Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Put an End to Premature Presentations


Art Sobczak with some excellent advice I try and follow:

This Week's Tip:
How to Listen for, and React to
"Problem Trigger" Words

Greetings,

Quiz time. Here's a situation. Think of
the very next thing to leave your mouth
in response:

On a call with a prospect, someone who
has contacted you after visiting your
website says, "Our issue is that we need
to_____."

And then let's assume she mentions a
problem that your product or service
helps solve.

Ok. Did you respond with something like,
"Oh, well let me tell you how we can
fix that."?

If you did, BZZZZZ, wrong!

That would be pitching, in a non-sports
sense, as opposed to finding out exactly
WHY she said what she did. And that will
give you the reasons why they will buy
from you. Plus, then they are selling
themselves, which is much better than
you trying to sell them.

Too often sales reps hear what I call
"problem trigger words" and then begin
puking out a presentation.

These words are signs that your prospect/
customer has, or perceives, a problem.
They might not explain it fully without
your prompting.

Listen for,

"We need to ..."

"We're thinking about..."

"We're considering..."

"We're noticing..."

"The challenge is..."

"We're planning on..."

"The problem is..."

These are all invitations for you to zero
in on these areas to root out the specific
reasons they will buy from you.

For example,

"Tell me more about that..."

"Let's discuss that a little more..."

"What do you think is causing that?"

"What other effects is that having?"

And of course you want to quantify their
pain or problem whenever you can:

"How long has that been going on?"

"How often does that happen?"

"What is that costing you?"

The keys to success here?

1. Listen as if your livelihood depended on
grasping every word that comes from your
prospect/customer.

2. Take notes and write down the SPECIFIC
terminology they use, so you can repeat it
back to them in your questioning, and
eventual recommendation.

3. Do NOT jump in with your recommendation
until you have fully developed an understanding
of their issue. Which also carries the benefit
of them thinking more about the problem,
therefore making them more receptive to your
suggestion.

For a great resource on other powerful questions
to ask, in another of my Audio Seminars for the
Platinum members of my Telesales Success Inner
Circle
I interviewed Jim Meisenheimer who shared
his "12 Best Questions to ask Prospects and
Customers."

You can hear an excerpt from that program with one
of the 12 questions, and see more about that Audio
Seminar, including how you can listen to it within
minutes by going to http://www.BusinessByPhone.com/12Best.htm

Have your best week ever!

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