Confirming Pages selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling A environment e Creation alu n satio n e mp Co selling environment Recruiting & Negotiatin g e h Win-Win Solu for t g tio n ge n a Ethics on a ti P anagement ros lf-M Ca pe Se ll Customer S Relationships V selling environment R selling environment Aselling environment Sele c t ion ales Comm u &S Sales nica t ing ing M es i ct lann s P selling environment tion ma selling environment tiv Eva lua tin anagement Sales M F environment selling environment selling environment selling selling environment S a I e l e c spe n rso rma o f N nM r h s i p e Sellinenvironment on selling i t P a l selling environment selling environment selling environment o g g Re D SING &LFOLLOW -UP CLO E environment selling environment selling environment selling selling environment s Y Info r , selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment 5 selling environment 3 1 selling environment selling environment 9 selling environment selling environment B U environment selling environment selling environment selling selling environment selling environment Developme nt selling environment selling environment selling environment joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 222 selling environment selling environment selling environment & ining selling environment Tra selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment 2/3/09 11:35:00 AM Confirming Pages 8 chap te r F I N D L This chapter completes our journey through the relationship-selling process by examining closing the saleE and following up to enhance customer relationships. In Y relationship selling, closing is a natural progression of the, Closing the Sale and Follow-up Learning Objectives process. Because we are building toward win–win solutions with customers, closing simply connotes that both S parties recognize the value-added of doing business with one another. Postsale follow-up presents a marvelous A opportunity to add even more value to clients through R problem solving and service. A After reading this chapter, you should be able to • Define closing and explain how closing fits into the relationship-selling model. • Understand different closing methods and provide examples of each. • Discuss the concept of rejection and ways to deal with it. • Identify various verbal and nonverbal buying signals. • Know when to trial close. • Recognize and avoid common closing mistakes. • Explain aspects of follow-up that enhance customer relationships. • Understand the sales manager's role in closing the sale and follow-up. 5 3 1 9 B U 223 joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 223 2/3/09 11:35:01 AM Confirming Pages e x p e r t advice Expert: Company: Business: Education: James A. Decker, CMP, Sales Manager, Resort Sales and Marketing Universal Orlando Resort Represents three hotels located at Universal Orlando Resort: Loews Portofino Bay Hotel (750 rooms), Hard Rock Hotel (650 rooms), Loews Royal Pacific Resort (1,000 rooms). These properties have over 250,000 square-feet of meeting and event space. MBA, Rollins College; BS, Pennsylvania State University. From your experience working with lots of high powered clients who are seeking the right resort for their meetings, why is being a great listener so important in sales? The key to working in sales in any industry is the ability to listen to your clients. The hospitality industry caters to a demanding clientele set in a highly competitive market. If you don't listen to your client, you could miss discovering the key elements that are vital to creating a successful program for them, and could instead end up trying to sell them on something they actually view as a negative! “Feature dumping”—that is, verbally dumping all your product's features on them without first knowing what they are actually interested in—can be detrimental to a sale, and makes it obvious to a client that you aren't listening. Clients may think they know what they want, but until you obtain their history and truly understand what their needs are, you will not be able uncover and focus on the finer details essential to producing the most successful program for them. What about times when something unexpected goes wrong after a sale? What is your advice on how to do effective service recovery? The sale should never truly be considered over or complete. Too many variables can impact the group's overall experience, making it critical that you partner with all staff and departments who will ultimately impact the group (for 224 F I N the food and beverage department). Without their example, support D and partnership through teamwork, you cannot have success with your clients. When a challenge arises, L the best advice is to be honest with the client and get an E as to what went wrong. Ask them directly if they answer Ythat they are comfortable with the service recovery. feel It is, very easy to lose a client's trust if they do not see that you are working toward their best interests. Do not make excuses, but always stand by your product. S What other tips can you give about the importance of A serving the client between the time the contract is signed Rwhen their event takes place? and A People buy from friends, and the best compliment you can get is when your client refers you to another, or they give you5another piece of business themselves. Always treat your 3 clients like they are your friends. It is always fun to be in business with friends, so stay in touch with them after 1 the contract is finalized—before, during, and after their 9 Also contact your clients to recognize important meeting. personal B events such as their birthday, their child's big football U game, and other special occasions. Selling is fun, relationships with clients are meaningful, and being a salesperson is rewarding. Take advantage of the sales profession and enjoy the job! CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 224 2/4/09 12:15:58 PM Confirming Pages What Is a Close? For anyone engaged in relationship selling, closing the sale means obtaining a commitment from the prospect or customer to make a purchase. Even long-time customers still need to be closed on specific orders or transactions. Also, as you learned in Chapter 6, a salesperson should always enter a call with specific goals for that call. Closing connotes the achievement of those sales call goals. Closing the sale should not be viewed as a discrete event that takes place at the end of a sales call. Such a perspective leads to much anxiety on the part of perfectly capable salespeople by focusing on a single element in developing the client relationship. Chapter 1 introduced the concept of closing the sale in the context of our overall model for Relationship Selling and Sales Management: One of the joys of relationship selling is that the high level of rapport, trust, and mutual respect F inherent in a long-term buyer–seller relationship can take some of the pressure off the “close” portion of the sales I is because the seller and buyer have been openly process. In theory, this communicating throughout the process about mutual goals they would N like to see fulfilled by a particular sales transaction. Because the key added value is not D price but rather other aspects of the product or service, the negotiation L should not get hung up on price as an objection. Therefore, in relationship selling, closing becomes a natural part of the E communication process. Y Selling Is Not a Linear , Process The components of successful relationship selling you have learned so far throughout this book liberate you from the need to use clever, tricky, and manipuS lative closing approaches with your prospects and customers. Note that our guidA Selling and Sales Management is not linear. That is, ing model for Relationship it doesn't show “steps” of R selling progressing one after another in order. This is because relationship selling usually is decidedly nonlinear. In relationship selling, the various components A of the selling process take place simultaneously, always focused on the customer at the core, with adding value and performing ethically as guiding central themes. The layout of our model connotes this, and the visual 5 from the customer at the center is important to an of the process as emanating understanding of how relationship selling works. 3 At no place in the selling process is understanding the nature of the model for Relationship Selling and 1 Sales Management more relevant than in closing the sale. Closing as a selling function 9 is actually appropriate at any point in the relationshipselling process—not just at the end of a lengthy sales presentation. In this chapter, B we advocate learning different approaches to closing, because knowing different ways to communicate toU buyers the need to gain commitment to the goals of the sales call is a fundamental skill in seller–buyer communication. However, we also strongly advocate that these closing skills be used at the appropriate point in the dialogue with the customer—not just at the end. The salesperson must watch for buying signals, verbal and nonverbal cues that the customer is ready to make a commitment to purchase. If a salesperson has done the job well on the tasks described so far in this book— understanding the buyer, creating and communicating value, behaving ethically, using information for prospecting and sales call planning, communicating the C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 225 225 2/3/09 11:35:06 AM Confirming Pages sales message effectively, and negotiating for win–win solutions—why should the close be anything other than a natural progression of the dialogue with the customer? That's the most healthy and constructive way to look at the task of closing the sale—and it focuses on doing a great job of the whole relationship-selling process, not just the “dreaded close” at the end. Especially important among the elements of relationship selling is what you learned in Chapter 7 about always working to find win–win solutions. In their popular book Getting to Yes, Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton frame it this way. The core of selling is negotiation. The salesperson has goals and a perspective; the customer has goals and a perspective of his or her own. The art of selling is finding the common ground where both parties can win by developing a mutually beneficial business relationship. To do so, sellers must have a high level of empathy in dealing with their prospects and customers. An empathetic salesperson identifies with and understands the buyer's situation, feelings, and motives. Also, they must set goalsFfor the sales call that are consistent with the customers' needs.1 If both parties win from doing business together, surely this has I dialogue between seller and buyer. Points of been communicated throughout the agreement have already been established. The idea that a win–win solution would N somehow come as a revelation only at the end of the dialogue does not match the D selling. spirit or the process of relationship To summarize: L • Closing is a natural part of theErelationship-selling process. • The process is rarely linear. The Yclose need not happen at the end of a lengthy sales presentation. , • Salespeople must watch for buying signals any time during the seller–buyer dialogue and act on those signals by closing then. S perspective in closing, working toward win– • It is important to take the buyer's win solutions for both parties A by communicating and delivering value to the customer and to your own company. R must understand and be able to use different • Based on the above, salespeople approaches to closing. A 5 3 There are many ways to close the sale. No salesperson can rely on just one or 1 a few of them. Successful salespeople learn how and when to use many different approaches to closing so they9can apply each appropriately in different situations. Just as you learned in Chapter 6 that canned sales presentations have major B limitations, canned approaches to closing do not give you the ability to adapt to a particular sales situation. It is critically important that any closing technique be U Closing Methods customized to the particular buyer and situation. Like many aspects of relationship selling, doing this successfully takes practice and improves over time. A common theme of sales success that has come up elsewhere in this book is the need for salespeople to develop and practice active listening skills. Active listening means carefully monitoring the dialogue with the customer, watching for buying signals, and then picking just the right time to close. Only when you listen actively will the buyer have the chance to register verbal and nonverbal buying signals that tell you it's time to close. 