Selling face-to-face: consultative selling

Handling "easy" objections and questions

Some questions and objections are so easy that you can safely respond to them quickly and directly, and move on.

For our meaning here, that kind of "easy" question or objection is in an area in which your product or service is strong, or that raise issues that you can handle quickly without raising secondary concerns.

For example, if the objection relates to a misunderstanding on price that you can set right by pointing to a catalog, do that and move on:

"The answer is yes, we do guarantee our installations for three years, the longest in the industry, according to this survey in Industry Times which I'll leave with you. Now, moving on to the issue of . . ."

But if the objection or question is more complex, then use the Four-Step process for responding to objections. Go to that Four-Step Process for handling objections and questions

Responding to more difficult objections and questions

Responding to an "easy" sales objection or  question? Then handle it directly, get it out of the way quickly, and move on. See the section on handling easy questions and objections. 

When you encounter more difficult objections and questions, it's best to work systematically through this Four-Step Process:

Cold call sales: best uses

First, what is cold-call selling?

Cold calling can be by phone, as you telephone prospects for appointments, or maybe to do some early research. (Telephone cold calling is a topic we'll be dealing with another time.)

What we'll be speaking of here are cold-calls made in person.

When and when not to begin your sales contact with the training or personnel departments

Suppose you're a consultant looking to sell your expertise as a trainer in a certain field--- perhaps how to comply with new federal regulations, or how to improve the effectiveness of customer care departments.  Since it's about training, you might think that the training department is the place to make your first contact.

Well, maybe.  But, then again, maybe not.

You’ll find here free sales training articles and tutorials, checklists and sales tips, as well as links to our sales training books --- all focused on Selling Face to Face.

The free sales training articles and tutorials here are adapted from the courses and workshops I developed on contract for the “sales universities” of world-class marketing companies such as Xerox in the United States and abroad, Kodak, Motorola, Sylvania, Bank of America, and others . . .  as filtered through my own experience in marketing consulting services.

The aim is to provide practical sales training across the spectrum from beginners (starting up new businesses, or making career changes) to experienced sales people looking for fresh approaches, or hoping to gain the kind of professional selling skills they would have developed as attendees in big company sales training programs.

In the free sales training articles here, and in the related books, we cover topics including,

• Finding and getting through to sales prospects
• Telephone etiquette in getting past screens
• Sales cold calling: when, when not, and how
• Consultative selling— selling by asking smart questions
• Helping sales prospects become more aware of the value of filling needs
• Ways of closing sales
• Handling objections, questions, and hesitations.
• The how-to of Sales presentations and demonstrations

Telephone sales training: if you encounter voice mail

Considerations before you make that call:

1. If you encounter voice mail, will you leave a message, or keep trying to reach the prospect directly? If you leave your name, then you leave it in  the prospect's hands to respond, and you lose control.

Non-verbal selling skills: "screen test" checklist

Check out your non-verbal selling skills by doing a videotaped run-through before important demos and presentations. 

Here are some key elements to attune to as you check the quality of the non-verbal selling skills you project on your taped run-through:

Cold calling: the info you're looking for

Cold calling is usually much more productive as a way of prospecting for leads than it is in making the actual sales.  In sales skills terminology, "prospecting" often means looking for industrial parks and the like, then doing a quick sweep in order to rapidly scan and flush out potential prospects. 71811

In those sweeps, you speak briefly with the receptionist or secretary to make a quick determination of whether it is worth calling back to see the Decision Maker.

Just what information you are looking for at this early stage of your search for viable leads will vary with your product and the market.

While these sweeps are, technically-speaking, cold-calls, the purpose is more to gather useful information: information you will draw from later in determining whether to come back here, with an appointment, as well as what kinds of questions to ask and information to present.

The checklist below is a starting point; adapt it to your own uses.

Consulting, contract work, independent contracting

On the topics of consulting, contract work, and independent contracting,  did you see Paul Davidson's article in USA Today (Dec 7, 2009), "Contract workers swelling ranks"?  Go to article   Some interesting points:

-- About 8% of the US workforce consists of contract employees, most of whom are independent contractors.

-- One person interviewed, a member of an employment law firm, predicts that half the jobs created in the recovery "will be filled by contractors, consultants, and other temps."

-- More than half of all of these temporary slots are now "filled by professionals such as engineers and physicians."

-- One of the key benefits for contractors like that is freedom: freedom to choose opportunities, and freedom to move on.

-- From the perspective of an employer, one of the key benefits is flexibility: for example, firms can pull in specialists for product launches and new ventures without having to undertake the front-end costs in time and dollars of a permanent staffing-up.

All of this, need I point out, ties in with our overall theme: by learning to sell yourself (or your skills or whatever) face to face, you can help fill those needs. 

Turning contacts into partners

This item is used with permission from the newsletter of Rick Frishman, a publishing guru.  Though he's speaking here of contacts within the media industry, it struck me as equally relevant to any kind of marketing.  (Particularly as it echoes what I preach in the books about follow-up, thank-you contacts, and other kinds of post-sale customer care.)

Here's Rick on turning contacts into partners:

"After you've made an interesting new contact that you would like to know better...how do you capitalize on that contact and make that person a member of your network? The answer is by following up. Most adults find it hard to follow up. Some are shy, are afraid to be a nuisance, or appear to be groveling. They see networking as selling and although all of us sell something, they don't want to be perceived as salespersons. Following up promptly isn't just good business, it's smart business. The big surprise is that following up can be fun and it can produce rewards beyond your expectations.

"Create a System: First of all, you really must save business cards, contact information and other contact literature. Treat them like receipts you might need for an IRS audit. Then buy or create a system to prioritize and file contact information.

"Learning to Prioritize: Ideally, it's best to enter contact information in your files as close to the initial meeting as possible. Then communicate with your contact within two or three days to follow up. If you have collected a bunch of business cards, prioritize them to determine whom you want to call first. Move first to communicate with:


      "1.   Those you promised to call or e-mail.
      "2.   Contacts who could be important to you.


"Making Your Move: Send a handwritten note or an e-mail including where you met, and a reference that will make the connection closer and more personal. Attach articles, cartoons or information that might interest your contact. Make sure what you send is relevant; otherwise you'll be sending irritating spam.

"Always Say "Thanks": Whenever someone introduces you, recommends you, endorses you, speaks well of you, or helps you in any way, quickly and clearly express your gratitude. People remember your gratitude; it makes them feel happy that they helped you. The best way is by writing a handwritten note. Phone calls can also be effective and personal. E-mail is les personal than notes and phone calls, but is quick. Remember, the method you choose is secondary to saying thank you promptly."

Me again.  Rick's newsletter isn't all work; there's some fun stuff, too.  Like this:


Dumb Facts
•Ten percent of the Russian government's income comes from the sale of vodka.
•On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.
•Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
•In Cleveland, Ohio, it's illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.
•Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
•The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1.
•The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.
•In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world's nuclear weapons combined.
•"Minding your p's and q's" comes from early typesetting. The letters are in reverse making it
  very easy to confuse the two.
•Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their 
  ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the phrase inspired by this practice.

Reprinted from "Rick Frishman's Author 101 Newsletter"
Subscribe at http://www.author101.com and receive Rick's "Million Dollar Rolodex"