Social Media Videos have changed how we sell and buyers buy

Long before Social Media Videos, television and the movies were our best source for information on sales.  Nowadays, you can gain access to videos that make us learn, think or laugh at the sale profession.  Amazingly, it was only a few years ago that this video had an entirely different meaning than it does today: 

So you still think social media is a fad?  You may think twice after taking at look at this video and the startling statistics.  With 1.5 million views since posting on You Tube May 2010, the data is already outdated.  Its  predeceasor with 2.8 views was less than a year old from July 2009 when it had to be updated. 

One of my favorite catches was how social media impacts sales: "listen first, sell second".  That isn't far off from what most sales pros know and rookies always hear.  Now, social media forces you to listen, otherwise you will be labeled as "spam" , blocked and forever lost.  Wouldn't a spam label be nice to have on our caller IDs during dinner by telemarketers?  What is interesting is the challenge to be more clever in less time across more channels while attention is fleeting and today's news is now mere minutes ago.

Do you want to sell something?

You may want to seriously consider whether or not videos or social media should be an important part of your marketing or sales plan. Since  Old Spice's commercial's original launch in 2006, it has is the most successful viral campaign.  Recognized as the #1 Viewed (26 million) and Uploaded (210 million) it has caused  mini-revolution with amost 273,000 subscribers.   I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in the boardroom when the idea first pitched.

How about learning?

By just plugging in this search can learn just about anything.  From the #1 dog training tips (17.5 million views) how to do crunches for 6-pack abs (17 million views) to how to play Guitar Hero (8 million views).

I've shown Glenngarry Glen Ross to sales teams on more than one occasion to create dialogue on selling.    It also showcases the different characters on a sales team from the top salesperson, to the rep who relies mainly on leads, to the narcicist Alec Baldwin character. 

The following is my favorate of late.  This scene gives a great example that in sales, it isn't always the questions being asked, but how they are comminicated.   There is also the forgotten art of the "pause" sales technique that is classic.

There are a multitude of great sales training videos on You Tube.  However, call me lazy ... or smart.  My favorite website to watch sales videos is www.bnet.com.  After all, they've taken the time to surf or provide many great ones so that I don't have to.  Oh, and if you haven't figure it out already ...... the best, funniest, greatest of anything tends to be NOT!

Not convinced yet whether social media will help or hamper your sales efforts?  Here is one last look at what sharing has come to:

Hit the Road Jack: How do you decide it is time to move on from a prospect?

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals

~ Anonymous

Q:  What do you do when you’ve done everything in your power to win the sale and your buyer seems to all of sudden be stalling at actually making a decision? 

A:  You probably didn’t do your homework at the beginning of the process so now you have to do some backtracking.  Regardless, have the confidence to be direct and ask the customer what may be preventing them from making a decision to move forward today?  There could be several reasons for the stall:

1. Your contact is not as high in the organization as they led you to believe
2. Their role is the quote gathering when someone else makes the final decision
3. Who you are selling to is not able to make the final decision and, to save face, they don't want to tell you that

 Hesitation in itself should provide you with clues:

1.  Ask direct questions to uncover why they are hesitating;
2. Perhaps there is another proposal on the table and you are just there to reinforce that their decision is a good one
3. They have a current supplier and they just want to make sure they are being treated fairly
4. You may want to move on tactfully, while keeping the door open for when they are in the market.

If you are a true sales professional, you aren’t dividing and conquering.  You should remain realistic that some just aren’t ready to buy.  You have to determine why they aren’t ready to buy by asking the right questions.  Ultimately, there are questions most experienced sales pros know to ask  at the beginning of the sales process, rather than scrambling at the end when you forecasted as a done deal, or thought it was time to close.

Here are some suggested questions you should ask at the beginning of the sales cycle in the preliminary qualification stage in the sales process:

1.      When are they planning to buy?

2.      What are the steps in deciding how they will buy?

3.      Who is involved with the decision making?

4.      Do they have a specific budget in mind?

5.      Is there specific criteria to determine who/what they will buy from?

6.     Who do they currently buy from and why? 

7.    Is there a specific reason why they are in the market right now? 
8.    How will their business be impacted if they change from suppliers? 
9.    What business issues are they trying to solve? 
10.  Perfect case scenario, what do they really want?
11.  What will it take to earn their business?

Answers from all of the above responses provide clues to you on what the next steps are.  You may have simply overshot the close date or  too optimistic on timelines.  Customers drive the close, not sales reps, even less management who are trying to meet quotas.

If you have done your homework and feel that you completely satisfied the aforementioned questions then perhaps the stall is coming from left field.  You have then earned the right to ask direct questions or find out what you may not have addressed for them to make a decision today? 

Their response may give insight on how you decide to move on - either to the next step or period:

1.      Handle the obstacle that surfaces by asking the direct question,

2.      Ask what you can do to help address that obstacle

3.      Were you a benchmark against current supplier, or price comparison

4.      Decide to move on tactfully yet agree to keep in touch

I don’t want to kick you while you are already down.  Especially, if you’ve already told your partner to plan that big vacation based on the sale.  However, most sales pros sense when they are being stalled and can avoid last minute appearance of “buyer’s remorse” by asking direct questions up front at the earliest qualification stage.