226 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 226 2/3/09 11:35:08 AM Confirming Pages Another closing tool is silence. When you close, you have just put the ball into the prospect's court. It is now time to sit back, be quiet, and let the customer talk. Research indicates that effective use of silence in closing separates high-performing salespeople from the other kind.2 Make no mistake, silence can be challenging to use in a sales call. If you bounce the ball to the prospect through a close and the prospect doesn't pick it up and run with it by either providing objections or making a commitment to buy, seconds of silence can seem like minutes (or hours!). However, try to resist jumping in. Give the prospect the maximum leeway to respond to your close. The seven closing methods here are a sampling of some of the most used approaches. Examples are provided for each. However, remember that good salespeople adapt closing techniques to particular buyers and particular selling situations. F I assume they are going to close. Otherwise, they would In a way, salespeople always be hard pressed to justifyNtime spent on a prospect. The assumptive close allows the salesperson to verbalize this assumption to see if it is correct. Examples: D • “I can ship it to you on Monday. I'll go ahead and schedule that.” L • “Let's get this paperwork filled out so we can get the order into the system.” Emeet your specifications. I'll call and reserve one for you.” • “You need Model 455 to Y for the buyer to just naturally move along with your Obviously, you are looking assumption. If he or she,doesn't, as with any close you will likely uncover some Assumptive Close additional objections you need to deal with. Several of the other closing methods are assumptive in nature. In fact, it is generally favorable to handle S all communication with the prospect with the attitude that he or she will ultimately buy. This creates an atmosphere in the sales call that A supports the concept of moving to win–win solutions. R Minor Point Close A In the minor point close, the salesperson focuses the buyer on a small element of the decision. The idea is that agreeing on something small reflects commitment to 5 the purchase, and the salesperson can move forward with the deal. Examples: 3 • “What color do you prefer?” 1 special credit terms?” • “Do you want to use our • “When would you like9our technical crew to do the installation?” B Alternative Choice Close U Usually the alternative choice close also focuses the buyer on deciding relatively minor points. This approach simply adds the twist of giving the prospect options (neither of which is not to buy at all). Focus on making the choice between viable options—options the prospect is most likely to accept. Examples: • “Which works best for your application, Model 22 or Model 35?” • “Would you like this delivered tomorrow, or would Monday be better?” • “Do you want it with or without the service agreement?” C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 227 227 2/3/09 11:35:10 AM Confirming Pages Direct Close This approach is most straightforward. With the direct close, you simply ask for the order. Although simple, this close can be highly effective when you get strong buying signals and your buyer seems to be a straight shooter. Such buyers often appreciate the direct approach. Examples: • “It sounds to me as though you are ready to make the buy. Let's get the order into the system.” • “If there are no more questions I can answer, I would sure like us to do business today. What do you say?” Summary-of-Benefits Close Throughout the sales process, you and the buyer have (we hope) found common F ground for agreement on a variety of points. The summary-of-benefits close is a relatively formal way to closeI by going back over some or all of the benefits accepted, reminding the buyer why those benefits are important, and then asking N a direct closing question (or perhaps ending with a choice or some other method). D Example: • “Ms. Buyer, we've agreed thatL our product will substantially upgrade your technical capabilities, allow you E to attract new business, and all the while save you money over your current system, isn't that right?” (Buyer agrees.) Given Y let's go ahead and place the order for one your timetable for implementation, of our systems today. We can have , it delivered in two weeks and I will have my service technicians out then to begin training your staff on using the system. (Silence. Wait for response.) S Balance Sheet Close A The balance sheet close, also sometimes called the t-account close, gets the salesR person directly involved in helping the prospect see the pros and cons of placing A the order. In front of the customer, take a piece of paper and write the headings “Reasons for Buying” on the top left and “Remaining Questions” on the top right. (Don't put the word “Objections” 5 on the top right. It sounds too negative.) Your job is to summarize the benefits accepted in the left column and use the right column to find out what is holding 3 the prospect back from buying. You might set up the exercise like this: 1 • “Mr. Buyer, let's take a few minutes 9 to list out and summarize the reasons this purchase makes sense for you, and also list any remaining questions you may B right decision.” (Pull out paper. Have a diahave. This will help us make the logue with the buyer to develop U the points. When finished, use an appropriate closing method.) Buy-Now Close The buy-now close, also sometimes referred to as the impending-event close or standing-room-only close, creates a sense of urgency with the buyer that if he or she doesn't act today, something valuable will very likely be lost. In relationship selling, manipulative closing techniques are strictly taboo, so you have to be honest 228 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 228 2/3/09 11:35:10 AM Confirming Pages here. That is, the reasons you set forth why the buyer will benefit if he or she doesn't hesitate must be real. Examples: • “We have a price increase on this product effective in two weeks. Orders placed today can be guaranteed to ship at the current price.” • “My company is running a special this week. This product is currently 20 percent off the regular price.” • “Orders placed by Thursday receive an extra 30 days before the invoice is due.” • “I'm almost out of stock on this product in our warehouse.” In Closing, Practice Makes Perfect There are many other forms of closing. In his book The Art of Closing Any Deal, James W. Pickens lists no fewer than 24 techniques he calls “the 24 greatest closes on earth.”3 However, notF every closing technique you may read about is appropriate in relationship selling. I The above seven approaches are tried and true ways to move your buyer to commitment without resorting to tricky or questionable tactics. As a salesperson youNwill become more and more comfortable with using the different closing methodsDas you have the opportunity to practice them. L E In Chapter 5 you learnedYthat an important aspect of prospecting is qualifying the prospect and the better job , a salesperson does of qualifying prospects, the more Dealing with Rejection likely those prospects will eventually turn into customers. Prospecting is in many ways a numbers game. The more leads you can qualify as prospects, the more customers you develop, S and ultimately the more sales you close. Many times a salesperson can do everything right and still not get a customer to A for anyone in the sales profession to reflect on this fact close a deal. It is important and to understand at a deep R human level that failing to get an order or close a deal is not personal rejection. A salesperson's measure of accomplishment and selfA worth should not be controlled by what someone else does or fails to do. Nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission! It is one thing to be disappointed by not getting an order or closing a particu5 lar sale, and it is perfectly reasonable (and wise) to step back and analyze what might have caused this 3 outcome and what you might do differently next time. This is simply learning 1 and growing professionally. But successful salespeople never equate such business decisions by customers with personal rejection. They 9 maintain their positive attitude about their job, their company, and their products and move on to the next B customer. Tom Reilly, a well-known authority on professional selling, developed five tactics for dealing with U rejection, which he has used in training salespeople for many years. 1. Remind yourself of the difference between self-worth and performance. Never equate your worth as a human being with your success or failure as a salesperson. 2. Engage in positive self-talk. Separate your ego from the sale. The prospect is not attacking you personally. Say to yourself, “This prospect doesn't really even know me as a person. The refusal to buy cannot have anything to do with me as a person.” C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 229 229 2/3/09 11:35:10 AM Confirming Pages 3. Don't automatically assume that you are the problem. The prospect may be an intimidating, self-serving individual with some deep personal problems that cause the behavior you see. The prospect may be just having a bad day or may be like that all the time. You are not to blame for any of these possibilities. 4. Positively anticipate the possibility of rejection and it will not overwhelm you. Expect it, but don't create it. That is, think in advance what your response to rejection will be if it occurs. (Note: This does not conflict with an assumptive close approach.) 5. Consider the possibility that not buying is a rational decision because of underlying reasons. Possible reasons are bad timing, shared decision making, or budget constraints that truly do prevent purchase. The prospect may not feel comfortable revealing these reasons to you.4 The preparation you learned in Chapter 7 for anticipating and handling buyers' objections will help buffer you F against taking rejection personally. If you do a great job during the preapproach of researching reasons a customer might not I responses for dealing with the objections, at buy and then planning appropriate the end of the day if the customer N does not buy you can look at yourself in the mirror and say “I did everything I could.” This is a sign of professionalism in D selling. Excellence in call preparation yields L a confidence and professionalism that cannot be equaled. This is why sales executives often call the preapproach the single most E important stage in the relationship-selling process. (Interesting, isn't it, how this runs counter to the stereotype that the most important step is the close?) If despite Y your preparation and presentation the customer still doesn't buy, know when to , pack up graciously and leave the door open to sell to this client another day. S Athat a critical determinant of whether or not a Books on successful closing agree salesperson closes customers is R attitude.5,6 Attitude represents the salesperson's state of mind or feeling with regard to a person or thing. Everything else being Athemselves and their product or service, show equal, salespeople who believe in Attitude Is Important confidence, exhibit honest enthusiasm, and display tenacity (sticking with a task even through difficulty and adversity) will close more business than those who 5 don't. In a survey 215 sales managers 3 across a wide range of industries were asked which success factors are the most important in their salespeople. Tenacity (stick1 ing with a task/not giving up) ranked fourth out of over 50 key success factors.7 Successful salespeople are successful in large measure because they don't give up 9 easily. They stick with the process of developing customer relationships and movB ing customers to closing the sale. They aren't distracted from this core mission of selling, and they don't feel rejected U when they don't make a sale. Attitude is infectious. Customers pick up on a salesperson's attitude and outlook on life right away. Innovation 8.1 gives a rousing picture of the value of honest enthusiasm in our daily lives. One important way to approach closing involves envisioning a successful outcome with the buyer. Sit back and mentally rehearse how a positive outcome might unfold. Think about all the steps needed to close the sale. This exercise helps solidify the road map toward closing the sale. It also feeds your positive attitude and confidence before you actually engage in the close. 