Selling Is a Mind Game is a comprehensive guide for individuals entering the sales profession or for the veteran to reexamine basic sales fundamentals for successful selling. This book provides a straightforward presentation by addressing which skill sets are necessary to achieve success. An expansive approach provides each reader with the opportunity to apply individual product and industry knowledge for personal skill development. DECISION-MAKING IS A MENTAL PROCESS A favorable setting and relaxed atmosphere is desirable; however, buying decisions are not made on the golf course, in restaurants, or in offices, but instead in the buyer's mind. Sales conversations and presentation material must parallel how buyers mentally process information. DISCOVER THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS Selling Is a Mind Game focuses on the buyer's decision-making process. This unique perspective provides an understanding of how buying decisions are made and demonstrates how to take advantage of that process via sales disciplines and techniques. IDENTIFY SELLING DISCIPLINES / TECHNIQUES THAT PARALLEL THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS PLACING BUYER AND SELLER ON CORRESPONDING PATHS Each selling discipline/technique has a specific objective and is aligned with the buyer's mental process, which guides the sales conversation, and a proposal toward a positive buying decision. ADDITIONAL TOPICS THIS BOOK EXPLAINS AND TEACHES: THE ART OF PERSUASION Ability to influence others RULE OF "80" FUD FACTOR Fear-Uncertainty-Doubt SELLING LANDSCAPE Understand how the "game" is played FEATURES & BENEFITS Features Tell-Benefits Sell TAKING THE SALES STAGE>br /> Superstar vs. Average BUYING SIGNALS Know when to close WHY BUYERS PRESENT OBJECTIONS Learn why the no-sale sign goes up

SELLING IS A MIND GAME

By Warren Schoening

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Warren Schoening
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4685-4593-7

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....................................viiINTRODUCTION.......................................ixUNDERSTANDING THE GAME.............................1THE ART OF PERSUASION..............................3TAKING THE SALES STAGE.............................7ETHICS.............................................9SALES CONVERSATION.................................11SELLING LANDSCAPE..................................15MEETING OF THE MINDS...............................23BUYER'S MENTAL PROCESS.............................25DISCIPLINES OF SELLING.............................29CONNECTING.........................................31OPENING............................................37PROPOSAL...........................................43FEATURES & BENEFITS................................47PROOF SOURCE.......................................55BUYING SIGNALS.....................................59CLOSE..............................................63CLOSING TECHNIQUES.................................65WHEN MINDS DON'T MEET..............................77OBJECTIONS.........................................79WHY BUYERSPRESENT OBJECTIONS.......................87HANDLING OBJECTIONS CHECK LIST.....................89HANDLING OBJECTION TECHNIQUES......................91COMMITMENT.........................................105YOUR DECISION......................................107ABOUT THE AUTHOR...................................111

Chapter One

UNDERSTANDING THE GAME

HOW THE PIECES FIT

THE ART OF PERSUASION

THE ART OF PERSUASION

Wikipedia Encyclopedia defines persuasion as "a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding people and oneself toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic means."

At its most basic, selling is the ability to influence others and gain acceptance of the proposition you are putting forth.

Selling is a people business. Individuals are more likely to be persuaded by those they like and feel comfortable with. However, although having a rapport or a personal friendship with a prospective client may provide a meeting and selling opportunity, it will not close the sale.

Decisions are not made on golf courses, restaurants, trade-show floors, kitchen tables, or even buying offices.

DECISION-MAKING IS A MENTAL PROCESS SELLING IS A MIND GAME

The Art of Persuasion:

• Requires an understanding of the buyer's mental position, which is molded by personal bias, motivations, personality, job demands, attitudes, belief system, cultural background, hobbies, education, and how his or her personal life maybe going on any given day.

• Requires reasoning with the buyer using logic, providing essential benefits, proof of performance, rhetoric, presentation material, facts, figures, charts, graphs, and third-party testimonial support.

• Requires appealing to buyer's emotions—using belief system, tradition, social pressures, and fears as touchstones, and touting benefits and gratification from company perks, bonuses, or vendor rewards.

• Requires selling skills, handling objections, verbal and written communication, conflict management, and body language.

Despite all of the effort expended in producing the perfect proposal material, too many salespeople forget to factor in the buyer's mental position. Your must identify that position before starting to sell. Consider:

• What specific benefits are required by the buyer?

• What are the individual's personal motivational factors?

• Is the buyer a numbers person who makes decisions "based on the story the numbers tell"?

• Is the buyer a visual learner, who prefers to get information from charts & graphs?

• Does the buyer make decisions based on emotion?

• Does the buyer have strong personal opinions regarding the proposed product or service?

• Is there potential for cultural background and experiences to influence the decision-making process?

• What objections could the buyer present?

• Is the buyer authorized to make a buying decision, or will other people be participating buying process?

A sales conversation with seller and buyer on the same mental track provides a ticket on the train to sales success.

TAKING THE SALES STAGE

What's the difference between an average salesperson and a sales superstar? What's the difference between a talented singer and a rock star? Stage presence, showmanship, and an ability to captivate the audience separates the run-of-the-mill form the elite.

