Sunday, September 4, 2011

Answering Objections Like A Sales Pro


Step 4: Repeat the Objection, Changing It Slightly

Salesperson: “Just so I’m clear, what you are saying is that while you agree that you like the system and you would give my company the go-ahead to start work as soon as possible, but you feel you need a bit of time to talk it over between you two, without me staring at you. Does that about cover it?”

Prospect: “Yes.”

What the salesperson changed was the first part of the original statement. He repeated the objection, but added that the prospects agreed that they liked the system and would buy it as soon as possible once having a “bit” of time to talk it over without the salesperson being present. That statement also assumed that the prospects only needed a few minutes versus hours, days, or weeks, to think it over.

The repeat but change step is powerful because it allows the prospect to hear his objection repeated but with a carefully worded twist. The twist says he likes the system and would have it installed as soon as possible but ….. (the actual objection repeated).  I have used that step for years and have never had a prospect tell me he didn’t say he liked the system and would have it installed. The prospect always agreed. The change plants the subliminal thought I needed.

Once completing step 4 you are ready to move on to step 5, Isolate the objection. We will discuss that step next time.

Would you like to hear Lou Handle the common Objections in a role playing environment?

Here is how you can.
Order Lou’s New CD – Handling Objections & Closing the Sale
Also a Great tool for Salespeople is Lou’s new E-Book entitled:
Selling Security Systems Like a Pro

In this NEW E-Book Lou teaches salespeople how to prospect, present themselves, your company, the problem, the survey, the investment, and how to answer commonly heard objections. Lou share’s 12 Powerful Closes sure to help salespeople close more sales. The E-Book is available NOW! And the best part is the investment; only$29.99. Wow! How can you beat that? To order go to www.lousepulveda.com.
Lou Sepulveda Consulting & Training
985-778-1571
Lou@lousepulveda.com
Book Titles by Lou
How to Manage a Security Sales OrganizationNEW (E-book only)
Selling Security Systems Like a Pro– NEW (E-book only)
The Formula for selling Alarm Systems
Surviving in the Security Alarm Business
Managing to Sell
Gerencia de Ventas Efectiva
Note: If you would like to read previous Blogs go to http://lousepulveda.blogspot.com

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Answering Objections and closing the Sale

Sales Management Part Five
Answering Objections & Closing the Sale
Using the 8 step Closing Pattern
(Continuing from last post)
Step Two - Pause


The next step after listening is to pause. In other words, say nothing at all. Just look at the prospect, and think. Watch their mouths the whole time, and while doing that just think. Think about what they said, and how they said it. Think of the best answer to fit the objection you just heard. You can even do a quick role play in your head, practicing how you will answer. If you do this step correctly it will seem like an eternity. You are thinking, and looking directly into your prospect’s eyes, and watching her mouth—because if she begins to talk again, and prospects often do, you’ll need to stop thinking and begin listening again.
The pause step will often cause prospects to rationalize their objection, to justify it. Sometimes the pause causes them to tell the truth, to tell you what is really on their minds; however, if they don’t begin talking again, after you’ve thought (paused) long enough, move on to the next step, empathizing.
Step 3: Empathize
Webster’s Dictionary defines “empathize” to mean “to be understanding of.” To empathize does not mean you agree; it simply means you can understand why the person feels the way he feels.
In the context of a closing sequence, to empathize means you can understand how the prospect might feel the way he does. To empathize with the prospect at this point says you understand. You are implying that it’s not stupid to feel that way; it’s even normal. Empathy relaxes the prospect, because it shows you do understand his feelings.
So let’s do a role play on how the step should go.
Salesperson: “So would Tuesday or Thursday be better for the work to start?”
Prospect: “I’m not sure we’re ready to commit. After all, we usually think over decisions like this before agreeing.”
The salesperson pauses, thinking about the prospect’s answer.
Salesperson: “Mr. and Mrs. Jones, I can understand that you’d want to think about a decision as important as this—how you’d want to mull it over, weigh the pros and cons.”
At this point the prospects usually feel better. They sense that you understand, and that relaxes them. The Joneses were somewhat prepared for an argument, but not for agreement. Empathizing helps turn the closing sequence into a conversational, helpful situation instead of an argumentative confrontation. This then leads you to the next step which we will cover in the next months posting.

