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August
2001 ISSUE
Magic Questions
By Ann Barr
Wouldn't it be nice if you
could wave a magic wand and find out why prospects are buying from
your competitors? Or better yet, find out what you can do better
than your competitors, so you can win the business?
There are questions you can ask, that are almost
as good as waving a magic wand.
Last December I saw someone get an answer I didn't
think it was possible to get. An eight-year-old child - Mary Kate -
who is an "A" student, was asked the question:
"What is your favorite subject in school?" Without
hesitation she answered "I like them all. I don't have a
favorite subject."
So, that was that, right? Mary Kate likes all
subjects in school. She said she doesn't have a favorite. She looked
and sounded very positive about liking all subjects equally. That
could have been the end of the conversation.
But then this question was asked:
"If you did have a favorite subject, what
would it be?" After thinking for a few seconds, she answered
very definitely: "Math."
Uncover the Real Answer
The second question was what is known as a high-gain question.
High-gain questions can get information that is otherwise difficult
to get.
In sales, there is a lot of information that can
help the sales rep learn how best to present products, services,
benefits and results to the prospect, in order to win the business.
One bit of information that would help is the answer to this
question: "What is your current supplier not doing or
providing, that you wish he would do or provide?"
(In other words, I can probably get your business
by doing or providing what your current supplier is not doing or
providing if only I knew what it was.)
You could ask the question exactly that way. But would you get a
thoughtful and complete answer? Probably not. There is another way
to ask, and it is one of those magic
high-gain questions.
Magic Questions
If a prospect tells you he is very happy with his current supplier,
maybe he is happy because ordering from this supplier has become a
habit. It could be that they have never thought about buying
somewhere else - even if they are unhappy about some aspect of the
current vendor's service. They might not have thought about changing
suppliers because changing - to some people - is perceived as
requiring too much effort. Asking a high-gain question causes the
prospect to think. You can respond to the "I'm happy with my
current supplier" objection by starting out with a
"cushion" statement like: "I understand," or:
"I can understand and appreciate that kind of loyalty."
Then ask the high-gain question: "How would you rate your
current supplier, on a scale of one to ten, with ten the
highest?"
Very few people answer "ten" to this
question. But if they do answer "ten," you know they are
not open to changing suppliers now.
Let's say they answer "Seven." Your next
question is:
"What would it take to make them a ten?"
This question causes the prospect to focus and
give you a more specific answer, just as Mary Kate focused and
realized that math is her favorite subject.
The answer to this question will tell you what you
can do, that your competition is not doing - to win new business
you're not getting now.u
Ann Barr is a consultant and sales trainer with 19 years’
experience in Sales and marketing. ENX readers can get a
complimentary e-mailed copy of her report: "64 Ways to Increase
Your Sales" by subscribing to Ann’s free e-mailed newsletter
"Weekly Sales Tips."E-mail your request to: annbarr@sellingsupplies.com
with "Sales Tips" in the subject line, or visit Ann’s
web site: www.sellingsupplies.com
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September
2001 ISSUE
The $10,000 Phone Call
By Ann Barr
During the years that I sold office equipment supplies by telephone,
I learned that there were good times to make calls and bad times to
make calls. A number of other important factors are involved when
making sales and prospecting calls, but timing, planning and good
time management is critical.
According to the American Telemarketing Association the
"golden" selling hour is between 9 and 10 a.m. That’s
when you are five times as likely to reach your prospect by phone on
the first try. An Imaging Supplies Department at a copier dealership
in Manassas, Virginia has made very good use of the golden selling
hour.
Driving through a heavy snowstorm last February, on my way to
present a seminar in Manassas, I thought about the sales team I was
about to meet. Their backgrounds and experiences were varied and
interesting. One worked for a car dealership before becoming
involved in the office equipment supplies industry. Another had
worked for a head hunter and did home daycare for six years. The
third – Janel - had been the office manager for Center for the
Arts and as a hobby, works backstage at a community theater. No one
in the department had extensive sales experience.
From the beginning of the seminar it was obvious that this was a
conscientious group of people who – along with their manager - had
definite goals and objectives. They were open to new ideas and
willing to try new strategies and techniques. They wrote and rewrote
new scripts and practiced and polished their presentations during
role play.
One Unforgettable Day
The week following the seminar, they decided that the best way
to make use of the "golden" selling hour – and their new
scripts - was to have a phone blitz. On one unforgettable day, their
phone blitz resulted in a $10,000 sale – to one account.
The $10,000 Phone Call
Most people who sell office equipment supplies to end users consider
anything over a $5,000 sale (to one account) cause for celebration.
This Manassas copier dealership had a huge reason to
celebrate. Janel’s $10,000 sale during the phone blitz was from an
account she had been working with for a year.
How They Did It
Linda Morrow, the Vice President of Operations told me,
"The day before Janel’s big order, the team blitzed for three
hours and afterward we evaluated the blitz. What went
right? What went wrong? What went right was using the new
scripts they had written. What went wrong were interruptions."
The next day - the day of the $10,000 order - they put up a Do
Not Disturb sign and locked the door of the department. Messages
were taken by voice mail and the front desk took care of walk-in
traffic. They blitzed from 9 to 11:30 a.m. and the rest is
history.
It is important to keep in mind that the $10,000 sale did not just
"happen" because of one single telephone call. Janel had
been working with this account for a full year.
Cultivating Customers
John Graham, author of The New Magnet Marketing says this:
"Here’s a new way of looking at a prospect. Learn to
see him not as a sale, but as a customer in the making. He may
not buy from you today, but he will someday. Your mission is to
bring him into the fold, making him see and believe that you can
answer his questions and solve his problems. That’s how sales are
made - even if it does not happen until a year from now.
"Don’t allow yourself to place making the sale ahead of
gaining the customer. Your goal in prospecting is to identify
those prospects who fit your company’s profile and who could
become buyers. The most difficult aspect of prospecting is this
process of identification, but once it’s done properly, you can go
on to cultivate customers."
Janel cultivated her customer all the way to a $10,000
sale.u
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