The Just Ask Close

Just Ask For The Order

 

At the end of your sales call there is only one thing to do. Ask for the order. There are easy methods to get your prospective customer to yes.

 

There is a method that I refer to as the little decision closing technique. Other ways to close the sales are the act now close and the assumptive close. These tactics can stand alone or can all be used to complement each other during the tender period as you bring your sales call to an end and solicit positive purchasing decision.

 

I am making an assumption that during your sales presentation you are selling a product or service to a prospect that has a need, a budget and decision authority to buy from you. If not, all bets are off.

 

That said, if you have done a good job of prospecting, qualifying and interviewing your prospect you have earned the right to ask for their business.

 

A simple observation I would like to share with you is that your prospect know exactly who you are, who you represent and why you asked for their time. If they gave you and appointment it is a very good and positive sign. I don’t make appointments with salespeople unless I am interested in their topic. My time is valuable to me. I do not waste my time meeting with people who have not won my interest before setting the meeting. Your prospect’s time is just as valuable to them as mine is to me. If they give you an appointment you are staring out in a very good position.

 

This brings me to my final suggestion to end the sales interview and win an order. I personally prefer to just ask for the order. No gimmicks, no games, no tricks, just a simple yes or no answer. If I have done a good job along the way and the prospects says no, I immediately ask them why not, answer the objection(s) and ask for the order again.

 

Here are some simple statements that you can use to just ask for the order:

 

“Are you ready to move forward with my proposal?”

“Let’s do this.”

 “I’m ready to get started, how about you?”

 “Are we in agreement?”

 

No matter how you go about closing your sale it is very important to let your prospect answer any and all questions you pose before you talk again. You will be penalized for continued chatter while closing business. Let your prospect talk. Let them answer. They will tell you yes or tell you no. Again, if they say no you get to ask some variation of “why not?” Either way, you are still in the game.

 

Just ask? Yes, it is a very simple way to end your sales presentation successfully. There was a lot of preparation and skill required to get the prospect and the sale to a conclusion. If you did a good job during the sales process, closing the sale should be easy.

 

Now, go and close a deal. Good selling.

Assume the Closing Position

The Assumptive Close

Closing a sales is a relatively easy to do if you have successfully gone through a quality sales interview with a qualified buyer. My style is consultative selling or problem solving. This style of selling is based on getting the prospect to talk about his or her needs after leading them with relevant, progressive probing questions. The objective is to get to a point where you both agree that there is a problem that you can solve for an investment by the buyer.

Closing is just asking for the order.

There are a few simple ways to get to the end of the sales process. There is the act now close, the little decision close and the assumptive close. You can use any three of these methods to close the order. They all work. Another easy way to close sales is to just ask for the order. “Will you buy from me?” also works just fine.

Let’s look at the assumptive closing method. The assumptive close is a little more nervy and tricky than the others. It can backfire if deemed to heavy handed.

The premise of the assumptive close is that all during the interview you and your prospect have agree on the problems and the solutions you have offered. You may have stopped a few times along the way to do some trial closing. “Will that feature solve this problem?” After a few or more yeses you can assume that the prospect is going to purchase and become your customer.

The tender moment when you apply the assumptive close can be played out with simple statements or questions..

 

• "Just sign here and I will get your order processed.”
• “Please write a deposit check for $100.00.”
• “What is the purchase order number?”

 

Next?

If they don’t put up a fight you have won the order. Enjoy your victory and move on to the next call. If they do object to your assumption don’t panic. Objections are a normal occurrence in sales. They happen often.

 

Handling objections is easy if you have done a good job during the sales interview.

 

• Repeat the objection to your prospect so that you have a clear mutual understanding of their concern.
• Answer the objection if you can. Use the notes from your interview to point out what the prospect said earlier on that particular issue.
• Get agreement.
• Close again.

 

If you like, feel free to upgrade your close with a few little decision and an act now value statement.

 

Earlier you told me that this feature would solve an important issue for you. Has anything changed? Good then we can move forward. Will you be paying cash or will you take advantage of our payment plan (little decision)? Place the order today and I will be able to process it and deliver your product before Christmas (act now).