Would you like to hear Lou Handle the common Objections in a role playing environment?


Here is how you can.


Order Lou’s New CD – Handling Objections & Closing the Sale
Also a Great tool for Salespeople is Lou’s new E-Book entitled:

Selling Security Systems Like a Pro
In this NEW E-Book Lou teaches salespeople how to prospect, present themselves, your company, the problem, the survey, the investment, and how to answer commonly heard objections. Lou share’s 12 Powerful Closes sure to help salespeople close more sales. The E-Book is available NOW! And the best part is the investment; only $29.99. Wow! How can you beat that? To order go to www.lousepulveda.com.

Lou Sepulveda Consulting & Training
985-778-1571

Book Titles by Lou
How to Manage a Security Sales OrganizationNEW (E-book only)
Selling Security Systems Like a Pro – NEW (E-book only)
The Formula for selling Alarm Systems
Surviving in the Security Alarm Business
Managing to Sell
Gerencia de Ventas Efectiva

Note: If you would like to read previous Blogs go to http://lousepulveda.blogspot.com



Monday, May 30, 2011

Security Sales & Sales Management Tips

Sales Management Part Four
Answering Objections & Closing the Sale
Using the 8 step Closing Pattern

Obviously to be successful in any sales career a salesperson must learn how to combat and answer the common objections he or she will encounter selling. In previous Blogs I outlined the most common objections encountered in the security alarm business, so professional security salespeople must learn how to successfully answer the common objections if salespeople are going to have a sustainable career in security sales.
So you ask, what is the correct way to answer objections. The answer to that question is to do so in a way that feels to the prospect as “Conversational,” “we’re just talking here,” versus feeling like the whole experience is “Confrontational.”
If a close appears to the prospect to be “Confrontational,” you may win the battle, but likely, all too often, you will lose the sale.
I have learned how to insure that when you answer an objection, the prospect will feel comfortable with your “Conversational Manner and approach.”
To turn answering objections into a friendly, yet effective, conversation, utilize the 8 step closing pattern. Here it is:
The Eight Step Closing Pattern
Step One – Listen
Listen completely and intently to every word the prospect is saying as he or she objects. Resist the urge to conclude you know what the prospect is saying before they finish talking. Learn to clear your mind of thought until you hear every single word.
Here’s why. Suppose you asked the prospect to buy by saying something like this:
“Mr. & Mrs. Johnson, the system we’ve just designed to protect you home and family can be installed for only $____________ installation and only $_________ per month. Now, when I left my office I noticed we could install a system of this size next week on Tuesday or we could install it on Thursday, which day is best for you?”
Of course the absolute rule in sales is, once asking a closing question, shut-up! The next on that speaks loses! Or Buys!
So, suppose you asked that question and in response Mrs. Johnson says this:
“You know, (your name), as a rule we never make decisions on the spur of the moment. We have learned to wait awhile before deciding; sleeping on the decision. And our experience has proven that waiting and thinking is the right thing to do.”
All too many salespeople wouldn’t have listened all through the above statement. As soon as they heard “we never make decisions on the spur of the moment,” they would have decided they knew what the prospect was objecting to, and wouldn’t have even heard the last part of the above which was “And our experience has proven that waiting and thinking is the right thing to do.” Instead the salesperson hears only a faint noise coming from the prospect because he is already thinking of his answer.
What the salesperson also didn’t hear is what the prospect said after the final statement above. Here is what the salesperson missed.
“However, (salesperson’s name) your system looks so good and everything you said makes so much sense, we will go against what we normally do and just say yes.”
But because the salesperson didn’t here that last part or maybe even the sentence before that one, once the prospect finishes talking the salesperson launches into his or her “Think About It” answer.
Now the prospect is really confused! And all too often the sale is lost.
Effective listening is a skill that will put money in your bank account. You owe it to yourself, as well as to the prospect, to listen completely and intently to what the prospect says. They will give you clues as to what they like, don’t like, and what will cause them to make a positive buying decision.
Would you like to hear Lou Handle the common Objections in a role playing environment? Here is how you can.
Order Lou’s New CD – Handling Objections & Closing the Sale
Also a Great tool for Salespeople is Lou’s new E-Book entitled:
Selling Security Systems Like a Pro
In this NEW E-Book Lou teaches salespeople how to prospect, present themselves, your company, the problem, the survey, the investment, and how to answer commonly heard objections. Lou share’s 12 Powerful Closes sure to help salespeople close more sales. The E-Book is coming real soon to online bookstores everywhere. And the best part is the investment; only $29.99. Wow! How can you beat that?
To Learn more about Lou Sepulveda C.P.P. and what he has to offer to help Security Professionals succeed go to Lou's web site -  www.lousepulveda.com

