One of the main sales tips all sales reps are taught is how to take control on a sales call. Statistics show that sales are made in the first three minutes of the sales call. With more and more of the buying public savvy to sales techniques and scripts, getting control is becoming more difficult. There are basically three types of people: the totally uninterested, the waffler and the show me more type. With each type, taking control of the sales call is a matter of listening.
The Totally Uninterested
Getting control means allowing people to show you where to grasp control. In the totally uninterested type, this will involve listening carefully to spot their weaknesses and then putting your foot down until you get a credit card number. In some it could be curiosity, in others it could be one upmanship over a neighbor and in yet others it could be the need for a new possession to round out the collection. This type might be seen as an impossible sale, but the impossible just takes a little longer to accomplish.
The Waffler
With the waffler, the sales rep needs all the sales tips he can get in order to get a decision. Sales call research in tracking down leads will yield this type immediately. Where the sales rep will nail down the waffler is in the old adage of the solution to the problem lies in the problem. The customer can’t make a decision so the sales rep makes it for him. Bold, yes, but it works because this type craves a bit of the strength he sees in you that he lacks.
The Show Me More
The show me more type is perhaps the hardest to which to listen. This type will drain dry the sales rep of information, see all there is to offer and want to compare his wares to others he has seen. He is curious about everything possible and buttonholing this guy is going to take special listening skills. The sales tips needed to bring in this customer will involve selling out the competition and convincing the customer he has only one way to go. Control of this type sales call won’t be gained in the first three minutes but will be a lasting sale.
Taking control of the sales call is a matter of listening to ascertain the customer’s type and fulfilling the customer’s need from a position of strength.