Just Ask The Question

Didn’t close that last selling opportunity? Any idea why?

Chances are, you just plain didn’t ask.

You probably have your pitch honed to perfection. You may demonstrate features, advantages and benefits in your sleep. You know your prospects and you build a convincing case why they should be buying what you’re selling.

But what about that last step? The happy ending? The sealing of the deal?

The biggest hurdle in sales is overcoming common psychological buying resistance. Customers are wary, probably have been burned before, and must be sure they’re investing their money wisely. A convincing pitch only gets you part of the way there.

A good close is the trigger that turns persuasion into action. It gives your prospect permission to accept your promises, and to sign on the dotted line.

There can be as many closing styles as there are selling processes and prospects, but they have one thing in common — they always end with that big question. Next time you sense prospect interest at the end of your presentation, try asking: “How would you like us to proceed?”

After the Cranberry Sauce

Later this week we will partake in two thoroughly American traditions.

The first is a celebration of family and thankfulness; the second is of commerce, consumerism and, just maybe, economic salvation.

Black Friday is the bellwether for the entire Holiday retail season, when sellers will begin securing their year's profits, or reconciling their losses. Black Friday will be their first indication of which way our economic winds are blowing.

Unfortunately, it's also turned into a strange and self-destructive competition among retailers; with earlier and earlier openings, longer hours and ridiculously under-priced loss leaders.

Hints of backlash, even resistance, are starting to appear. Hopefully that means that all of us, retailers and consumers alike, are beginning to regain our Black Friday sanity.

And hopefully we can spend a bit more time on Thursday being thankful for all our blessings, including economic recovery, and a more prosperous, less hectic, Holiday season for all.

Income vs. Profitability

The comedy club reservations manager was seeing dollar signs. Here was a prospective customer setting up a birthday party for her husband; booking dinner, drinks and a show for dozens of friends and family. It was a windfall.

Then came the warning signs. Had any of this group ever been to a comedy club? No, said the prospect, but she was sure they’d love it. Had they heard of the headline act (a recognizable name, somewhat notorious for his blue-very blue-language)? No, but the family enjoyed all sorts of comedy. Especially, said the prospect, her 93-year-old mother-in-law, who would be in attendance. As would be the family’s pastor.

Turning away a customer is never an easy thing to do. Some businesses would never even consider it. Those businesses, however, don’t understand the difference between income and profitability.

Profitability stems from the customer-service mindset; from opting to help customers, rather than simply selling to them. Helping them means recognizing when what you’re selling isn’t what they should be buying.

The comedy club reservations manager thanked the prospect for her time, and gave her the number of a nice local dinner theater. That’s where the birthday party was held, and by all accounts it was a lovely affair.

Sure, our plucky reservations manager lost out on a considerable chunk of income. But in doing so, she was diligently minding her long-term profitability. More importantly, she was giving her best level of service to a prospective customer, who was after all just looking for a pleasant evening.

Think long term. Say no when you must. And always do the right thing for your customers. In the end, that’s always the right thing for you.

Be Epic

Traditionally, an “epic” was a long poem that narrated the deeds of heroes, the rise and fall of nations and the meddling of the gods. But in today’s vocabulary, “epic” is an — often intentionally exaggerated — adjective used to say that something is awesome.

When describing a person, you might say, “That guy was the most epic guitarist I’ve ever seen.” For an event or action, a simple “That was epic.”

You get the idea. But how does “epic” work for organizations? It definitely sounds weird when you talk about them like that:

Adobe is the most epic content authoring, customer experience management and online marketing software developer ever!

Yep, that definitely sounds weird — and a wee bit forced.

Making “epic” work for an organization isn’t easy. In the traditional epic, characters, groups and even entire nations went through a lot of hardship, self-discovery, lesson learning and perhaps even sacrifice to get to where they were going. Sound familiar? That’s probably because you experienced those same things at some point in your organization’s history. Any company that’s still operating in this world knows how hard it can be — and what it had to go through to get to where it is today.

That journey — coupled with your history and culture — makes up your unique story. It’s the tale of how you came to be and the adventures you’ve been on since the beginning. It’s the saga of your relationships with customers and the chronicle of your battles with competitors.

Unfortunately, most organizations aren’t on the same page when it comes to understanding and telling their unique story. Our role is to discover it, dust it off, polish it, package it and tell it in its most favorable light and most memorable way to those who will benefit from hearing it.

And with our team by your side every step of the way, you’ll discover how to make that story epic.