Focus - What’s the Problem?
Are you feeling:
- under pressure to have more in your pipeline?
- frustrated your career isn’t progressing the way you planned?
- your confidence has taken a knock?
Or, do you just want to achieve more and faster?
Whatever it is, clients say "Jim is great to have as an independent sounding board, without fear of recrimination or judgement. He’s brilliant at cutting through the 'noise', pinpointing what’s needed and finding new impetus to move things forward".
Call 07747 624560 to book an introductory coaching session.
Free Seminar
Thurs 9 July, 9.00-11.00am, Maidenhead.
"Psychometrics in Selling"
- an event by PeopleTrack (an Epicurean friend)
If you've got a question or some feedback on what you think of Sphere we’d love to hear from you.
|
With the end of Q2 in sight, this issue gets down to business fast – less story and more specifics for sales and business developers under pressure to close deals in the next two weeks!
Enjoyable reading.
Jim Wigg
Coach, Trainer, Facilitator
Q2 End – 7 Closes for 7 Customers
It's all change in the Wigg household – moving back south (details below) and changing car. Sadly the prospect of dealing with estate agents and car salespeople isn't something many of us view with pleasure but the experience we had with one car salesperson highlighted how easy it can be to close business if you take the right approach with the right person.
He got it absolutely spot on. In a conversation with Sandra he had established exactly what we were looking for, called back with a car that 90% fitted the bill, listed the pros and cons and helped us see that logically it would be the right thing to buy it. No wasting time on his or our behalf, the deal was done in a day.
So how does this relate to closing business in the next two weeks?
Closing more Q end deals is about giving customers an incentive to do a deal now; and that incentive is probably financial. This may appeal to a customer who has a strong financial orientation but this may be a positive turn off for others. The point is that people have different motivations and the way you present something to them is much more likely to get a result if you are in tune with what motivates them, as our car salesman was - by luck or judgement in his case? Who knows.
Being on or above your target at the end of Q2 is too important to leave to luck so here are six ideas for how you could position a financial incentive to customers with motivations other than money.
- Formal customers who have a strong sense of correctness and want to do the right thing - be logical, list the pros and cons of placing the order now, show that the pros outweigh the cons and that getting the best financial deal is doing the right thing for their organisation.
- Pessimistic customers who want to avoid risks and are loyal to people and their organisation - keep moving them on to the next step without asking for a decision, at the same time reassuring them that they are helping their company to avoid paying more.
- Assertive, decisive customers who need to win and be recognised - be direct and matter of fact, ask them to make a decision between two alternatives rather than asking for a yes or no. Find a way for it to further their career or status if you can.
- Fun, friendly customers who love to chat - be fun and friendly (it’s not what you say, it’s the way you say it), ask for their commitment, make it as little work for them as you can and keep calling them to make sure they do what they agreed. Don’t be complacent - they love everyone (not just you) and will happily give the order to someone else!
- Quiet, shy customers who want to be creative - don’t push, communicate by email, understand their vision and help them see how committing now will keep their vision timescales on track and free up time and budget to be even more creative.
- Process-driven customers who like to understand how things work and want to complete projects - show that you understand the steps in the purchasing process, how getting the right price is part of this and that placing the order earlier will make a contribution to the overall success of the project. Communicate by email or use email to schedule times for conversations.
Oh, and let’s not forget our financially motivated customer:
- Money-talking customers who always want a special deal - the key word here is ‘special’. They know that quarter, half and year ends are the best times to get good deals so will want more than just the standard. Let them know they have negotiated well and are dealing with someone who is financially savvy.
"7 Closes for 7 Customers" can be run as a 45 minute seminar, or if you're having difficulty getting a customer into action before the end of June give me a call for some ideas. This is what happened for one customer who did.
"It's true - the deal closed last night at $1,052,34.00. Thanks for your help in getting to this point - without your assistance I think we would have been bounced out long ago"
...and now for a bit of news
From the beginning of July (start of Q3) Epicurean and the Wiggs are moving to Fleet in Hampshire. To our customers in the south we look forward to catching up with you and hearing all your news. To our customers in the north please keep in touch, we’re only 2 hours and 10 minutes away by train from London.
|
