Essay Three – Addressing Customer Concerns

Summary: In completing this essay I have learned that addressing customer concerns is a very hot topic amongst those in business but it is quite possible one of the most misunderstood topics. This part of the seven step selling cycle is the one that forces a salesperson out of the driver’s seat and into reaction mode and I believe this makes some salespeople feel uncomfortable so they don’t handle it properly.

Objective: Answering this essay made me realize that addressing customer concerns is not something that should be an afterthought. Addressing customer concerns is a very real and very important part of the seven step selling cycle.

Reason: I believe that this question was asked to better understand the depth and complexity of selling and its many steps. It seems that this step is the least written about and understood so additional research will likely prove beneficial.

Purpose: The purpose of this essay is question is for us to look a little more closely at one of the crucial sales steps. In the future as a manager, this information can be very helpful in determining why salespeople are having a difficult time closing sales.

Direction: Researching and answering this essay showed me that there is much more to learn about customers and their concerns. Prior to researching and writing this essay I would have assumed that this step was the easiest step in the selling cycle but now I believe this may be one of the most difficult steps because it is so unpredictable and uncontrolled.

Lasting Impressions: I was absolutely shocked to find that no matter how hard I tried to search for articles and information regarding addressing customer concerns, most searches directed me to addressing customer complaints. I believe that this is very telling as to why so many salespeople have some issues in closing the sale at this step.

Customer concerns are a natural part of a sale, especially a high dollar sale. When your customer asks questions that should be considered a part of the conversation and not as a negative complaint.

Essay: If you Google search the phrase “How to handle customer concerns” you will get pages and pages of results. The most interesting part is that nearly every article that pops up is about “customer complaints”. This is rather shocking to me and this is perhaps the reason why so many salespeople have issues addressing customer concerns. 

When you attempt to sell anything to anyone there will be little doubts and fears that creep up in your customer’s mind because they are committing their time and hard earned money to you (Hopkins, 2015). It is natural for them to be hesitant and these concerns should be treated in a professional and positive manner rather than letting the concern remain unacknowledged and festering until it has become a full-fledged complaint.

Defining a customer concern is extremely simple and extremely complicated at the same time. Quite simply the dictionary defines concern as worry or anxiety, this is something very simple. The complicated part is that customers do not have a defined set of concerns, they are all very different.

In his book Selling for Dummies (2015), Tom Hopkins cites some of the most common concerns in sales, these include:

• Will the product or service do what you say it will?
• Will you really be able to make my required delivery date?
• Have I negotiated the best investment?
• Am I making a good decision?
• Is it something I need right now or should I wait?

Although these are common concerns, they are not the only ones. Each customer is very different and each customer will assign different weights to their concern. Perhaps Mary doesn’t mind if her order arrives Wednesday or Friday but Tom needs his order by Monday or he will be in dire straits!

So you have done it! You have found a client, you have qualified them, you gave an amazing pitch, and now it is time for the close! But wait. Your client isn’t quite as gung ho to cross the finish line as you are. Often times this is where salespeople falter and make mistakes.

The salesperson may wonder what they have done wrong, be upset, or become argumentative with the client that just doesn’t understand. The problem here is that the salesperson is only considering their personal opinions and feelings and not the client’s feelings.

Maybe the salesperson has no concerns but to the person they are selling to, every concern raised is a valid one. It is important for a salesperson to put themselves in their client’s shoes and address their concerns respectfully. (Hopkins, 2015)

The best way to overcome this problem is to listen and let the customer explain their concerns. According to an Inc. article on managing customer complaints one of the biggest issues is that

“All too often we are defensive when dealing with customer complaints. Being defensive, at least at the onset, can inhibit your ability to truly understand why the customer is not satisfied with your products.” http://www.inc.com/matthew-swyers/8-steps-to-handle-customer-complaints.html

Once you have listened to your customer and you have heard their concerns, you need to offer a solution. Even though all customers are different and may have different sets of concerns, there will be a common thread between many customers in that they may have a similar concern or set of concerns.

Rather than just hoping you have an answer, experts suggest that salespeople make an outline of concerns or a “landmine map” so you may address and hopefully solve any potential concerns quickly in order to move on with the sale.

Adam Heitzman of Inc. recommends “sitting down with your entire sales team and having each person come up with objections they might anticipate. Give them your sales pitch and see if there are any objections you and your team may have missed.” http://www.inc.com/adam-heitzman/6-effective-sales-strategies-to-close-deals-faster.html

Once salespeople have proven that they are able to listen and provide solutions to concerns, customers will likely be much happier with the transaction and become a repeat client. This is a step in the seven step selling cycle because it is a very common and very real issue that too many salespeople dismiss or do not assign enough importance to. If salespeople take the time to address concerns they will keep the cycle going and be very profitable and valuable to their company and their clients.

