There’s a tendency during tough times for salespeople to push customers and close harder.  If you’re not careful, this can cause more problems than you bargained for.  First of all, there are 4 types of customer behavior, two types are assertive and two types are unassertive.  If a salesperson tries to push unassertive customers too hard and the customer is not ready to buy, the salesperson could jeopardize their relationship with that customer.  But there is a way to sell harder and close tougher and that’s to sell the way people want to buy.  Each behavior type has a particular way that they are comfortable buying.

Deciders are the quickest of all the behaviors to make decisions.  They are task oriented and don’t need much of a relationship to do business with you.  They like salespeople to get in, get done and get out.  This is not to say that you can’t develop a friendly relationship with a Decider, but it’s secondary to doing business.  Trust is key.  If a Decider doesn’t trust you, you’re done.  Here are the keys to selling Deciders:
    Get down to business quickly.
    Make the best use of time.
    Give specific information early.
    Give options.
    Let them decide.
The biggest key is to let the Decider control your meetings but you control the process.  Present the benefits of Option “A” and the benefits of Option “B” and let the Decider decide.  

Expressers make quick decisions also, but they are “gut feel” decisions.  The problem with this is Expressers will change their minds readily so you always have to follow up.  Expressers are not detail oriented and have a free flowing style.  Here are the keys to selling Expressers:
    Watch their emotions and their mood. Ask them why they feel that way.
    Be open and friendly.
    Allow plenty of time and don’t get upset with their lack of structure.
    Record the details and help organize them.
    Share sincere thoughts and feelings.
    Talk about other’s successes using your products and services.
    Expect them to change their minds.
Your main job with an Expresser is to make them look good and help them be successful.

Supporters are also less assertive and value a relationship above all other things.  If you don’t have a good relationship with a supporter you’re not going anywhere.  Supporters need to know that you care about them.  They are quicker to make a decision than reasoners, but still very slow because the relationship has to be there.  The biggest reason for why Supporters are slow to decide is they avoid taking risks and dislike change.  They need to get confirmation from their trusted network before giving the go ahead.  Here are he keys to selling Supporters:
    Spend time developing a relationship.
    Avoid tension.
    Be careful of feelings.
    Show YOUR support.
    Provide guarantees and assurances.
    Make sure you have their commitment.
Break your selling process into small baby steps and close the Supporter on each one.  Demonstrate how you will support the supporter through the process by listing all the steps, who’s responsible and how you will support the process from now through implementation and ongoing service.

Reasoners are less assertive people and need a lot of detail in order to feel comfortable making a decision.  Reasoners are the slowest to decide of all the behaviors.  They like to dot all the i(s) and cross all the t(s).  If you’re not providing data, you’re hurting your sales effort.  Here are the keys to selling Reasoners:
    Don’t push.
    Provide information early and solid proof of claims.
    Be prepared and organized.
    Emphasize technical support.
    Give plenty of facts.
    Being task oriented, have things for them to do.
Provide a step by step solution process by listing steps and responsibilities from now through implementation and ongoing service.  Give them a vision of what the future will look like doing business with you and your company.

For more infromation on How To Sell To The Four Behavior Types, SUBSCRIBE and view RELATIONSHIP SELLING PART 1 & 2

Pre-Sale Preparation

With information so readily available, executives expect you to be prepared more than ever.  They don't want to discuss information that you should already have.  Make your time with each executive count. 

• Spend some time researching the client's industry and business.
• Look for recently posted news articles, financial results, newsletters, etc.
• Google the executive and look for keynote speeches, groups he/she belongs to, linkedin listing, etc.

Develop a strategy of how you're going to conduct the call.

1. Based on how much time the executive gives you, how are you going to divide your time?  (Example: 5 minutes for introduction, 10 minutes asking research confirmation questions, 20 minutes asking problem questions, 10 minutes discussing solutions and 5 minutes discussing next steps.)
2. What marketing materials will you leave?
3. If you're sent down into the organization, how will you regain access to the executive?

Remember, you only get one chance to make a good 1st impression.

Sending an eMail Proposal versus Sending a Hard Copy Proposal
Arguably, the most important marketing piece that a salesperson creates is a proposal.  Why would you lose control of the look and feel by emailing a copy and allowing the customer to do the printing versus mailing a hard copy. 
What could go wrong with an emailed proposal?
    The customer’s printer could be misaligned.
    The customer might be out of ink.
    The customer’s printer might not be compatible or set with your margins.
    The customer’s printer might need service.
    The customer might not care what your proposal looks like.

Granted, occasionally a salesperson must email a proposal due to a client's decision time frame, but think about it for a minute...very rarely does a decision get made when a client says they are going to make their decision.  In almost all cases, the customer decision is delayed (which really throws off your forecast...that's a discussion for another time).  In almost all cases, there's time to send a hard copy either by UPS, Fed-X or US Postal snail mail. 

My point is, why wouldn't you want to control the look and feel of your most valuable marketing piece...your proposal?

