Surviving the Yes!

If you listen to and read enough sales training material, like I do. You will find most sales training centers on the idea that sales people have to be able to handle ‘No’. You will often hear, ‘manage the No’s and the Yes’ will follow’ or ‘for every 10 no’s expect 1 yes’ The message is pretty clear. Most sales trainers focus on helping sales people handle objections and rejection. I disagree with this approach.

With such a wealth of sales training information out there on handling objections; I am sure you can find enough information on managing ‘No’s’. I have found in my sales career the no’s came very naturally. I didn’t have to go very far to find a customer willing to say ‘No’.

In my experience sales attracts naturally competitive people. You need to be a special type or person to want to sell. If you give up easily; sales is not for you. It is for this reason; I think sales people will be able to get past the No’s and move onto the Yes’. Once you get customers to say ‘yes’ next comes the real challenge.

Follow-up like never before

Now your customer has bought into what you are selling. You have successfully established trust in your relationship, now you need to protect that trust. Nothing will turn a sale sour like not returning calls or following up on issues AFTER you have closed the deal.

It might have taken you weeks or even months to close the sale. The buyer can chose to cancel a sale with a moment’s notice if they feel like you are not prepared to follow through on your commitments.

Think about how most people feel about politicians following an election. During the election politicians are all smiles and promises. As soon as they are elected it appears they instantly forget about the promises they made. In politics unfortunately you can’t simply vote the politician out for not keeping up their end of the deal.  We are stuck with them until the next election and they are allowed to keep their nice salary that goes along with the job regardless on their ability to keep their word.

This is not the case in selling. If you close and deal; then turn your attention to your next prospect and forget to follow up on your ‘pre-close promises’ then the buyer can decide to make a quick phone call and cancel their order.

Visualize the Yes!

Most successful sales people are great visualizers. If you can clearly imagine your customer choosing your product or service then you will have an advantage in closing the deal. I find I can be most effective when I visualize the successful close of a deal and the next steps.

In the past I have visualized making the follow up phone call the day after I close the deal thanking my customer for their business. Then I imagine talking with order entry and customer service to ensure no mistakes are made when entering the order. Finally I imagine asking my customer for feedback on how I can improve. All of this visualization happens BEFORE the customer says Yes to the deal.

If your product or service requires your customer obtaining financing in order to close the deal. Stay especially close to the credit department and help them in any way possible. Sometimes it can be as easy as making your deal a priority to have it processed first. This will allow you to respond to your customer quickly and confirm the sale.

Identify Opportunities for Improvement

The last and possibly most crucial part of successful selling is to identify opportunities for improvements. Once your sale has been confirmed and finalized you have a short 1-2 week window that you can follow up for specific feedback on how you can improve. If you follow up quickly with a customer it will communicate your professionalism to your customer. If you wait a month or two and then call for feedback your customer will see this as a nuisance. It could even put them off buying in the future.

Soliciting feedback from customers that have purchased directly from you is the most important kind of feedback. Customers that have already bought from you have experienced every step of the sales process and are in the best position to offer insights for your improvements. You should take this type of feedback seriously and take action against important opportunities.

For example; you might have handled your part of the sale, but delivery could have been slow and frustrating for your customer. Instead of dismissing this type of feedback by thinking ‘that’s not my department so I am in the clear’ you are not in the clear. You need to take this feedback to your company and problem-solve ways to improve this area of service. As slow delivery could work against you in future sales; no company wants a reputation of poor delivery service.

Final Thought

Remain humble as you experience success and you will inspire your customers to want to keep buying from you. As soon as you take your eye off the ball and stop striving for improvement you will lose business.

The worse possible mistake in my opinion in selling is to believe you are better than you really are. Each and every day you can improve your skills and build stronger customer relationships. This is the only way to maintain your success.

Have you lost a sale due to inefficient order processing?

When was the last time you asked for feedback after a successful close?