My favorite sales trainer, Mark Thelen, said that no is non-yes. If you don’t win the order on a sales call you have failed somewhere along the way. It is your fault not the prospect’s fault. Learning, practicing and using proven closing methods just makes good sense and helps salespeople succeed.

 

Assume that the order is yours. You have earned it.

Good closing!

Little Decisions

Closing the sale is difficult for most salespeople while relatively easy for others. The answer is that closers have done a good job of targeting and qualifying a customer then following a proven sales process to bring the sales event to a successful conclusion. The close is just a formality of the entire process that has been expertly crafted and executed.

Closing techniques do not have to be difficult nor tricky.

In my last article I talked about the “act now” closing technique. Retailers use this tactic all of the time. They offer a reduced price or enhancement (a TV, for example) for a finite time and then encourage buyers to pull the trigger in time or lose out. In manufacturing or distribution or any business-to-business environment, offers like delivery date, pending price increase and others are used to stimulate “act now” decisions.

Little decisions are another tactic widely used to bring a buyer to yes. Little decisions give you, the seller, a clue when to bring out contracts and ask for deposits or whatever you use to finalize your sales transaction acceptance. When you ask little questions you learn what answers are go-ahead signals to move forward. When you get the correct answer to a closing question or two you have, in essence, gotten to yes. Stop what you are doing and assume you made the sale, and then move forward with the termination of your process. (contract, work order, deposit, etc.)

Here are a couple of real world examples.

You: When do you need your new software to go live?

Them: January 1^st.

You: Well then you need to get the project started immediately. Sign here and I will get the project scheduled in our system.

You: Will you need 3 or 4 printers?

Them: 4.

You: OK, just initial work order here and we’ll have the 4^th printer.

You: Will you be paying cash or financing your purchase?

Them: I would like your 24 month financing.

You: That’s fine. Let’s fill out the credit application and get your financing approved.

Are they crafty or slick? No. Do they work? Yes.

Here is my disclaimer. If you aren't working with a qualified prospect that needs your product or service it is hard to close any deal under any circumstances. You have to lead them through an interview in which they tell you their pain and you then offer your solution(s). At the end of the sales interview you get to ask for the order. You earned the right to ask. How you ask is your little decision.

If they don’t buy, you have made a mistake somewhere along the way. “Act now” and “little decision” are nice little comfortable ways to move from your sales pitch to the finish line. If you didn’t make the sale, find out what went wrong and fix it for next time.

Act Now and Save

Act Now and Save

A proven sales tactic over the years has been the “act now” close. It requires some kind of incentive to get your prospect to say yes and give you the order. The reason for “act now” can be positive or negative. Either way it works if done right.

A positive reason to encourage your prospect to act now could be a price concession or other throw in.

When I sold medical billing computer systems to doctors, I used this tactic often and it worked for me most of the time. Of course, I had already qualified them to be a customer and had gone through a discovery, presentation and proposal cycle. If I did not get the order on the spot, I was ready to deal with the prospect later. I had some flexibility in each sale so I could offer an incentive and still make a profitable deal.

Here are a couple of positive examples:

“If you act now I am authorized to include an extended service contract with your purchase. It represents a $500 value. The offer will expire at the end of the month. Act now. “

“If you act now, I can put your order in front of the others and get your system up and operational by the end of the year. If you don’t act now I can’t do it, if not, I can’t”

“I have five certificates for a free Windows 8 upgrade.  If you act now, I can give one of them to you.”

And, a few negative examples:

“If you act now you can avoid the 15% price increase schedule to take place after the end of the year.”

“Your current system is in dire shape. If you don’t act now you might lose valuable programs and data at any time. Please act now.”

“Your software will not be supported after the first of the year. To avoid potential problems and act now.”

I will leave it up to you to create some great “act-now” rationale for clients and prospects in your industry.

Give it a try

Again, assuming the prospect has the need, budget and decision making power, I recommend that you pull out “act now” and give them a call. You can do it and by doing so, finish the sales year strong.

