Dramatically Improve Sales with The KISS Test
We've all heard the term KISS at one time or another - "Keep It
Simple, Stupid." However, the majority of salespeople violate
this basic principle more often than not.
Let me start with some examples of what I'm talking about. At
one position I held, I sat next to someone who could have been a
top salesperson. He and I both operated much the same in that
rather than cold call, we ran our own personal marketing
programs to generate leads and simply took the calls that came
in as a result. The problem is what he did with the calls. When
someone called me, ready to buy, I immediately went into closing
the deal and making arrangements to either come out with the
paperwork or to fax it over. He, on the other hand, went into a
full-length company story and a lot of other information that he
absolutely should not tell a qualified prospect unless they ask
for it. The end result is that people who called ready to sign
up for one of our services lost interest and didn't buy anything
at all.
Another example is what happens every time I try to make a
business purchase. Here I am, saying "Yes, I'm going to buy,"
and the sales rep lauches into a company story about how long
they've been in business, who their big clients are, and on and
on. Lucky for these salespeople, the product usually sells
itself and I still buy. However, I'm willing to bet that a lot
of people don't. Nothing is more frustrating than picking up the
phone saying, "Hi, here I am ready to buy," and having some rep
go into a story bragging about how great the company is and all
that they can do. That comes off as pure arrogance to a business
owner. What's more, talking about your big enterprise clients
alienates most small business owners. They assume their needs
will be placed second to those of the big dogs and that they'll
be treated as just a number when calling for service.
I think most training is at the root of this massive problem.
Every course I've taken has gone through the steps of a sale.
The problem is, what if all the steps don't take place? Consider
"objection handling." When I was working for that company I
mentioned earlier, many of my prospects had no objections
because my marketing pieces took care of them in advance. By
assuming that each of these steps are going to take place, a lot
of salespeople will cause something to happen when it really
shouldn't have to begin with. If a prospect doesn't come up with
any major objections, don't give them a reason to!
I've seen a lot of managers require their reps to fill out a
"lead sheet" that documents each step of the sale. This assumes
that each of the steps will happen when they may not. If you're
required to maintain these types of records, skip anything that
doesn't happen naturally. Don't induce a prospect to enter a
selling phase that may not only be unnecessary, but may cause
you to lose the sale entirely.
Use the KISS test when you're selling. Always ask yourself if
what you're doing is actually necessary. Believe me, you'll save
yourself a lot of wasted time and lost sales by doing so. I did.