A Message From Howard
CEOs, Presidents and Business Owners:
Your business success is determined every single day. Business success doesn’t take place because of a good or even a bad marketplace. It takes place because of you. You’re the one that has worked through the difficulties and slogged through the challenges of your business. But one day something happens in your business that…
Over the weekend a friend of mine, who owns a business, told me about how a salesperson recently convinced her to buy a product she never would have purchased for her business. The saleperson approached her. It started out as a cold call. The salesperson was skilled enough to engage her in conversation and convince her they should meet. During the appointment the salesperson was once again so skilled at the presentation and at overcoming any objections from the prospect that she was able to close the deal and get the sale.
Can your salespeople do that in your business?
As I always say: Salespeople sell. Closers close. No excuses.
There is debate about this but in my opinion there must be a gene in the DNA for sales ability. For some people, it’s a dominent gene and for others, recessive. People are born to sell. And when they can sell, they just sell. It’s natural to them. Sure they may need coaching and training and refining of sales techniques but the natural instinct to sell is already there. Without that natural instinct to sell, it’s much harder to close the deal.
Depending upon how your business is structured, the goal with any sales process is to close the deal.
One of the most frequent issues CEOs, presidents and business owners face is that not enough sales are being closed.
The question you need to ask yourself, as a CEO, president or business owner, is: When hiring salespeople, are you hiring closers?
Here are 10 characteristics of salespeople who are great sales closers:
1) A closer doesn’t hesitate to ask for the sale or the contract.
2) A closer gets a “yes” from the prospect throughout the sales process.
3) A closer is not afraid to ask for the money. Someone can be a great sales presenter but can’t bring the sale to a close because they don’t like to ask for the money.
4) When a closer gets a “no” from the prospect they keep on selling until they get a “yes”.
5) A closer knows the product inside and out.
6) A closer knows and anticipates the majority of objections before asked by the prospect.
7) A closer is prepared to take any objection head on. Answer the question to the satisfaction of the prospect and then move on in the sales process.
8) A closer may not know it but they are actually skilled debaters. Any debate team would be happy to have them on their debate team. In many ways closing the sale is like winning the debate.
9) A closer gets a great deal of satisfaction out of the sale other than just the possible commission or bonus they may receive for meeting sales quotas.
10) A closer serves the prospect’s needs rather than just push something on someone who doesn’t want or need the product or service your company offers.
When hiring salespeople, always examine the candidate’s closing skills.
Here’s 3 ways to find out if potential hires are great sales closers:
A) Ask them to demonstrate their sales and closing skills by selling to you. Does the candidate convince you to buy?
B) Have the sales candidate spend time with one of your top salespeople. Perhaps they can go on a sales call together. Afterwards, ask the sales candidate if they are comfortable with the job description, responsibilities and what they observed. Ask the potential hire how they would have handled the close?
C) Get as much verified sales information as possible during the interview process about the candidate’s individual sales success such as with prospecting and closing ratios.
D) As the potential hire what their closing techniques are.
Being a salesperson isn’t enough. Presenting and demonstrating the product is an important part of the sale. If the person can’t close the deal yet can sell all day long with poor closing ratio results, they will be a cost to your business and not the profit center you need them to be.
For sales success, hire sales closers.
This week on Blog Talk Radio, Howard Lewinter talks about, Sales Success: Closers Close. Click here for details on the Talk Business With Howard show. If you can’t listen live, an audio of the show will always be available or you can download the show on iTunes. Thanks for listening!
There are things that never change.
All of the success that business people have only comes from one place; from one source.
And that is… how they think about business.
Even if a business person has more knowledge than anyone else, if the individual doesn’t have the right attitude; if they are not thinking correctly or with an open mind and they don’t have a business plan, chances are they will either not get the success they want or their business will fail completely.
In our fast paced business world people, in general, have very little time to think. There is always something going on, there is always distraction and always business problems to solve. What there isn’t in many cases is visionary thinking.
It has been said, “what we eat is what we are”. That’s a true statement for many people. If you don’t eat well; if you eat a lot of junk food then at some point in your life it will catch up with you. You will experience the effects of poor eating habits.
It’s also true that “what we think is what we are”. Business people who understand this concept know that no matter how difficult or challenging a business situation may be, they can positively think their way through the situation.
That why you need to read (or reread) the book, Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill. Although it was written in 1937 it is still valid today. When you get a copy of the book make sure it is the updated version and not an older copy.