Lou Sepulveda Consulting & Training
985-778-1571

Book Titles by Lou
How to Manage a Security Sales OrganizationNEW (E-book only)
Selling Security Systems Like a Pro – NEW (E-book only)
The Formula for selling Alarm Systems
Surviving in the Security Alarm Business
Managing to Sell
Gerencia de Ventas Efectiva

Note: If you would like to read previous Blogs go to http://lousepulveda.blogspot.com

Friday, April 15, 2011

Follow-up On Alarm Ordinances going too far

I firmly believe that credit should be given when credit is due. 

A bit over a month ago I wrote a Blog about Alarm Ordinances and when they go to far, which addressed some of the requirements in place and/or being proposed by the Louisiana Fire Marshall's Office, the AHJ regulating the Fire & Burglar Alarm Industry in Louisiana.

I am following up on that Blog because Louisiana has amended most of what was wrong about the requirements. If you hadn't read the first Blog you can go to http://lousepulveda.blogspot.com to read all of the details.

The changes made are as follows:

1. Instead of the proposed change to require salespeople to take the UAS (Understanding Alarm Systems) course and pass the test imediately before being able to work, they now give the salesperson six months to take the course. Given the course at this time is only offered 3 or 4 times each year, six months sounds like a reasonable time frame in which to have taken the course.

So once again I applaud and thank the Louisiana Fire Marshall for making this important change. Growing companies operating in Louisiana will appreciate the change.

That said, one major problem still exists and I can only hope the Fire Marshall's Office will consider following the lead of many other states.

The problem is that once a salesperson is hired, the company/salesperson must submit an application to the Fire Marshall's Office for a background check and issuance of a license. However, I'm told that the time frame between submitting an application and receiving the actual license can take as much a two months, meanwhile, based on Louisiana's rule, the salesperson cannot sell untill he or she receives the official license. Obviously, the salesperson cannot afford to wait up to two months without pay, and asking the company to support an unproductive salesperson for two months isn't reasonable either.

First of all, it doesn't take even one, much less two months to conduct a background check. I can understand a govenment agency claiming to be understaffed and overworked and therefore processing take longer. However, Louisiana could take a lesson from their neighbor Texas as well as lots of other states that allow the salesperson to start working after submitting an application. Like a license applied for with a car, the salesperson must only carry a copy of the application with him to prove it has been filed. That is a more reasonable solution.

If it's the criminal background check the state is worried about, two solutions come to mind. First, the applying company could have the background check done, which usually takes 48 hours or so, and then submit the report they receive along with the application. A second reasonable option is the state could do the background check, again within 48 hours or so, and then simply inform the applying company by email or mail that the applicant has passed or failed. Utilizing either of the above methods would satisfy the main intent of the license requirement and allow the salesperson to begin earning a living.

I can only hope that the AHJ in Louisiana amends the license requirement once again to make it possible for companies that wish to grow business a chance to do so. And of course increasing employment; creating jobs is good for the state and stimulates our lagging economy.

What do you think? Am I asking for too much?

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Sales Management Part 3

Sales Manager Part Three

Common Objections continued

a.)    I want to think about it. Or, we never make a decision without sleeping on it.
b.)    We plan to shop around and get other prices
c.)    The price is higher than I expected.
d.)   We can’t afford it.
e.)    We’ve never had a problem. This is a safe neighborhood.
f.)     We have great insurance. So if something is stolen we’ll get a new one.
g.)    We have a great watch dog.
h.)    We have a gun, we’ll shoot the burglar.
i.)      We have a nosey neighbor next door who watches everything.
j.)      We have nothing to steal


If we know what objections we salespeople in the security business hear on a daily basis as we sell our products, shouldn’t we be prepared to answer those common objections?

