Colleen’s Blog

You may periodically see images on my Facebook page or my website of me with my Harley Davidson. Especially with the weather warming up, it’s just about time for me to take my bike out of the garage and start riding again. It’s more than just the thrill of riding a motorcycle that gets me excited. I originally failed my first motorcycle exam and became discouraged. After passing the exam in my second attempt, there is a sense of triumph every time I hop on my bike. With another motorcycle season just around the bend, I can’t help but connect the parallels between motorcycles and sales (are you surprised?). With my particular situation, I was able to learn two lessons that you can implement in your sales strategy.

When meeting with prospects or high level decision makers, many salespeople focus on the wrong type of conversation. Your average salesperson will spend hours preparing sheets that outline their product’s features, benefits, pricing and other details. They practice their pitch, and at times have a lengthy speech rehearsed. While preparation is never a bad thing, the successful salesperson understands the value of focusing on the correct aspect of the presentation. Focus on your client. Your client’s needs, issues and problems should be the main focus of your presentation. While your product may have dozens of practical uses, if the client is only interested in one or two of those uses, you’re wasting their time and boring them by outlining features he or she doesn’t need.

You may be familiar with the salesperson who claims they’re stuck, or complains that things don’t go their way. It’s the individual who never takes accountability for their own actions or results and is always quick to blame, but never ready to accept responsibility. It’s important to understand that you have complete control over your results and the choice always belongs to you. - You choose who to sell to - You choose how to sell - You choose what to sell If you are unhappy with the market that you are selling to, the onus is on you to find a more profitable market. If your current sales methods aren’t working, it’s your responsibility to discover new approaches. If your product has flaws that make it difficult to sell, it’s your job to overcome those obstacles as well (or begin selling a product that you are proud of). The problem with many salespeople is that they are able to point out the flaws with everyone and everything else, but aren’t able to self-diagnose anything. Subsequently, the same issues occur, the same mistakes are made and the poor results continue.

Want to know the easiest way to lose control of the sales process? Time and time again, I’ve seen salespeople hold off on presenting their price to a prospective client until the final written proposal. They don’t bring up pricing in person or before a written proposal is sent because they’re afraid to scare away their potential client. Ironically, by following this methodology, they end up scaring away the prospect anyway. If you avoid discussing pricing options until the very last moment, you make it too easy for the prospect to ignore you. They may love everything about you and what you have to offer, but if the amount they see in writing is not something they’re comfortable with, chances are they will simply avoid discussion rather than initiating it. In their mind, it’s much easier to ignore you than to reach out to you for a chance at a better price. When this scenario unfolds, you lose complete control over the sales process and you make it very difficult for yourself to recover from it.

Successful salespeople have an unmatched drive to be successful. Chances are, if you are seeing any type of results or success, you have an incredible work ethic and have learned to move forward even in the face of rejection. However, can your motivation and drive ever become unhealthy or detrimental to your success? It is absolutely a fine line, and many salespeople aren’t able to tell which side of the line they’re on. All too often, I see salespeople who will try to force a sale on a prospect who doesn’t need their services. They simply aren’t prepared to walk away even if they aren’t a right fit for the client. They allow their desire to close the deal cloud their judgment.