The sales team of a large Mid-Atlantic insurance agency complained about a lack of leads. Since their compensation was commission-based, they wanted more action.

When their sales consultant heard about the problem, he recommended hiring a telemarketing firm that specialized in arranging appointments. Acting on the suggestion, agency management contracted with a telemarketing firm. A database that reflected the profile of preferred prospects was used to make the calls.

As the agency received responses, agency personnel called to confirm the appointments. However, some respondents the agency contacted claimed they did not agree to an appointment, nor did they recognize the agency’s name. Others were hostile.

Even so, there were a few appointments. In each case, the salespeople reported unsatisfactory meetings; not one was “welcoming” or “friendly.” After a somewhat lengthy period, the sales force had one “warm” prospect.

This is an example of a “chasing rainbows” approach to sales, and it’s the direct result of expecting miracles by gambling on gimmicks.

An endless stream of books, seminars and Internet sites promise higher closing ratios, more hot prospects, surefire closing tactics, compelling presentations and foolproof sales techniques.

Since we all want to believe in miracles, we rush out to buy whatever we need to make us winners. Some women buy expensive cosmetics in an effort to look younger, and men spend big bucks on tough-looking vehicles in an effort to reinforce their macho self-image. The popularity of “McMansions” may be an effort by some home buyers to transform themselves into the people they would like to be.

Want It To Win It
 Analyzing the evidence suggests that most salespeople are not committed to making sales. While they certainly want sales, they do not follow a process that results in closing more sales.

While closing ratios vary from industry to industry, there seems to be a pattern. The HVAC industry reports an average closing ratio of 32 percent for salespeople. While one car dealer boasts a 34.5 percent closing ratio on Internet sales, the national average for auto sales is reportedly 17 percent. In some industries, it’s around 14 percent.

Since sales ratios are measured in a variety of ways, it’s difficult to obtain accurate figures. Whatever the facts, we convince ourselves that our closing ratio is “pretty good considering the economy and the competition.” We make it fit us.

Given this situation, how can we change the process so we don’t waste time chasing the wrong prospects or those who have no reason to meet with us? How can we fill the pipeline with qualified prospects that know us and appreciate what we bring that’s of value to them?

The solution is a sales strategy that builds on differentiating your company from your competitors — one that puts you in a class by yourself. It has nothing to do with sales gimmicks. It has everything to do with substance.

Here are some sales strategies that makes a difference:

1. Avoid most prospects. As strange as it may sound, selling isn’t about making sales. It’s about making the right sales. If one particular insurance producer had been a fisherman, he would be bringing home a string of minnows. Since there was insufficient revenue in his new accounts to justify an outside producer, an in-house agent should have handled them.

Chasing small accounts gives some salespeople a false sense of success; it fills their time while they avoid facing challenges that are more appropriate.

2. Stop trying to be convincing. “We have a program that covers the area served by 10 of your client’s stores,” the salesperson said to the marketing consultant. “It’s different from anything on the market. I know you’ll like it.”

This pitch is repeated tens of thousands of times each day by salespeople who act as if making a sale depends on convincing prospects about the product or service. This tactic is sure to fail. The only benefits that count are those valued by the customer. All others are meaningless distractions.

Could the salesperson have been more successful using a different approach? She might have said, “Our product reaches consumers in the area where your client has 10 stores. Before asking for an appointment, may I ask you several questions about the stores to see if this would be a good match?” By exploring the issues facing the stores, the salesperson places herself in a position to link specific benefits that address those issues.

3. Profile prospects for profitability. The only way to keep focused is to analyze your top customers, develop appropriate profiles and then engage in a careful search for prospects that fit those profiles. Periodically re-profile the top customers to make sure you are approaching the most profitable prospects. Over time, the profiles will change so that you are focusing your prospecting activities on profitable potential customers.

4. Engage them with knowledge. Most salespeople come through a prospect’s door with roughly the same sales pitch. While we all like to think we’re “different,” the truth is that even “the best” all seem to look and sound alike. Even though each one may offer a slightly different spin, it comes across to prospects as just more of the same.

Selling business insurance is a good example. Even though agents work at differentiating themselves from the competition, “the lowest quote” often drives decision-making. More than 250 agencies across the country have discovered how to get over this hurdle.

The producers at these agencies have become Certified WorkComp Advisors following training provided by the Institute of WorkComp Professionals in Asheville, N.C. These producers engage prospects by identifying overcharges, mistakes and other costly errors in Worker’ Compensation accounts. By sharing value-creating expertise, they inspire confidence. By engaging the prospect with knowledge, they build trust and earn the right to the business.

5. Prepare the presentation. Many salespeople take pride in their professionalism, but they fail to close deals because they focus solely on what they want to accomplish at their presentations. Most also fail to prepare properly, particularly when they become more comfortable in the sales role. Customers are aware when a salesperson is “winging it.”

One sales executive concludes an initial meeting with a prospect this way, “My next step will be to prepare a proposal, but I want you to know that it will not have a budget. That will come after you have had a chance to review the program and suggest changes.” He explains the rationale for this approach by suggesting that he wants to get the prospect involved in discussing the program. “By including the budget up front, the focus moves to the dollars and away from the benefits,” he says.

6. Don’t pull out too soon. Marketing and salespeople seem to suffer from an attention deficiency. Easily bored, we’re constantly on the prowl for something new, different and exciting. We’re energized by “great ideas.” We never look at the road behind us strewn with dropped initiatives and partially completed projects. In the same way, we jump from one group of prospects to another. Be patient.

Make It Work For You
 Here are a few suggestions to improve sales presentations:

• Put your presentation in writing. This forces you to think through what you’re going to say so you include everything that’s necessary, yet you remain focused.
• Anticipate the prospect’s questions so you can plan your answers. Being vague doesn’t win business.
• Practice the presentation. There’s an old adage in sports, “You play how you practice.” We’re never as good as we think we are without practice. Just ask any professional athlete.
• Be responsive to the prospect. Have your antennae up at all times. Be sensitive to the way the prospect or committee is responding. What seems to get attention? What isn’t of interest?

The goal is to be enthusiastic and animated. Actors persuade through presence … so do salespeople.

Improving closing ratios requires an enormous amount of self-discipline. To be successful, salespeople must stay on track, constantly improve the process, avoid jumping from one “surefire” gimmick to another, and not allow themselves to succumb to promises that are too good to be true, even though we would like them to be.

John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He can be reached at (617) 328-0069 or through his Web site, www.grahamcomm.com.




POSTED ON: 9/1/2006