230 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 230 2/3/09 11:35:12 AM Confirming Pages I N N O V A T I O N The Essence of Enthusiasm It is rare that one can find more up's and down's in a career than you'll find in the selling profession. A prosperous month and life is good. A down month and job dis-satisfaction reigns supreme. It is so very common that one's job satisfaction is tied directly to their production. It's hard not to experience some of this as a professional salesperson—after all, how many vocations have a measuring stick as clear and defined as monthly sales production? Sales organizations would do well to look around their F sales forces for these signs of trouble: • • • • • • • I Negativity Call reluctance—avoidance of prospecting or making calls N Lack of motivation/action D Good month/bad month swings in production Lack of ownership/professionalism in their work L (And here's the biggie that can bring down the house) E Lack of enthusiasm for their work Y Many salespeople let their production (the destination) dictate their job satisfaction instead of letting their daily , activities (the journey) provide them the purpose and fulfillment they seek. It's a trap that causes inconsistent production, sporadic motivation, and in the end—burnout! S So what's the solution to creating a long-term, successful sales career? A Answer: LIVE YOUR BLISS! R Your bliss is that activity or experience that when doing it, A you feel truly alive. Time slows down and you find real meaning and purpose in what you are doing. When you find your bliss and incorporate it into the practice of your work, you've 5 just discovered the secret to passion and high performance. Everyone has their personal bliss that excites and motivates 3 them. When we are engaged in these activities we find it 1 easy to commit to the practice. Discipline and willpower are not a struggle because we love what we are doing. Are 9 there actual salespeople who live their bliss and excel in the B sales profession? Yes, they are called ”Specialists.” The generalists are the majority; they do what most othU ers do and get similar results. Of the 80/20 rule they make up the 80 percent who produce the 20 percent. When the market for the generalists' product or service is not in high demand they tend to experience a drop off in production, which in turn can cause stress and if it lasts too long, they may be forced to exit the company or industry all together. Specialists have developed a creative approach to their profession. Specialists enjoy top of mind awareness, are the 8.1 highest paid salespeople in the world, and exhibit a natural passion for their work. When we encounter a person who is passionate about the part they play in their work, we are witnessing vocation excellence. Think about it, enthusiasm is contagious and in a time of similar pricing and products, enthusiasm often makes the difference. A salesperson that wants to experience a dramatic shift in passion and performance should try these tips: Tip One: Find your bliss—utilize the 20-10-5 rule. Twenty. List 20 things you love to do most and gain enjoyment from. Is it baking, golfing, smoking cigars, swimming, fantasy sports, coaching, public speaking, sailing, technology, running, lifting weights, bowling, pottery, event planning (you party hound!), skiing, gardening/harvesting, playing music, wine tasting, dancing, yoga—we can add to this list ad infinitum. Ten. Choose the top 10 that fit the following criteria: 1. 2. Could these activities be incorporated into the practice of my selling activities (prospecting, presenting, closing, follow-up, client retention, etc.) and have a positive impact on production? Could I see myself doing it week in and week out with enjoyment, said another way, could I find it easy to commit to the practice and make it my specialty? This is where we really need to think outside the box and be open-minded in developing a creative approach. Here are just a few examples of what top producing specialists have incorporated into their work: • • • • One salesperson loved to cook and bake, so she put her bliss to work and would bake treats of all kinds and deliver them to prospective offices in need of her company's services. As an add-on bonus she would teach prospective clients some helpful hints on cooking/ baking free of charge. Another salesperson loved to exercise. A self-proclaimed gym rat, she used her joy of working out to share nutritional information and even train many of her prospects and later clients a few times a month as a free add-on service to her core business product. One guy incorporated public speaking into his prospecting activities and found various forums to speak on behalf of his industry as well as his products/services. In a very short time he built credibility and a large book of business because of his bliss. A golf enthusiast helped his clients with their golf swing. C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 231 231 2/3/09 11:35:12 AM Confirming Pages There are probably some clubs/organizations that get together and share a similar bliss as you do or other places to practice your bliss and develop relationships. The only limit here is one's own creativity and imagination. Five. Narrow the list to the top five that you love to do most and start enjoying your work! The Key: Get Creative! Tip Two: Declare yourself a specialist. Using one or more of your top five, develop a creative brand message and deliver it effectively. Examples: • • The Technology Lady to the (fill in the blank) industry The Friendly Fisherman for your financial peace of mind Tip Three: Commit to the “musts” of your job. Company requirements such as attendance at all meetings, completed paperwork turned in on time, parking in designated employee parking, and so on are examples of the “musts.” The professional salesperson is the one who complies with the requirements of his/her employer. Prima donnas abound the requirements of their employer. Prima donnas abound in the sales profession. Don't be one of them. Selling is one of the most time flexible professions available—this is good news and a major benefit to this vocation. In a 40-hour week, it's possible that your musts may only require 5 to 10 hours of your time, leaving 30 hours or more to “live your bliss.” Let's recap: 1. 2. 3. Utilize the 20-10-5 rule. Declare yourself a specialist. Commit to the “musts” of your job. The real bottom line of these three tips is this: Do what you love to do and be of service while doing it. Service to others will make you successful in any endeavor you choose. F So now, get creative and enjoy the daily journey. Before long you'll be searching for ways to slow your busiI growth. Not a bad problem to have! ness N Source: Steve McCann, “Find Your Sales Bliss,” American D Salesman, May 2007, p. 3. L E Y Identifying Buying Signals , As we mentioned, a close does not necessarily happen at the very end of a presentation. It can happen any time. The timing is driven by the buyer's readiness to commit—not the salesperson's need to cover a certain amount of material, present S all the available features and benefits, or make it to the end of the presentation. A ones, experience problems in closing because Many salespeople, especially new they ignore or are insensitive to R buying signals, those verbal and nonverbal cues that the customer is ready to make a commitment to purchase. A Verbal Buying Signals A buyer may not come right out5and say “I'm ready to buy,” at least not in those words. However, salespeople should 3 look out for the following verbal signals, which essentially communicate the same message. 1 • Giving positive feedback. The most overt buying signal is a positive comment or 9 some aspect of your product. Or the buyer comments from the buyer about may reinforce something you B have said. Examples: • “I like the new features U you described.” • “Those extended credit terms really help me out.” • “You certainly are right that our current vendor can't do that.” • Asking questions. When buyers become more engaged, they tend to ask more questions. Buyer questions come in many types, and not all signal a readiness to buy. But watch for questions that seem to open the door to close. Examples: • “When will it be available to ship?” • “What colors does it come in?” 232 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 232 2/3/09 11:35:13 AM Confirming Pages • “How much is it?” (Note: A price question may be a signal to close, or it may represent the beginning of an objection.) • “Can you explain your service agreement?” • Seeking other opinions. Buyers usually don't ask for opinions about your product or company unless they are seriously considering purchase. This may involve someone else in their company, or it may involve asking you for references or even your own opinion about you versus the competition. Examples: • “Let me get Bob from our engineering department in to look at your specs.” • “Who are some other firms that have bought your product recently?” • “Give me your honest opinion about how your product stacks up against your competitors.” • Providing purchase requirements. Watch for the point where a buyer begins to F his or her needs. Often these relate to relatively become very specific about minor points, not the key I attributes of your product or company. This signals acceptance of the major points. Examples: N • “My orders must be split among four warehouses.” D • “The only way I can change vendors is if you are willing to train my people to useLyour equipment.” E Nonverbal Buying Signals Y Often nonverbal communication tells as much or more about the buyer's readiness , to buy as words. Watch closely for nonverbal signals that indicate it's time to close. • The buyer is relaxed, friendly, and open. If the buyer moves to this mode during S the call, it likely signals he or she is comfortable with what you are selling. A • The buyer brings out paperwork to consummate the purchase. A purchase order, sales contract, or otherRform is a sure signal to close. • The buyer exhibits positive A gestures or expressions. Head nodding, leaning forward in a chair, coming around the desk to get a better look at a sample, significant eye contact, and similar nonverbal signals connote interest and potential commitment5to the purchase. • The buyer picks up your sample and tests it or picks up and examines your literature. 3 The more involved your customer is in your presentation, the more likely he 1 or she is ready for a close. 