Dramatically Improve Sales With The Kiss
Test
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We've all heard the term KISS at one time or
another - "Keep It Simple, Stupid." However, the majority of
salespeople violate this basic principle more often than
not.
Let me start with some examples of what I'm
talking about. At one position I held, I sat next to someone
who could have been a top salesperson. He and I both operated
much the same in that rather than cold call, we ran our own
personal marketing programs to generate leads and simply took
the calls that came in as a result. The problem is what he did
with the calls. When someone called me, ready to buy, I
immediately went into closing the deal and making arrangements
to either come out with the paperwork or to fax it over. He, on
the other hand, went into a full-length company story and a lot
of other information that he absolutely should not tell a
qualified prospect unless they ask for it. The end result is
that people who called ready to sign up for one of our services
lost interest and didn't buy anything at all.
Another example is what happens every time I
try to make a business purchase. Here I am, saying "Yes, I'm
going to buy," and the sales rep launches into a company story
about how long they've been in business, who their big clients
are, and on and on. Lucky for these salespeople, the product
usually sells itself and I still buy. However, I'm willing to
bet that a lot of people don't. Nothing is more frustrating
than picking up the phone saying, "Hi, here I am ready to buy,"
and having some rep go into a story bragging about how great
the company is and all that they can do. That comes off as pure
arrogance to a business owner. What's more, talking about your
big enterprise clients alienates most small business owners.
They assume their needs will be placed second to those of the
big dogs and that they'll be treated as just a number when
calling for service.
I think most training is at the root of this
massive problem. Every course I've taken has gone through the
steps of a sale. The problem is, what if all the steps don't
take place? Consider "objection handling." When I was working
for that company I mentioned earlier, many of my prospects had
no objections because my marketing pieces took care of them in
advance. By assuming that each of these steps are going to take
place, a lot of salespeople will cause something to happen when
it really shouldn't have to begin with. If a prospect doesn't
come up with any major objections, don't give them a reason
to!
I've seen a lot of managers require their
reps to fill out a "lead sheet" that documents each step of the
sale. This assumes that each of the steps will happen when they
may not. If you're required to maintain these types of records,
skip anything that doesn't happen naturally. Don't induce a
prospect to enter a selling phase that may not only be
unnecessary, but may cause you to lose the sale entirely.
Use the KISS test when you're selling.
Always ask yourself if what you're doing is actually necessary.
Believe me, you'll save yourself a lot of wasted time and lost
sales by doing so. I did.
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About
The Author
Frank
Rumbauskas, the New York Times best-selling
author who revolutionized selling, has taught
tens of thousands of salespeople and small
business owners how to stop cold calling forever! For
10 free chapters of Frank's breakthrough
book, please visit www.nevercoldcall.com.
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