Salespeople are the principal performers on the sales stage.

As a teenager, I attended a home show in south Texas on a fall afternoon with some friends. Walking down the aisle, we scanned the booths in an effort to identify cool new products. Slightly behind us on our left came an unexpected, enthusiastic voice bellowing out, "Want to stretch your dollars?" My involuntary human reaction kicked in, and I along with others in the aisle turned to see who was posing such a question. There he was, holding a dollar bill at each end in front of him so everyone could see it. In one quick motion, the rubber dollar bill was stretched several times across his chest as far as of both arms would reach, followed by "Step closer and learn how to stretch your dollars!" The crowd moved closer, the sales pitch (performance) was given, and product was sold. I don't remember what was being sold, but I still recall how my attention was captured. On that day, I learned that gaining attention and interest is a prerequisite to selling a product.

Without the core competencies of product knowledge and selling skills, your efforts will fall short. However loaded as you may be with product knowledge, without "stage presence," the client (audience) maybe left flat and unmotivated.

From the initial client greeting, a salesperson is onstage, performing with each presentation delivered. The practiced ability to deliver a persuasive message cannot be underestimated. Extraordinary success combines knowledge, selling skills, and stage presence.

Delivering a presentation is performing for the buyer. Salespeople have a license to develop a stage presence or persona that allows for exceptional behavior. When taking the sales stage, carefully consider the client and target the benefits he or she desires. All clients are unique, and each may require a different approach. Don't become a one-role actor. Selling a dream vacation on a cruise ship going to an exotic island requires a different approach than selling funeral services.

During the sales encounter, exhibit self-confidence, appropriate voice inflection, product knowledge, enthusiasm, positive body language, command of the presentation, and a strong conviction that the product will perform as advertised.

A strong performance on the sales stage will seize attention, gain the interest of your buyers, and improve your closing percentage.

ETHICS

A salesperson's most valuable assists are name and reputation. Your personal and professional integrity must meet the highest standard of individual and business ethics.

All industries are small, regardless of dollar volume. Salespeople are known by their personal and business activities. The way a salesperson conducts business will determine both short-and long-term success and failure.

Developing a strong track record of honest, up-front ethical business dealings pays dividends in client confidence, respect, and a willingness to do business. A reputation for integrity maintains current clients on board and assists you in gaining new ones.

Early in my career, I attended a sales meeting introducing a new product designed to compete with a competitive product already entrenched with solid market share. A high priority had been placed on wide-scale acceptance and distribution. I asked the vice president of sales about the boundaries and latitudes the sales group was to operate under in achieving our sales objectives. The response was, "Don't do anything immoral or illegal. Everything else is fair."

If you are ever in doubt regarding ethical selling and business dealings, simply remember the issues of morality and legality, and your name and reputation will not be tarnished.

DON'T DO ANYTHING IMMORAL OR ILLEGAL EVERYTHING ELSE IS FAIR

SALES CONVERSATION

Salespeople speaking 75 percent of the time during a sales proposal are not engaged in a conversation—but a one-way dialogue boring to the buyer and, in many cases, leaving the buyer skeptical and not excited to buy. People want to have a conversation, not to be talked at. The best route to making a sale is gaining buyer participation in a conversation.

Sales conversations require both buyer and seller to engage in a two-way exchange and interact in open communication. The dialogue is to be probing, honest, relaxed, and non-threatening, with both parties receiving and providing information. Keep it interesting and entertaining if possible. Provide product benefits and solve problems at both the business and personal level for the buyer.

Listening skills are required for an effective conversation. At times, salespeople are too busy talking—trying to sell—that they don't listen to the client. It is important to determine how information is being processed by the client and how best to proceed. Active listening means hearing and analyzing what is actually being communicated so that important selling clues are not missed. Salespeople who dominate the conversation experience a lower closing rate, as they have not learned what is important to the client. A conscious effort must be made to keep the dialogue open, with important issues unearthed and addressed.

Formal presentation material (facts, figures, charts, graphs, third—party support) is used to direct, control, and support the selling objective. Information received or provided by buyer and seller become discussion points. These major decision-making issues should be reviewed through a brief exchange to assure agreement or uncover an objection. Merely providing information will not convince the buyer that the product is worth purchasing.

Proposals are to be persuasive, providing benefits that are readily understood making it easy for the buyer to say yes.

Trust between the buyer and seller is paramount in gaining the first sale and developing an ongoing sales relationship. Trust cannot be obtained by making presentations; it requires a conversation, using solid communication skills in answering questions asked and unasked. Through buyer involvement and participation, interest is developed and confidence in the seller is established.

As important as dialogue is, it's also important to stop selling upon receiving an affirmative buying response.

As a teenage salesperson working at a discount store selling televisions, I greeted a customer who pointed out a top-of-the—line TV and said, "I want to buy that one."

Excited and eager for the sale, I replied, "Great choice! Let me tell you about that set."

The customer quickly responded, "I am on my lunch break, and don't have time for a sales pitch. Write it up now or I'm leaving."

