Continued from the February TELEDIRECT, here are more answers to real questions from real phone sales representatives I’ve received recently.
Q. From Austin, TX: “How do I make sure that customers don’t just use me for information with no intention of buying?”
A. Ask them, “If you like what you see and hear from me, what happens next?” If they say, “I’ll write you a check!,” answer their questions and ask for the order. If they say, “It depends,” ask more questions to determine their role, prerogatives, process, other participants in considering your product or service, and their criteria for doing so. If they say, “I don’t know,” ask them to bring into the conversation – right now – people who do know. Also, in fulfilling requests for printed information, apply the “less is more” guideline and secure every fulfillment with a confirmed appointment for a follow-up conversation.
Q. From New York: “How can I determine where the customer is in the buying process?”
A. In your conversation, include these questions, “Tell me how this request (or project, or process) got started?” “Please tell me about your responsibilities?” “Tell me about all the other people who will have a say in the consideration and decision process?” “The last few times you’ve been involved in this type of project or purchase, what happened?” And, of course, “If we do the right things right, what happens next?”
Q. From Boston: “How can I use a company’s cost justification worksheet to close the sale?
A. Some companies try to use cost justification as the “silver bullet” against price objections. It’s not. Cost justification may not be enough, or even right, because:
– It’s valid only if the customer has “bought into” the benefits you sold.
– It raises the possibility that you’re dealing with a “designated hitter” and not the boss. Indeed, it’s more often related to your customer’s lack of authority rather than to a price objection.
– It’s most often to placate the CFO. It does not address timing, risk avoidance, the customer’s competitive situation or their internal politics.
– Cost justification according to whom? Are you trying to persuade them using a worksheet and calculations that you – not they – invented?
Before attempting a cost justification, prepare for a successful close by earning satisfactory answers to these three questions:
1. Besides cost justification, what else must we do to demonstrate our value?
2. How do you go about justifying projects and purchases within the company?
3. If we meet your cost justification criteria, will we be doing business together?
Q. From Seattle: “How can I tell if the customer is benefiting from my call if he doesn’t actually place an order?”
A. Before the call, ask and answer two “objectives” questions: What do I want to achieve? What will the prospect or customer do differently or better as a result of this specific contact? That’s an observable, measurable do!
Short of getting the actual order, examples include: overtly agree to tour your Web site along with colleagues; commit to a multiway phone conversation with their team and yours; complete and return a system specification document. In other words, your customer’s willful, active participation in the process acknowledges your value and often leads to the best “do” of all…BUY!
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