Understanding the Customer's Mindset During The Buying Cycle:

Early in the buying cycle, a customer may or may not know if they need your product or service.  During this time, you're asking questions, discovering goals, problems, initiatives, etc., and you're developing interest for the customer and getting an understanding of the customer's business.  At this point in the buying cycle, the customer is concerned with whether or not they need to change.  They are in a "Problem Definition" mindset.  At this point in the buying cycle, there is low to no risk of pursuing a possible solution other than time.

Once the customer gets interested in pursuing a change, they go to a "Evaluation of Choices" mindset.  During this phase of the buying cycle, the customer is listening to product presentations, looking at demos, beginning to understand the benefits your products and services offers and begins to visualize a better future.  This is called the Presentation Stage of the Sales Cycle.  Salespeople love this phase because they are doing what they enjoy doing, making sales calls and presenting their products and services.  Plus the customer is actually a good time during this phase.  They want to see you, they take your phone calls and they make appointments with you.  If you do a good job, you're asked to propose.

The next phase for the customer is a "Price" mindset.  It's here in the buying cycle that you're asked to present a proposal.  Again, salespeople are having a great time because the customer is easy to see and interested in your proposal.  All salespeople love this phase of the buying cycle because we're doing the things we enjoy...presenting and proposing.  On the customer side, they're comparing Price to Value.  In other words, what do I get for my money?

Once the customer is committed to pursuing a change in the way they do things, in other words they have found a viable solution, narrowed the vendor field down to 1 to 3 vendors, their mindset changes.  And its important for all salespeople to understand that this happens very quickly.  At this point in the buying cycle, risk begins to rear its ugly head and the customer moves to a "Risk versus Reward" mindset.  They begin to do due diligence.  They ask themselves if your company is the right company, is there a better company out there and maybe even back peddle a bit and ask if this is the best solution?    Things begin to slow down for salespeople from the fast paced "Evaluation Of Choices" and "Price" phase, especially if this mindset change occurs at the end of a month, quarter or year end.  All of a sudden, the customer is not as easy to see or make appointments with.  This is where the customer begins to compare "Price to Value".  And if you don't have benefit statements or return on investment statements in your proposal, there's nothing to compare.  Sure, you might have discussed it during your product presentations and demos, but that could have been weeks ago or months ago.  It's critical during this "Risk vs Reward" phase to do everything you can to lower perceived risk and the way to do that is to relate everything in your proposal to a customer benefit, a customer value or to customer ROI. 

Do 2 things instead of "Incentivizing" your customer to make their decision by lowering your price.  #1,Tackle "Risk vs Reward" earlier in the Buying Cycle.  Tackle risk when you're giving presentations, demos, and proposal presentations.  This is where and why using a Success Plan really helps to lower perceived risk and helps you maintain contact during this critical phase of the buying cycle.  Don't be so ready to panic and lower your price.  #2, lower risk by riddling your proposal with benefit statements.  Give the customer reasons to buy from you other than price.

Cold Calling Success

First, get into the mindset that the next call you make might just be your quota buster or a client who really needs what you have to sell.

Understand that you make money by being on the phone.  You don't make money when you're walking the halls, chit chatting with co-workers, talking to friends and family, and making excuses not to get on the phone.

Get off to a good start every morning.  Positive momentum builds on positive momentum.  Its hard to get into a rhythm when you don't get off to a good start.  Set early morning, late morning, early afternoon and late afternoon goals and track how you're doing.  Don't beat yourself up if you don't hit your goal, but don't think its okay to miss it either.

 It's okay to take a 5-10 minute break every hour.

Remember, you only have 20 seconds to create customer interest and make a good impression both in a voicemail and with a live person.  20 seconds is plenty of time because leaving your name, company name and phone number (twice) at the end of the message doesn't count toward your 20 seconds.  If you haven't created interest by the time you leave your contact information, the customer's not going to listen to it or call you back anyway.  And provide your telephone number slowly!  Repeat it twice, slowly.  Nothing pulls you off the radar faster than making a customer listen to your message over and over again while trying to understand and write down your phone number.

The keys to writing a good voicemail script are:
1.  Say the client's name,
2.  State your name and company,
3,  State the purpose of the call,
4.  Provide a benefit or reason the customer should be interested in talking to you.
5.  Leave your name, company name and repeat the phone number twice (slowly).    

Write down and memorize a minimum of 5 voicemail scripts.  Make sure you can get through them comfortably in 20 seconds or less at a reasonable pace.  Don't bore them with your company history, don't ask the customer to admit pain, don't ask the customer for an appointment and don't make unbelievable claims.  Your script should create curiosity and interest in what you're selling.  It should make the customer want to learn more about why you're calling.  Be prepared with the voicemail you intend to leave before you make the call so you can sound professional.  Practice leaving voice mails and record yourself so you can hear how you sound.  The goal is to come off professional and buttoned up.

Above all, always be prepared to talk to a live person everytime you make a phone call!