Clearly Defining Concessions in Sales

Concessions planning is a part of advanced planning for the sales meeting, and it is a critical element of any preparation. Concessions are the changes you are willing to make in the sales meeting to the sales proposal. Reaching a successful deal often involves altering the proposal to better suit the needs and wants of your prospect. It is a negotiation process that must be studied based on what you are selling and your companies profit margins.

Think of concessions as developing a bottom line, when you clearly define your bottom line you are giving yourself a great anchor point for your negotiation. Before you enter into this discussion you should know how low you can go in price or how you can alter the proposal and remain within your companies desired profit margin. You need to determine much of a discount can be granted in different situations. Prepare your mind by thinking of the different ideal outcomes. These situations differ vastly depending on the service or product you sell. Products may involve different volumes that create price breaks and services might entail how many additional hours can be put into a project.

Offering an avid fisherman or sportsman a weekend at the corporate luxury cabin may be a way to generate a sale if you can’t go lower on price or there are no additional discounts to be offered.

If you haven’t thought these types of scenarios out in advance, the simple concession that could have solidified the deal is never offered.

One of the worst things to do in a concession is to simply throw out a number. Most salespeople have been in a meeting where the buyer asks for a 20% deduction on the cost of the other order, and the sales rep replied that he or she could offer 10%. By automatically complying and, “meeting in the middle”, the sales rep has set the price lower, perhaps lower than where the buyer was aiming to take the deal.

A better option would be to suggest a smaller amount of a discount than half of what was requested. Perhaps offer a discount of an additional 2% over the next five orders or some other creative and compelling alternative. Another method would be to offer additional services/products that you would benefit the customer and your company can produce for a low-cost. This gives the customer something else to consider and also builds in the opportunity for additional sales at a small percentage that is well above your bottom line.

Without having clearly defined concessions in place, any sales rep can get caught up in the excitement of making a big sale and make a serious error in judgment. This can cause serious financial problems for your company that you will be held accountable for. You are the sales rep and this is your opportunity to responsibly develop profitable business for your organization. Your sales team leader will think of you as a go to when big deals come across the board if you can responsibly handle concessions.

Remember, this is a negotiation, and to negotiate both parties at the table must have the authority to make a decision that creates a desired win-win outcome.

If the sales rep doesn’t have a bottom line or doesn’t know what can be offered, the common solution is to call the sales manager. However, having to meet several times or make phone calls during a meeting distract from the flow of your sales process. This is a waste of time and can make you look dull to a point that could cause you to lose the sale. The buyer may think that if you don’t know enough about your product or service to negotiate than you aren’t taking your job or business seriously.

In the case that you don’t have the authority and can’t give an accurate and honest answer, it is best, to be honest. Tell your prospect that you cannot give him an accurate answer and you need to discuss the offer with one of your colleagues. Make it a point at this moment to take out your notepad or tablet and write the exact offer down and discuss it to the best of your ability to avoid going back and forth another time.

When you know your bottom line or the concessions you create opportunities the buyer may have not otherwise considered. This is another way to create a win-win based on your knowledge of the person across the table.

The ability to define and negotiate concessions is critical to successful sales negotiation. Without it, your ability to meet your quota will falter and you will miss out on sales opportunities that otherwise would have closed. Clearly defining concessions on the spot requires authority and superior knowledge of your products/services and cost/pricing structure. Sometimes it is necessary to go back and forth to ensure both parties are winning and your client feels fully serviced. Clearly defined concessions will help you negotiate with more power and will ultimately align the goals of your customers and your company.

Related Article: Learning How To Overcome Sales Objections

August 28, 2017February 8, 2019

How To Clarify and Align Sales Goals

While you may see your goal in any meeting as to sell a product, in reality, what you are trying to do is to solve a gap in the buyers existing abilities and what the possibilities exist for the company. Sales and marketing align together to reach a sales goal. A sale only happens if there is value in the product for the buyer, but that doesn’t mean that the only goal the sales rep has is to make the sale. Learning how to clarify and align sales goals is a key part to your sales teams success. Here is some detailed information on how to clarify and align sales goals during your next sales meeting.

In fact, the seller needs to go into the meeting also looking for a way to resolve the challenges of the buyer. In this way, both the seller and the buyer are in alignment, looking for ways to create a solution that satisfies a recognized need within a system. Learn How to Run A Productive Sales Meeting and your ability to clarify and align goals will improve dramatically.

