Kids & Ice creams – what pushy salespeople do & don’t do!
Heard the one that all children are great sales people and it just gets drummed out of us as we get older? You know, the ice cream van story where your child asks for an ice cream repeatedly until you cave in and give him the money. And recently, I was told by a salesperson that you have to ask at least 20 times before you get the order… now that’s a load of codswallop!
It’s true that kids are persistent when they want something and you shouldn’t expect a potential client to sign a contract within minutes of meeting you. However, it’s the attitude and the way we sell that will influence the success of the conversion rate not how many times we ask for the order.
Would you buy off a pushy salesperson? I thought I would highlight some of the things pushy sales people do and don’t do. See if any of these traits relate to anyone on your sales team and think of the impact it might be having on your sales figures.
5 things pushy salespeople do
- Are totally focussed on the products they are selling. They usually spend the first 15 minutes of any meeting talking about themselves, their company, products and what they want out of the meeting.
- Don’t ask the right questions and don’t listen. For example, they can take the client down a questioning line that leads to what they want to sell.
- Think they know what the client wants/needs. They may have done research on the client and decided what the client needs without taking into account any organisational changes that may be taking place or asking what the client actually wants.
- Are not interested in the clients. They usually spend little or no time getting to know the client or even appearing to want a business relationship with the client.
- Focus on getting commitment to buy. Pushy salespeople are usually more interested on getting the best deal for the day rather than what’s best for the client and rarely think of the long term.
5 things pushy salespeople don’t do
- Early on, qualify the potential client. This will ensure that they are interested and can see the benefit of the product/services ensuring that valuable selling time is not wasted on unsuccessful sales visits.
- Ask the right questions. To find the right product for the client’s wants and needs so that they can develop a solution that will appeal to the potential client.
- Develop a relationship to establish trust and credibility. They do this by showing an interest in the client’s company by asking relevant questions that they need to know in any case. This will also help show a level of expertise.
- Don’t sell to early. It’s important to make sure that they are not missing any opportunities or objections that may crop up when they finally propose a solution beneficial to both the potential client and the salesperson.
- Is able to confidently ask for the business. When the proposal is submitted it will cover all the requirements, needs and benefits to the client so it should just be a natural progression to ask for the business.