9 Trial Close B When you detect one orU more buying signals, it's time to engage in a trial close. “Trial” suggests that the buyer may or may not actually be ready to commit. A trial close can involve any of the closing methods discussed earlier. Often a trial close elicits a negative response from the prospect because he or she still has some objections you must overcome. By nature, a trial close can be used at any time during the sales process. In fact, if you walk into a sales call and get a strong buying signal immediately, go ahead and do a trial close. If the customer commits, great. Never feel compelled to deliver a presentation to a buyer who is already sold! A trial close that works becomes the close. C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 233 233 2/3/09 11:35:15 AM Confirming Pages Common Closing Mistakes You have already learned that in relationship selling, closing the sale should not be viewed as an end in and of itself but rather as a part of the overall process of securing, developing, and maintaining long-term relationships with profitable customers. Over the long run, there will always be some orders you don't get and some deals you don't close. A number of potential problems in closing have been identified. Avoiding them will improve your success in closing. The following are some classic closing errors. • Harboring a bad attitude. We established earlier that salespeople who believe in themselves and the product, show confidence, exhibit honest enthusiasm, and display tenacity will close more business than those with a different attitude. A positive approach to life (as exemplified in Innovation 8.1) is infectious and carries over to your relationships F with customers. • Failure to conduct an effective preapproach. The preapproach stage is where you I do the advanced research and planning needed to arm yourself with the knowledge to give the sales presentation, handle objections, and ultimately N provide win–win solutions to customers. This “behind the scenes” part of relaD tionship selling is very important, and failure to plan for the sales call usually leads to poor results in closing.LWell-prepared salespeople exude confidence; ill-prepared salespeople comeE across as—well, ill prepared. • Talking instead of listening. Listening is key to understanding your buyer, getting to know his or her needs, Y uncovering objections, catching buying signals, and knowing when to trial close. , • Using a “one size fits all” approach to closing. Closing methods must be carefully selected and customized to fit a particular buyer and buying situation. S do not want to come across as a “closing In relationship selling, you certainly robot” who uses the same techniques every time. Practice and experience will A raise your comfort level in applying multiple closing methods to different R situations. A the close. Sometimes salespeople will hang • Uncertainty about what to do after around and keep talking about the sale after the buyer has already committed. Would you believe that this behavior can talk a buyer out of a sale? It's 5 true! Once commitment is received, it's fine to firm up details (delivery, timing, support staff, etc.). But never linger and postmortem the sale with the 3 buyer. 1 At the end of this chapter is an appendix, “Checklist for Using Effective Clos9 ing Skills.” Its extensive set of questions will help you identify what aspects of your closing skills are going wellBand what areas need more work. Especially for new salespeople, this checklist provides considerable insight into the complexity U of issues in closing sales and is a source of ideas for use in closing. Follow-up Enhances Customer Relationships In Chapter 3 on value creation in buyer–seller relationships, many foundation issues were developed that lead to long-term relationships with customers. Central to nurturing these relationships are how the sales organization 234 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 234 2/3/09 11:35:15 AM Confirming Pages creates value for customers and how salespeople communicate that value proposition through actions and words. One of the most important ways to add value is through excellent service after closing the sale, often referred to as follow-up. During this follow-up, the various dimensions of service quality described in Chapter 3 really come into play. Recapping, those are: • Reliability. Providing service in a consistent, accurate, and dependable way. • Responsiveness. Readiness and willingness to help customers and provide service. • Assurance. Conveyance of trust and confidence the company will back up the service with a guarantee. • Empathy. Caring, individualized attention to customers. • Tangibles. The physical appearance of the service provider's business, Web site, F marketing communication materials, and the like.8 I The above descriptors of good service refer not only to salespeople but also N Often salespeople rely heavily on support people to to their whole organization. aid in postsale service. Customer care groups, call centers, technicians, and many D others frequently represent a firm during the follow-up process. But no matter L your customer, ultimately you—the client's primary who else has contact with salesperson—are the person E your customer views as the main contact with your firm. So you must understand and involve yourself directly in follow-up activiY ties with customers. , Customer Expectations and Complaint Behavior S During the sales process, you and your firm set certain expectations that customA you will meet. These expectations relate to all phases ers have a right to believe of your product and service. R When customer expectations are not met, customers perceive a performance gap between what you promised and what you delivered. Performance gaps result A in customer complaints. Customer complaints are not something to be dodged or avoided. In fact, customers should be encouraged to share their postsale concerns. Otherwise, how 5 ever know that a problem exists that needs to be corwill the sales organization rected? Leadership 8.2 provides a number of ideas on how salespeople and their 3 firms can best use complaints to their advantage. 1 gaps are among the most common sources of postThe following performance sale complaints. 9 B when problems go wrong with product delivery, • Product delivery. Classically, it is due to a service failure U outside the direct control of the salesperson. However, you must not give excuses, blame someone else, or act as though delivery is not your problem. Your customer expects you to research and solve delivery problems. • Credit and billing. Again, this problem is usually not due to some direct action or lack of action by the salesperson. Regardless, you are the customer's main contact person. If problems occur on the invoice, you should shepherd your credit department toward solving the problem and keep your customer in the communication loop during the process. C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 235 235 2/3/09 11:35:18 AM Confirming Pages L e a d e r s h i p 8.2 Using Customer Complaints to Your Advantage Most salespeople view the job of fielding customer complaints as an arduous chore, just one of those unpleasant realities of sales life. After all, who in their right mind wants to listen to someone complain? The truth is listening—really listening—to a customer complaint could affect your sales bottom line for the better. Here are five suggestions for dealing with customer complaints and for transforming ill feelings into customer loyalty: 1. It's all in how you take it. One of the least understood realities about customers is that they generally do not complain where there is a problem with a product or service. Instead, in most cases, if a customer for one reason or another is dissatisfied with a salesperson or their product, they simply do not purchase from them again. In fact, past studies have shown that 96 percent of dissatisfied customers don't complain. But although they may not complain, you won't hear from most of them again, either. Sixty-three percent of these silent dissatisfied customers will not buy from you again. Fifteen percent of all customers who switch product brands do so because a complaint was not handled to their satisfaction. A successful salesperson is one who is genuinely interested in what their customer is thinking as well as saying. Try to encourage feedback from your customer to discover what he or she is thinking about your product or service. Be specific without making your customer feel uncomfortable. Don't accuse, but make sure your customer understands your intent is to fix a problem, not to assess any blame. Make sure all bases are covered by examining each phase of the sales process with your customer by asking questions such as these: ”Did you feel pressure when ordering?” ”Do you feel your order was processed quickly and efficiently?” ”Was delivery of your order handled to your satisfaction?” 2. Is this a bona fide complaint? After you have received a complaint from a client or a prospective client the first order of business is to determine whether or not the complaint is justified. Is the product defective? Was the service rendered unprofessionally? Be honest with yourself as well as your customer. You will both sleep better for it. If the complaint is justified, offer to solve the problem. Be careful not to give away the farm, but frequently, solving a problem, even at a loss to you and your company, will pay valuable rewards in the form of future sales saved. Perhaps there is no problem at all but a misunderstanding of what was expected. These problems can frequently 236 be dealt with easily by reviewing order forms and merchandise with the client. 3. Consider the source. While it's generally a good philosophy to try to keep everyone happy, sometimes that works better in theory than anywhere else. As they say, you can please some of the people some of the time, but . . . you get the point. What position does the complainer occupy, and can they affect this or future sales? Be careful how you answer and deal with this. Just because a complainer is not responsible for sales doesn't mean they don't have the ear of someone who is. FBe careful also who you write off. The fellow that is a “nobody” today could be your customer tomorrow. The point I is to determine your priorities. It's always nice to solve someone's complaint, but if you are pressed for time and theNcomplainer is a relative nobody, either delegate the handling D of that complaint to a subordinate or consider the complaint something to be handled at a less busy time. L 4. Address the problem immediately. Once you E understand the nature of a complaint, look into it immediately. Nobody likes to feel their problem is being ignored. On Y the other hand, if a complaint is going to take time to solve, let,your customer know when they can expect a resolution. One sales professional I know has a unique way of viewing customer complaints: He considers complaints as invitations S for more business. ”Whenever I get complaints from a customer,” he told me, ”I consider that an open invitation. It'sA like saying, this is what you can do for me if you want to make me a happy customer. They're begging you to make R them happy, and I'm there to do just that.” 5. A Observe and report. We have all heard the old saying, ”If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Sometimes it's very true. When it comes right down to it, if a customer 5 see their complaint being resolved, who is it they doesn't see? 3 You. Wouldn't it be nice to say to your customer you have personally looked into their complaint and found a solu1 Everyone knows it takes skill and understanding to solve tion? a problem. The person whose only concern is making the sale 9 an order taker. Even if the resolution is not in their favor, is just a customer will hold you in high regard for investing your time B in solving a problem and letting them know you did your best. U When a customer takes the time and trouble to complain about your product or service, it should be considered an opportunity to serve. The chances are good when a customer extends that invitation, the salesperson that takes it not as a complaint, but as an opportunity to extend good service, will maintain a cherished relationship with that customer for a long time to come. Source: Michael W. Michelson, Jr., “Fielding Customer Complaints,” American Salesman, December 2005, p. 22. CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 236 2/3/09 11:35:18 AM Confirming Pages • Installation of equipment. If a delay occurs on a promised installation, or if something goes wrong with the installation, a customer can quickly become frustrated. Sometimes you must travel in person to the installation site to display empathy and responsiveness to the customer—even