Hang in There

A Dartnell study from a while ago determined that the average business to business sale is made on the fifth sales call. They also learned that forty-eight percent of salespeople don’t make the second call. Almost half of sales people are statistically out of the competition after the first call. I’m not going to dispute their numbers. They are close enough for me.

We all know that a minority of salespeople make most of the sales. There are a number of reasons why some thrive while others just survive.

Some of the success factors are within the power of individuals to manage. Other factors are out of our control. Is there a market for your product or service? If so who are the buyers and why do they buy from you? If you are selling carbon paper you are out of luck no matter how good you are.

Part of a successful sales career is the ability to accept rejection. It goes with the landscape. We mostly lose and win once in a while. That happens to be enough to make a good to great living.

Good to great

What separates the good from the great? If you’ve been with me for a while you know that I believe that a slight edge wins the day in sales and every other competitive activity.

Don’t give up too soon

Let’s go back to the forty-eight percent of salespeople who don’t make the second call. I believe that these people gave up on their lead too soon. OK, sometimes there is no hope, but most of the time they give up too soon. For those that give up because they are going through the motions and don’t really care, I can’t help you. If you aren’t getting the results you need and care, here is some good advice that will help you break through barriers and land the second encounter.

Ask another question or two…

If your prospect tells you “no” or “not interested” and if you terminate the call, you are selling yourself short. You must ask the next question and then another question. By doing so, you’ll find out what it will take to move the sales forward or really confirm that there is no opportunity.

Let’s role play

Here are some examples of the right and wrong way to handle a prospect for your product or service.

This is the wrong way:
“I’m not interested”
“OK, good bye”

This is a much better tactic:
“I’m not interested”
“Why not?”
“I can’t afford your product”
“What if we offered twelve easy payments?”
“Now I’m interested. Tell me more”

It’s just that simple

The message is clear. If you give up too easily and bail out too early you will squander a lot of opportunities and leave them for others to close. If you will just condition yourself to ask one or two more questions when on the phone or in front of your prospect, some prospects will open up and give you what you need to develop your sales opportunity. Now...step over the line into the fifty percent of salespeople who earn the chance to make the second call and develop new business by not giving up too soon.