Traditional sales technique?

sometimes we need to  use friendly reminder to keep us from backsliding into old ways of thinking about selling that lead us down the wrong path with potential clients.

 I was inspired to write this article after a few coaching sessions I  attended on  professional selling  skills  and  also having  been  into professional  selling for  more  then  two  decade.
 

Other   day I  had conversation with one  of  my team  member who   has  been struggling with a mental block about how to detach from the traditional sales thinking he had learned from old-school sales "gurus". You know who they are. You may even have some of their books or tapes. And you know their sales messages too: "Always be closing," "Think positive, and you'll overcome all your cold calling fears," "All you need to boost your sales is a few new sales techniques."

 I  always  feel that  all these outdated sales messages fail to address the core issue of how we think about selling, and unless we get to that core, and change it once and for all, we'll go on struggling with the same counterproductive sales behaviors. We'll go on experiencing the same difficulties and frustrations.. 

Maybe it's time to take a different approach ,Maybe we need to seriously analyze our sales thinking so that  we can identify why we're not making more sales.  If  we  look  at the present current selling  mind  set so called bookish professional selling technique I  strongly feel  we  need  to  revisit the  same for  our  own  betterment …that  means instead of applying  these  in  each  and  every sales  call .let  us  stop and apply where  ever it  is  required 
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Then  what  is it  we  need to  do ? As we  are  all  aware Traditional sales mindset always believes in  strong sales pitch ,but  over a period of time  I believe we  need  to  start a conversation with  the  client instead  of  sales  pitch !!   opening Laptop at  drop  of  a hat  and jumping into  presentation about yourself,  your  company, what you  offer  as learnt in  your  sales training will  not  always  work   . let  me  explain, Analyse the  situation   and Start with an opening conversational phrase that focuses on a specific problem that your product or service solves. If you don't know what this is, ask your current customers why they purchased your solution. One example of an opening phrase might be, "I'm just calling to see if you'd be open to some different ideas related to lowering your current electricity bill you may be paying  ?" Notice that you are not pitching your solution with this opening phrase.

·                                       One  more I  have  noticed  is  that sales people are always worried on  sales process   sequence techniques as drilled by sales trainer  which calls  for unlearning .  central goal is always to discover whether you and your potential client are a good fit. Not  the  traditional way  of looking  at closing  the  sale and over emphasizing on  sales  process .Believe me  You  need not have to take responsibility for moving the sales process forward.   If you simply focus your conversation on problems that you can help potential clients to solve, and if you don't jump the gun by trying to move the sales process forward, you will find that potential clients will actually bring you into their buying process. What  I mean  to  communicate is  that sales process will  take by  itself if  you stick  to  core issue  of  solving  his problem .instead  of following in  Toto the bookish  sales process techniques 

·                                       I strongly  believe that When you lose a sale, it's usually right at the beginning of the sales process. Not like  what   you have learnt in  your sales  training  that end you  lose a  sale at  the  end  of  the  process .Let me explain If you believe that you lose sales because you make a mistake at the end of the process, take a look back at how you began the relationship. Did you start with a presentation? Did you use traditional sales language like, "others in your industry have bought our solution, so you should consider it as well"?When you use traditional sales language, potential clients can't help but label you with the negative stereotype of "salesperson." This makes it almost impossible for them to relate to you from a position of trust. And if trust isn't established at the outset, honest communication about the problems they're trying to solve, and how you might be able to help them, becomes impossible too. 

There  are  many other ancient  Traditional selling  technique   which should  be seriously looked  upon which  I  can  write on  and  on   that will  run  into  pages .let  me  conclude with one such technic which  you might have  learnt that    "Chasing" potential clients has always been considered normal and necessary, but it's rooted in the macho selling image that, "If you don't keep chasing, it means you're giving up -- and that means you're a failure." This is dead wrong! Instead of chasing potential clients, tell them that you would like to avoid anything that resembles the old cat-and-mouse chasing game by scheduling a time for your next appointment

At  some  point in  your  sales  process  you  should  also  understand  how  to  withdraw from  sales  process   and not   chase your potential  client  like  dog  chasing   a vehicle   !!

I  am not  saying  that the so  called  professional  selling  classes or  training  programme  is  useless  but  rather I  feel   as you move  up  in  the  ladder we  need  to  unlearn    and rework and  re look at  these  techniques  and  not  to  use  them  blindly