Email Sales Mistake Number 2 – Just ‘Adding‘ People To A Mailing List

Another great idea from the marketing department. Sending an email newsletter or similar to keep people ‘informed’ of your products and services. The funny thing is, how many newsletters do you get that you don’t read, or you don’t read in full? I bet it’s quite a few. If you don’t know the sender well, you probably don’t read it at all. Sometimes even when you know the sender well you still don’t read it!

Don’t sit back and think that just because someone is on your generic email list that that’s helping you ‘sell’ to that person. In most cases it isn’t. The responsibility to move that person through your sales pipeline is still yours!

Email Sales Mistake Number 3 – Sending Mainly ‘Flyers’ By Email

Please tell me you don’t do this? Even worse if the email is titled ‘offer of the month’ or similar! If the person hasn’t used you before, you’re relying on ‘luck’ for the person to buy from you. And the more competitive your marketplace and the higher the price of what you sell, the less likely people are to buy!

Plus as mentioned in my last point above, it’s hardly ‘personal’ communication to that prospect, is it? Is this really the professional sales job you were employed to do? If this is the best you can do in terms of ‘sales persuasion’, you’re in trouble!

Email Sales Mistake Number 4 – Responding To New Sales Enquiries Via Email

Let’s think about this one. You or your company has expended time, money and effort in producing the incoming sales lead. Whether it’s come from a previous phone call by you or a colleague, networking, advertising or over the internet, you’ve managed to get a precious incoming sales lead.

The next question is, what are you going to do about it? Pick up the phone and find an excuse to start a dialogue to understand their needs in more detail, positition a ‘next step’ in the sales process and look for some committment from that person. Or just send a quick email giving some information and leaving them to ‘wander’ on their own, with no idea how motivated they are to purchase, their timescales, or what other options they’re considering?

Looks like you’ve missed your chance again, doesn’t it? In most cases if they come back to you, it’s because when they enquired with your competition, they did a worse job than you did (hard to believe I know, but it could be true). Is this really the best way of dealing with that precious incoming sales lead do you think?!!

Email Sales Mistake Number 5 – Sending Proposals Or Quotes By Email

Now it’s time for my personal favourite! Sending proposals or quotes by email. You’re in field sales and you’ve had the meeting with a potential client ……the prospect then asks you to ‘send a proposal’……and you put it in an email. Really?!! Now you’re in trouble.

Why on earth didn’t you position your offering when you were face to face with the client? When you could read their body language and reactions to your offering (and your price) best….when you could judge whether you had got the proposal right or not?……when you had the best chance of getting them to say ‘yes’?

Even if you needed time to put the details together, why on earth didn’t you organise a second meeting to discuss it in more detail? Crazy! You’re giving other salespeople a better chance to win that business over you – why on earth would you want to do that?!!

Note – if you’re in internal sales or do most of your selling over the phone, it may not be practical to go out and see the prospect face-to-face, and if you can’t get them to come and see you, you’re almost ‘forced’ to send the proposal via email – however, you know when you do this it’s less persuasive.  As an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM you should have covered my ‘7 Things To Do BEFORE You Send A Proposal’ – otherwise I’m still going to be hard on you!!  Anyway, back to my ‘field sales’ example….

So Why Do Field Salespeople Send Quotes Or Proposals Via Email?

Normally field salespeople send quotes or proposals by email for a few reasons. The first reason is fear of rejection. It ‘hurts’ less to send it by email as at worst, they just send an email back saying ‘no thanks’ – much easier to deal with than them saying it to your face, isn’t it?

Or if they don’t reply to you (or send an email back saying they’re thinking about it) they haven’t really rejected you at all, have they? Can you see how that kind of thinking is holding you back from making more sales?!!

The second reason is laziness. You probably would say it’s because you’re busy, but it’s laziness. This is one of the most important parts of the sales process, and you’ve decided to email it because it’s ‘easier’! From an objective perspective, how stupid is that?!!

The third reason is because is ‘normally’ do it that way! Does that mean it’s the best way? Or even any good at all?!! Let’s think about this – it could be the most important part of the sales process, and you’re just sending it off into the ‘ether’ and hoping they’ll give you a positive response. Again – the more competitive the marketplace, the higher the price of your product/service and the longer the time elapsed from your initial conversation/meeting the less likely you are to get the business!

You can also ask any questions about this article or sales in general, by contacting Andy here

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2017. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.

Here’s the challenge…..you’ve spoken to a potential client in the past, and now they’ve come up again in your “follow up” list….

Now, depending on the quality of your “follow up” call, the opportunity for you to do business can be won or lost at this point. Which puts a lot of pressure on you for this call, doesn’t it?

