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Salesmanship
William
Hamilton, SCORE 513 Counselor
Make your
sales calls and sales will follow. All other things being
equal, most buyers would rather do business with someone
they know rather than someone they do not know. In-person
sales calls are the only way to develop a personal relationship.
Your sales calls build obligations with your customer or
prospect without either of you acknowledging such.
Become
as good a friend of your customer as your customer will allow.
Use entertainment and other relationship building activities.
Do not expect a friendly customer to put you ahead of his
company’s best interest when making a buying decision; but
a friendly customer will often tell you what you need to
do to get the business, the so called “last look”. Keep in
mind that relationship-building expenses should be budgeted
based on the customer or client’s business potential. Common
sense is important here. There are a lot of relationship-building
tools that don’t involve a lot of expense --- a birthday
card, copies of relevant business information, a gift subscription
to a publication that may interest your client, etc.
Sell in
depth. That means having more than one person sold at a company.
Try to know the people beside, above and below your customer
so that they are on your side, too. Be aware of how your
customer views your selling in depth before you engage in
it at his company. Organize your customer list into 1) sales
calls per year based on past sales and future potential and
2) location. Combine 1) and 2) to produce a sales call list
for each day. Keep the sales call list projected out a few
weeks ahead so that you can plan and so that you can make
appointments as opposed to just showing up.Try to make appointments
with customers rather than just dropping in. When appointments
are not possible, never introduce yourself with: “I just
happened to be in the area and thought I would drop in”.
Create some reason why you are calling which makes the customer
feel important and/or which enhances your company. If a customer
cannot see you, always leave a business card or piece of
promotional literature so that he knows you were there. Follow-up
with a phone call to schedule a definite appointment.
Plan each
sales call so that you know what to talk about and have the
correct handouts. The telephone is a very important sales
tool, but do not get trapped into the telephone replacing
your face-to-face sales calls. You develop a much better
relationship in person than over the telephone. “Cold calls” generally
refer to calls on prospects of unknown potential who you
do not know. Try to fit in some cold prospecting calls each
week, between your regularly scheduled calls. You never know
what you may discover, at very little time cost to you.
Keep up
with your paperwork.
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