Be Careful What You Offer

In this economy, we're all feeling the pinch. That can make us anxious to bend over backwards to appease prospects. While it's important to keep your clients happy, you don't want to cut into your profit by giving things away. Take this advice from sales trainer Mark Hunter and think before you commit to that freebie.

"When the market gets soft and sales become a little harder to come by, it's easy to start flinching at every hesitation you see from a prospect," says Hunter. "The problem is that each time you acknowledge a flinch by the customer, you make another commitment and give them something extra. At the time you may think it's critical to close the sale, but it rarely is, especially when what you end up offering the customer is something they really don't need."

"Think about this for a moment: if you were offered something for free, would you turn it down? No, you'd accept what's being offered, but you may not place much value in it. In fact, you may not even use what was given to you. In the same way, your customer will readily accept what you offer them, but they may not place any value on it. The end result? You cut into your profit and, in some situations, wind up making a sale with no profit at all because of the little extras that were offered up along the way."

Contact Mark Hunter, The Sales Hunter for your next Conference or Sales Meeting. To see and hear Mark Hunter now visit www.TheSalesHunter.com

What to do When the Prospect Says YES and Then Does NOTHING

Getting a verbal commitment from a client is always exciting - things are moving forward! Well, not necessarily, says Bryan Neale, a consultant at Caskey Training in a recent blog post. "If you're a professional salesperson, you probably already know this," says Neale. "If you're new or struggling, here's the tip - It's nothing until it's something."

"Deals go bad," continues Neale. "Prospects lie. Things change. All of these events can change the verbal in a New York minute. So what should you do?"

1. Watch what they do, forget what they say: If someone gives you a verbal, take it at face value and keep your own emotions and expectations in check.

2. Drive the process: Once the verbal comes, it's your job to drive to an end. Share the crystal clear steps: i.e., Thanks, Joe. Here is a document that outlines specifically what happens next.

3. Stay mentally behind the deal: Everyone around you will want to "get excited." Not you. You stay even-keeled. You get excited when the money hits your checking account.

Bryan Neale is a speaker and consultant with Caskey, a firm specializing in training and developing B2B sales teams through face to face training, teleconferencing, written material, custom podcasts and one on one coaching. Learn more at www.caskeyone.com