While many of you are already benefiting from our discussion on how to convert leads to customer from last week and question I have been getting is  how to deal with the “let me think it over” objection.

The trick with this objection is determining whether it’s a real objection or not. Some prospects toss out this objection because they want to get rid of you. Some prospects really do need time to think about it. How can you tell them apart? Here is a highly effective 2 step model you can use to get to the real hesitation while giving you the right information required to close the business.

1. Stop look and listen

Start by doing nothing at all. Wait patiently for 3 seconds whether on the phone or in person.

Silence creates a space between you and the objection that’s needed for the prospect to jump in and provide more information. Since most prospects are uncomfortable with the silence they tend to provide you with details of their objections within 1-2 seconds. This technique works amazingly well IF you are disciplined enough to bite your tongue for just 3 seconds. Platinum member Autumn Shirley swears that this is the most effective sales technique I have taught her in 5 years of working with me!

When the prospect does jump in, they will elaborate on the “let me think about it” objection and reveal their true concerns. Maybe they have to take your proposal to their manager. Maybe they have to wait for budget approval. Or perhaps they are waiting for a partner to present an alternative solution. Regardless of what they reveal it will be valuable information for you to know.

2. Emphasize and Ask

After you have been silent, its now time to speak up! But always in the form of a question first. To test the legitimacy of the objection start by empathizing with the prospect and follow up with a clarifying question. For example,

Prospect: “Let me think about it.”

You: Thanks for letting me know, I think it’s smart of you to consider all your options. I’m curious”

• “what concerns so you still have? Or
• “what’ is causing you to hesitate?” Or
• “what is your number one concern about not proceeding further?” Or
• “how will you make a decision to go ahead or not?

These two steps when used together allow the prospect a comfortable and open environment to open up. Helping you to determine if the objection is real, a stall tactic, or worse…just a put off!

For more ideas on how to get past this objection and get to closing more sales be sure to register for our  free call on February 25 at noon Eastern. This call will address all your lead conver4sion issues including how to get your prospect to call you back, how to get them live on the phone and how to move them from prospect to client using best practices, and tested strategies that are guaranteed to hep you close sales faster. I’ll even be showcasing a couple examples that could benefit from a lead conversion make-over and letting you kow where they could make improvements to increase sales.

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

P.S. Remember, this call is absolutely free – and it’s packed full of information that you can use right away to close more sales in less time. Register now!  www.EngageSelling.com/convert

How do I get prospects to take action?

This is a common question I hear during training sessions. And one that was of the top of your list as reported during our sales survey in January

We are all facing pressure from our companies our managers and even yourselves (or maybe even your bank!) to close deals now. Yet often you’re getting the put off from clients who are not returning calls, hiding behind email or want you to call them back next month or next quarter.

“We’re too busy now!” “Call me back next month” “I need more time” are the most frustrating stalling tactics you hear in sales. Worse, they force you and your prospect into a game of cat and mouse with you chasing your prospects in voice mail and email for what seems like an eternity. And, in my experience if you are chasing, you can’t be closing.

So what can you do to stop your prospects from stalling – and get them to take action now? Here is a top idea we teach Engage client’s that you can profit from too

Use the M³ Model for closing deals more effectively.

Step 1: Before any sales call or face to face meeting take 5 minutes to plan your goals. Set the following 2 goals before you make any sales call

1. M¹ What is your Minimum expectation for the call. Ideas could be:

• To secure a next meeting
• To receive the verbal approval?
• To be referred to a decision maker??

2. M² What is your Maximum expectation for the call? Ideas could be:

• To receive verbal approval
• To get the order
• To negotiate a final price

Step 2: Once you have met either your Minimum or Maximum, carve out your M^{3 by} confirming your  Move forward step. Move forward steps MUST include:

• date and time for the next step to be executed which has been communicated to the prospect
• next steps documented in the client file and in your calendar

To goal of M³ is to encourage the customer to be specific in the follow up actions. If the client stalls or is vague try:

“Thanks for letting me know that next month is better for you. What date would you want to place the order?” Or:

“I would be happy to call you back next month. Would Tuesday, July 11th at 10:00 a.m. work for you?”

Now, you might be thinking “but Colleen this approach assumes I can even get the prospect on the telephone! and I have only been able to leave voice mails for him for a month!”

Don’t worry, during our free call on February 25 at noon Eastern we will be sure to cover ideas on how to get your prospect to call you back, how to get them live on the phone and how to move them from prospect to client using best practices, and tested strategies that are guaranteed to hep you close sales faster

Dedicated to increasing your sales,

Colleen

P.S. Remember, this call is absolutely free – and it’s packed full of information that you can use right away to close more sales in less time. Register now!  www.EngageSelling.com/convert

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Very soon I will be speaking for the Love, Sex and Business Tele-Seminar series and I would love for you to join me. When you attend this tele-seminar you will hear from the most inspiring, motivating and high achieving speakers who reveal steps and secrets to managing your business and keeping your marriage and relationship healthy at the same time. Listen to those who have gone before us – creating successful businesses and strong marriages together. You can attend this event live in your home or office via easy to use webinar or tele-seminar. And the best part is you don’t have to pay a cent for it….

