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 SAVVY
SELLING - APRIL
5, 2007
Overcoming
Clients' Six Biggest Fears
by Michelle Nichols
EXECUTIVE
OVERVIEW
Successful
salespeople acknowledge customers'
questions and worries, then
use the answers to close more
sales
Long ago, I sold "technical
consulting services," which
is a fancy way of saying I rented
programmers by the day. My clients
had to interview and accept
each of my programmers before
they could begin coding—and
I could start earning commissions.
I quickly learned that no matter
how good my programmers' technical
skills were, if they didn't
sell themselves in the interview,
I didn't eat. As a result, I
became an expert at preparing
my technical folks to pass their
interviews.
My secret was to make the interview—a.k.a.
the sales call—very simple.
I told my programmers our clients
really only had two questions:
Can you do the job, and can
you do the job for me?
Most of your sales calls are
simple, too. Your customers
have the same basic questions,
which are really expressions
of their fears. In my last column,
I shared some common fears that
salespeople have and offered
ways how to overcome them and
sell without fear (see BusinessWeek.com,
3/15/07, "Fear of Selling").
Now let's look at the other
side of the sales conversation—customers'
six biggest fears:
1. Do I need to purchase
anything? It's easy
to slip right past this question.
However, unless it's a purely
impulsive item, if your customers
don't really need what you're
selling, they will often back
out at the last minute or have
buyer's remorse after signing
and wriggle out of the deal.
Even if a buyer is hot to buy
from you, if he can't present
a genuine need for it to his
accountant, manager, spouse,
or other decision-maker, the
deal will probably go sour.
Once you understand why your
customers feel the need to make
a purchase—from their
point of view—you can
use this information to close
them. For example, if a customer
tells you three reasons she
needs an inventory system for
her floral business, then waffles
at the close, you can repeat
the reasons she told you earlier.
2. Is this the right
product, service, or combination
to purchase? With the
spread of the Internet, your
customers now have more ways
to solve their problems than
ever before. As a result, choosing
the right way to solve a problem
has grown more difficult.
Take the time to really understand
your customers' situation and
then sell them on why your proposed
solution is the best one to
solve their problem. It may
help to ask your customers for
other possible solutions and
then let them tell you why the
other possibilities fall short
of your proposed solution.
3. Are you the right
vendor from whom to purchase
the offering? Your
customers could be afraid that
your business might not be financially
sound or that you won't fulfill
their contracts with the quantity,
quality, or timeliness that
you promise.
Collect testimonial letters,
lists of satisfied customers,
and certifications from external
entities like the Better Business
Bureau to help you overcome
this concern. Hang them on your
office walls. Put copies in
a binder and bring it to every
sales call. It's a "silent
salesman," regardless of
whether your customer spends
half an hour perusing it or
never even opens the cover.
Need
a CD or book to sell more?
Check out the Savvy
Selling Sales Tools!
4. Is this the best
price? It's natural
for a customer to worry about
cost, so don't freak out. Face
it, you have the same concern
when you make a purchase. Don't
worry—just as you don't
always buy the cheapest offering,
your customer doesn't either.
Help your customers look at
the return on investment from
your offering. How soon will
it pay for itself? Does it save
money, increase revenues—or
both? How else is it the best
investment overall, considering
its impact on a customer's image,
branding, and other qualities?
5. Are these the best
terms to purchase this offering
given my current financial situation?
Every customer's financial status
is unique. For instance, your
customers may be more concerned
with the effect on their cash
flow than the total dollar cost.
Find out if they require a low
monthly payment and can afford
a high down payment—or
if they can afford higher monthly
payments but can only afford
a low (or no) down payment.
Perhaps your customer is quietly
trying to sell the business
and has to keep your purchase
either off or on the balance
sheet.
Discovering the best terms
for a customer can be an "assumptive
close." That is, if you
can agree on the terms, you
could naturally assume the customer
is going to buy it from you.
Go one step further and secure
agreement on this, too, since
taking this for granted can
be deadly for the health of
your sales career.
6. Is this the right
time to purchase this offering?
The timing of when
to buy may matter to your customers
based on their fiscal year,
board meeting schedule, or another
event. Early on in the sales
process, ask your customer if
there are any timing considerations
of which you should be aware.
I once had a customer who needed
enough equipment to fill a warehouse
before an open house. It didn't
matter what his long-term needs
were—he wanted to impress
customers immediately.
If your customers start to
slow down as you approach the
close of the sale, remind them
of their own reasons why this
is the right time to make their
final selection and complete
their purchase.
Remember, the more your prospective
customers answer in the affirmative,
the closer you are to closing
the sale. Also bear in mind
that it's hard to be a customer
today. If they answer any of
these questions incorrectly,
they can lose a promotion, some
of their own customers—even
their livelihood. That's why
successful salespeople acknowledge
customers' common questions
and fears, and use them to close
more sales. Happy selling!
Michelle Nichols is a professional
sales speaker and consultant
based in Reno, Nevada. She is
also the Savvy
Selling podcast host for
BusinessWeek. She welcomes your
questions and comments. You
can visit her web site at www.savvyselling.com
or contact her at michelle.nichols@savvyselling.com.
Her toll-free number is (877)
352-9684 and direct line is
(775) 303-8201.
Copyright 2007. All rights
reserved.
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