if you don't have the technical expertise to contribute to the installation itself. • Customer training. Promising that your firm will train a client's users of your product is very common. If a breakdown occurs somewhere in this process, you must become involved in straightening out the mess. • Product performance. A gap between a customer's expectations of your product's performance and its actual performance may evoke the most severe of complaints. While other complaint issues are relatively transient, problems with the product itself get at the core value the customer expected from the purchase. Guarantees and warranties can go a long way toward appeasing customers with product performance problems, but any customer would preF works right in the first place. Hence, the salesperson fer to have a product that should work hard to communicate with the customer during a period of malI function, and also help the customer find alternative solutions during a period N of repair. D Communicating with Customers about Complaints. Salespeople are not absolved L from communicating with customers just because they've closed the sale. In fact, E are strong opportunities for salespeople to show properly handled complaints customers that they have Y the customers' long-term best interests at heart. Wellhandled follow-up to customer problems—service recovery—can be a powerful , solidifier of long-term customer relationships. Here are a few guidelines for salespeople to follow in communicating with customers about problems after the sale. S 1. Listen carefully to what A the customer has to say. Especially if he or she is upset, let the customer vent. Use active listening skills and good body language (eye R contact, nodding in agreement, etc.). If the correspondence is by phone, interject verbally occasionally to let the customer know you are listening and you A understand. 2. Never argue. Never get emotionally charged about the problem. Simply evaluate the complaint and5 work with the customer to formulate viable solutions. 3. Always show empathy. Understand the customer's point of view about the 3 problem. 1 4. Don't make excuses. Don't say, “Your order was late because our truck broke 9the problem. And never, ever make negative remarks down.” Focus on fixing about or blame other people inside your company. B 5. Be systematic. Work with the customer and your company to develop speU cific goals for solving the problem, including a timetable, action steps, and who will do what. Don't set unrealistic expectations for solving the problem. That will only widen the gap between your performance and the customer's expectations. 6. Make notes about everything related to the complaint. Keep the notes updated as things progress. 7. Express appreciation. Sincerely thank the customer for communicating the complaint and show by your words and actions that you value his or her business. C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 237 237 2/3/09 11:35:19 AM Confirming Pages I N N O V A T I O N E-mail Etiquette in Client Follow-up E-mail correspondence is the fastest-growing communication medium in the world. The average businessperson sends and receives about 90 e-mail messages daily. In 2005, e-mail usage exceeded 5 billion messages per day. Although e-mail is certainly powerful and popular, it's not always the most effective way to get your ideas across to clients. Between the limitations of ASCII text, odd line breaks inserted by mail servers, clients who use bizarre terms, spamming, never-get-to-the-point authors, tedious e-mail lists, and hard-to-decipher unsubscribe routines, it's amazing anything gets communicated electronically at all. To use e-mail effectively in customer follow-up and make sure customers read and understand your messages, stick with the six simple guidelines here. 1. Always include a detailed subject line. Because e-mail messages don't go through a screening process or gatekeeper, many people use the subject line to determine which messages get read and which get instantly deleted. Even if your message is important for the recipient, if you make the subject line vague or leave it blank, there's a good chance the message will never get read. Be sure your subject line reflects the message's content. Trying to trick recipients with “sensational” subject lines will only make them wary of future correspondences from you. Keep your subject line brief; most e-mail programs display only the first seven to ten words. The more concise and truthful your subject line 8.3 is, the greater the chance your recipient will read your message (and future messages from you). 2. Allow ample time for a response. Nearly everyone regards e-mail as “instant communication” and expects an immediate response to every message. But immediate responses are not always feasible. Depending on your recipient's workload, log-on habits, and time constraints, responding to your message may take several days. The general rule is to allow at least three days for a response. If you don't receive a reply, resend the original message and insert “2” into the subject line. FSo if your original message subject lines reads, “prodinformation you requested,” the resent subject line I uct will read, “product information you requested—2.” If Nyour second attempt doesn't get a response, consider calling your recipient and alerting him or her to your Dmessage. 3. LKnow when and when not to reply to a sender. One challenge with e-mail is that everyone wants to have Ethe last word. As a result, an e-mail trail can continue days without the new messages adding anything. Yfor Consider this typical e-mail exchange: , Person 1: “Let's meet at 3 P.M. in the conference room.” Person 2: “That works for my schedule, too. See you then.” S A Person 2: “Me, too. Talk with you later.” R Person 1: “Okay. See you at 3:00.” A Person 1:“Great. Looking forward to it.” 5 3 Although handling postsale problems and complaints is an important aspect of follow-up, successful salespeople1are proactive in their follow-up. The very idea of relationship selling implies that 9 the seller and buyer will communicate regularly to build each other's business. Many salespeople develop a communication plan B with customers between sales calls that includes touching base by phone, mail, and e-mail. A particularly effective U approach is to check with the customer right Don't Wait for Complaints to Follow Up with Customers after delivery of an order just to ensure everything is as expected. Usually the customer will simply say everything is fine. But when a problem has occurred, the correspondence ensures the salesperson can deal with it quickly. The greatly increased use of e-mail for customer follow-up has created the need to educate salespeople about its effective use (and potential abuse). Innovation 8.3 explains basic e-mail etiquette in client follow-up. Following these rules will ensure that this outstanding communication tool enhances your relationship with the customer rather than detracting from it. 238 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 238 2/3/09 11:35:19 AM Confirming Pages 4. 5. On and on the exchange continues, simply because neither person can resist the temptation to reply. Such correspondences not only waste time but take up bandwidth space on the server and add to people's frustration as their e-mail boxes fill. If your intended reply does not add anything to the original message's objective, don't send it. On the other hand, know when you definitely should send a response. If someone e-mails you a document to review, a simple acknowledgment that you received it and are reviewing it is sufficient. Don't force people F to wait in limbo, unsure of the status of their request. Give a brief confirmation when you receive important I messages, similar to the order acknowledgments you receive from online retailers. N Use your reply button properly. All e-mail programs D have a “reply” and a “reply to all” option. Using the wrong one could cause you undue embarrassment. L Clicking the “reply” button sends your message to the E original sender only. In contrast, the “reply to all” button sends your message to the original sender and to all Y the other addresses listed in the original message's To, CC (carbon copy), and BCC (blind carbon copy) fields. , Unless you want all these people to read your message, it's wise to simply use the “reply” button. Since the BCC addresses are not revealed to you, there's no way S of knowing just who will receive your “reply to all” mesA sage. When in doubt, use the “reply” option. Set up your reply features apropriately. When you set up R your e-mail program's reply preferences, you have many A 6. options to choose from. To make replies easy for you and your recipient, set your new message to appear as the first block of text, above the original message. Placing your reply message below the original can confuse your recipient, who may not scroll all the way down and may think you did not add any new information. If the original message is lengthy, start a new e-mail rather than replying. All the additional text could slow the transmission. Finally, if you are replying to a series of questions, either restate the question before each answer or type “See answer below” at the top of your reply, then go back into the original message and type your answers there. Use this second approach only if you can easily distinguish your answers via different colored or styled text. Ask permission to add clients to your message list. Because of the sheer number of e-mails your customers receive daily, always ask permission before you automatically put someone on your daily message list. While you may enjoy receiving jokes, photos, and silly cartoons throughout the day, others may not appreciate such items taking up space on their server. You don't always know what kind of technology your customer has, so your 250 KB photo may take your recipient over an hour to download with old technology. Source: Dana May Casperson, “Your Most Coherent Communication Tools,” American Salesman, September 2004, p. 10. Reprinted by permission of © National Research Bureau, 320 Valley St., Burlington, Iowa 52601. 5 3 After the sale, companies have the opportunity to focus on several other impor1 tant customer-building activities. 9 • Customer satisfaction. Sales organizations need an ongoing program to measure and analyze customerB satisfaction—to what degree customers like the product, service, and relationship. U Although the marketing department usually leads Other Key Follow-up Activities this initiative, the sales force often participates in the process. It certainly benefits from the information by altering sales approaches to better serve customer needs. • Customer retention and customer loyalty. After the sale is a good time to work on building customer loyalty and retention rate. One reason periodic measurement of customer satisfaction is important is because a dissatisfied customer is unlikely to remain loyal to you, your company, and its products over time. C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 239 239 2/3/09 11:35:20 AM Confirming Pages Importantly, however, the corollary is not always true: Customers who describe themselves as satisfied are not necessarily loyal. Indeed, one author estimates that 60 to 80 percent of customer defectors in most businesses said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” on the last customer survey before their defection.9 In the interim, perhaps competitors improved their offerings, the customer's requirements changed, or other environmental factors shifted. The point is that businesses that measure customer satisfaction should be commended—but urged not to stop there. Satisfaction measures need to be supplemented with examinations of customer behavior, such as measures of the annual retention rate, frequency of purchases, and the percentage of a customer's total purchases captured by the selling firm. • Reexamine the value added. Customers should be analyzed regularly to ensure that your value proposition remains sufficient to retain their loyalty. Review the various sources of value discussed in Chapter 3 to determine if you are F your customers. Gaining feedback from cusmaximizing the added value for tomers after the sale has been Iinstitutionalized in many sales organizations. IBM, for example, includes such feedback as a formal part of its performance N who interacts directly with a client. This is evaluation process for everyone part of a concept called “360-degree D feedback,” and it will be discussed further in Chapter 14. L • Reset customer expectations as needed. This topic was discussed in Chapter 3 but E is well worth visiting again. Many salespeople try “to underpromise and overY deliver.” This catchphrase encourages salespeople not to promise more than they can deliver and reminds them to try to deliver more than they promised , in order to pleasantly surprise the buyer. Overpromising can get the initial sale and may work once in a transactional selling environment, but a dissatisfied customer will not buy again—and will tell many others to avoid that S salesperson. A is an important part of developing sucManaging customer expectations cessful long-term relationships. RCustomer delight, or exceeding customer expectations to a surprising degree, is a powerful way to gain customer loyA time to overdeliver and delight customers, alty. The follow-up stage is a great as well as to close any lingering gaps between customer expectations and the performance of your company and its products. 