This type of alignment of goals brings the buyer and the seller into a mutually collaborative experience during the meeting. However, this won’t happen by accident. Creating a message in advance that is tailored to clarifying the focus of the meeting (to solve the problem/gap/want/challenge of the company) needs to be an important part of your preparation. It should also be a clear intent in your opening message and outlined in your agenda; clarifying for the buyer what your true objectives are for the meeting.

This will prevent that defensive, disinterested and often dismissive attitude that can be difficult to break through when talking to decision makers in any business. Being well prepared and offering a valuable solution diminishes this natural dynamic in the room. So, make sure that you stop pitching & start solving client business problems.

Additionally, by structuring the sales presentation to be interactive, informative and not a hard-core sales pitch further aligns the goals, allowing you to test possibilities along the way and then move into the close at the opportune time.

Have a structured process for getting your prospects to take the next steps towards closing the sale. Here is an article that outlines 3 Steps to Help Prospects Commit. Don’t leave such an important meeting and process to your memory alone, always have an agenda and structured process. This agenda should even include a process to overcoming sales objections.

August 14, 2017February 8, 2019

9 Elements of a Winning Sales Proposal

Every proposal represents an opportunity to grow your business! After spending years in business and sales, I have seen how the ability to put together a well-crafted proposal is crucial to achieving advancement for yourself and your business.

Expectations

Let your audience know what to expect. People generally don’t like surprises, so a brief overview of your key points will be a good start. Remember to keep it simple. It is your job to make it easy for the person reading the proposal to understand the proposal. Don’t put them to the test of doing the work for you, they won’t.

Persuasive Elements

The purpose of a proposal is to persuade your prospect to buy your product or service. To persuade them that your product or service is something they will benefit from and is something they should not live without. Develop material that supports your final objective of getting them to buy your product/service by including statistics, testimonials, references or quotes.

Understanding of the Customer

A winning proposal will overwhelmingly serve the customer. Your proposals message and benefits should be orientated to the audience, company, and industry it addresses. The best way to sell a winning sales proposal is to inform the client of how the benefits would be suitable for them.

Recognize Customer Needs

Whenever you write a proposal, ask yourself: What are the best ways to address the issues and present your solutions? What audience will be reading your proposal and who is the decision, maker? What is important to my customer?

Highly Tailored

Now that you know your customer, make sure your proposal is tailored to that unique customer and their unique business goals. Also, always address your proposal to the correct individual(s). People love hearing/reading their names and it makes the experience that more personal.

Create Positive Perceptions

Proposals that create positive perceptions of the product, service, and brand drive results. You have the unique ability to design your proposal for each customer to make your solution and company look positive. Taking time to examine competitors and demonstrate how your product/service is better than theirs can create a positive perception you will want your prospect to think about while making their decision.

Interactive Dimension (Communication)

Every proposal is interactive. They can either be proactive or interactive. In the proactive mode, the prospect may seem to be just sitting there reading/listening to the proposal, however, they are forming their decision of whether or not to buy from you. In the interactive mode, the proposal may seem more dominant and will elicit participation from the prospect. Participation can come in the form of approval on price points, approvals on features and asking questions such as: Does the list of features and benefits satisfy your business needs through quarter one as requested in the RFP? Communicating always involves 2 parties. In the most effective communication, the listener is mentally active even if not vocally so.

Call to Action (To Do)

Make sure you ask your prospect what you want them to do. Give them a reminder that they can choose to purchase today or request their approval to move forward with invoicing. This element of a winning sales proposal can easily be overlooked and assumed to be the only logical next step, so why ask? Asking your customer (in writing or vocally), personally by name can be the single greatest way to quickly move from prospect to customer. You can say, “Mr. Johnson, after reviewing this proposal would you please provide me with your approval to move forward by signing your name on the indicated areas?”

Review & Edit

Your audience is more likely to respond affirmatively to your proposed solution (Call to Action) if the points you have made steer them in the right direction. Make sure you review your proposal and make any necessary edits so that your proposal includes sufficient substance that provides them a reason or reasons to take action. Ask yourself: Will the contents of this proposal create the desired action that I am asking for?

By taking into account the above elements of a winning sales proposal before writing your next proposal you have already improved your chances of winning the business!

July 21, 2017February 8, 2019

Selling Big – How to Find Your Mission, Message & Purpose in Sales!

Knowing your purpose in your career is almost just as important as knowing your purpose in life and if you are on the right track they should go hand in hand. You spend a lot of time working so having a purpose behind what you do at work is extremely important. Having a WHY gives you a reason to work harder, longer and with more passion than anyone else!

You may think your sales mission is obvious: Make the sale. Despite “making the sale” being the base mission of a sales department, that mission isn’t compelling and doesn’t reflect the real purpose of your business. A clear mission, message, and purpose in sales can help create your desired company culture and set goals that improve your career and your customer’s business. Here are some tips for how to find your true mission in sales.