Let’s put it another way. Let’s assume we are professional baseball players. Upon doing the research on the team we’re getting ready to face, we learn that the oppositions pitcher throws curve balls, sliders, change-ups, and fast balls. Should our team practice hitting curve balls, sliders, change-ups and fast balls? Of course, we surely don’t want to go into the game unprepared.

If we were professional golfers, wouldn’t we want to practice hitting balls out of the sand, on up hills slopes and down hill slopes if the course we were getting ready to play had plenty of those challenges? Of course we would.

A sales manager’s job is to focus his or her salespeople on the challenges they will likely face making sure they are prepared to face those challenges. And handling common objections and closing skills is an important part of selling success.

Here is a question you sales managers need to be asking yourself. Do all of your salespeople know how to properly answer the objections listed above? Are you sure? Just asking your salesperson isn’t going to get you the answer.

My experience tells me that when I ask salespeople if they know how to deal with the objection “I want to think it over,” which is, in my opinion, the most common objection heard, they will most often say yes they do. However, if I ask them to show me, to answer the objection after I say I want to think about it, they fumble the challenge. If I accompany them in the field on a sales call and the prospect voices an objection I’ll find out how they really handle an objection in a real life situation.

Don’t let pride get in the way of success. Sales managers must make sure their salespeople are truly equipped to sell, and that means being prepared to generate leads, make polished presentation, answer commonly heard objections and close the sale.

When salespeople are faced with one of the above common objections or even one that isn't mentioned above, it is critical to their long term success they know how to answer the objection in a way that increases their odds of making the sale. I believe one of the best ways to accomplish that goal is to learn and practice the 8 step closing pattern.

The 8 step closing pattern turn the handling of the objection into a friendly and caring conversation. You won't appear to be arguing with the prospect, on the contrary, you will appear to understand and even sympathize with the prospect.

In a future Blog I will share the 8 step closing pattern with you. Or you can hear me handle the common objections using the 8 steps on my CD, "Handling Objections & Closing the Sale."
Every salesperson should have their own CD to listen to in their car as they drive to a sales appointment. I guarantee if they do so they will close more sales. 

To Learn more about Lou Sepulveda C.P.P. and what he has to offer to help Security Professionals succeed go to Lou's web site -  www.lousepulveda.com

Lou Sepulveda Consulting & Training
985-778-1571

Book Title by Lou
The Formula for selling Alarm Systems
Surviving in the Security Alarm Business
Managing to Sell
Gerencia de Ventas Efectiva

Order Lou’s New CD – Handling Objections & Closing the Sale

Note: If you would like to read previous Blogs go to http://lousepulveda.blogspot.com

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

When do Alarm Ordinances go to far?

