Be Interested, Not Interesting
By Ron S. La Vine
President of Accelerated Sales Training, Inc.
.
I had an interesting conversation on the phone during class
the other day. This took place over the course of 20 minutes
or so with the class listening in on the conversation. Here
are some of the details I can recall.
I called on a prospect that was entrenched with another
supplier. After asking and receiving his permission to speak
we covered all the reasons why he liked his current supplier.
At this point my goal was to pinpoint what was of importance
or value to him. I asked if he was aware of the current
recall of a certain part of equipment his supplier recalled.
My intention was not to attack the supplier rather instead
to be sure he was aware of a potential problem. He said
he was aware and that the supplier had done a good job of
handling the situation.
Rather than attacking that supplier (never down talk the
competition), I chose another tact. I asked "If we
could do a better job than your current supplier, would
you be open to considering what we have to offer?"
His initial response was no.
So again I asked more questions about how was currently
doing business and kept coming back to the same question
above in different forms.
"What would we need to do to have you consider us as
an additional supplier?" The answer was still no I'm
not interested.
"What is it that you look for in a supplier and if
we could provide all those requirements would you be open
to evaluating our products?" Again he responded with
he was happy with his current supplier.
I asked if he had heard or had any experience with our company
and he replied he had a bad experience with another competitor
and therefore was leery of considering replacement or adjunct
suppliers. We agreed that his experience sounded unpleasant
and I reminded him that we were not that supplier.
He mentioned that one of his executives had an experience
with us where he had to take his equipment in to be repaired,
which was time consuming. I explained we now offered on-site
service that would eliminate that problem.
I kept the focus of the conversation on him and what was
of value to him and why. I used good old-fashioned curiosity
rather than giving up.
After letting him go on about his current supplier for a
bit, I asked, "What would we need to do to do business
with you?" This question did the trick. He detailed
all the specs of the type of equipment he was currently
using and said our product would have to meet all the specs
plus have a better price.
I started asking about the current amounts of equipment
he had in use and how often he was buying new equipment
and in what quantities. This gave me the
idea of the profitability to our company over the long run
if we could get our foot in the door.
So I followed with "What specs would our equipment
need to have for you to test or evaluate it?" He rattled
off a dozen different things including specific amounts
of memory, input-output speed and the ability to connect
with his current storage system. Once the specs started
pouring out I knew I had gained the opportunity I was looking
for which was for him to be open to considering another
or additional supplier.
So I took that information and asked my next question. "So
what you are saying that if we had a piece of equipment
that would meet or exceed those specs you would consider
looking at it?" He came back with there would need
to be no shipping charges. I said we would pick up the shipping
charges.
He came back with he would need time to conduct the evaluation.
I asked how much time. He said at least 30 days. I asked
if 60 days would be enough time and he said plenty.
I summarized the conversation and the specs that were required
in the equipment that he was going to receive and then set
up a Sales M.A.P. (mutually agreed upon process) where we
would configure the equipment and deliver it to him. I asked
for his email so I could forward some detailed product specifications
to him and said I would follow up with a phone call to be
sure he received the email and to set up a time to drop
off the equipment.
Learning to reframe situations in terms of what is important
or of value to the other person combined with "If we
could help you do it better, faster or less expensively"
seems to make it harder for a person to say "no".
Add this with being interested in what the other person
is saying instead of trying to interesting by telling why
you think your products are better and you have a winning
combination.
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Ron LaVine, MBA is president and founder of Intellworks, Inc., a sales training
firm located in Oak Park, CA. You can get a special report “41 sales Tips
You Can Use Right Now” plus Section One of The Cold Calling for Sales Success
Workbook AND the free bimonthly Sales Tips for Selling Success eZine all by signing
up at www.ast-incorp.com/free_tips_signup.htm.
If you would like information on Cold Calling Sales System for Success Live Sales
Call Training please call Ron at 818-991-6487 PST.
Copyright 2007 by Accelerated
Sales Training, Inc.
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