Essay Two – Prospect Qualification

SUMMARY: This essay outlines what prospect qualification is, why it is important, and the common mistakes salespeople make during this phase of the sales process. I have used Tom Hopkins’ Selling for Dummies as well as outside sources to answer the question “What is the most important reason for prospect qualification?” Although that question can be answered quite simply, it is the entire process of prospecting in relation to sales that I have focused on in this essay.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of asking this essay question was to get me to understand how vital this often overlooked step in the sales funnel actually is.

REASON: The reason for asking this question was to have us delve into the subject more since it will be pertinent in the first steps of our semester project as well as be a part of our daily lives after graduation.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this essay question is for us to learn more about the basic steps of sales. Many students have little to no real world sales experience and probably underestimate the importance of prospect qualification and overestimate how easy it will be.

DIRECTION: After reading and researching more about prospect qualification, I have certainly assigned it more importance than I previously would have. I have very little sales experience outside of retail sales so I never had to do a massive amount of prospecting. My customers would come to me and I would then qualify them to determine how much of my time they were worth. Outside of the mall, it is clear that this process is more complex and requires more time and finesse.

LASTING IMPRESSIONS: The most shocking part of sales is how difficult it can be. There are so many steps, each one of them is important and they all depend on one another to function. What was the most surprising to me is how many salespeople just don’t take the time to prospect. A simple google search shows pages of results about how to make time to prospect. It seems like a basic step that would always have time set aside for it, but this appears to not be the case. Prospecting is also a continuous cycle; I hadn’t considered that it was something that would constantly be done throughout the life of the business. As your customers change and competition increases, you need to be on the hunt for gold!

 

Prior to enrolling in business school, anytime someone said the word “prospecting” I would envision a bearded man panning for gold. I couldn’t imagine any other use for the word until it came to learning sales. Every sale that you make is not unlike sifting through piles of mud to find that one small nugget of gold. In his book Selling for Dummies, Tom Hopkins defines prospecting as “…the process of searching for people to whom to sell your products or services” (Hopkins, 2015). It seems like a fairly simple step; just find that golden nugget – your customer.  Unfortunately some sales people jump right out of the gate and expect that everyone they speak to will be a guaranteed sale, they are taking a one sided or outdated approach and that simply won’t work. In fact some studies show that nearly 75% of salespeople list prospecting as their number one challenge. http://www.rainsalestraining.com/blog/5-sales-prospecting-techniques-youve-probably-never-tried/

The key issues with prospecting are: not knowing where to look for clients, finding the wrong people, and not taking the time to prospect.

Probably the most difficult step in prospecting is actually doing it. If you don’t know who to contact about your product you will doom yourself. It doesn’t matter how good your sales techniques are but if you don’t get in front of the right people, you will never make a sale. It is vital that salespeople go beyond just a client list and prospect with everyone from friends and family to other salespeople (Hopkins 2015).

Once you have found clients, you are not in the clear. Not all clients are right for you and you are not right for all clients. If I was selling heavy machinery, I wouldn’t try to look for clients at a senior center. Obviously this is an extreme example but it can be a fine art to determine who is worthy of your time. According to Jill Konrath, this is where focus comes in. Jill suggests that salespeople “Focus on certain types of customers…the more focused you are, the better your message resonates.” In fact she elaborates on that point to mention that occasionally salespeople lose focus of the customer together. Sometimes as salespeople they forget to actually listen to the customers’ needs and to put themselves in their customers’ shoes. The customer will always abide by the old adage “what’s in it for me?” and it is important for a salesperson to remember to actually have the answer. http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2012/08/15/are-you-missing-these-three-key-sales-prospecting-strategies/#564fc4e04523

Finally there is the issue of not taking the time to prospect. Many salespeople are overwhelmed with day to day tasks and feel like they don’t need to prospect or they simply don’t have the time. Kendra Lee actually recommends that salespeople “take one day per week for prospecting.” She also points out that it is beneficial to try to regain contact with lost prospects: “sellers are sometimes hesitant to reconnect with potential clients who didn’t bite, but they can be a massive source of future income.” http://www.klagroup.com/how-to-fix-your-sales-prospecting-in-a-single-day

This may seem like an unusual scenario, but in fact it shouldn’t be! There is a phenomenon called the “itch cycle”. The itch cycle is essentially the time a tangible product will last which means that a client you sold a refrigerator to 10 years ago should not be ignored! Just because their customer file is dusty, does not mean they shouldn’t be considered a qualified prospect. In fact they should be considered an important prospect, since you already have an existing and positive relationship with them (Hopkins 2015).

The most important reason that we use prospect qualification in the business world is because time is money. You don’t want your salespeople spending endless hours and resources not knowing who to sell to, or selling to the wrong people. If selling is a car, then prospecting is the tires. It doesn’t matter how amazing your car is if it can’t go anywhere. 