It won’t surprise you to learn that the majority of follow up calls that I hear made are fairly poor (and some are truly awful) so here are a few mistakes you need to avoid, in order to get more business from your calls.

Mistake Number 1 – Being Desperate And ‘Lying’

Now I know we’re in sales (or have to do sales as part of our role), and sometimes we may have to “bend the truth” a little on occasion, but I’m not sure that outright lying helps our cause as a professional, trying to build profitable business relationships.

An example of a call I heard made earlier this month went like this…….”Hello Mr X, we spoke 3 months ago and you asked me to call back today to make an appointment with you”.

Why was this so bad? Not only because the potential client hadn’t said anything of the sort, but also because the salesperson had never even spoken to the client before!

What could that potentially do to your credibility in the eyes of the potential client? And if you’re speaking to a decision maker with any level of authority, expect to be challenged on it quite strongly with something like “No we did not” or “I don’t remember that” – leading to either an argument or a rapid climb-down on your part – and probably the end of the call.

Now whilst the above statement by the salesperson is quite unusual, it does have a similar, more common “cousin” – the “Hi we spoke 3 months ago and you asked me to call you back today”. Usually said by salespeople who are desperate and don’t have a better opening “statement” or in their misguided belief that lying will help get them “rapport” with the decision maker – not likely!

Mistake Number 2 – Talking About Literature (Or Emails)

Be warned – many of you are going to cringe when you read this one! A lot of you are probably guilty of doing this, and this may be painful reading for those amongst you still doing it.

The biggest mistake I see most people make when they follow up literature or an email is when they say something like this……

“Hi Andy, it’s Fred from XYZ company, we recently sent you some literature…..I’m just calling up to make sure you received it…..”

No, No, No, No and No! This is truly awful, yet how many of the calls I hear made go something like that? That’s right, nearly all of them! And a large number of you make a similar call, don’t you? Go on, be honest!

Let’s think about this for a minute….what are the two most likely responses from a decision maker that you don’t have that much rapport with? Something like “No I didn’t, would you please go through the same rigmarole again, just for my amusement?” Or how about the other option….”Yes I did, and I’ve got all the information I need right now, thank you”.

Where on earth are you going to take the call now?

Even if you’ve sent literature and been lucky enough to get the decision maker to take the call (as a request for information can often be an objection – but more about that in another article) you run the risk of the call being very short, with another “call back” scheduled for a later point in time, but without having moved forwards with the prospect in any way.

Mistake Number 3 – Having Endless Call-Backs

This is another big mistake that many people make without even realising it! Far too many salespeople end their previous call badly (or without a defined outcome). What kind of impact do you think that has on the potential success of their next call? That’s right, a negative one!

How do you think this affects your attitude when the call comes up in your “call back” list? Might the fact you got nothing from the first call and the person won’t even remember you in some cases play on your mind a little?

Of course it might! Have you ever had a situation where you’ve gone down your list of prospects and thought….”I’ll ring that one……(miss a few out) then that one…..(miss a few out)…then that one?

If you’re like most people, of course you have! One of the reasons for this “cherrypicking” is that you know you got nothing from the call last time and you’re worried that the same will happen this time and you’ll “ruin” the prospect.

Also, because your attitude has been affected, might that affect your confidence in making the follow up call a little? Might you sound a bit less certain? A bit more timid? Less likely to handle objections well and give up too easily? You bet!

Are You Falling Into The Classic Trap?

Therefore, most follow up calls start something like this…..”Hello Mr X, we spoke about 3 months ago about you xyx and I was just calling to see how things are going for you at the moment”……

Awful, awful, awful! Let’s imagine you were the senior decision maker you were trying to reach with that statement (you were going for the person who makes the decisions, weren’t you?!!). What would you think of a call like that, that interrupted you doing whatever you were doing to take the call? That it has real importance and value for your business? Or that it’s pretty much a waste of your time, exactly like most of the other calls you receive on a day-to-day basis? My guess is for the second one 😉

Is it any wonder that the response decision makers give to that sort of opening is something like “Things are fine. What do you want?” Hmmmm. Now we’re under even more pressure, aren’t we? It’s pretty hard to rescue the call from here, unless you just happen to get lucky (which may happen on occasion).

So, if you’re about to do a follow up call session, or try and reach people you’ve spoken to in the past, make sure you don’t make any of the mistakes shown above and you’ll have far greater successes with your calls!

Follow the tips above and watch your sales soar! I look forward to hearing how you get on……..

This article is copyright Andy Preston 2004-2019. To copy or syndicate this or any part of this article contact Andy Preston for guidelines.