No Water - No Beer

No water – no beer? That is about as spot on a statement as I have ever heard. I went to a national water convention a few years ago. “No Water – No Beer” was the theme of the convention. There is some profound truth here. I would like to use it as a metaphor for business and sales careers.

A Metaphor for Business Development

Water represents your product or services. Beer represents your reward for delivering your products or services. Without water there will be no beer. Without products or services that represent real value to someone there will be no reward.

Making the Bell Ring

I work with a lot of sales and business people. They are either my clients or mentees. I spend my time helping them understand and solve business development issues. Absolutely everyone I deal with is driven to make more sales and more money for their effort.  All of them believe that they have products or services that are of great value to someone. When true, my job in helping them develop their business is relatively easy. Do certain things and avoid others and you will succeed.

The Elephant in the Room

Unfortunately, it is not always that easy. When push comes to shove the reality of a lack of value and demand for their offering is the elephant in the room. They either lack an understanding of their market potential or run on their infatuation for their product or service that is often supported by their friends and loved ones who don’t tell them the truth.

Reality

I know entrepreneurs who invest their savings, max out their credit cards, mortgage their houses, and borrow money from family, friends and fools chasing a dream that, in the end, was folly. I was on a panel of sales experts at a regional business incubator. After the event, a woman told me about her new venture with an online meeting tool organization. It is a multi-level marketing sales deal. She had stated her company, invested in the franchise and asked me my opinion of her potential. I had to tell her that there are two popular websites that provide the same or similar services for free. She had entered into a business where she is competing with free competition. She didn't know. She had no idea. I was sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you would have thought that she would have done some elementary research before spending her precious time and money.

Research…Then Research Some More

The first two questions that I ask a new client or mentee are “Who buys from you?” and “Why do they buy?” Why will people give you money? Why? Where are they? And, what do you say to them to make the sale? You just have to know that there is water to make your beer or you are wasting your time.

I Can’t Do It

I have a reputation, with many, as a skilled sales professional. I have been to the mountain a few times over my long career. I take selling dead on seriously. My reality is that, short of selling snake oil, I can’t succeed with a product or service that has no real value or demand in the market.

Take Great Care

So, my message today is to invest whatever time and resources necessary to validate the value of your products and/or services in the marketplace. Don’t buy happy talk from your family and friends. They love you and mean well. Salesperson, entrepreneur or established businessperson…you owe it to yourself to make sure you have a sufficient supply of water to make the beer. Cheers!

Your Personal Brand

Your brand, or reputation, is important. Doing a good job of branding yourself is a proven way to differentiate you from the pack. The idea is to demonstrate to customers, prospective customers and influencers that you are better than your competition. Getting the message out that you are a good person to deal with should become part of your personal business plan. You do have a plan…don’t you?

My last three posts have dealt with your education, investing in yourself and selling yourself. Building a brand is an extension of those three messages, and could be the hardest thing you do.

The best way to go about building your reputation-brand, as a professional that knows what he or she are doing, is to create content on your subject. That’s right, you know a lot about your specialty. You know more than most of your competitors and can prove it. The best way to get that message across is to…well…get the message across.

In the world of building and maintaining my personal brand, creating and delivering subject matter content was and is at the core of my personal promotion branding activities.

My business is consulting. People give me money for my advice and services. I show my clients how to grow their businesses by increasing sales. My consulting has caused a local company to grow from $1 million dollars in sales per year to $1 million dollars of sales per month in eighteen months. Not bad. And, it has made me a very busy guy. My docket is full and my cash flow is terrific.

Going from a business idea a few years ago to becoming as billable as I care to be was assisted greatly by the subject matter content that I created, published and distributed. I know my stuff, but I found it difficult to approach strangers and tell them “You should really hire me. I’m good. No kidding.” That is clumsy and uncomfortable, and not very professional. Your message is much more powerful and meaningful if it comes from a third party, or…if you tell your story in a neutral setting.