If you work with your spouse, or want to work with your spouse  I encourage you to attend. On this call you will hear from many work / life partners who have found a way to succeed in business and in life together.  For example, from me, you will learn about how my husband Chris Chris Voice left his corporate executive job as a CTO for a publicly traded software firm (and his nice 5 figure salary with benefits!) to join me as an equal partner at Engage Selling Solutions 3yrs ago.  It hasn’t been all easy and I plan to be truthful on this call about what it takes to be profitable and happy together!

Join us at Love, Sex and Business Tele-Seminar

Colleen

When is a football game not just a football game? When it becomes a sales lesson as well! Here are 4 winning tips from Sunday’s big game that you can apply to your business today

1. Big risks can pay off big.  The Saint’s on side kick to start the second half was a gutsy move, and one that they almost messed up. They came through big on the play, and by the clock’s count took only 3 minutes and 19 seconds to score a touchdown. If you aren’t going to take risks when the stakes are high when are you going to take risks? I think it was a bold move clearly designed by a coach who was in the game to win. What risk can you take in your sales approach today that has the potential for a high payoff?

2) Thinking of the onside kick…. Sure, it was ugly. It created a mad and chaotic scramble. And the Saints barely recovered the ball.  But  they did in fact recover the ball and win the play. Remember that you don’t always have to win big or win better (you do have to win legally and honestly). You just have to win. By an inch or by a landslide, winning is winning. It didn’t matter that the Saints, bumbled, stumbled and then recovered. Just that they recovered. The Lombardy trophy goes to the team with the most points at the end of the game. Whether you have 1 more or 100 more points, doesn’t matter. 

Are you setting your goals too high? Have they become un obtainable? There is a point where you can make yourself unproductive by shooting for a win that is so big, you lose site on what it really takes to hit your targets. The result is overwhelm and frustration. Make sure your objectives are in check.

3. CBS executed a masterful brand integration during 1/2 time. They own the rights to the game. They broadcast CSI. CSI uses The Who for all their theme songs. And The Who plays at half time. Brilliant! Not only did they play, they played all three CSI theme songs. Do you think that was by accident? I don’t. Nice touch too that the game was played in one of the CSI cities. While you make not have liked the concert (and many didn’t) you can’t help but recognize the amazing branding and consistency the concert represented. How are you consistently representing your brand and your assets to the market place? Are you leveraging everything you do or own? Are you using multiple media types to promote yourself to the market?

4. People pay for what they want, not for what they need. The city of Miami is benefiting from a $125 million economic windfall from the game. Arguably this windfall is coming from companies and people who could be spending their money on other things. Things they need more than football (and I know I am treading lightly on this line to all the ardent football fans!). Employee retention, topping up pension programs, health care,  mortgage payments, retirement savings, paying off credit card debts…. all areas of “need-to spending’ not “want-to spending” for most.

For the record, I am not against people spending money on entertainment or fun. My message is this: Many sales reps today are complaining that their clients have “no money” and many of these same clients are those that found money to fly their corporate jets to the Super Bowl this year…… Interesting to note that the use of corporate jets to attend a Super Bowl was up this year.

This is a critical lesson for sales people and business owners. If you can make your product a “want-to have” not a “need-to have” you will be more successful. There is always money for what people want. Your job is to find out what it is and provide them with the solution.

Everybody is after me about Time Management these days. Specifically: “How do I manage my time each week to maximise my sales productivity”

Assuming you have 40 hours in a week to spend on sales and invest in growing your business how best should you spend that time? Below you will find my suggestions for a schedule that is consistent with thriving in any economy.

You might notice that the total number of hours adds up to more than 40 because I know that some of the ideas I am suggesting may not apply to you – or you might just downright refuse to do some of them despite my constant urging of them as a best practice. On the other hand, some of you are freakishly productive and can complete the tasks much faster than I. If that is the case, move quickly, add activities and by all means DO MORE in the time allotted.

Recently I conducted a poll with my clients—most of whom were in leadership positions—to determine their biggest sales concerns. The overwhelming answer was sales productivity. In other words, how much revenue per period can each team member produce, and how can we make that better.

You can chart your sales productivity daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or even annually. And, given that we have just finished a calendar year recently, you have a great opportunity right now to take a look at your own productivity or that of your team from last year.

We all want improved productivity, but if you don’t know how productive you were last year, how will you know what to improve? For ideas on how to measure your productivity check out this article in our article library http://www.engageselling.com/articles/090108article.shtml

To reinvent your sales this year, you must know your benchmarks from last year. Once that’s established, you can choose the right activities to improve. You must measure results at every step, and make decisions based on the numbers—not your gut feeling.

As I do every year, I invite you to set a goal for yourself for the coming year and send me your implementation plan. I am happy to hold your feet to the fire every month—just a friendly check-in to see how you’re doing!
Remember that this first step to better results this year is knowing where you stood at the end of last year. Like most sales professionals, it’s likely that you can quickly recite exactly how much you closed and how much you earned last year. But have you stopped to consider just how productive you were based on the activities you completed? It’s a question worth pondering. Once you are confident in the answer take stock of how you spend your time and add some profitable activities from the list above. I know you will profit if you do.