Posted by ChrisBarling on Tue, 24/11/2009 - 10:51
I am always hearing people describing themselves as good sales people. Selling is a bit like driving, we all seem to think that we are the best. When was the last time you met a shy but successful salesperson?
In this blog I want to look at one particular aspect of being a good salesperson. The popular perception – someone who talks the hind legs off a donkey, persuading a gullible fool to part with their money for some nameless trash – is almost entirely wrong.
While ripping off customers is a good trait if you and your company want to star on Watchdog, it’s otherwise bad news. In fact the most important attribute of a salesperson is the ability to qualify their leads and contacts. That is, the ability to work out if the person you are talking to is actually likely to buy from you.
This isn’t as easy as it seems. I recall visiting a local car dealer. The salesperson looked me up and down, looked at the car I arrived in, and obviously decided that I wasn’t much of a prospect. Yes, I’m afraid that I do dress as badly as that. I had to virtually force them to give me a test drive, and their manner varied between nonchalant and downright rude. Against my better judgement, I endured this trial. I wanted the particular model that they sold and the next nearest dealer was an inconvenient distance away.
The point of this story is that qualifying leads is itself a major skill. This sales person had decided that I wasn’t a prospect, but they had done so on the wrong criteria. Qualification is about:
- whether the prospect has a problem you can solve;
- has sufficient motivation to move forward;
- has access to adequate funds;
- has the authority to make a decision;
- has you reasonably positioned against the competition.
It’s these points that predict whether you are wasting time or not.
With the ability to qualify opportunities under your belt, you can spend more time with the real prospects. You have time to discover what their real needs are, including the “hidden needs” that they are not even aware of. Then it’s simply a question of presenting the products that best meet those needs. You can only make this happen if you aren’t tied up with the time-wasters.
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