Some would answer all alarm ordinances go too far and they restrict trade. However, I personally wouldn’t go that far.
I can remember serving on the board and then as president of a state alarm association as the subject of alarm ordinances first came up. At first it was the City Council that proposed what we believed to be an onerous ordinance that would have fined alarm companies for each and every false alarm. The original proposal was $150 each. Of course that got our attention and we sprang into action.
We quickly formed a committee and hired an attorney to fight the outrageous proposed legislation. Of course the City Council didn’t believe for a minute their proposal would pass, they just wanted to get our attention, and they did.
From that beginning entered the protectionism actions. Our membership saw what they believed to be an opportunity to keep “Fly-by-nights,” “Trunk Slammers,” out of the business. So a proposal was added to check the background of each applicant, making sure they didn’t have a criminal record. That, I believe was a good requirement, but what came next, proof of so many years of experience, was designed to keep competition out. The members insisting on the rule obviously forgot that when they started their business they didn’t have the same experience they were requiring of new entrants. And like so many other actions enacted by organizations then managed by State or City Government, the rules got out of control.
If you checked around the United States you’ll find ordinances in more than half of the States, and they are all different. Some just require a criminal background check and the registration of the Alarm Company, while others require all employees be registered. Some States make it near impossible for companies to start a business or expand to their state. Others make it more and more difficult to hire and train new employees.
My State, in my opinion, is among the worst. Louisiana’s Alarm Ordinances are managed by the State Fire Marshalls office. Today in Louisiana every employee has to be licensed, $120 fee each. Every Technician, besides the employee license, has to be an ESA/NBFAA level 1 technician to work alone. In order to qualify as a Level 1 Tech, one must take the Level 1 class, $550 for non-alarm association members or $300 for members, and then pass the test. So before you hire and train a new technician you have to consider the cost in total $420 to as high as $670. Next you have to time the hiring of a new technician based on when the next training class is offered near you, or pay the cost to ship the new hire out of town, put him or her up in a hotel, pay expenses etc., and then hope the background check, which hasn’t been completed fully yet doesn’t reveal a no-hire problem. So, the way around all of that is to hire someone working for another company. Maybe even offer a signing bonus to steal the technician away. Not good!
However, the State wasn’t finished imposing rules. Last year the State decided that all salespeople had to take an Understanding Alarm Systems course. Once again the cost is $120 for the license and then $350 for the course. And once again the UAS course is only offered a few times each year and in different cities around the state. Last year alarm companies were given a twelve month time frame in which to have the new salesperson complete and pass the course. Costly still, but a reasonable time frame to wait for the course to be offered nearby.
But then new change! That’s right, effective November of 2010 the State decided 12 months was too long and changed the requirement to 90 days. Ugh!
Not to leave bad enough alone, the State now says that effective March 1, 2011 alarm salespeople must take the $350 Understanding Alarm Systems course before they ever step foot in a home or business as a security sales rep. Immediately! No 90 day grace period.
Wow! So now if you think you wanted to grow your company in Louisiana you have to spend $470 on every salesperson you hire before they step foot in a home or business. And you have to time hiring that salesperson around the sparse training schedule offered, approximately 3 – 4 times per year somewhere in Louisiana.
So going back to what I witnessed firsthand, members trying to limit and/or make it impossible for competition, has grown into a monster. The problem is, like what always happens, the monster is now in control and is biting everyone in sight. Well established, long term, companies in Louisiana will be punished by the ruling. Anyone trying to grow a company that has to hire salespeople to do so will be punished by this rule.
In this tough economy, when people are trying to get work, the legislation in Louisiana makes it difficult at best to enter the security alarm business. And that my friend is a shame.
In case you think this rant is a case of “sour grapes,” please be aware that I don’t have a dog in this race. I no longer own an alarm company. I don’t manage a company in Louisiana. I’m not affected by this ordinance at all. I’m just sad that something like this has happened in an industry I love. Had the present rule been in place the day I answered an Ad in Louisiana for employment 36 years ago, I may not have had the opportunity to be part of an industry that has fed and housed my family, educated my children, and made me proud of who and what I became.
Am I wrong?
Would you like to weigh in?
Send me your comments, pro or con, and I’ll post them.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Sales & Sales Management Tips Part Two

Sales Manager Part Two

Hiring salespeople is only the first step. As a sales manager I have to determine what tools and skills each salesperson in my charge needs to be better equipped to sell and close sales than he or she is now. When you analyze the sales process you’ll find that the following qualities are essential to be successful.

  1. Prospecting skills – There is an old saying, “Things come to he who waits.” However, in sales I believe the balance of the saying should be, “Only those things left behind by those who hustle.” A salesperson that can develop his or her own leads will almost always be more successful than one who depends on the company to furnish leads. We know this salesperson as a “Lead Junkie.” Like any junkie, the more we feed him leads, the more dependent he becomes on the leads. So we create lead junkies.

There is another saying that is also applicable, “Give a man a fish and he has food for a day. Teach a man to fish and he has food for a lifetime.” Teaching salespeople to develop their own leads does a number of things for the company and the salesperson. First, it makes the salesperson more successful if for no other reason than giving him more swings at bat. When salespeople sell more it improves salesperson retention. No doubt self generated leads reduce creation cost, improving overall profitability. And it enables the company to grow.

Does that mean you shouldn’t provide leads to your salespeople? No, that is not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is you shouldn’t provide all of the leads to the salespeople. Once they are trained to develop their own leads I would reward the self-generating salespeople with the leads the company generates. You pick the ratio, but one company furnished lead for every two self generated leads seems like a good place to start.

