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Follow on Google News | Female Entrepreneurs - How Women Can Win SalesWe build solid relationships with our clients, work hard to make them trust us, and lock in the sale.
By: Gary McGeown "In this fiercely competitive economy, where every sales pitch can be critical to the survival of our companies, I want to make sure that you have the strongest set of tools in your toolkit in order to sell successfully. There are typical ways that men and women approach a sale; and knowing the difference can help you make the most of every sales opportunity. Potential vs. Experience Sometimes, men do a better job incorporating both experience and potential in the way they present themselves in a sales context. Their stories are peppered with dreams, possibilities and what "we can do for you." As women, on the other hand, we often focus on our strong experience, recent successes and solid relationships. We need, however, to augment this with our enormous potential. This, in turn, can help us go after contracts that are perhaps slightly outside of our expertise; this dynamic has allowed me to expand the offerings of JBC at key moments in the company's history. Of course, broad generalizations about gender differences in business can be risky, but as I have helped numerous men and women develop top careers as entrepreneurs and within major corporations, I have noticed a striking pattern: Women think their potential will shine through because they are clearly presenting the evidence, but sometimes that's simply not enough. Ultimately, flexibility is the key to success. We must be flexible and quickly adapt to that which the potential client wants and finds important in us. Here are a few guidelines I use every day in my own sales work: Set context. When you meet with a potential client, start the conversation by summarizing why you are meeting. Begin with a short statement such as, "We came together to talk about ways to help your employees be more innovative and reach your quarterly targets." With this introduction, you have set the general terms of your relationship, defined expectations and placed yourself in charge in a nonaggressive way. Ask questions. Balance inquiry and advocacy, and ask questions such as, "Tell me about your needs. What caused you to reach out to me? What would you like to discuss today?" or "What problems are you trying to solve?" It empowers the potential client and sets you up to create the right potential/experiential balance. Remember, your primary goal is to get the potential client talking. Listen for insertion points. Once the potential client gets going, look for opportunities to insert both experience and potential where appropriate. Remember, questions are the salesperson's best device. So use them! Pose questions like, "That sounds interesting. We were involved in building something similar for a previous client, and XYZ happened . . . is that what is happening in your case, or is it something different?" That defines your experience. Then, add a statement like, "OK, you've described a number of challenges that you are facing right now. In a perfect world, where budget doesn't matter, what changes would you like to see in the next six months? Don't be afraid to dream big!" By seeing where the client dreams of going, you can gauge your expertise and what version of that perfect world you could provide. Be transparent about experience. Sometimes experience is riddled with challenges, and don't be afraid to show how you struggled with those challenges and found solutions. Say something like, "We had a similar experience with a previous client. We had some great wins, but we also faced a few challenges. For instance . . ." This still puts you in the driver's seat of the conversation, but demonstrates humility in that you're always learning and open to collaborating. 80/20 rule. Remember, being in the driver's seat does not mean talking the majority of the time. Let the client talk for about 80 percent of the interaction, and you, the salesperson, should speak for about 20 percent of the time. Again, keep an eye out for opportunities to insert experience and potential at the right moment. Do your homework. Show potential clients that you know about their field/industry and that you have the experience to tackle their unique challenges. Show them also that you can see what unique potential lies in their line of work. Suggest concrete potential goals, like "achieving 10 percent reduction in overhead costs," and then articulate how your company can help them get there. Also, don't neglect one advantage that we as women have in business. We have greater permission to build personal relationships with clients and customers. We can leverage this to great effect by incorporating into the sales pitch our ability to closely and personally collaborate with the client. This unique ability builds the kind of rapport that leads to permission and openness within the sales interaction-- http://www.youtube.com/ To be sure, potential and experience are not polar opposites, but there is a risk to only presenting experience--it leaves future accomplishments with your client undefined and only implied. Be bold! What if those new experiences have a different look and feel from past accomplishments? If you want to learn the little known secrets of success, just click below >> To grab your FREE copy of the little known Wealth classic, the Science of Getting Rich, just click this link >> http://LifeLastingSuccess.com # # # We are in the business of delivering first class Entrepreneur Business Training - http://LifeLastingSuccess.com End
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