Sales Person — The 6th Thing You Need to Accelerate Sales

In the last post, I asked you if you noticed where our driver, your buyer, has taken us so far.

Ottawa. Eastern Townships. Ottawa. Meech Lake. Toronto.

Sigh. And we are back in Ottawa again. The last place I want to be on a 33°C day with 90% humidity. Your buyer is off doing an errand and doesn’t have cycles for us. Typical! : ) And they parked the car in the sun!!!!!!! (Gimme the Atlantic Ocean, where I was born. Please and thank you. Any day.)

So we are sitting here in the air conditioning waiting and having coffee and green tea at Morning Owl.

But the point is this: buyers don’t take a straight and uninterrupted path between their decision to buy and their signing of the contract. They get off track all the time. And our job as co-driver is to get them back on the highway.

I promised that I would give you some questions to use to get your buyer back on the highway so that you can get them closer to a buying decision.

But first … how comfy are you asking questions?

Askers vs. Tellers

There are 2 types of sales people. Tellers and Askers.

The Tellers are usually very comfortable giving presentations but not comfortable with conversations. They “know” their product or service. They use PowerPoint and brochures. They need to be in CONTROL. And they make terrible co-drivers. They try to be the driver and you know from our very first day together that that doesn’t work.

The Askers hate PowerPoint and brochures. They don’t really like email. They NEED to talk about anything related to the customer. They love face-to-face. They hate talking about their own product or service, especially too early. And they are great with decision-makers.

Sales organizations are usually made up of 80% Tellers and 20% Askers. So they say.

The Tellers need a sales process that will help them become Askers.

And the Askers are usually the top performing almost-impossible-to-manage salespeople that you let loose and trust that they will come through.

So, I’m going to assume that you could use a little help “asking” and that I could always use a little refresher ...

Ask Questions Like My Mother

Do you remember those family roadtrips? Dad driving. Mom navigating or co-driver. My brother and I reading comic books or sleeping in the backseat.

My mother was not dogmatic as a co-driver. She didn’t say, “Take this exit. We are going shopping.” That would NEVER have worked.

She asked questions, made suggestions.

“I would like to get some new shoes. And I think there is a Cabela's at the same mall. Shall we stop here to stretch our legs for a bit and shop?"

“You talked about wanting to see Uncle Murray and Aunt Carrie. Is today a good day to do that?"

“Do we have enough time do that right now? Or would it be better to find a place and get settled first?"

She was a master co-driver. A wise woman. The top salesperson in her region for years and years and years. And she passed away three years ago this week.

I want you to co-drive like my mother.

I can give you the questions.

But YOU have to have the GUTS to ask them ...

Do you have what it takes to be an ASKER?

(The view out of the window of this coffee shop is quite beautiful. I’m softening up a bit on the Ottawa humid summer. Must be the green tea mellowing me. *_*)

It’s a big thing to be an Asker.

You have to let go. You have to be willing to hear the answers. You have to be OK with the answer not being what you want. You have to be able to deal with rejection. You will fail. You need try again. And again.

I often get this question from my clients: “Can I really ASK that?”

It isn’t difficult to ASK. It’s just TALKING!

But I think what they are really saying is, “I don’t want to ask because I am afraid of what the answer might be.”

I work on this principle: Why not ask? I would much rather know what is REALLY going on with my buyer than to PRETEND that everything is OK, only to find out that it isn’t OK when they don’t buy from me.

WHY NOT KNOW WHAT’S UP?

At least we can DO something about that!!!!!!!!!!

I’m just going to get a refill. Can I get you something? I see a nice iced latte at the other end of the table. Any takers? Or some cold brew. (Now, if I were a coffee drinker, THAT is what I’d have.)

You just sit here while I get you a drink and think about the questions you have asked your buyers in the last week. Write them down on the back of this napkin …

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

How did you do as an ASKER?

We’ll sort that out over the next coffee. We’re still waiting for your buyer. So we have some time.

Relaxing not to be the driver, eh?