Essay One – Closing the Sale

SUMMARY: Answering this essay made me realize that what seems to be the most difficult part of selling (closing) can have the simplest remedies. I have worked in retail and I have been guilty of these mistakes, especially the inability to just ask for the sale. It is difficult to look beyond your own insecurities when selling. Addressing customer concerns and objections seem so basic and simple but can have a lasting and detrimental impact on sales. If you are not selling the right product and carefully addressing your customer’s concerns, you are likely to lose the sale.

 

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this essay is to better understand the process and importance of closing the sale. Although closing the sale is just one part of the selling process, it depends greatly on the parts before it being executed properly. Without proper prospecting and qualifying, your customer may be very unlikely to close. The importance of closing the sale seems obvious but this essay will help identify exactly how imperative closing the sale is.

 

REASON: The reason this question was asked is to highlight the steps of selling and the importance of closing the sale. Working in business will involve some level of selling and it is important to focus on these steps and how the relate to our future employment.

 

PURPOSE: The purpose of this question was to further understand why it is difficult to close a sale. This question and issue is something that will be very important in marketing and in business.

 

DIRECTION: I thought that when researching and answering this essay that the subject would be multidirectional but in fact, it was not. It seems that the inability to close a sale or the difficulty in closing a sale is the subject of endless discussion. It is a common problem in the business world despite how important it is.

 

LASTING IMPRESSIONS: The most shocking thing I learned is that most sales fail due to salespeople simply not asking for the sale. It seems like something that would be so counterintuitive and would not be an issue I would have imagined would be common. There were nearly 89 million Google results about not being able to close a sale, clearly this is a problem that is far more common than I imagined.

 

TOPICAL ESSAY ANSWER: When it comes to selling, there are many important steps but a salesperson would argue that the most important step is closing the sale. It seems like a simple step in the process but it can be one of the most elusive steps for a salesperson.

 

First we need to define what closing the sale even means. In his book Selling for Dummies, Tom Hopkins defines closing as “…where you make it all happen” (2015, page 215) but to be more specific closing a deal means that you have made a sale and it is called closing because “when a deal is closed, the sales cycle is completed and another cycle, either with another customer or with the same customer, begins.” http://salescareers.about.com/od/ClosingSkills/qt/What-Does-It-Mean-To-Close-A-Deal.htm

 

Now that closing the sale is defined, you can easily close every sale with no challenges! Not exactly. Unfortunately, even experienced salespeople selling good products sometimes make mistakes that make closing the sale difficult or impossible rather than inevitable.

 

One of the main reasons for not closing a sale is simply that the salesperson didn’t ask for the sale. Sometimes salespeople can share their product with a customer and close the deal with very little hesitation, and sometimes this process doesn’t happen smoothly so the salesperson loses their edge. Once a salesperson feels unsure they can lose their desire to close a sale. According to Hopkins, once that desire is lost the salesperson may not “ask for the order, call for a decision, or otherwise try to get a commitment from the buyer” (2015, page 211). Once this has happened, the entire sales cycle is destroyed and the sale, and potentially the customer, is lost. Sometimes a salesperson just doesn’t know how to ask or they ask for the close at the wrong time. Many salespeople even worry about seeming to pushy and they don’t want to be rejected or offend the customer. https://www.futuresimple.com/blog/the-grim-truth-why-you-can%E2%80%99t-close-more-sales/

 

The second reason that salespeople can’t close is the customer. Of course I am not blaming the customer for not buying everything we put in front of them; salespeople need to know what the customer wants and if the customer is what the salesperson wants. If there is a fair amount of prospecting and qualifying then your customer should be well matched and poised to buy. Sometimes prospecting and qualifying aren’t perfect so salespeople need to adjust in order to close the sale. Customers are not willing to part with their hard earned money without feeling comfortable with the sale. Customers will create a seemingly endless list of objections and often salespeople do not handle these objections properly which leads to the inability to close the sale. Hopkins states that “the most common concern you’ll encounter in your entire selling career is the good old standby stall I want to think it over”(2015, page 26) but that isn’t the only mistake salespeople make. Sometimes salespeople just bypass or minimize the customer’s concerns altogether or they argue with their customer (Hopkins, 2015, page 203). At this point many salespeople may just accept that sentiment without actually addressing concerns and the inefficacy of their response can cause the sale to be lost. https://www.futuresimple.com/blog/the-grim-truth-why-you-can%E2%80%99t-close-more-sales/ You also may find that the customer is not the right fit for you or your product. Perhaps you are selling your customer product A and you have been touting product A’s benefits but simply cannot close the sale. Perhaps in your attempt to sell you didn’t realize that product B would be perfect for this client. It is important to offer alternatives so that your client will buy the product that is right for them and they will be a happy, repeat customer.  In the end, you will advance the sale and both customer and salesperson will benefit (Hopkins, page 213).

 

In the end it is important to note that the main reasons for not closing the sales have very simple remedies.  As a salesperson it is sometimes just as simple as asking the right person the right question and having the confidence to do so.