Training a new salesperson
I can remember a few years back having a conversation with one of my salespersons who seemed to be having a tough time closing deals with potential clients who were on the edge of making a commitment to go with our services.
It’s been my experience that sometimes there is a great advantage to putting the conversation on speaker and having a third party listen in order to give constructive advice that would potentially offset some of the challenges that he was currently experiencing.
I heard it has been said that little things mean a lot and this certainly holds true when trying to win a potential customers confidence and convincing that certain individual why they should be using our particular St. Louis screen printing company instead of one of our local competitors. These little subtle differences in his approach to closing the deal can make an incredible impact that end up being the difference maker. I can remember back in the day when I first started out knocking on doors and looking for customers that I was a lot like him. Once I walked in that decision maker’s office and sat down, I would start talking and make the mistake of not letting this guy get a word in. So, one of the things that I had noticed was that he was doing most of the talking and this guy that he was trying to influence was doing the overwhelming majority of the listening. I suggested that he take a different approach the next time he is in an interview.
Over 58 years of life experience has taught me that more than not, a person’s favorite subject is normally him or herself. As soon as you walk into his office take a look at your surroundings. Notice what is on his walls and what is on his desk? Maybe it’s a fish which would indicate that this particular individual is probably a fisherman. You might start the conversation out by asking him, “I couldn’t help but notice what was hanging on the wall and I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about that? Did you happen to catch that yourself?” Before you know it over 10 minutes is gone by and the guy is elaborating about that particular experience he had landing that monster. The end result of that initiation is that you have made a connection. He thinks you’re one of the greatest conversationalists ever and yet you hardly even said a word. The lesson to be learned here is that a lot of inexperienced salespeople have learned what to say and how to present it, but they were never taught the art of just how to be a good listener. You never said a word about custom T-shirt printing and yet you already influenced him and made a big first impression.
After he has warmed up to you . It’s time to start your presentation. You can make sure that he is educated on the fact that you are a local St. Louis digital T-shirt printing company who is more than capable of giving him an excellent finished product that is delivered on time and is going to be the best overall value compared to the many other St. Louis screen printing companies that are also trying to win his business.