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User Involvement

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• So, two things.
  

  Happy selling!
  - written 1 year, 7 months ago

• So, two things.
  

  Okay, Rain, thanks for that, I have a better understanding of your situation now. Here are some thoughts:
  
  1. I get that working weekends only is tough.
  2. Is there any way you could offer to go over to your prospect’s home and measure for them? I closed a lot of business when I was selling furniture by doing housecalls.
  3. When they say “we have to measure” you can say, “Absolutely! What’s your best guess about if the sofa will fit?” If they say “Oh, I think it will probably fit.” Then you can say, “Great, why don’t we do this: Let’s go ahead and write up your order and if you get home and for any reason it doesn’t fit, just call me and we’ll cancel your order.”
  4. Or, when they say “I need to measure” you say “terrific!” and then say: “If it does fit, do you think this is the sofa for you?” If they say “yes”, then write up the order as described in #3. If they say “no”, then you have to ask more questions, because they obviously haven’t found the right sofa yet.
  5. Ask customers to rate their interest on a 1-10 scale. Say you’ve spent 30 minutes with a client talking about a sofa. They say “we need to think about it” ask them these questions: “On a scale of 1 to 10, rate how well you like the comfort of this sofa” “How would you rate the look of the sofa?” “How would you rate your comfort with the sale price?” etc. If their responses are very high, ask for the sale. If someone rates the sofa a 7 or 8, you could also say “what would have to change in the design of this sofa to make it a 10?”
  6. For those you don’t close, phone follow up is crucial. Even though you only work weekends, you need to call your customer to see how the measuring went. When they tell you they have to measure, you can say “Great! When can I call to see how the measuring turned out?” Then, you can close the business over the phone or you can schedule an appintment for the weekend, or you can direct them to a colleague at the store who you’ll tell about your customer so they can either write it up for you or they can split it with you.
  7. After you’ve spent time with someone, before they leave, you can always say: “If my service has been helpful to you today, would you please ask for me if you come back to our store?”
  8. I think the best solution for nervousness and stuttering is to practice. I also recommend becoming involved in Toastmasters where you can develop your speaking abilities in a supportive atmosphere.
  
  I hope that there’s something in this post that is helpful to you!
  - written 1 year, 7 months ago

• So, two things.
  

  So rain, I can’t help you with you’re second issue (the rant), but maybe I can help you with the first issue.
  
  But your question is quite broad (thousands of books have been written about selling…). So, perhaps you could share what in particular is challenging you. Is it your ability to get prospects to open up to you? Is it your ability to close the sale? Is it your ability to present the features and benefits of your product? Is it your ability to determine the prospect’s needs and desires? Or maybe it’s other things that you’ve identified. What do you say, rain?
  - written 1 year, 7 months ago

• i hate sales and no longer want to do it.
  

  So jannaleigh7, it’s been a while since you posted this. Did you take the sales job? If so, tell us about it. If not, what did you end up doing?
  - written 1 year, 7 months ago

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