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Sales Training Tips:

Sales Skills - Close More Sales by Keeping Promises

A friend of mine has an awful reputation. She's not a bad person, and I cannot think of anyone that thinks she is anything less than delightful to be around. The problem is no one can count on her. If she says she'll be there by 8:00, you know not to plan to see her until after 9:00. If she promises to pick up your kids after school, you better have a backup plan or plan on angry kids when you finally get to them. I've learned to deal with her idiosyncrasies because she is my friend and I like her and her family.

What I cannot imagine is how my unreliable friend would ever make it in the field of sales. Many salespeople have to work hard to establish credibility with prospects. Often we do not start at "par", but actually have to work just to get even. Facing such a situation requires the sales professional to use every method possible to convince the prospect that he or she is someone that can be trusted and counted upon.

We've heard over and over that before a prospect will buy a product or service from someone, they first have to 'buy the salesperson'. The prospect needs to feel that they can trust you, and that they can count on you. Imagine showing up to a first appointment with a prospect 45 minutes late! If you accept that you are starting out 'below par' in the relationship with the prospect, showing up late only tends to dig a deeper hole.

When you (or your office) set an appointment with a prospect, there is an implied PROMISE that you will be on time, and that you will honor their time. By showing up late you have broken the first PROMISE that you or your company made to the prospect. Another tactic I have heard that other salespeople do is to purposely underestimate the amount of time that an initial appointment is going to take. They will tell a prospect "I'll only be 15 minutes or less". This is often done because the salesperson is afraid that if they tell a prospect that the appointment might take an hour, they will never get the prospect to agree to the appointment. Instead they promise 15 minutes, then hope that their presentation is so dazzling that the prospect won't notice that it took an hour!

Wouldn't it be better if to tell the prospect something like, "I've done this presentation in as little as twenty minutes, but it's also taken as long as an hour. It really depends on questions you ask, and whether you are seeing value. I can PROMISE you this, if at any point you feel what I have is not for you, all you have to do is let me know and we can stop right then!" Such a statement is true, and also conveys to the prospect that you plan to honor their time.

Keeping your promises is a great way to demonstrate to sales prospects that you and your company can be depended on, and that you care about the prospect. Once you've shown up on time, and honored your prospects time, what promises are left to keep? That's easy, make some promises you can keep.

Let's say you are at the end of your initial presentation. Say something to the prospect like, "I am going to do three things. First I'm going to email you a copy of this presentation so you can review it with your partner. Next I'm going to have my office send you several references so you can contact them over the next few days. Finally, you asked me about the compatibility with your existing system. I'll get that answer and call you back no later than tomorrow afternoon, is that fair enough?"

Now you have three PROMISES that you can keep. As soon as you are back at your office, you email the presentation, and start the email with, "Mr. Prospect, I promised to send this to you right away." Next your office sends the references, and of course includes in their email, "Our salesman promised we would send you these references." Finally you can call the next afternoon and say "Mr. Prospect, I promised I would call..."

Look what has happened here. You have made AND KEPT several promises (including honoring your prospects time) in just the first 24 hours since your initial presentation. You have also committed your "office" to something (the references), and that promise has been kept. With just these very simple steps you have changed your title form "New salesperson" to "Promise Keeper"! Your likelihood of success in the sales process with this prospect has been significantly enhanced.

Make promise, keep promises, and then close more sales!

Source: Wayne Alldredge link

Related: Sales Skills

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