Sales & Marketing Management - November/December 2008 - (Page 8) SALES STRATEGY [By Dale Klamfoth] SOCRATES MAKES A CALL To jumpstart stalled sales, try employing a really old-school approach askew here. The salesperson was twitching to get into the product’s benefits without bothering to ask what the customer meant by “the price is too high.” Did the customer mean the price of the particular model being offered was too high? That the cost of maintenance would exceed the total budget? That recruiting and training an equipment operator would break the deal? That the company’s cash flow won’t allow a lump-sum payment? The salesperson didn’t know because he didn’t ask. This leads to an obvious question: Are your own salespeople neglecting to ask the questions that move a sale forward? If they are, try telling them what Socrates would do on a sales call. The ancient Greek philosopher taught his students to ask a series of logical questions that make the other person question his assumptions. Applied to a sales call, this strategy persuades prospects to open up, examine all the consequences of their positions and work with the salesperson to identify the proposal that will win the sale. The process is called Socratic selling, and its bedrock principle is getting the customer to talk for 80% of the meeting. Admittedly, that’s a challenging goal for many salespeople. The few minutes with the customer that they worked so hard to schedule are precious, and they’ve got so much they want to say. They’re better off beginning by asking a question about what’s on the customer’s mind. By way of example: “Ms. Jones, I’m prepared to talk about , which we discussed on the phone. If you could give me your thoughts about that, we can focus the meeting on what interests you.” Note the use of the word “thoughts” in this case, the alternates of which would be “outlook,” “ideas,” “viewpoint” and “perspective.” These are all mind words that encourage communication. They’re the opposite of gut words like “problems,” “concerns” and “needs,” which can trigger a response like, “I didn’t say I needed anything.” Note also that the opening question wasn’t something like “Tell me about your business.” Asking Dale Klamfoth is vice president and managing director of Communispond, Inc. (www.communispond.com), which provides businesses with training and coaching in selling, presentations and communications. He can be reached via e-mail at dklamfoth@communispond.com. ere’s a quick quiz—can you spot what’s wrong in the following dialogue between two hypothetical sales professionals? Salesperson: I saw the prospect who’s interested in the new equipment earlier today. Sales executive: How’d it go? Salesperson: He told me the price is too high. Sales executive: What did you say? Salesperson: Well, I told him the equipment’s rated highest in quality, we offer 24/7 service, we’ve got features nobody else has. I went through the whole presentation. As you no doubt noticed, there’s something seriously NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2008 H istock photo 8 SALES &MARKETING MANAGEMENT www.salesandmarketing.com www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com http://www.communispond.com http://www.salesandmarketingmanagement.com
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