One way to establish your brand and build your business is to speak to groups. Booking a speaking engagement is easier than you think. Just get the word out within your network and the opportunities will come. You must be good and deliver a valuable and relevant message. That given, your next client could very well be sitting in the audience. Whenever I speak, I offer a free hour of my time to anyone in the audience to discuss their individual challenges. Some of them take me up on it and some of them hire me. It’s that simple. Talk about an easy sales process.

I also rely on three technology platforms to support my brand. The first is my website. The web is essentially an online brochure. I update it now and then with events and accomplishment. It also has a library of recommendations from the happy campers I have helped in the past. The web is a low cost and high performance tool that anyone can manage for themselves.

The next tool that I use is an e-mail marketing service. I create a monthly newsletter that is distributed to my customers, prospective customers, influencers and associates. I feature upcoming events, review recent events, feature a technology, a company in my network and offer myself as a speaker for the readers group or association. Every time I publish the newsletter I get a positive response or two. How hard is it to create and publish a newsletter? Not hard, nor is it expensive.

The third leg of my triad of technology tools is my blog. A blog is a place to post your thoughts on your subject to share with your audience. A blog is not an advertisement or a commercial. Your blog is a platform, to deliver relevant content to your audience that will benefit them and make them come back for more. The beauty of the blog is that the Internet really likes content. As you blog, you create a bunch of content on your subject. After so many blogs, you have enough material to publish a white paper if you have a theme and stick with it (like I have been doing with my last few posts). Over time, you should have enough material for a book. A published author is special and a proven subject matter expert.

The good news is that you don’t need to spend a lot of time on these supporting technologies. I routinely write during non-selling hours. Saturday or Sunday mornings are my prime writing times. If you are uncomfortable writing, get a MP3 player and dictate your material. There is software that can convert your dictation to text. There are also people who can transcribe your dictation for a modest fee.

So there you have it. Establish your expertise and separate yourself from the pack with content. You are an expert and you know it. It’s time to show it.

Selling Yourself

People Buy From People. 

Customers deal with whom they have the most confidence. If you do a good job of selling yourself they will be most comfortable when considering dealing with you. When putting your information together, it can be about you personally, about your company or a mix of both. Some salespeople have little to talk about. Others have too much. Everyone has something and it’s important to organize your credentials and use them to your advantage.

Some sales experts think that if you do a good job of assembling your credentials and presenting them early in a selling situation you can put that behind you and get on with selling your products or services. I believe that expertly presenting credentials in your interview is a powerful tactic. I do it routinely.

My caution is that if you give them too much or if your pitch comes off as cocky or as bragging it will backfire. When you put your credentials together make the presentation short, powerful and as humble and sincere as you can. Practice it on friends, colleagues, or family. Get their honest feedback and fix problems. After working through the nuts and bolts you will be ready.

Education

Your education is a great start for building a case that you are a good person to do business with. If you have a degree in a field related to your business focus, you will establish an advantage. Certifications are also really good when building your profile.

Achievements

Speak about your business accomplishments. If you have solved some major problems for customers, performed at a high level or have done anything else of note, let people know. Results are what customers are paying you for. If you have had successes they can be used as leverage for getting your prospective customer to accept your proposal.

Awards

Achievements are great. Awards are better. Getting the word out about your accomplishments is very good. When someone else, a third party, recognizes you for your accomplishments it is much better and carries a lot more weight than when coming from you.  I have received national and local awards over the years (Technology Pacesetter, Top Partner, Marketing and Sales Executives of Detroit Platinum Award finalist and more). I have used the power of these awards to separate myself from my competitors. The natural question to my prospect is “Why deal with them when you can deal with someone the industry or third parties honor…me?”

References

Reference letters are a terrific sales tool. They are not as powerful as awards, but very close. You don’t usually get these letters of reference unless you solicit them. When you do get them, make sure you have the source’s permission to use them. Also, check in with your happy campers once in a while and make sure they are still happy.

Community Service

There are times when your community service doesn’t matter to a customer. There are other times when your community service can be a difference between making a sale and losing the deal. You don’t have to go overboard, but a track record as a volunteer says a lot to a buyer about your character.

