The last thing I want to be good at is discounting.  In sales, if I have to get business through discounting, then its only a matter of time before someone else can do my job for a lot less money. Wait a minute, I am not talking about discounting my products or services, its the other discounting that gets me in trouble.....

When is a discount not helpful?

Did you ever get that sinking feeling after you spent all the time fixing one of your sales people that, after a great week of selling while you were watching, they began to slide back to their comfort zone over the next couple of weeks? What is it about sales people that, even thought they know what to do, they don't always do it? Ever wonder why?

Part of the problem is that human beings often do a lot of discounting. We discount problems by not even noticing they are there. Ever see a sales staff with a high turnover but no one really noticed because they were so busy recruiting the next potential superstar? Ever see a business owner who says proudly: "Sales are just fine!" without even knowing what his sales could be if the organization paid attention to the sales team? We discount reasons for the problem by coming up with excuses. We spend lots of time trying to figure out why problems happen instead of coming up with solutions to the problem. Excuses are always discounts.

Another discount is discounting the significance of a problem. "We don't really have a sales problem. We just have to weather the business cycle. We can make it through this. We always have before." Ever heard that? Another familiar discount is discounting the solvability of a problem. "You know, you just cant find good sales people. We've tried to develop our sales people, but it never works." No confidence that the problem can be solved leads to ineffective behaviors.

The last discount is the most debilitating: discounting people, either other people or even ourselves. We discount people when we don't listen to them. We discount them when we think our thoughts, our beliefs, our needs and wants are more important than theirs. "I don't care what they are saying, I want those sales up this month or else." Not that anyone in your organization would ever say things like this, but they're out there.

All this discounting, which is a belief, leads to ineffective behavior. And ineffective behaviors never help improve sales. I wonder -- how often do our discounting beliefs result in poor sales performance? Probably more often than we are comfortable in admitting. (Which is a discount itself.)

Jeremy Rawitz

Sales Strategy Corp.

1375 Broadway, 3rd Floor

New York, NY 10018

jr@salesstrategycorp.com

Salespeople usually dread hearing a prospect say that they don't have the money. Whether you sell to individuals or corporations, they can find the money if they want (or need) your product or service.

If you are with the right decision makers and they claim they have a budget problem, what they are probably saying is that they aren't convinced your product can help.

Not having money is not a deal breaker, but it could signal that they have a lack of conviction as to how what you are selling can help them.

The right decision maker can shift budgets around to create money in a large corporation. Small-to-medium sized companies have business loans available. Loans and credit cards are always available to individuals.

In most cases, money is available if they want to buy. If a prospect claims not to have the money, it is our responsibility to find out where we may have failed to show them the value of our product or service.

Ask some follow-up questions. In the worst case, you'll discover you may have erred in the sales process. The best-case scenario is that they will reassess the value of your product or service and take action to get the money.

Jeremy Rawitz Sales Strategy Corp.

www.ssc.sandler.com

jr@salesstrategycorp.com

Salespeople are often worried about their image.

Many prospects will react negatively to the "professional salesperson". The perfect, smooth-talking polished salesperson trying to convince them to buy something puts them off because they feel bad that they don't have it as together as the professional does.

Don't strive to sound and look perfect. Allow the prospect to see some chinks in your armor. Salespeople make mistakes. When you look and sound flawless and you make a mistake, it hurts your credibility because you can't maintain the perfection you present. (No matter how smart you are or how well your presentation is delivered, there is always going to be someone else who can do it as well or better.)

Forget using buzzwords. Stumble at times on purpose. You look like a "real" person then. Instead of always "dressing for success," dress for what is appropriate for the situation. Try to make yourself like your prospect. For example, don't wear suits to an office where they dress in golf shirts and khakis.

Because you don't know them or their business, ask prospects for help to fill in gaps in information about themselves and their needs. It helps you understand and keeps them from feeling like you are trying to top them. Open discussions will give them a chance to relate to you on a more personal level.

Jeremy Rawitz

jr@salesstrategycorp.com

© Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Successful salespeople are. They are obsessed with doing what has to be done each and every day to reach their goals. They have an obsession for doing those things to their very best ability - no compromises. They are absolutely, positively obsessed with their work while they are engaged in it. That doesn't mean they work 14 hours per day, seven days a week. It does mean that while they are working, they have no time to "shoot the breeze" at the water cooler, watch the clock, read the sports page, surf the Web, or participate in the radio station phone-in contest. Those activities are reserved for non-working hours ("no-pay" time). We will reveal more obsessions in the next couple of days.

Jeremy Rawitz

Sales Strategy Corp.

jr@salesstrategycorp.com

Salespeople usually dread hearing a prospect say that they don't have the money.

Whether you sell to individuals or corporations, they can find the money if they want (or need) your product or service.

If you are with the right decision makers and they claim they have a budget problem, what they are probably saying is that they aren't convinced your product can help.

Not having money is not a deal breaker, but it could signal that they have a lack of conviction as to how what you are selling can help them.

The right decision maker can shift budgets around to create money in a large corporation. Small-to-medium sized companies have business loans available. Loans and credit cards are always available to individuals.

In most cases, money is available if they want to buy. If a prospect claims not to have the money, it is our responsibility to find out where we may have failed to show them the value of our product or service.

Ask some follow-up questions. In the worst case, you'll discover you may have erred in the sales process. The best-case scenario is that they will reassess the value of your product or service and take action to get the money.

© Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Jeremy Rawitz

jr@salesstrategycorp.com

347-385-8500