Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007 - (Page 8)

the Pitch FRESH IDEAS FOR SMART MANAGERS “TELL ME MORE.” This phrase may be music to a salesperson’s ears, but does your sales force really know what a customer means when he or she hears those three magic words? According to Jill Konrath, a sales strategist, business advisor, author and lecturer, what the customer or prospect really wants to know is what challenges or issues your product or service addresses. >> SALES STRATEGY 10 >> MARKETING STRATEGY 12 >> MANAGEMENT STRATEGY 14 >> MOTIVATION/INCENTIVES 16 >> TRAINING 18 >> TECHNOLOGY 19 What “Tell Me More” Really Means Do you think customers want to know about your company? Think again. service will address.” According to Konrath, your sales rep’s primary goals should be to develop their credibility as someone who is intimately familiar with the issues the customer faces and to demonstrate their ability to deliver results. THEY CAN DO THIS BY: 1.Expanding on how tough it is for companies to achieve their objectives using outdated systems or processes. Have your reps talk about difficulties that arise, the bottlenecks and the workarounds, the frustrations and ramifications on other areas of business. 2.Have the rep share a story about a particular customer he or she recently worked with and how, after working with the rep and your company, the desired outcomes were realized. 3.Your salesperson should then wrap up by asking a question that engages the customer in discussing the issue in greater depth. Konrath suggests working with your salespeople to practice and prepare an engrossing answer, should he or she be handed the golden opportunity of being asked,“Tell me more.” “The biggest challenges facing sellers today is cracking into corporate accounts,” Konrath explains.“Decision-makers never answer their phone.They roll all calls to voicemail and they never call anyone back. Most all direct mail goes into the trash,and emails from strangers are considered spam.You may have the greatest product or service in the world, but if you can’t get your foot in the door, it’s all academic. “Most companies I work with are extremely discouraged,” she continues.“They’ve tried everything they know,but it’s not working. I help them figure out what it takes to succeed in this competitive business environment.How big of an issue is this for XYZ Company? “The prospect is the ultimate judge of the effectiveness of the ‘Tell me more,’ response.If your salespeople can’t advance to the next step, their routine needs more fine-tuning.” www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com istock photo “When a salesperson is in the early stages of working with a prospective customer,the answer to ‘Tell me more’is not an overview of your firm,” Konrath says,“nor is it a description of your process or methodology nor is it a request for more in-depth information about your products.What they really want are answers to the neverending list of challenges and issues they face that your product or 8 SALES&MARKETING MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007 http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007

Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007 Contents Editor’s Letter Management Strategies What “Tell Me More,” Really Means Sales Strategy Marketing Management Motivation/Incentives Training Technology The Brains Behind the Brawn Are You a Bad Manager? Pipeline = Lifeline Feeling the Squeeze; The Foray Mobile Workmate; Seeking the Sights of Pittsburgh; Testing the Social Media Waters. Gadgets & Gear Books That Improve Strategic Thinking, People Skills and Sales Work/Life Take-Aways

Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2007

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