There you have it. Your credentials matter. Selling yourself as a trusted advisor, a good person to deal with is an important part of the sales process and should not be overlooked.

Invest in Yourself

Following up on last month's topic...

I find it funny that salespeople who need to upgrade their skills and product knowledge are generally indifferent to learning. Opportunity after opportunity to invest in themselves, enhance their careers and improve their income, are passed on by. And they wonder why they keep losing business to their competition and don't make their numbers. Duh!

When all things are equal, people buy from product knowledge experts before giving their money to novices. In fact, some customers will pay more for the security they get from working with experts. They have comfort that their investment and the outcome of their transaction are secure because their vendor salesperson "gets it".

Learning is an ongoing challenge. Things change. And those that don't stay current get left behind and either don't know why or have a bunch of excuses for their failures.

Whatever you studied in technical school or college may or may not be useful in your career. The truth is that it really doesn't matter where you are in the spectrum of subject matter or sales skills expertise. What matters is that you seek out materials and programs that can elevate your status and give you an edge over your competitors.

Remember, most people are indifferent to ongoing education. They don’t have or don't make the time, don't appreciate the value of learning, don't have a clue or just don't care. By making an effort to learn you will eclipse your competition quickly. The funny thing is that they probably won't even know it.

Knowledge is power. What I neglected to do last month is give you some ideas and sources for sales and industry information.

Ok, here's a start. Attend my sales training seminars.  I have been selling for over 40 years and have a lot of good material. A few gems from my class will put money in your pocket.

There are other sales and marketing experts. Attend their seminars; buy their books read their blogs. I do. I may be an expert, but things change and I need to stay on the edge. I have my own personal continuous education program.

The Internet offers a plethora of information on selling and on the topic(s) of your business. 

You can subscribe to industry and sales magazines. They arrive every month and tell you what's new in selling and in your industry. Tips, tools and tactics delivered to your door.

Go to the library. You can learn everything you need to know and more by reading books. The library has more relevant books than you have time to read.

Attend industry events. National, regional, state and local trade associations feature training. Many times the classes provide you with certifications that you can use to your advantage in a sales situation.

Take advantage of vendor sponsored training. They are highly interested in ramping up your level of knowledge in their products or services. Most host seminars, webinars, videos and other cool training opportunities.

Make friends with the top people in your space. You know the ones. They are highly successful, make the most sales and money and wipe up their unsuspecting competition. Get to know these people real well. Stick close. Observe. Ask a lot of questions. Figure it out. This is one strategy where you can really get an education and step up your game.

Don't hang out with negative people with a list of excuses. It won't help you. Run with the winners.

Finally, do it. Don't talk about investing time in yourself. Do not put it off. Start now. I know you are busy. You might say that you are too busy to devote time to continuous education.  Wrong answer.

Schedule some time every week for self-improvement. It will pay off immediately and will continue to reward you in the future.

Know more, sell more!

Product Knowledge

Some years ago, I decided that the secret of a successful sales career is based on a foundation of three fundamentals, activity, sales skills and product knowledge. As a sales trainer, coach and mentor, I firmly believe that all three elements are essential. Ignore any one of these three parts of your career puzzle and you won’t reach your potential.

I teach sales skills. I refer to my material as Sales Mechanics. You can learn how to sell. I can help. There are ways to approach selling. In very simple terms, there is a right way and a wrong way to behave as a sales professional. There are things that you should do and things you should not do to build a successful sales career (or business).

In the current edition of CRM Magazine, Marshall Lager points out that most professionals are referred to as practitioners. Why? They are practitioners because they are always practicing their professions. Like doctors, attorneys and accountants, sales professionals are on a journey that never ends. The business world is constantly moving. You have change with the times or get left behind.

I help people sharpen their sales skills. However, I do not have any control over their product knowledge or their level of sales activities. Product knowledge and sales activity are out of my control. These essentials are out of my control. I can only encourage everyone to become an expert at what they represent and to work hard and smart.