Experienced sales pros also keep up a positive, professional image no matter how deflated they may feel or how much they counted on that particular sale.  They know, that by leaving a positive experience, they will be the very first person that will be contacted whenever the next opportunity comes along .... because they are optimistic realists that know they do.  They don't give up, they're tenacious, committed sales pros.  They will review every step in the process and ask themselves what questions they should have asked, what signs they ignored, how they can do better the next time.  Great sales pros distinguish themselves by knowing there is a next time and optimistic by how much they learned by avoiding the same mistakes.  Everyone makes mistakes, the best are the ones who review the mistakes and take tactical steps to avoid them the next time .... there is always a next time!

 

The Top 10 Sales Terms You Should Avoid

There are worse things in life than death. Have you ever spent an evening with an insurance salesman?

~Woody Allen

10.         I will have to talk it over with my sales manager.   It was my sales manager's idea to offer this deal to you.  Now I will simply move on to the next person on my call list and never call you again.

9.            It will only take a few minutes of your time.  That is, to agree to meet with me but the sales pitch will take 30-45 minutes, more if you become a tough nut who forces me to bring out the high pressure tactics.

8.            We only offer our best customers.   You, my friend, are a loyal customer.  With your help, I will win a sales award or hit the commission jackpot!

7.            This is your last chance on this great deal!  ...... until next week when we have something else to sell you after we’ve gotten rid of this loser. 

6.            There is no obligation: Unless you read the fine print and discover something else hidden there that you will wish you had read.

5.            We offer the best value.  We can’t negotiate on price so we’d better think of another reason to convince you that this is our best price and you should buy what is on the table.

4.            I guarantee you!  I am not the one who has to make sure that this thing works, my job is to sell it to you.  Operations, service or support are the ones who have to make sure it does what I promised you.

3.            Trust me.  I can’t answer your stupid questions or provide you with the credibility you are asking for so you will just have to take my word for it.

2.            Do you have a few minutes?  That’s good because boy oh boy do I have a sales dump that I’m gonna lay on you in less time than it is going to take you to come up with a reason to say no.

1.            How are you?  I really don’t give a hoot how you are, I just wanna know if you’re in a good enough mood to fall for my sales pitch. 

Click on the following link for an  amusing look at sales:   

http://youtu.be/1VjVlwl1Jqc

Top 13 Sales Terms and What They Mean

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.

~Walt Disney

Ever wonder what all the sales jargon means?  Here is a look at some of the more basic terms:

Close:  If you close a sale, you’ve slam dunked and high-fived your colleagues and boss.    Can you say return or refund?  Most sales only begin once you’ve come to agreement to do business

Cold call:   The term alone seems to raise the “b.s. meter” jump several decimal points.  Go ahead, ask a group about cold calling and you will get endless advice, debates, opinions, and experts.    News flash:  Everyone does cold calls!  You've walked into a business without an appointment, you've asked an administrator who the best person to talk to, you've followed up a referral, or  you've telephoned, e-mailed, sent a letter to someone you’ve never met to introduce yourself, promote a product or sell a service.

Decision Maker:   Is the Ogre that will jump out at you or growl at you if you disturb them.  In reality, many sales professionals have learned the hard way after they’ve wined and dined the person they thought was the decision maker only to find out that they bought from someone else who was talking to the decision maker all along.

Farmer:  Someone who harvests crops, sometimes complains about the weather, and drives a tractor.  In sales it is used to describe a sales style.  Some sales professionals like to rely on warm leads while talking about their golf score, while others specialize in growing existing business by finding other departments or persons within their customer base to add revenue.

Forecast:   Usually, it is because you are planning an outing and want to know whether or not you should take an umbrella.   To sales professionals, it is how you determine what dollar figure you will arrive at and will be accountable for.

Gatekeeper:  Someone you should avoid at all cost!  They will make your life miserable, often curt or sometimes rude, they’re job is to get rid of you before you annoy or interrupt their boss.   Should you start out with this super person, it is best to get on their good side, ask them for permission to speak to

Hunter:   Someone that Daffy Duck always avoids in cartoons.   It is a sales professional who gets an adrenalin rush from uncovering a prospect, steals a customer from the competition and knows what the term “cold call” means.

Negotiate:   Some people will negotiate just to barter the price down – they don’t see the value in what you are offering, their only goal is to see if they can squeeze a “deal” out of you.  If you’ve done your homework, understood your customer, really listened, you avoid this phase altogether.  

Networking:    Scoring marks of a networking champion by the amount of business cards they can hand out in the shortest period of time, like speed dating.  Networking is when you speak and share information with attendees at a business conference, luncheon, dinner, or event.   

Objection:  Is where you haven’t convinced your prospect to buy because they are asking you endless, annoying questions when all you want to do is get them to sign or give you the money.    Objections are clues to figure out what the hesitation to move forward is.

Prospect:  Synonymous with target, market, or object for whom you are attempting to sell to.   If you haven’t done your research to even know if they’re in the market, they are a suspect.  Once you’ve established communication and interest, you’ve earned the right to call them a prospect.

Qualify:  Can they even pay for what you are selling them?  Or, do they enjoy playing with you, like a cat does with a mouse?  Yes, it may  look promising if they take a Porche for a test drive, however, if they drove up in a ’69 Beetle (unless they’re a rock star) they may be wasting your time where you can try selling to someone who can actually buy.  Asking the right questions will tell you that they were delivering pizza.

Referral:  Geez, you gave me a smokin’ deal or I get a rebate if I tell my friends to call you.  The best referrals often take place after an extended period of time because most people don’t refer someone unless they think they will make them look good.