- As you can imagine, I get a ton of emails and phone calls from salespeople trying to sell me the latest and greatest marketing tools, lists, and obscure services. I’ve noticed several common techniques that salespeople use that just outright fail and it makes me wonder why so many follow these same dead-end methods! Since marketing and sales functions are so closely related, I’m going to help my friends in sales out with my insight.
- Let me preference this by saying I’m no sales expert but if you want to know how to sell something, don’t ask another salesperson, ask the person who buys stuff. I get so many emails and calls that I could (and likely will) write a blog post about each poor attempt. I’m going to briefly cover here the ones I see the most that just make me wish the sales community would take a vote to abolish these from their sales techniques today.
-
- “I would like to…” Well no kidding! You’re a salesperson, of course YOU would like to meet with me and YOU would like me to buy whatever you’re selling! But what about ME?? If I could, I would make an electric shock go through anyone who ever types/says these words. Please, start today and STOP SAYING “I WOULD LIKE TO” and replace it with “WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN ABOUT…” or something of that direction. Think ‘what’s-in-it-for-the-prospect’ and write or say it from their perspective.
- “Just 20 minutes of your time.” If you can’t capture my interest in 15 seconds of your phone call or email, why the heck should I give you 20 minutes to try to putter through it? If you can convince me to buy your product with “just 20 minutes of my time” than you should be able to create incredible excitement for me to WANT to spend 20 minutes with you with 15 seconds of your pitch. Work on it or don’t say it.
- “Are you the right person?” I’m not doing your research for you. If you give me the “out” of saying, ‘nope, it’s not me,’ then I’m going to do it! Why? Then I don’t have to be bothered with another sales person who has NO IDEA what my company does and what I do because they didn’t do the research. If you want to succeed in sales, do your own legwork.
- “Are you still interested?” This email usually comes after I’ve ignored your first three emails using the above mentioned ‘techniques.’ Actually, I’m really surprised how many sales people send this one to me! I’ve even seen emails where I’m asked to respond with just a 1, 2, or 3 and given the choices of “1-Yes, please schedule a call, 2-I’m not sure call me next week, and 3-No, please remove me from your email.” Maybe it’s just me but this irritates me beyond comprehension. YOU’RE SELLING TO ME AND I HAVE TO RESPOND??? Or what? You WON’T CALL/EMAIL ME AGAIN??? Hallelujah! I don’t know what sales guru has endorsed this move but please, STOP USING IT! So here’s what happens with this email. IF I respond (and I have to test it), the heat is turned up and I’m literally plagued with emails and calls. IF I respond with #3, I’m hit with a barrage of “before you go” and “but wait, you’ll miss out on…” types of emails. But if I don’t respond at all, I get the famous “I’m going to stop emailing you; this is your last chance” email. Honestly folks, people buy on their timeline, not yours. Maybe the time isn’t right for whatever you’re selling but down the road, maybe it is? But you’re forcing me to make that decision today, right here, right now. I’m ALWAYS going to opt for the route that requires less work on my part and I will say “no, go away.” You, Mr. Salesperson, just burned a bridge instead of building one. Wouldn’t it have been better if you offered me some information or free report, newsletter subscription, etc. and keep me engaged instead of forcing me to talk to you or else? Really think about this technique before you ever use this. And if anyone knows who created and teaches this method of killing off prospects, I highly recommend you kick him/her in the shin for me and run.
- Last one: the “gobbledygook-made-up-words.” Here’s an example of an email I got the other day (and the obligatory follow-up call to see if I saw the email….): “What is your strategy for your digital followership media conversion this year? “Now, I’ve been in marketing, advertising and public relations for more than 30 years. I keep current with the latest and greatest but this one made me pause and say “WHAT?” I thought, perhaps this is their strategy… to get me to say, “tell me, Mr. Salesperson, what is this ‘digital followership media conversion’ that you speak of?” But no, when I got the follow up call, Mr. Salesperson was actually shocked and surprised that I didn’t know what he was talking about!When he stumbled through his explanation, I was even more confused! After 15 minutes, I discovered that this salesperson was selling a service where I would give them my client and prospect list and once those people hit my website (based on IP code), my digital ads would follow them on whatever website they went to next. To which I asked, even if they went on adult websites? And the salesperson said, well I guess so, no one has ever asked that. REALLY??? That was the first thing that popped into my head was that my brand would be associated with whatever they decided to browse, affiliating my company with their viewing habits. Let’s face it, sometimes that’s just not a good idea. But bottom line, don’t make up some random term to describe what you do and then make people have to ask to figure out what the heck you’re selling.
- The moral of these five irritating sales techniques is put the prospect first. What do they want? How could they benefit from your product or service? Will it make me rich? Famous? Save me time, money, energy? What pain problem can you solve for me?
- The other takeaway here is don’t make the prospect do the work. I don’t want to tell you if I’m the right person or who is the person you should talk to. I don’t want to tell you if/when I have 20 minutes for your pitch. I don’t want to figure out what the heck you sell. Come to me with a solution to my problem that you know I have because you’ve researched my company or me, or you know from working with like-companies/professionals. Give me something for my time, and I’m not talking about a $5 Starbucks card. Give me a reason to interact with you. Help me stay current in my field or industry. Give me information, education, or relevant content that compels me to want to build a relationship with you.
- At the end of the day, people buy from people. So act like one.