Knowledge is power.
But that’s not enough.
It’s how you use that knowledge. It’s how you think about that knowledge that creates the success. One business person can take knowledge, have a positive attitude and plan to succeed. Another business person can take the same knowledge but have a negative attitude with no plan and their chances of long term success is questionable.
It was recently quoted in the Wall Street Journal that CEOs spend an average of 18 hours per week in meetings, including three hours on calls and five hours in business meals – and have little time for thinking, planning or working alone.
The question is: How can you be the visionary and the problem solver for your company if you don’t have the time to think? As the saying goes: Are you having meetings to have meetings? Chances are many of those hours in meetings are wasted.
If you want to be successful you have to think to grow rich.
Time is the only thing you can’t get more of.
As a CEO, president or business owner, how do you use your time to create greater success and profit? Or are you permitting your precious time to be wasted?
By doing tasks someone else could do, going to meetings you don’t need to attend and being caught up in the things that “just happen” during the day, this can all cause you to lose valuable work time.
If the size of your company permits you to have department managers, directors or even divisional VPs, delegate more to them and design a reporting system to keep you informed and actively involved where needed. You are not giving anything up and in fact, you are actually gaining something – your time to think, strategize and create.
The statement I often hear from CEOs, presidents and business owners is, “It’s easier for me to do it myself than to explain it to someone”. If that is your attitude then you will never have the time to grow your business.
You employ a staff of people to help you do what needs to be done to be profitable. Delegate. Delegate. Delegate. When necessary, follow up to make sure things are done properly and to company standards. If something isn’t done properly make sure the employee is coached as to what needs done. If you do it for them they will never take responsibility and you will always be overwhelmed with your desk piled high with work you can’t get to.
Not to mention there will be no time to think and plan – or to think and grow rich in business.
Read any good business books lately? Joining me this week on the Talk Business With Howard show on Blog Talk Radio is Ivana Taylor. Ivana is the book editor at www.smallbiztrends.com and the publisher of www.DIYMarketers.com. We’ll be discussing great business books for marketing and managing your business. The show airs live on Wednesday at 11 AM/ET or you can catch the audio replay of the show. Click here to go to the show page and listen to the show. The show can also be downloaded on iTunes.
For more great business books, Ivana has shared these two links:
Great marketing books for your business success:
http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/10/top-marketing-books.html
Great management books for your business success:
http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/10/best-management-books-small-business.html
You can’t just hire salespeople. Regardless of sales experience, it is essential that your sales personnel understand the concept of closing the sale. It cannot be emphasized enough: Hire “closers“, people who have the ability to close the sale.
Regardless of sales experience and proficiency, you still will have to train your sales team in the way you expect business to be done and how the product or service will be represented.
Those with less sales experience will require a great deal more training. You need to have an ongoing sales training program that will educate your salespeople in what your company does and why the customer or client buys from you.
With salespeople, it’s not just a matter of can they sell. Professional selling involves much more than “how may I help you” and sharing information with the customer or client about your product or service.
Here are 10 characteristics to look for when hiring salespeople:
1) Are not afraid to prospect
2) Are not afraid of rejection
3) Are able to provide the best customer service to each and every customer and potential customer
4) Have a belief and passion in what they do
5) Are self-motivated
6) Are not afraid to ask for the sale. In other words, go for the close and ask for the money.
7) Continuously study how to do it better no matter how many years they have been in sales. Consider themselves to be a professional salesperson rather than someone who is just doing this till something better comes along.
8) Possesses a natural ability to sell
9) Are determined and driven. When they get a “no” response or a rejection by the sales prospect they understand that they are one step closer to getting a “yes” with the next sales prospect.
10) Are willing to get up the next day and do it all over again because they are professional salespeople and truly enjoy their work. For them, it’s a way of life to sell.
These 10 characteristics are just the start of what to look for when hiring salespeople. You need to always be working with the sales team to get the best sales results.
As a CEO, president or business owner, you expect a great deal from your sales team. You need to also expect a great deal from yourself as you lead the sale team to success.
It always comes back to the same thing in business: Leaders lead.
It’s especially important to lead when it comes to sales.
Remember: Salespeople sell. No excuses.
For more on sales and hiring the right salespeople for your company, listen to: Salespeople Sell. No Excuses., with Howard Lewinter on Talk Business With Howard on Blog Talk Radio. Click here for details on the show.