  1. Presentation skills – Once the salesperson gets in front of a prospect, regardless how the lead is generated, how well they present themselves, your company, your product, the problem the prospect is facing, the solution to the problem, and conduct a professional selling survey will impact how successful they are. So obviously, as a sales manager, I need to focus on how each individual salesperson presents all of the above.

I could go to any sales office anywhere in the US, or the world for that matter, and there will be one salesperson whose presentation skills are better than all the rest. Therefore, my goal as a sales manager should be to help each and every salesperson develop their presentation skills so that they too can be as good as the top salesperson which will help them be more successful selling. The effort I put into that task will produce dividends.

  1. Closing skills – Here is an absolute fact. The best closers will make the most sales. Are you shocked? I didn’t think so. However, few companies I’ve worked with invested time training their salespeople on how to become better closers.
Over the years I have conducted hundreds of seminars and workshops on the subject of closing. Early on in the seminar/workshop I always ask the same question of the attendees, “What are the common objections you hear when selling?” And, not surprisingly, the answers I get are, with minor exception, always the same. Here are the top ten objections heard.

1.)    I want to think about it. Or, we never make a decision without sleeping on it.
2.)    We plan to shop around and get other prices
3.)    The price is higher than I expected.
4.)   We can’t afford it.
5.)    We’ve never had a problem. This is a safe neighborhood.
6.)     We have great insurance. So if something is stolen we’ll get a new one.
7.)    We have a great watch dog.
8.)    We have a gun, we’ll shoot the burglar.
9.)      We have a nosey neighbor next door who watches everything.
10)      We have nothing to steal

The above objections are the top ten I’ve heard and the top ten I’ve faced when I sold security systems.

The next time you have a sales meeting, without showing this list to your salespeople, ask them to tell you the objections they encounter on a regular basis. Write their answers on a white board or a flip chart where all can see. My guess is you will hear 7 or 8 if not 10 out of the top ten I just listed as the objections they routinely hear.

To Learn more about Lou Sepulveda C.P.P. and what he has to offer to help Security Professionals succeed go to Lou's web site -  www.lousepulveda.com

Lou Sepulveda Consulting & Training
985-778-1571

Book Titles by Lou
The Formula for selling Alarm Systems
Surviving in the Security Alarm Business
Managing to Sell
Gerencia de Ventas Efectiva

Order Lou’s New CD – Handling Objections & Closing the Sale

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Sales Management Tips by Lou Sepulveda C.P.P. Part One

What is a Sales Manager’s Job?

A Sales Manager’s job is to deliver results, which means to deliver sales production. Obviously the way he or she does that is most often through the efforts of talented salespeople.

When you see a sales organization selling large numbers of systems, far more than the averages, why do you think they are able to do so well? How come one office in a city selling basically the same security system to the same type prospect sells 100 monitored systems or more per month while other companies in the same city selling the same product to the same type prospect can’t manage to sell, try as they might, more than 10 or 15 on average per month?

What is the secret? How do they do it? One of the secrets is that the top dealers quit waiting for the phone to ring. They quit spending big dollars on Yellow Page advertizing in hopes of driving “qualified leads” in the door. They quit spending big dollars on direct mail campaigns that produce ½ of 1% response on average and less of that number results in a closed sale. Instead they employed aggressive self generating lead programs of all types run by their salespeople, not advertizing agencies.

They hire Sales Managers and develop team leaders who recruit salespeople. Instead of having 2 or 3 salespeople waiting for their advertizing to work, they employ 20 or 30 salespeople who are taught how to prospect and sell. They make things happen instead of waiting for something to happen.

A Sales manager’s job is to grow sales. However, sales managers should know that in order to accomplish that task they have to be able to develop salespeople. What does that mean?

I believe that most salespeople, regardless where they sold before, can be better than they are when I hire them. I believe we all can be better at what we do if we have a manager who is focused on us and truly wants us to be more successful. We all need to have our skills sharpened from time-to-time. Salespeople of all skill levels need training.

To Learn more about Lou Sepulveda C.P.P. and what he has to offer to help Security Professionals succeed go to Lou's web site -  www.lousepulveda.com

Lou Sepulveda Consulting & Training
985-778-1571


Book Titles by Lou

Selling Security Systems like a Pro


How to Manage a Security Sales Organization


 

Order Lou’s CD – Handling Objections & Closing the Sale (at www.lousepulveda.com