Questions, Questions, Questions...

“Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” – Anthony Robbins – American Motivational Expert

What really influences someone decision to buy something? The bottom line is, the product or service has to satisfy the concern the person has about the situation. We are each a collection of concerns. We have concerns about eating, sleeping, working, everything. The only reason we do anything is to satisfy a concern.

At Possibilities Unlimited, we train our clients to use this thinking in the sales process. We work hard at identifying the client’s concerns. When someone buys something, they have a concern that a certain product or service can fill. The salesperson’s job is to identify and address those concerns, and then show the customer how his product or service will satisfy those concerns. If a salesperson is unsuccessful at satisfying the prospect’s concerns, he will not get the sale.

So how do you get the prospect to share his or her concerns? Questions, questions, questions. Here are a few of the types of questions you can ask to learn more about what your prospect really wants:

1. Yes/No Questions – Straight to the point. “Do you use this service?” “Do you have this product?”

2. Loaded Questions – Helps you paint the picture of their situation. “Tell me how you use this product.” “Tell me about how it helps you in your business.”

3. Digging Deeper - Use what they reveal in the loaded questions and press into those areas. They are important to the prospect. “How can I help you with that?” “How could we design it to work better for you?”

4. Reversal Questions – “If you were selling this product, what would you think would be important to emphasize?”

5. Best/Worst Questions – “What do you like best about your current provider?” “What would you change about your relationship with that vendor?”

6. Perfect World Questions – “If you could design the perfect solution to your needs, what would it look like?”

7. Buy Now Questions – “What you would need that would motivate you to buy right now?”

It’s important to listen carefully to these answers so that you can paint a picture for the prospect of how your product or service satisfies these concerns. You’re also painting a picture for yourself of what this customer will be like to work with. You may discover that you and the prospect are not a match. The better you are at getting to the heart of their buying decision, the better the chance you’ll have at closing the sale and developing a long term and prosperous relationship. And that’s a win/win all around.

Are you ready to win?

Sharpen the Saw

"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." Aldous Huxley

The most successful business people are those who are continuously learning to perfect their craft. Even if you're the best sales person in your organization, there is always room for improvement. That type of improvement comes from getting sales training in a professional setting that allows you to role play, brainstorm and explore new ways to uncover opportunities you may be missing. Even the seasoned sales professional can get set in his ways and while successful, could be leaving a lot of money on the table. As Stephen Covey says in his 7 habits of highly effective people, it is important to sharpen the saw (http://www.stephencovey.com/).

Whether you are an accountant, health care professional, legal professional, or are a member of a trade which requires a certification or license to practice, you are mandated to complete a certain number of continuing education classes to maintain that license or certificate.

Sales professionals should impose similar requirements on themselves as if their "certification in sales" were at stake. The canvas is changing all the time. People used to "cold canvas" i.e., knock door to door to sell their products. Now you don't even have to meet - all you need in some cases is connectedness over the internet. Through online/social networking sites, internet sites and blogs you can outsource some of the less productive functions to a third party - giving you more time for selling. The point is that you have to keep yourself fresh and on top of all the new trends, not just from your products and services and those of your clients and prospects, but also of new ways in which people want to buy. You need to stay fresh by participating in sales training on a regular basis. Change happens quickly and you need to stay on top of everything that is going on so that you can win in the game of business.

To help you sharpen your saw, Possibilities Unlimited offers a Sales2Win course. The program is 8 one-hour telesessions conducted over 16 weeks. Ralph White leads this course with the assistance of Bonnie Landau, our online marketing, search engine optimization, web development, and social networking expert; Lee Ann Farmer, our time management, productivity and sales efficiency expert; and me, Mary Mullenhoff, our prospecting, sales strategy, marketing strategy, getting in at the highest level of an organization expert! Our combined diverse experiences make us the perfect team to add to your mastermind alliance (http://www.naphill.org/points/). We team with you to help upgrade your sales pitch, acquire high quality, high revenue and highly profitable targets and develop winning strategies to turn them into satisfied customers. Email us or call to reserve your spot in the next Sales2Win class (for every friend you refer to us, we'll give you 10% off of your 8-session fee!)It's a win/win for all!

Are you ready to win?

Do You Need a Business Coach?

“You must remain focused on your journey to greatness.” – Les Brown

Many of the people we work with have never worked with a business coach before. Quite often, they know they need support to keep moving their businesses forward, but they are hesitant about signing on with a coach. Because coaching can be somewhat of an intangible process, people sometimes wait to get help because they are uncertain of the value they will receive.

Working with a coach can double the chances of you delivering on your intentions for your business. The coach’s job is to hold you accountable for what you want to achieve, and make sure that you are taking concrete actions to move your projects forward. Coaching does cost money, but in the long run, it’s far less expensive than hiring additional staff, or than missing out on opportunities because you were too busy handling the day to day pressures of running a business.

How do you know if you need a coach? To start, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are you exceeding your sales goals?
2. Are your sales numbers going up 20% per year?
3. Do you have a sales and marketing plan?
4. Are you using your sales and marketing plan?
5. Are you working less hours and producing more results?
6. Are you maximizing your potential?
7. Do you know how you will meet your sales goal by December 31^st?

If you answered no to two or more of those questions…YOU NEED A COACH! At Possibilities Unlimited we believe that a healthy business is one that is constantly moving forward and one that is profitable. If you need support in taking your business to the next level, give us a call for a free introductory consultation. We’ll put you and your business on a winning path!

Are you ready to win?