Immutable Time-Tested Laws of Sales
By Michael Pearce
I was visiting the famous temples of Angkor Wat, Angkor Tam and Ta Prohm, spectacular vestiges left from antiquity in Siem Reap, Cambodia not long ago. Built over 1,000 years ago, they have survived the ravages of time and remain for us to consider not only the enormity of the undertaking that long ago, but reminding us of those areas of life that remain true no matter the challenges that occur in our culture, our accepted lifestyles, societies standards of acceptable behavior, norms and the like.
As I thought about this, my thoughts came to sales and what were the fundamental rules that have survived time, the rules that would’ve been in place since commerce began, and survived to govern yet today.
I realized there are several that have stood the test of time, among them:
• A "slow" maybe is extraordinarily expensive. The great sales people over time have realized they must learn to be discerning enough to know when they haven't yet successfully matched their services/products with the customers’ requirements. Too often the customer is unable to “just say “no”” so we continue to call on them hoping for a miraculous conversion. And they do occur! But the cost of the sale is nearly always too expensive, not even counting the opportunity lost cost since other potential sales went uncontested to the competition as there was no time available to develop them.
• The importance of the trust- bond, for it outweighs all of the features and benefits of any product or service. People buy from people they trust and salespeople who add value to the relationship. Notice I didn’t say a person they like, which is important too, but less so than the trust-bond. Too many organizations teach their sales people all about the features and benefits of their products/services, but they fail to focus in either their coaching or the measurement standards on this key element of truth—the trust-bond matters!
• The great sales people recognize the “yes” that isn’t an order, but is the “yes” that comes from following the path of least resistance versus the path of a disciplined methodology. When the sales manager asks if an account closed and was the order placed, and the answer is, “not yet, but they said they’d like to meet again” we’ve potentially allowed ourselves to fall into the trap of the “easiest yes”. This can be avoided by setting goals and objectives for each customer contact that will advance the sale—not that it will always go as hoped or expected, but at least it was a planned sales call with a defined objective against which we can measure the success of the call and avoid the “yes” that does not mean we’ve won the sale, but does impose additional expensive time, effort and sales cost.
• Respect the buyer’s process. The truly successful sales people know that they have a superior ability to “take the customer out of the market” – in other words, they know that they have been successful in establishing the trust-bond, and in matching their services/products well with customer’s requirements so that when the customer does buy, he knows they will buy from him. He accept that he cannot and should not try to materially alter the buyer’s process, for doing so will violate the trust-bond, and likely result in sacrificing margin. Far too often those in desperate need to meet a quota deadline will offer a concession to win the deal earlier then the customer was prepared to authorize it, and in a great many cases the incentive comes in the form of a price reduction—“if I could get a lower price, would you order this month?” It’s a lose/lose question:
o The trust-bond has been broken. The customer now knows he didn’t get the best his sales person could’ve offered
o The sales person has sacrificed margin, making the transaction and his company less profitable
o The customer must do abnormal things to make the sale happen, which he’ll both learn from and resent
Far better to have managed the pipeline better, spent more time developing prospects, less time chasing deals that really weren't qualified deals, and knowing that there are enough opportunities in the sales funnel that the requisite number will materialize, without adversely impacting the normal and natural course of events at any one customer.
• The sale is “closed” when it’s referencable. The truly great know that receiving a purchase order isn’t the end of the sale, it’s merely the beginning. But too many believe the sale is official when the service/product has been delivered. That is still a bit pre-mature to celebrate. The sale that matters most is the sale that meets the customer’s requirements in a way that results in a referencable customer. It is said that 80% of all sales occur after the 5th contact. A meaningful reference can reduce that number by a many as two, cutting the time and sale expense by nearly 40%! And 76% of all people who get a good personal reference, buy.
4. And finally, never confuse a sale of opportunity with a market. All too often aggressive, hungry sales people get an unexpected order from an unexpected customer, and they fail to recognize it as a sale of opportunity, rather they see it as an untapped market and immediately begin to change their course of action to pursue this new “market” failing to realize they just had an incremental sale, but did not discover a whole new market. The reverse can be true as well, but it’s the disciplined, methodical, aware sales person who can differentiate one from the other.
Additional articles can be found on my blog at: http://michaelbpearce.blogspot.com/
If I can serve you or answer any questions, I can be reached at michael.pearce@oneaccordpartners.com or at 425-830-4156