5 3 CRM and Follow-up 1 All CRM systems allow for managing your business with any customer through 9 all aspects of the relationship. As described in Chapter 2, CRM systems use underB information about customers is entered at all lying data warehouses into which touchpoints, or places where your firm interacts with the customer. U The follow-up activities in relationship selling should all be documented in a CRM system. Among the analyses such documentation makes possible are • Tracking common customer postsale problems, sharing these problems with others in your firm, and creation of viable solutions. • Sharing postsale strategies among all members of the sales organization. • Documenting and comparing levels of satisfaction, retention, and loyalty across customers. 240 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 240 2/4/09 12:27:02 PM Confirming Pages • Developing product and service modifications, driven by customer input. • Tracking performance of individual salespeople and selling teams against customer follow-up goals. The Sales Manager's Role in Closing the Sale and Follow-up Very early in a salesperson's career an opportunity should be provided for him or her to learn and practice good listening skills. Then, these skills should be modeled and practiced periodically through role play—hopefully during sales manager work-withs—including sensitizing the salesperson to both verbal and nonverbal buying signals. The onus is on sales managers to create a healthy environment for closing— an environment that recognizes the win–win nature F of relationship selling, not one that allows a high potential customer relationship to be thrown offtrack by inappropriate, pushy closing techniques. Such aI culture is created by training, and by everyone in the company (especially managers) practicing what they N preach on a day-to-day basis. You know from reading this chapter that salespeople should not translate the failure to get an D order or close a deal into a personal rejection. The sales manager is in the bestLposition of anyone in the firm to promote a healthy “can-do” attitude among his or her salespeople. When a sale is missed, the manager must work with theE salesperson to debrief the sales process so that together they can come up with Y approaches that are likely to be successful with the next customer—or in future contacts with the customer who , failed to close. Finally, sales managers need to fully realize the power of follow-up after a sale to strengthen customer relationships, and then actively encourage their salespeoS ple to invest in follow-up activities. Ideally, an assessment of how well salespeople A of their performance review engage in follow-up with customers should be a part process and they should be rewarded accordingly. REvaluating salesperson performance is the topic of Chapter 14. A Summary 5 In relationship selling, closing the sale should3not be a traumatic experience for either the salesperson or the customer. Because the goal all along has been 1 that benefit both parties and to work toward value-adding win–win solutions lead to a long-term relationship, closing is a natural 9 outcome of the seller–buyer dialogue. B It is important for salespeople to become familiar with many closing methods so they can apply the best methods to different situations. Successful salespeople U know that not getting an order is not a personal rejection. They understand the importance of learning from such experiences but not basing their self-worth on them. Attitude is very important to successful closing. Salespeople who believe in themselves and the product and show confidence, honest enthusiasm, and tenacity will close more business than those who don't. Empathy with customers and their needs is central to successful closing. Good salespeople recognize a variety of verbal and nonverbal buying signals and respond appropriately with a trial close. It behooves salespeople, especially C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 241 241 2/3/09 11:35:20 AM Confirming Pages those new to the field, to become familiar with common closing mistakes in order to avoid them when dealing with their customers. Postsale follow-up with customers is an excellent time to add considerable value to the client and the relationship. Excellent salespeople provide follow-up not just to handle customer problems and complaints but proactively to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty. Key Terms closing the sale buying signals empathy active listening silence assumptive close minor point close alternative choice close direct close summary-of-benefits close F balance sheet close I close buy-now N rejection attitude tenacity trial close follow-up performance gap customer complaints service recovery D L Role Play E Y Before You Begin Before getting started, please go ,to the appendix of Chapter 1 to review the pro- files of the characters involved in this role play, as well as the tips on preparing a role play. This particular role play requires that you be familiar with the Chapter 6 and 7 role plays. S Characters Involved Alex Lewis Rhonda Reed A R A Setting the Stage Assume all the information given 5 in the Chapters 6 and 7 role plays about Alex's sales call on Tracy Brown (Alex's long-time buyer at Max's Pharmacies). Again assume you are at the meeting 3 between Alex and Rhonda a few days prior to Max's sales call and that the goal 1 now is to brainstorm several potential closing approaches that Alex might use in the upcoming sales call on Tracy to present 9 to role play a buyer–seller dialogue with Alex Happy Teeth. Again, Rhonda wants about these potential closing approaches so he will have a chance to practice them B before making the actual sales call on Tracy. U Alex's Role Work with Rhonda to develop a list of specific closing methods likely to be relevant in the Happy Teeth call on Tracy. Develop a specific dialogue for the role play in which Tracy (role played by Rhonda) responds differently to the different closing approaches— sometimes accepting, sometimes expressing concerns/objections, and sometimes neutral or nonresponsive. Develop dialogue that allows Alex to respond properly to each reaction expressed by Tracy. Refer to the sample buyer/seller dialogues in the section on closing methods for ideas on developing the list and the role-play dialogue. 242 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 242 2/3/09 11:35:24 AM Confirming Pages Rhonda's Role Work with Alex on the above. Assignment Present a 7–10 minute role play in which Alex plays himself in a mock sales call on Tracy (Rhonda gets to role play Tracy). Focus only on the closing part of the sales dialogue. Use as many of the closing methods in the chapter as you find appropriate to the situation. Vary Rhonda's responses so that Alex can use different approaches to moving the sale forward after each. In some cases Rhonda should come up with concerns/objections after the trial close so that Alex can demonstrate proper negotiation techniques to overcome the concern and then try to close again. At the end of the mock sales call, Rhonda should take no more than five minutes to provide constructive feedback/coaching to Alex on how well he used the closing methods. F I Discussion Questions N reading this chapter? List as 1. What images of “closers” did you have before many negative stereotypes of closing as you can. What D is it about relationship selling that changes the role of closing the sale? L 2. Why is attitude so important to successful closing? What are some aspects of a E in closing (and in relationpositive attitude that you believe contribute to success ship selling in general)? Y 3. Once a salesperson sees one or more buying signals from a prospect, he or she , should trial close. What happens if the prospect doesn't close at that point? Why is this outcome actually favorable for continuing the dialogue with the buyer and moving toward closing? S 4. Why is it important to be able to use different closing methods in different A situations? R 5. A sage of selling once said: “Your job as a salesperson is to do 80 percent listening and 20 percent talking.” Do you agree? Why or why not? A 6. Review the list of common closing mistakes in the chapter. Give specific examples of how each might affect your success in a sales call. 5 it one of the most important 7. What is it about postsale follow-up that makes ways to enhance long-term customer relationships? 3 What specific things can you do in follow-up to accomplish this? 1 8. Consider the statement: “Customer complaints are customer opportunities— 9 disagree? Why? but only if we know about them.” Do you agree or 9. How do CRM and the use of databases in B selling enhance closing and follow-up? U Ethical Dilemma Jeff Hill of Southeast Distributors has a decision to make and not much time to make it. As senior account manager for the Ronbev Technologies account, Jeff has a very good relationship with Ron Yokum, CEO and founder of Ronbev. In the four years since Jeff began managing the account, sales have increased 50 percent. C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 243 243 2/25/09 5:26:52 PM Confirming Pages Ronbev has been a customer of Southeast for more than six years and the two companies have a close working relationship. Several years ago (after much hard work on Jeff's part), Ron signed an agreement to make Southeast his exclusive supplier, thereby ensuring price stability and enhanced service. Neither Southeast nor Ronbev has been disappointed in the relationship. Despite the strong relationship between the two companies, Ron (CEO) and Hugh Jacoby (head of purchasing) insist that they personally initiate every order. While overall sales are worked out in strategic planning meetings every year, the configuration of each order and specific characteristics of product size, quantity, and delivery dates vary a great deal. As a result, Ron feels it is important for either Hugh or himself to sign off on every order to be sure it meets Ronbev's needs. Jeff often sits in on the strategic planning meetings and knows Ronbev's purchasing patterns quite well. Today he sits in his office considering a difficult decision. It's the last day of month and he is reviewing the F Ronbev account. He knows that a big order is overdue, but Ron and Hugh are both out of town on vacation and aren't due I quite aware that today is the last day for sales back for another week. Jeff is also to be counted in a sales contest N that offers salespeople and their customer support teams the opportunity for a big bonus. Jeff's team of three support staff D hard on the Ronbev account all year, and the and two salespeople have worked results have been very positive. L He feels they deserve to win the award and the bonus. Eof Ron's standing request to personally initiate Unfortunately, he is well aware orders. He has spoken to RonbevYoften about creating a CRM system that would allow him to make assumptions about the order based on past history and feed, back. Jeff knows that such a system would save Ronbev time and money. However, as he sits in his office today contemplating the situation, it is not in place. S Questions 1. Should Jeff go ahead and placeAthe order he knows is coming and win the contest while risking the anger of Ron Yokum? R 2. How much latitude should a salesperson assume in closing the sale when he or A with a customer? she has an established relationship 5 3 St. Paul Copy Machines 1 Paula Phillips arrived back at her9office at St. Paul Copy Machines around 4:00 on Tuesday afternoon. As she sat behind her desk looking dejected, her sales manB ager, Jeff Baker, showed up to ask how that afternoon's sales call had gone. Paula had been scheduled to meet U at 2:00 P.M. with a few representatives from Mini Case CASE 8 Direct Mailers Inc. to finalize their purchase of a high-speed, multifunction copy machine. Direct Mailers uses these high-end machines to copy direct-mail pieces it sends out for a wide array of clients. The pieces are typically coupons that companies pay to have sent to local residents in an effort to entice customers to visit their businesses and begin to buy their products or services. Because Direct Mailers' clients require high-quality reproductions of their coupons, Paula has already made several sales calls on buying center members at Direct Mailers to get to know their operations and their specific requirements for a copy machine. 