Understand the Product

Take some time to get to know your product inside and out. Try using your product for a few weeks or months and understand exactly how it works. You may know you’re selling software to engineering firms, for example, but do you understand what the product does inside and out? Do you understand exactly what your customers use it for? Having a better understanding of what you’re selling can help you understand why you’re selling it.

Another great way to learn more about your product is to ask your friends and colleagues to brainstorm with you about how your product/service works exactly. This way, you get a range of opinions and really have a 360-degree view of what your product represents and how it is used by other people.

Related Article: How To Brainstorm with a Group

Find Your Purpose

Why are you selling the product? The answer here is not “to make sales revenue.” Think about how it improves the operations of the business you’re pitching it to. If you aim for household consumers, how does your product improve their lives? It takes time to find your purpose in sales and in any other endeavor. Take the time to think about why you’re selling your product or service and the purpose it serves for your customer. A clear purpose for your product is compelling for your sales team and your customers.

Strategy

How do you sell the product or service? You want your sales department to know what you’re selling and why. You also want them to come into the job knowing how your department makes the sale. What specific actionable items are taken every hour, every day, every week, every month and every quarter to make the sale?

Having a Structured Sales Process can help you develop a more sound selling strategy. Structured Sales Process Example.

Mission Statement

You know the mission of the product and your purpose for selling it. Combine this information with your strategy into a clear message to create a killer sales mission statement. A sales mission statement should wrap up what you sell, why you sell it, and how you sell it into one compelling statement. Write your mission statement down and print a huge poster of it so that everyone can see it, every day. Include your mission statement at the end of beginning and end of brainstorming/strategy sessions and make sure it is aligned with not only what you are trying to accomplish but how you are going to accomplish it. That statement serves as a guide to your sales team, so you attract the team you envisioned and they do what you envisioned. Your mission statement is a reminder of the ultimate goal you are working to achieve.

5 Steps to Understanding the Sales Cycle

Motivation in Sales: The Basics

July 10, 2017February 8, 2019

5 Innovative Sales Strategies to Drive More Revenue

If your sales revenue has been stagnant lately, you might need to incorporate some new sales strategies. New strategies can successfully drive more revenue for you and your organization. Here are five innovative sales strategies to drive more revenue for your business. We encourage you to look for some new sales strategies outside of this article and give them a try as well.

Requesting Referrals

This may not sound innovative, but it’s something that often gets forgotten about. You already know how crucial referrals can be for pulling in new business, but expecting them to happen isn’t enough. Perfect your strategy for asking for referrals by trying new methods or tweaking your existing referral program.

Don’t take short cuts and just rely on offering benefits to those who make a referral. Come up with a compelling speech to ask for referrals without being too pushy, create a video, create a convincing email or send an actual postcard to your clients.

Use More Social Media

You might already tweet or have a Facebook page, but that’s not enough these days. Consider creating a YouTube channel for your product or service on which you can display detailed instructional videos. Take some eye-catching photographs for Instagram. Maximize your presence on all outlets, and don’t forget about influencers. YouTube and Instagram personalities are amassing huge followings that buy any product recommended to them.

Point Out a Problem & Solve The Problem

Don’t rely on expressing your product’s purpose(s) and features. Do the research to point out a problem your customers might not be aware of that your product can fix. Put a detailed document together that shows them what exactly needs to be fixed, how you can help them fix it and what it will cost them to fix that particular problem or set of problems. Evaluating the concerns and needs of the customer builds trust, improves your knowledge of a targeted consumer base, and improves the overall experience.

This will set you apart from your competitors who all have similar stories and products but just aren’t putting forth the time and effort to bring them to their client’s attention. This requires discipline so you need to go to work and start pointing out and solving client problems.

Simplify Your Message

Do you have a company mission statement or a sales mission statement? If not, create one and keep it simple. Consumers are hit with hundreds of advertisements a day, so they don’t search through long, rambling messages to figure out what you do. Keep it short, simple and attractive.

If your goal is to collect more email addresses via your website, make sure that you have a compelling reason for people to provide their email address. This compelling call to action could be an exclusive White Paper or a $500 give away to someone that signs up for your newsletter this month.

Content Marketing

Many businesses underestimate the power of content marketing. People spend hours every day on the Internet, so online content is a valuable resource. Many companies and freelance writers can create short articles using search engine optimization practices. These articles can pull online traffic to your site that can turn into sales. Ensure your content marketing has a Killer Content Strategy.

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