Selling Fundamentals - The Prospect
...ideas originally found in my book, Guaranteed Retailing and presented here, no strings attached.
Selling Fundamentals
The fundamentals of selling never change. They have remained the same for centuries, despite the age of evolving technology, glitzy advertising and mega- malls. Techniques, methods, people’s wants and needs, they are always changing. But the elements of selling are still there. Behind the sizzle and song, the basic essentials of good selling are there. If you fail to know and use the basics in the game of selling, you will fail miserably and you might not even know why.
It is a human tendency to focus on doing the things we enjoy or the things we are good at. Such an approach means that one or more elements in the selling process could be overlooked or carried out clumsily. It also means that you will succeed at selling only if you’re lucky. I know people who rely solely on the “get lucky” approach to retail selling. They wander around without a plan hoping to “run into someone” that might want to buy something today. Professional sellers don’t operate like that. Instead, they have made it their business to master and do the basic elements of selling. They know what to do and how to execute each part of the selling process with skill and timing.
So we'll start by introducing you to the elements of the selling process. I wouldn't add to the list or minimize the importance of any single item. These are the most basic elements. Learn them and you have acquired valuable information. Do them and you will sell with success!
#1. The Prospect.
Selling is not about you.
It’s not about your needs, your goals, your skills or your ambitions. Selling is not about your income, your quotas, your ego or your ideas. Selling is not about the product, the manufacturer, their profit margins or annual profits. All of these things are a part of the selling process, but selling is, first and always, about the prospect.
But who is the prospect?
“How can you tell if somebody is a prospect?” a sales trainer asks a large audience. “Hold a mirror under his nose. If the mirror fogs up, he’s a prospect.”
That characterization may get laughs at a seminar, but it won’t get many sales. The prospect is a person, an individual as unique and special as you are. The surest way to fail at selling is to assume that all people are the same and treat them that way. The more you can know about a person’s tastes and interests, beliefs and hobbies, career and education, wants and needs, the more accurately you can predict whether that person is a prospect for the product you’re selling. A prospect is a person who is likely to benefit from owning or using your product. If the person you’re talking to cannot benefit from or is incapable of buying what you’re selling, don’t bother them. Look for a qualified prospect.
Who is a qualified prospect?
A qualified prospect is a person or a group of people (target) that you have determined by research to be likely to benefit and capable of buying what you are selling. It takes a lot of work to identify the qualifiers, ask the right questions and ultimately determine who is and who is not a qualified prospect. It is a business of sorting through people, 280.1 million or so of them in the U.S. alone, and it’s not easy. Neither is prospecting for gold. If searching for qualified prospects is so tough, why do it at all? Why not get right to the presentation? Simple. Making a sales presentation to the right person - a qualified prospect - is not a little bit better, it is 100 times better than exhausting yourself trying to persuade someone to buy who doesn’t need and can’t afford what you’re selling. Making a presentation to a qualified prospect is like digging for gold in the right place.
In my first book, Guaranteed Prospects, I covered in detail the need for prospecting and various techniques you can use for reaching and sorting people. Some, like trade shows and telephone cold-calling, allow you to speak directly with people and gather information in a personal way. Other methods allow you to gather information in a less impersonal way. Drop boxes, surveys, and online and print classified ads allow for such sorting.
However you choose to go about it, you’ll need prospects in a never ending supply. The more qualified the prospect, the better your chances of closing the sale.
Selling Fundamentals
The fundamentals of selling never change. They have remained the same for centuries, despite the age of evolving technology, glitzy advertising and mega- malls. Techniques, methods, people’s wants and needs, they are always changing. But the elements of selling are still there. Behind the sizzle and song, the basic essentials of good selling are there. If you fail to know and use the basics in the game of selling, you will fail miserably and you might not even know why.
It is a human tendency to focus on doing the things we enjoy or the things we are good at. Such an approach means that one or more elements in the selling process could be overlooked or carried out clumsily. It also means that you will succeed at selling only if you’re lucky. I know people who rely solely on the “get lucky” approach to retail selling. They wander around without a plan hoping to “run into someone” that might want to buy something today. Professional sellers don’t operate like that. Instead, they have made it their business to master and do the basic elements of selling. They know what to do and how to execute each part of the selling process with skill and timing.
So we'll start by introducing you to the elements of the selling process. I wouldn't add to the list or minimize the importance of any single item. These are the most basic elements. Learn them and you have acquired valuable information. Do them and you will sell with success!
#1. The Prospect.
Selling is not about you.
It’s not about your needs, your goals, your skills or your ambitions. Selling is not about your income, your quotas, your ego or your ideas. Selling is not about the product, the manufacturer, their profit margins or annual profits. All of these things are a part of the selling process, but selling is, first and always, about the prospect.
But who is the prospect?
“How can you tell if somebody is a prospect?” a sales trainer asks a large audience. “Hold a mirror under his nose. If the mirror fogs up, he’s a prospect.”
That characterization may get laughs at a seminar, but it won’t get many sales. The prospect is a person, an individual as unique and special as you are. The surest way to fail at selling is to assume that all people are the same and treat them that way. The more you can know about a person’s tastes and interests, beliefs and hobbies, career and education, wants and needs, the more accurately you can predict whether that person is a prospect for the product you’re selling. A prospect is a person who is likely to benefit from owning or using your product. If the person you’re talking to cannot benefit from or is incapable of buying what you’re selling, don’t bother them. Look for a qualified prospect.
Who is a qualified prospect?
A qualified prospect is a person or a group of people (target) that you have determined by research to be likely to benefit and capable of buying what you are selling. It takes a lot of work to identify the qualifiers, ask the right questions and ultimately determine who is and who is not a qualified prospect. It is a business of sorting through people, 280.1 million or so of them in the U.S. alone, and it’s not easy. Neither is prospecting for gold. If searching for qualified prospects is so tough, why do it at all? Why not get right to the presentation? Simple. Making a sales presentation to the right person - a qualified prospect - is not a little bit better, it is 100 times better than exhausting yourself trying to persuade someone to buy who doesn’t need and can’t afford what you’re selling. Making a presentation to a qualified prospect is like digging for gold in the right place.
In my first book, Guaranteed Prospects, I covered in detail the need for prospecting and various techniques you can use for reaching and sorting people. Some, like trade shows and telephone cold-calling, allow you to speak directly with people and gather information in a personal way. Other methods allow you to gather information in a less impersonal way. Drop boxes, surveys, and online and print classified ads allow for such sorting.
However you choose to go about it, you’ll need prospects in a never ending supply. The more qualified the prospect, the better your chances of closing the sale.
Posted by Mike at 7/18/2011 4:20 PM 
Categories: Selling
Tags: selling sales Behavior vollara Mike Jackson
Categories: Selling
Tags: selling sales Behavior vollara Mike Jackson
Mike, you ARE and will always be the MASTER trainer. Your book Guaranteed Prospects provided the foundation for a new career that developed around you and your skills. Good work..
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