244 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 244 2/3/09 11:35:26 AM Confirming Pages At today's meeting, Paula had planned to present to the Direct Mailers' representatives the copy machine that would fulfill all of their needs, resulting in an order for a new machine. However, once Jeff saw the look on her face, he knew that things had not gone as planned. JEFF: “Hi, Paula. How did it go at Direct Mailers today?” PAULA: “You don't want to know. I'm not sure we'll be able to salvage this sale.” JEFF: “Why don't you tell me what happened and we'll see if there's anything that can be done to give us another shot at the sale.” PAULA: “Well, it started when I first walked in there. You know how things have been sort of rough with me lately. I haven't made a sale all month, so I probably didn't have the best attitude going in. Nevertheless, I made my presentation and it seemed to be going great.” JEFF: “What kind of questions did they ask?” F PAULA: “The standard questions about warranty, when the copier could be delivI cost, and how much more ered and installed, purchase price, annual operating productive they can be with this new machine versus N what they currently own. I handled all of these questions and they still were reluctant to make a decision D today.” JEFF: “What closing technique did you use?” L PAULA: “The one I always use—the balance sheet method. This method has E of buyers. Not all of them worked for me in the past and I've used it on dozens buy from me, of course, but hey, you can't have Y success all of the time, can you? Plus, I get enough buyers that I make my quota most years. I mean, what else can , I do?” JEFF: “How many items did you end up with on both sides of the balance sheet?” PAULA: “On the ‘reasons for buying’ side I had six items and on the ‘remaining S questions’ side I had three items. I know that sounds like quite a few remaining questions, but at least the reasons for buying wereAgreater. They were going along with the proposal pretty well at this point in the presentation. In fact, I'm pretty R sure that they had decided to purchase the copier. It had gotten to the point where A things.” we were standing around chitchatting about various JEFF: “What kinds of things?” PAULA: “You know, things like how much their business could improve with a 5 be from an operational standnew copier and how much more efficient they could point. You know the feeling and the look of how people 3 relax when they have made a decision. We had reached that point and I thought it was done. I waited about 15 more minutes to pull out the contract for them to1sign because they seemed to be having a good time talking about these issues among 9 themselves.” JEFF: “What do you suppose made them change their mind?” B all of the money they had just PAULA: “In the conversation, someone mentioned spent on supplies to operate their current machine—copy toner and stuff like that. U Before I knew it, they had decided that too much money had been sunk into those supplies and they couldn't justify a new copier. Having spent money on supplies for the current machine wasn't even on the balance sheet list of ‘remaining questions.’ It just came out of the blue and then I was stuck.” JEFF: “It's obvious that you're tired. Why don't you use the rest of today to finish your paperwork and make sure you have everything you need to see your clients tomorrow. We'll talk about this some more when you get into the office tomorrow afternoon.” C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 245 245 2/3/09 11:35:27 AM Confirming Pages As Paula finished her paperwork and checked her schedule for Wednesday, Jeff pondered what their conversation would include the next day. Questions 1. What are some of the common closing mistakes that Paula made in her sales call with the representatives from Direct Mailers Inc.? 2. Why do you think Paula's closing method did not work? What could she have done differently to give it a better chance to work? What other closing methods might have worked better in her attempt to get this sale? Write a brief script for what Paula could have said using one of the closing methods you just identified. 3. What do you recommend Paula do now? Are there any key follow-up activities she should undertake to get another opportunity to make this sale with Direct Mailers? F I N D L E Y , S A R A 5 3 1 9 B U 246 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 246 2/25/09 5:27:15 PM Confirming Pages Appendix: Checklist for Using Effective Closing Skills For some strange reason, many salespeople who can present a flawless case for their products or services and calmly overF come the toughest of objections suddenly flounder at the I point of asking for the order. Yet asking for the order is the logical conclusion of everything that has preceded N it, from qualifying the prospect to giving the presentation. Since few prospects volunteer their order, salespeople seldom ring up a D sale without asking for it. This extensive set of L questions will help you determine where you stand in using closing skills effectively. The idea is to get you to think about where you E might need some coaching and practice in the important area of closing the sale. Y 1. Do you ask for the order several times during the course of your , presentation? 2. Do you try for a close on the first call? 3. Do you regularly askSprospects which alternative (models, payment plans, delivery schedules, etc.) they prefer rather than whether they are interested? A 4. Is your presentation enthusiastic and positive, suggesting that you fully R expect to get the order? 5. If necessary, can youA usually give compelling, plausible reasons for buying immediately? 6. Do you avoid giving the impression of high pressure in your requests for the 5 order? 3 do you tactfully try to determine the reasons for his 7. If the prospect hesitates, or her reservations, then answer them fully and persuasively? 1 8. Failing to get an explicit yes, do you proceed to try to get your prospect to do 9 call in an assistant for backup information, show you something (get figures, where the display would B be placed) that may be interpreted as approval of your proposition? U 9. Do you unobtrusively introduce your order form early in your presentation? 10. Are you usually prepared to meet the standard objections to your product or service? 11. Have you the tools for an order at hand, ready to use (catalog, spec sheets, order form, etc.)? 12. Do you ever arrive armed with the order form already filled out (based on an intelligent estimate of the prospect's needs) and requiring only a signature? C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 247 247 2/3/09 11:35:28 AM Confirming Pages 13. If you've dealt with the customer before, are you familiar with his or her buying patterns, idiosyncrasies, pet peeves, and complaints? 14. Do you usually have a fairly accurate idea of the prospect's credit rating? 15. Before calling on the person with authority to buy, do you ever visit other departments or buying center members to determine the firm's needs and otherwise gather “selling ammunition”? 16. Can you describe three good ways any prospect is losing out by not buying your product immediately? 17. Are there any tax advantages to your proposition that might make it more appealing to your prospects? 18. How do you handle the buyer who seems impressed by your offer but hesitates, explaining, “I'll have to discuss it with my partner (boss, committee, spouse, etc.)”? F in a manner that tells your prospect, “I don't 19. Are you ever guilty of behaving really expect an order now”?I 20. Conversely, are you ever so obviously elated by the possibility of getting the N order that the customer backs away? Doriented so the prospect is continually aware 21. Are your presentations benefit of what he or she will gain byLbuying? 22. Do you always maintain control of your sales calls—or does the prospect freE quently control the agenda? 23. Have you ever been so afraidYof being turned down that you did not ask for the order? , 24. Do you keep some reserve ammunition for the end of your presentation— some benefit or advantage tucked away in your back pocket that you can use S in a final attempt to get the prospect to buy? A your product is right for the prospect? 25. Do you always know in advance 26. When you fail to close, do you Rget out of the prospect's place of business quickly but not abruptly? A 27. When you do close, do you get out of the prospect's place of business quickly but not abruptly? 28. Suppose you feel your price is 5 the one thing standing in the way of a sale. How can you make it more palatable to the prospect (delayed billing, financ3 ing help, trade-ins, leasing plans, etc.)? 1 who says “I want to think it over” that any 29. How can you convince a prospect delay in the purchase of your9product is unwise? 30. Do you demonstrate your product to prospects? B 31. Do you usually manage to get the prospect to participate in the demonstraUsomething, examining, reading, operating, or tion in some way, by handling testing it? 32. Do you tend to assume a prospect will never buy from you if he or she says no on your first call? 33. How often do you call on a prospect before giving up? 34. Do you keep up to date on personnel changes in the firms you already deal with on the assumption that the next buyer is, for all practical purposes, a brand-new prospect? 248 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 248 2/3/09 11:35:29 AM Confirming Pages 35. Do you keep in touch with prospects who have turned you down to find out if circumstances have changed in your favor? 36. In a typical presentation, how many times do you ask for the order? 37. A prospect turns you down, claiming satisfaction with the present supplier. How, in terms of personal service, can you break through this loyalty barrier? 38. Describe three ways you can ask for the order without literally asking for it (e.g., “Shall we bill you this month or next?”). 39. How is your product unique? That is, how is it genuinely different from all the competition? 40. Can you name the person with the authority to buy in three of your largest prospects' offices? 41. When was the last time you simply gave up on a sale, convinced that pursuing it any further wasFa waste of time? Think. Has anything (business conditions, your line, yourIprice, the prospect's needs, etc.) changed since then that may provide a reason for trying again? N 42. You ask for the order from an out-of-town prospect who tells you he or she prefers to buy locally.DYour answer? 