This brings me to Percy Whiting. Percy Whiting wrote a classic sales book, The 5 Great Rules of Selling. I got my copy in 1970. It was a textbook for the Dale Carnegie sales training class. I launched my sales career in 1970 after attending the Dale Carnegie program.

I picked the book up last week and decided to read it again. It has been over 40 years since I last opened it up. After reading the table of contents, I really looked forward to getting back into it. The material is timeless. I was amused when Percy noted that he got his first sales job in 1918. What really got my attention was that he led off the book talking about the importance of product knowledge. His take on the value of product knowledge consumed the better part of the first nineteen pages.

I strongly believe that people prefer to buy from subject matter experts.

My marquee client is enjoying the best consecutive sales years in the forty year history of the company with no end in sight. Why? Their sales are soaring because they employ, arguably, the leading product expert in the industry. They have a sales team of nine, but when there is something big on the line, the expert is on the sales call and in the room.

I can’t teach product knowledge, but I am a big fan of my clients becoming subject matter experts. There are a lot of ways to gain product and industry knowledge. Continuous education in your field provides you with a huge differential advantage over your competition. Become that “go to” product person. Become the expert with the answers and insight.

Oh yeah, don’t forget sales skills and sales activities along the way. And, you can still buy a copy of The 5 Great Rules of Selling. I highly recommend it.

Happy Talk

Everyone wants and needs encouragement. Positive support from our family, friends and peers helps us along our way as we journey through life. Kind words help us keep a good attitude when things don’t go our way.

Staying Positive

I try to be positive. I appreciate people who are positive, especially when I am the recipient of their good words and deeds. I always try to stand behind my friends, colleagues and clients. Being there for people is just a natural and good thing to do.

Reality Check

In my day-to-day world I meet and mentor a lot of businesses. My clients are mostly individuals who have launched a business and have taken their dream to some plateau along their way to success.

Unfortunately, some of the business concepts that are presented to me are not good. As I listen to some of the business plans of these really nice people I am really concerned that they are not going to make a go of it. How can this be?

Didn’t anyone tell them that they have fundamental problems with their dream business?

Some of the elephants in the room are apparent. Others are not.

Product viability, the market, competition, technology and funding are some of, but not nearly all, of the road blocks these brave souls face while getting up and running.

Blind Faith

When an Entrepreneur tells me that he will really get rolling “When I get funded”, I want to just stop them and tell them that they are not getting funded. Statistically, based on the reality of the business capital market, they not get funded. If they don’t have a plan “B”, they will be back in the job market just as soon as they run out of their family and friends money.

Tough Love

More often than not, I tell them what I think. My opinion is not often received well. It hurts to tell and hear the truth. Some call it tough love.

I Need Truth

This brings me to the manuscript of my latest book How to Employ Salespeople. I’ve been writing this book for years. The first manuscript was printed in 2009. I don’t even know when I started it. It was years ago. A year or so ago, I decided to get it ready to publish.

After I read it over and over again, making countless changes, I thought it might be ready to go. Before I sent it off to the publisher, I distributed copies of the manuscript to my best friends and associates. I asked them ahead of time to give me an honest assessment of the material. My editor will take care of grammar, spelling and punctuation problems; I really needed to know if the message was powerful and worthy of continuing the publishing process. Tell me true.

Getting negative feedback was like pulling teeth. Nobody wanted to go negative on me.  Fortunately, a few of them pointed out some things that I needed fix to and I did correct them.

Practice Tough Love

You are not helping anyone if you tell them anything other than the truth about their business plan, their book or anything meaningful. As a good and trusted friend and advisor they need truth, not happy talk. 

That is Not Selling

People who offer to sell their products or services based on their position as the lowest priced competitor continue to baffle me. Selling based on the lowest price may sometime be a short term success, but it always becomes a mid and long term loser.

I practiced price cutting in the late 1970’s. Among the things I sold to doctors was a diagnostic test. My price was $1 per unit. Each test cost me twenty five cents, so this was a very profitable business. I had a couple of competitors who were just as smart (dumb) as I was. Over time, we all kept chipping away at the price we sold the tests for and the retail price was ultimately driven down to twenty five cents, my cost. Some knucklehead, with my help, had killed the goose. I got out. I changed product lines and immediately helped destroy profit margins and another great market.

