Reengaging Prospects To Make The Sale

Writen by Lance Winslow

Often in sales a prospect may say they are not interested in your product or service at this time, as it is new on the market or your company is new to the area or region. And without a track record, well let's just say they do not want to buy the first two-hundredth of anything built or be the first Guinea Pig to become a test case and end up falling on their face with egg splatter marks on it. Luckily in sales this is not a "NO" or a "No Way" but rather a wait and see approach.

Now then if you are too pushy with the prospect you can turn the "wait and see" to a "get the hell out of here; NO!" and so you need to handle these objections with white gloves. Many sales books will tell you that you need to bring the buyer back into the buying cycle.

This of course requires establishing a relationship, dialogue and getting to any "Real" objections. They may indeed feel that the "too new" objection is indeed a valid one, yet you probably as a sales person do not feel it is, because you believe in your product. That is a good thing and you darn well better believe in whatever you are selling.

If they say the product is too new, boomerang it and let them know, you realize that and you want them to be the first in the area to have one. Additionally ask them what they are worried might go wrong. Those parts maybe under warranty. If they say you are too new in the region and you are service business, offer them a trial service, one month only. "If you like us, keep us, if not no hard feelings okay?" Consider all this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

If You Dont Know Where You Have Been It Will Be Hard To Get Where You Want

Writen by Tim Connor

Have you ever experienced a sales slump? Or just not achieved the results that you thought you should have? If you have been selling for at least 4-5 years, I guarantee you have had some tough months, or even a difficult sales year.

Success in selling requires many skills, attitudes, abilities and personal values. When a salesperson experiences a down cycle in his success, it is impossible to look at just one single area in order to determine where the problem is. For example, if you are having trouble closing sales, is it because you are poor at closing skills, or could it be that you may be trying to close poor prospects?

Determining where the problem is, in a sliding sales career or poor month, requires information. Information about sales ratios, actual numbers, trends, and comparisons. It is difficult to take corrective action if you are not aware of what is the cause of the problem or what actions to take. Just working harder or longer hours calling on poor prospects is not going to have a significant positive impact on your overall results. It will be just more of the same.

One of the common denominators (there are many) among top salespeople is their ruthless evaluation of: activities, behaviors, results and progress toward goals. Most poor salespeople don't take/have the time to keep accurate records. Many sales organizations require call reports, but those reports are just, in many cases, busywork. They provide little, if any, value for the salesperson or the sales manager on where current or potential sales problems are, or their causes. They just tend to require whom did you see and what did you sell. This is not enough information – if you are going to reach the stars as a salesperson.

In my best selling book, Soft Sell, the last chapter is devoted to which records to keep, how to evaluate them, and how to forecast the future based on previous and current activity types and amounts. I cannot summarize that chapter in this week's tip. All I can hope to do is convince you – if you are failing or doing poorly – you don't really know why. And if you are consistently beating your goals, I will bet you have formed the habit of keeping good numbers and evaluating them on a regular basis to determine where changes in behavior are needed or new skills are required.

If you have not read Soft Sell, I suggest you order it today (unless the $10 will break your bank) – if only for the tips and techniques in chapter 12 on Keeping Good Sales Records.

Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management, leadership and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, That's Life, Peace Of Mind, 91 Challenges Managers Face Today and Your First Year In Sales. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his website at http://www.timconnor.com.

Setting Prices How To Do It Effectively

Writen by Kirrily Dear

Setting prices is considered a "black art" by many people in business. Yet your ability to effectively set prices has a profound impact on the success and profitability of your business. There are 2 very simple activities you can complete to get a better grip on your pricing. In this article we will outline those 2 activities and some very simple exercises you can complete to begin pricing more effectively.

What is "effective" pricing?

Effective pricing achieves a number of outcomes for your business. It:

• Maximises your profitability
• Focuses clients on the outcome and value delivered
• Enables you to have healthy cashflow
• Builds competitive differentiation
• Delivers your business strategy

Improving your pricing strategy isn't just about putting your prices up. You need to think widely about the implications for your business.

The facts about pricing strategy:

• There are a number of different ways to go about setting prices
• Each method has its strengths and weaknesses
• The key to setting prices effectively is to learn what you can from each method and use that knowledge to identify an optimum price
• Whichever method you go with there will be a degree of experimentation before you discover the optimum price.

1. Use Different Pricing Methods

There are a number of pricing methods you can use to determine the most effective price for your product or service. Most industries by tradition have a dominant pricing method they use. For instance, professional service firms traditionally charge by the hour. Commodity products such as some food items charge at the going rate.

Here are a list of the most common pricing methods and how you calculate them:

• Hourly rate: Desired income level divided by potential hours of work
• Cost plus: Adding a standard mark up to the cost of the product / service
• Value based: Determine what the buyer perceives as the value of the product
• Proportional: Price set in proportion to a larger project / product / sale
• Going rate: Charge the same as your competitors

Choose one of the pricing methods from the list above that you haven't used so far. Imagine that method was the only one available to you. How would you need to change the way you structure and position your products or services to utilise that pricing method? What price would you choose?

Experiment with a few of the different pricing methods and some trends will start to emerge. Your calculations will tend to all arrive back a certain price range. This gives you the ballpark of where your pricing should be.

2. Test Price Elasticity

Price elasticity is a term from economics that describes the extent to which a market will wear changes in pricing. Most business owners don't understand or appreciate just how elastic prices are in their markets. The case studies provided by Eyes Wide Open clients suggest most customers of small businesses will easily absorb a 5 - 15% increase in prices with indifference. That sort of increase has a direct, positive impact on your bottomline.

We find business owners tend to simply forget that they can experiment with their pricing. Large corporations do it all the time, just look at how our supermarkets and petrol stations change their prices so as to optimise their profitability. We need to learn from their example.

There are a number of ways to test price elasticity. When working with our clients we typically suggest they start testing on a segment of their total customer base. If you are a service firm then you may choose to test with C or D level prospects. If you are in retail you may choose to do your tests on different (perhaps quieter) days of the week. The idea is to test your pricing on a contained low risk segment of your customer base to limit any negative implications if you get it wrong. Then simply start to increase your prices in small but measurable increments. Perhaps you put your prices up by 5% and see the reaction. Then 10% and again wait and see the reaction. If you work on commissions perhaps increase commission by 1% at a time. You will know when you hit your upper limit because people will start to hesitate to purchase.

Solid Marketing Strategy Required

Experimenting with different pricing methods and testing for price elasticity are 2 methods you can use to help you set prices more effectively. However you need to remember that whatever price point your choose it can only be delivered and sustained through effective marketing. You need to ensure your market clearly understands your value proposition and benefits otherwise they are unlikely to pay for your goods and services no matter what price you charge. With all that said, keep your mind, and eyes open, to the possibilities of pricing strategy and use it proactively to drive the success of your business.

NOTE CAREFULLY: Only complete these exercises after careful consideration of your own circumstances. There may also be regulations that limit your approach to pricing. These exercises are suggestions only and information is general in nature. Eyes Wide Open is not responsible for any decisions or actions you take after reading this article.

Kirrily Dear is the Development Director an founder of Eyes Wide Open (http://www.eyeswideopen.com.au) a consulting company specialising companies with up to 50 people. We have specialist expertise in helping companies build effective marketing and sales programs. Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter for more tips.