43. The prospect puts you L off with, “I have a reciprocal arrangement with your competition.” What's your answer to that one? E 44. When you run into an objection that you cannot answer, do you make it your Y business to find a convincing answer that you can use the next time you encounter it? , 45. You sense the prospect isn't saying yes because of doubts about his or her own judgment. How do you go about changing his or her mind? Sthat she needs a little more time to decide and suggests 46. The prospect tells you that you call back in A a few days. When you do make that phone call, how do you ask for the order this time? R 47. When was the last time you reassessed your customer's needs (by talking to A taking stock of what he or she has on hand, prohim or her or an associate, jecting future growth, etc.)? 48. In your presentations, are you fully aware of your prospect's biggest problem 5 and prepared to show how buying from you will solve it or alleviate it? 3 help your prospect become more competitive? 49. How will your product 1 50. With three specific prospects in mind, what are the best times of the year in each case to ask for the order? Why? 9 51. Similarly, what are the least promising times of year to ask for the order in B each case. Why? 52. If you can somehow U help a prospect use or sell more of your product profitably, it follows that he or she will buy more. How can you help your two toughest prospects get more profit out of your product? 53. What literature (sales, product, research, news items, etc.) is currently of help in closing sales? 54. Are you using that literature with all of your prospects to the best possible advantage? 55. If your product is part of a full line, do you regularly try for tie-in sales? C L O S I N G T H E S A L E A N D F O L L OW - U P joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 249 249 2/3/09 11:35:29 AM Confirming Pages 56. Do you check back on former customers who, for one reason or another, have stopped buying from you? 57. What percentage of your sales calls do you turn into actual sales? 58. On which call are most of your initial sales made (first, second, third, fourth)? 59. Which of your prospects do you think are ripe for a close this week? 60. When, specifically, are you going to ask them for their orders? Closing is a natural and expected part of a client relationship. As a challenging and rewarding part of a salesperson's professional activities, it deserves your best efforts. Source: Ted Pollock, “How Good a Closer Are You?” American Salesman, June 2003, pp. 18–23. F I N D L E Y , S A R A 5 3 1 9 B U 250 CHAPTER EIGHT joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 250 2/3/09 11:35:29 AM F I N D L E Y , S A R A 5 3 1 9 B U joh04837_ch08_222-251.indd 251 2/3/09 11:35:29 AM Confirming Pages selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment e Creation alu Closing & Fo llow Ethics r fo ions ut Recruiting n satio n e mp Co on a ti selling A environment V selling environment R selling environment Aselling environment & Se le c t ion Ne he g ng t Win-Wotiati ati ge n i n So g nic essa l M selling environment Customer S Relationships Sales C om ting & pec nning Sal mu os l Pla es Pr Cal selling environment tion ma selling environment tiv Eva lua ti anagement Sales M F environment selling environment selling environment selling selling environment I S alesp ce ers man r N o on rf e h M Sellinenvironment P environment onsDipselling selling environment selling selling environment i t a l g o g n Re L -MANAGEMEN SELF T E environment selling environment selling environment selling selling environment up Y Info r , selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment 5 selling environment 3 1 selling environment selling environment 9 selling environment selling environment B U environment selling environment selling environment selling selling environment selling environment Developm ent selling environment selling environment selling environment joh04837_ch09_252-278.indd 252 selling environment selling environment selling environment & ining selling environment Tra selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment selling environment 2/3/09 12:10:32 PM Confirming Pages 9 chap te r F I N D L To salespeople, time is literally money, and managing their territory and time well is critical to long-term success inE relationship selling. Y After reading this chapter, you should be able to , Self-Management: Time and Territory Learning Objectives • Understand salespeople's role in time and territory management. • Explain efficient time management tools for salespeople. S A R A • Discuss territory management techniques. • Describe the sales manager's role in time and territory management. • Determine how salespeople should allocate their time. • Design an effective sales territory. • Measure sales territory performance. 5 3 1 9 B U 253 joh04837_ch09_252-278.indd 253 2/3/09 12:10:33 PM Confirming Pages e x p e r t advice Expert: Company: Business: Education: Sean Allen, Territory Manager Cargill, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota Cargill, Inc., is an international provider of food, agricultural, and risk management products and services. With 142,000 employees in 61 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed. Cargill Salt produces, packages, and ships salt for the following five major market segment applications: agriculture, food, water conditioning, and industrial and packaged ice control. Cargill makes over 1,000 different F salt products/package sizes and markets national and regional brands, including Diamond Crystal® branded household consumer food and waterIsoftener salt products; Champions Choice® branded agricultural Cargill Salt is a business unit of Cargill, Incorporated. N Bachelor's Degree, Morehouse College (Atlanta, Georgia) M.B.A., RollinsDCollege Does effectively managing your time increase your productivity? How? Effective time management skills are an important tool to improve productivity, especially in a field sales position. As a senior solutions manager for Cargill Salt, my responsibility includes the states of Florida and Georgia. I manage over 250 active customer accounts and prospect relationships, participate in selling administrative activities and contribute to several cross-functional teams. In order to accomplish my goals and become successful in each area it is essential I manage my time efficiently. Since there are only so many things you can do in each given day, it is critical to plan in order to maximize your productivity. I begin by looking at my calendar in threemonth intervals and then listing the key activities to be completed during that time frame. The activities include: (a) accounts I need to call and (b) deliverables for my cross-functional team activities (reports, presentations, recommendations). Next, I prioritize the list, and finally, I evaluate how much time should be allocated to each activity and schedule it into my calendar. Do you think effective time management improves your relationships with clients? How? No question, effective time management does improve my relationship with clients. A key element in building successful customer relationships is the quality of the time spent with them. By managing time effectively, I can identify and segment my customers appropriately and spend additional time creating relationships with those customers that demand extra effort. Effective time management also helps to build trust between you and the client by saying to the customer; I will 254 L do what I promise to do. For example, when the customer hasEa request and you deliver in the specified time frame, you are building trust with your customer and improving theYrelationship. In the salt business, a highly competitive industry , where the end product can be commoditized, this means identifying more opportunities for the customer. Another area where effective time management improves S customer relationships is better sales presentation preparation. By preparation, I mean doing the necessary Ahomework on the client's business, key contact(s), and the purpose of each interaction with the customer. By R prepared I can spend my time proactively uncoverbeing ingA new customer opportunities rather than always reacting. As a territory manager, my biggest asset is my time and effectively managing it so that I am spending the right amount 5 of time with each customer, which really allows me to improve relationships with key accounts. 3What guidelines can you offer for effective time man1 in selling? agement 9 prioritize, and use the Pareto Principle. It is easy to be Plan, inefficient B with your time when you try to do everything for or be everything to everyone. Plan your day, the week, even the Umonth and quarter. I would also understand and use the next Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule. That is, of the things you do during your day, only 20 percent really matter. That 20 percent produces 80 percent of your results. Try and use this principle to your advantage in managing your time. Finally, I would prioritize my accounts and activities. What tasks are important? Which ones are urgent? What tasks are not so important but seem to consume a lot of your time? To borrow a principle from Steven Covey, try to spend as much time as possible addressing things that are important but not urgent. This will allow you to be more proactive and also a more effective salesperson. CHAPTER NINE joh04837_ch09_252-278.indd 254 2/3/09 12:10:34 PM Confirming Pages The Importance of Time and Territory Management In Part Two of this book, we have been discussing the relationship selling process. Part Three will focus on the issues and activities of the sales manager. However, this chapter is about an activity in which salespeople and their managers both play critical roles: time and territory management. Salespeople are in the field and responsible for managing their time and territory effectively, but without careful management design and monitoring, they cannot tap the full potential of the territory. The Relationship Selling model at the beginning of the chapter highlights the time and territory management area. How important is time management in selling? Go to Google at www.google .com and type in “time management and sales.” You will find dozens of companies offering courses and seminars in time and territory management for salespeople.1 For further proof, visit Amazon at www.amazon.com or Barnes & Noble F and type in “time management.” The search engine at www.barnesandnoble.com will identify dozens of books I dedicated to helping salespeople manage their time more effectively. A simple calculation N will help demonstrate the importance of time management. Suppose a salesperson D works 47 weeks a year (subtracting vacation and other miscellaneous time off) for 8 hours a day. That gives a total work time of L 1,880 hours in a year. However, a salesperson has many responsibilities, including traveling, completing reports, E researching and dealing with customer concerns, and a host of other activities designed to build successful customer relationY on average, 67 percent of the salesperson's time. In ships. These activities total, our example that totals ,1,260 hours for the year, which leaves only 620 hours— 14 hours a week—of face-to-face selling time with customers. If a salesperson produces $500,000 in sales per year, that means for every hour in front of the customer he or she must generate S $806.45. Time is precious, and the ability to manage time and territory is essential A to success for both the salesperson and sales manager. Specific reasons why salespeople and managers care about time and territory management are detailedRin Exhibit 9.1. A Reasons for Salespeople Salespeople's ability to 5 manage their time and territory is essential for three reasons. Salespeople who are efficient time and effective territory managers 3 (2) improve customer relationships, and (3) enhance (1) increase productivity, personal confidence. Let's 1 examine each result more closely...
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