Don't be an "un-closer" by continuing to "sell" bringing up irrelevant, extraneous, or unwanted information that may cultivate a concern or objection. Don't talk yourself out of a sale! Move to the next step: finalize the sale, write the order, sign a contract.

SELLING LANDSCAPE

Each baseball season starts at spring training, with players focusing on conditioning, practice, and execution of the basics. Players and managers know these make the difference for a winning season.

Professional athletes are individuals with God-given physical talent that cannot be duplicated, regardless of how hard one tries. In sales, there are a few "natural" salespeople, but unlike athletes, special physical talent is not required. Mental strength, however, is essential. The majority of professional salespeople are not "born" but attain knowledge and develop personal selling skills that lead to superior performance.

An understanding of the field or landscape salespeople play on every day is essential in ascertaining how the game is to be played. Pitcher and batter, seller and buyer—all strive to reach personal objectives. Sellers' objectives are servicing accounts and closing sales, while buyers are looking to meet corporate or personal objectives.

In the 1950s, my dad farmed in south Texas and planted acres of tomatoes, as did other farmers that season. With no government regulation or crop subsidies, there was a glut of tomatoes on the open market, and he was unable to sell his crop.

To raise money for the family, large brown paper "barrel" bags were purchased at the local grocery store and filled with tomatoes handpicked from the field. I got my first selling lesson as a young boy selling tomatoes door to door. Being quite young and not having any selling experience, I learned several valuable lessons:

• The key to selling is asking someone to buy.

• The more contacts I made, the more I sold.

• Not everyone will buy.

• Don't take rejection personally.

Though I didn't know it at the time, this was also my first lesson in developing an understanding of the "Rule of 80."

RULE OF 80

80 PERCENT WILL BUY IF SOLD

10 PERCENT WILL BUY IF ASKED

10 PERCENT MAY NEVER BUY

Future selling encounters provided lessons, cementing the need and importance for developing personal selling skills. In addition, I learned about the selling field landscape.

Landscape Rule #1 Buyers are the gatekeepers, determining the success of a salesperson based on buying decisions, positive or negative.

Just as sales personnel attend sales training seminars, many corporate buyers attend training seminars on how to leverage their position in the buying and selling process. Buyers' decisions hinge on their opinion of what is in the best interest of the company or themselves personally. Closings skyrocket when sought-after company benefits and personal buyer benefits are provided simultaneously.

Personal relationships between buyer and seller may get you an appointment, but appointments do not guarantee sales success.

Success depends on the seller's skills in persuading the buyer to open the buying gate.

Landscape Rule # 2 Sellers must be able to sell "friendlies" because "non-friendlies" won't buy.

Competitive products being equal, the Rule of 80 suggests that 10 percent of buyers will purchase if simply asked to buy, need the product or service, like the seller, or like the seller's company. Meanwhile, 10 percent may never buy, choosing not to do business because they dislikes the seller, dislikes the seller's company, or have a friend or family member selling a similar competitive product or service.

Landscape Rule # 3 Sales success comes from the 80 percent who will buy if sold—the Rule of 80.

The mark of a professional salesperson is the ability to gain a high close rate within the 80 percent of those who will buy if sold. Let there be no doubt that career success and financial reward are produced by this 80 percent. A salesperson must understand that selling is a process requiring in-depth knowledge and artful execution of selling disciplines and techniques to succeed.

Landscape Rule # 4 Set yourself apart from the competition.

There may be one or several competitors vying for the same business and providing similar benefits. What separates the herd of salespeople from a professional salesperson? Set yourself apart, connect with the buyer on a personal level as an individual, understand what the buyer provides as information, make your word your bond, provide value, respect others, and be an expert in product and industry knowledge who is willing to go the extra mile when necessary.

Buyers evaluate sellers and prefer to do business with those they relate to and feel confident in. Relationships built on the aforementioned traits will provide long-term sales success and keep the competition on the outside looking in.

Landscape Rule # 5 Establish sales-call objectives.

Without defined sales-calls objectives, salespeople are just well-paid tourists leaving results to happenstance. Determine primary and secondary objectives for each sales call. Once objectives are established, initiate pre-call work-gathering information to determine what is important to the buyer both professionally and personally. Develop sales material parallel to the buyer's mental process, focusing on sales-call objectives.

Landscape Rule # 6 Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up! Presentence pays.

Stay in communication. Follow-up each sales call with a secondary sales visit, recap letter, e-mail, phone, or fax.

If you are unable to close the sale during the initial sales call, follow-up contact is required. Prior to exiting the initial sales call, schedule another face-to-face meeting. If a face-to-face follow-up is unattainable, establish a phone follow-up appointment, including day, date, and time. When contacting the buyer at the established time, remind them of the appointment or phone follow-up that was established at the conclusion of the prior meeting. If the buyer has not made a decision at the conclusion of the follow-up contact, determine the major objections and establish another face-to-face sales call or specific phone-appointment follow-up.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from SELLING IS A MIND GAMEby Warren Schoening Copyright © 2012 by Warren Schoening. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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