I Went to a Camper Show

A couple of weeks ago. on a snowy winter's day, my wife and I went to a camper show at the community college arena.

We had been discussion our plans to take a real vacation this year and camping was one of our options. I saw an ad for the show in my morning paper. There was nothing much to do and going to the camper show sounded like a pretty good thing to do.

The showroom floor was busy. There were a lot of people and what seemed to be an equal amount of salesmen in the building. Not a saleswoman in sight.

When we arrived we were approached by a salesman who engaged us by asking questions...a good sales tactic. When I told him we were looking for a summer rental he pointed to a couple of campers down the aisle. I turned around to talk to him and he was gone. When he realized that I was not a buyer he moved on. No money there for him. Good move on his part. He qualified me quickly and moved on to find a real buyer to invest his time in.

As we walked through the maze of campers we were approached by another salesman. He didn't abandon us when we asked about rentals. He provided us with the information we needed, gave us his card and asked us to call him. As we started to move on he told us that if we wanted to rent a camper for this summer that we had to reserve one now before they were all spoken for. That may have been true, but I really got a kick out of his "act now" closing technique. Good job salesman!

The third salesman we encountered started out with questions. Again, this is an excellent way to sell. He asked me what I would be pulling the camper with. When I told him that I didn't have a vehicle that could pull a camper he immediately countered with "That is great. The best way to buy a camper is to purchase the camper you want first and then buy the correct vehicle to tow it." This young man took what I told him and spun it and me like a pro. Any answer I gave him became a positive reason to make a buying decision.

I was delighted by our experience. I am not sure how going to a camper show morphed into me enjoying a clinic on selling, That was exactly what happened.

I did not buy or rent a camper. Attending the show helped us decide that camping might not be the best vacation option for us, but it was great to see sales professionals in action.

As we walked down the last aisle we came upon an impromptu sales office with six desks on each side. These was a salesman sitting at each desk sitting across from couples who appeared to be filling out paperwork. Everyone on both sides of al of the desks were leaning over the desk. Very intense. The only thing that could have enhanced the image was for the salesmen to have green visors. What appeared to be a sales manager (pit boss) walked from desk to desk helping make the deals a reality. I really would have loved to have listen to all of those closers working. Were they using the act now close, the little decision close, the assumptive close or the just ask close? Were they trial closing or using a mix of all of these methods to get to yes? I'm not sure of the answer, but one thing is for sure is that business was being done at the camper show.

It was great to see professional salespeople in action. It made my day.

Next: A free lunch at a time share event. wish me luck.

You Don't Always Win

The percentage of prospects that buy from you after your sales appointment and closing attempts is referred to as your closing percentage. Prospects don’t all buy every time in spite of your best effort to convince them. The reality of selling is that no one has a 100% closing ratio. At the height of my personal success selling medical insurance billing systems to doctors, my personal sales closing ratio was less that 50%., and I was looked on as a leader in my industry. My best salespeople closed 20% - 25% of the deals they chased and they made a lot of money. You just lose more than you win in sales. That is how it works.

If They Say No

I was taught early in my sales career to take responsibility for my failures. It was good advice that has served me well. If a prospective customer says no to my offer after a focused sales sit down I only have myself to blame for the failure. If you are faced with no, take a deep breath and try to figure it out what happened and fix it.

“No is not no, it is non-yes.” Mark Thelen, My favorite sales trainer.

Objections

Objections are a term for the reason or reasons the prospect does not want to buy your product or service.

Overcoming objections is a deliberate method to answer and neutralize reasons the prospect rejected your closing offer. If you can get them to state the objection or objections to a purchasing decision you have a fighting chance to neutralize them and ask for the order again.

 

• Ask them why they are not buying.
• Confirm the objection. Ask them to confirm what you have heard.
• Put the objection in perspective. “How often will your objection issue happen every year?” If the answer is once or twice, you can overcome the objection with the many other positive reasons that your prospect has already agreed to.
• Look at your notes from the sales interview. If you were using the trial closing technique, you probably have all of the fuel you need to overcome, answer and ask for the order again.
• Offer a solution to the objection. “If you can’t pay the full amount today, why not take advantage of our 90 days same as cash option?” Wait for the answer. If they accept your counter offer you have made the sale. Congratulations.

Objections are normal, particularly when there is a lot on the line. Learn to deal with and handle objections. There are only a few objections that you will hear over and over again. They may be slightly different, but over time (hopefully not much time) you will adeptly answer the core objections effectively as second nature.

If your prospects repeatedly say no and mean it your closing problems might go deeper than just mastering closing techniques and overcoming objections. There are a lot of steps and barriers standing between prospecting for leads and cashing the check. If your closing ratio is a low number and if you are struggling to book business a serious analysis of your step-by-step processes is in order. If this is your personal condition I suggest that you get a mentor or coach and work it out.

Never forget that your mission as sales professionals is to locate opportunity, develop each prospect, sit down with them, skillfully pitch your product or service to them and ask for the order. Closing business is the end game and the final measure of success.