Price is only one element of a balanced sales proposition. The other elements are quality and service. In the real world, a company that cuts to the lowest price is often unable to maintain high quality and responsive customer service. There is a cost associated with quality and service. Quality and service are paid for by margins from the transaction.

Using the lowest price to book business is not selling. There is absolutely no skill required. Just show up and give your stuff away…often for no good reason.

I was challenged by a young lady in a recent sales skills event. Her point was that people shop at Walmart because of their low prices. The point was taken and acknowledged. If you are selling commodities to the general public you have a tough time fighting for margin. Most of us are not selling commodities to the general public.

Based on this lowest price logic, we would all dine at McDonalds daily. After all, they have a dollar menu. You can get a sandwich, fries and a drink for $3.00. How do they do it? Why would anyone go to Morton’s Steak House and order a Porterhouse Steak when they could save big with a double cheeseburger? Better yet, could you imagine sitting down at Morton’s and attempting to negotiate a deal on the steak with the waiter? They don’t have to cut the price and they won’t cut the price.

The good news is that you do not have to be the lowest price offering…ever!

Why not offer the highest price? That’s a challenge.

You can be the highest price competitor. The key to getting more for your product or service is for you to clearly understand why your customer will pay more. What is “extra” worth and why? What additional value are they going to get for paying a premium? Your argument needs to be valid and you need to deliver the message convincingly. It’s easy if you know your competition, can determine why you and your company are different and better and then hold your ground.

I have a cousin who is a home improvement contractor. For his entire career he has charged a premium for his work. The outcome for his premium pricing strategy was that he didn’t get as many jobs as his competition, but his jobs were very profitable. The net result is that he worked less for measurably more revenue. He was able to differentiate himself from the competition and convince his customers that they would be better off paying him more for the project. By the way, his work was great and he delivered the value he promised. How dumb was that?

How can Cadillac, BMW, Lincoln, Audi and other premium brands survive if low price is the standard for purchase decisions? Are Shula’s, Morton’s, Ruth Chris, Capital Grill and Mitchells’ just money losing tax shelters? I don’t think so.

Really, being the lowest priced salesperson is not something to be proud of. There is no selling skills involved. Stop doing it. You just don't have to.

Power Hour

A longtime friend of mine and sales professional started his career selling securities. There was a lot of phone work involved, it was mostly phone selling and he worked the phones as good as or better than anyone. I originally heard the term “Power Hour” from him. The concept is that everyone in your organization stops what they are doing at the same time and make sales phone calls.

I introduced this concept to my marquee client recently and the results were impressive.

The sales team consists of six Sales Engineers, a Marketing Manager and a Sales Administrator. These groups of sales professionals are young and ambitious. The company hit and exceeded all sales milestones and goals in 2012. So, what does a sales consultant (me) do? Of course, I asked them to do more.

The target of Power Hour were old customers who we haven’t heard from in a while and “Old No’s”. Old no’s are lost deals that purchased from a competitor.

Of course it’s easy to identify old customers who have not been in contact. A very good friend of mine (you know who you are) talks about milking the cows you own (brilliant). By calling and checking in you can see how they are doing and ask if there are any opportunities brewing. It’s an easy call to make and resulted in some new projects to get involved with.

Old no’s are a little bit harder to call. There is some strategic planning required. When you call, there is a chance, a probability, that the vendor of choice has not delivered on promises and the customer might be open to cancelling the project and working with you. They may or may not call you if unhappy, but if you call them it can trigger a dialog and an opening for you to get the sale back. This tactic works once in a while, it has worked for me and will work for you if you give it a try.

Again, the results of power hour for my client were excellent. The first Power Hour resulted in the booking of a $174,000 job. By doing this exercise as a team, it made it easier for everyone. It also was fun. So much fun that they have decided to do two power hours per week.

Do you need some business? If so, call old no’s and inactive customers. You be pleasantly surprised by what you will uncover.