Which works best, a “System” or a “Non-System?”
Trying to use a “system of selling” and it’s not working, or at least not working well in all situations?
No one system will work all the time – BUT specific elements of any system will always be applicable. I’m NOT saying don’t learn systems – all sales knowledge is valuable. I am saying be yourself in the sale, not the system. With that in mind I created a “Non-System” of selling.
Not that systems are “wrong” – more that they don’t always “fit” the situation. And that the salesperson focuses on the execution of the system to make the sale, rather than focusing on the prospect to make the sale.
Last week I gave you in detail the part one of the principles of my “non-system” of selling. Here are the rest of the 9.5 steps of how to make people want to buy, buy again, and tell others to buy:
6. Make them perceive a difference between you and your competition. Make a list of what you’re saying or doing you are CERTAIN is different from what your competition is saying or doing. Small list? Most prospects or customers perceive your product or service (copy machine, accounting service, website developer) tp be pretty much like that of your competitors. Your single highest goal in a sales presentation is to create a perceived difference. I’d like to give you an answer on this one, but the answer lies in the reflection you see each morning when you look in your bathroom mirror. You are the difference, and your highest responsibility is to make your prospect perceive that difference. CLUE: The answer lies in your value, not your sales presentation.
7. Create an atmosphere where prospects want to buy. Ask compelling questions. Make your information valuable to them. Show prospects how they will use and benefit from your product or service, not what it does or how it works – and especially not how good you are. Ask yourself: What makes you buy. Isn’t it a feeling you get that the risk is low and the value is high and the desire is great. Your customer or prospect is looking to buy (Gitomer’s sales adage: People don’t like to be sold but they love to buy.) and the best way to do this is for your sales presentation to take a new direction. A reverse direction. One where your customers, in the form of testimonials, speak for you instead of you speaking for yourself. That’s a new direction.
8. Ask them for the order. One of the biggest reasons prospects don’t buy is that no one asks them to. No matter what happens in any sales situation, your consciousness of purpose must be to ask for the order before you leave. It’s the reason you walked in the door, other than providing valuable information, and helping the other person decide to buy. Asking for the order is not always manifest with a sales order. It may just be for the next step in the sales cycle that leads you to the order. In selling, you can never ask early enough, and you can never ask often enough for the commitment to buy.
9. Be so valuable and memorable that they come back for more — and tell someone else. What are your customers saying about you after a typical call, sale, or transaction? Is anyone picking up the phone and telling a story about how creative you were, how outstanding you were, or how incredible you were? If the answer is no, then you will lose out on the most valuable element of after-sale: word of mouth advertising that leads to an unsolicited referral.
9.5 Measure your success by the number of unsolicited referrals you get. It’s the highest percentage sales lead in your arsenal. If you’re looking for a sales report card, look no further than the number of people who call you on the phone wanting to buy. Because if ten people a day called you on the phone wanting to buy, you’d never have to sell again.
OK, there it is – The Gitomer “Non-System” of Selling. Master these elements and sales will be EASY. I promise – I’ve been doing it this way for years. With this “non-system” you can go out (or come in) to work and make almost every sale. I’ve just given you the secret formula to sell EVERYONE. CATCH: There’s always a catch to a “sure thing.” All you have to add is hard work. Damn hard work. Here’s the secret rule of sales success that goes with the above elements: Most salespeople won’t do the hard work it takes to make selling easy.
Free GitBit… Miss the first two parts of the non system? Want them? Go to www.gitomer.com – register if you’re a first time user, and enter the words NON SYSTEM PART ONE in the GitBit box to get the introduction – for a reprint of last week enter NON SYSTEM PART TWO in the GitBit box – and for a reprint of this week enter the words NON SYSTEM PART THREE in the GitBit box.
Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Sales Bible, and Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts training programs on selling and customer service. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com
