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The ABCs of Selling Tip: Heather Schuster, CLP, believes that successful salespeople and sales managers need to constantly review the selling process and keep their minds open to new ideas. Heather Schuster, CLP, has spent the better part of her working life selling — first in the pharmaceutical industry and now as co-owner of Terra-Firma Landscape and two franchises, Weed Man and Christmas Décor, all located in Muskego, Wisconsin. She is a firm believer that successful salespeople and sales managers need to constantly review the selling process and keep their minds open to new ideas. Here are just a few selling tips that she is sharing this year with her Weed Man sales force. She subscribes to the Jim Paluch theory that customers don’t care if you’re having a bad day. “When someone asks how you’re doing,” she says, “say you’re doing great or having a terrific day, even if you’re not.” As Heather points out, a bad first impression can seriously reduce the time you have with a customer. - Smile. You may not be on candid camera, but if you are on the phone, a smile will make a big difference. Your smile will come across in the conversation.
- Heather says her grandmother always told her that having two ears and one mouth meant she should listen more and talk less. She tells her salespeople to be active listeners — to pay attention to what the customer is saying, to ask questions when they don’t understand or are unfamiliar with a term, and to continually verify what is being said. Heather adds that anything a salesperson can do to lessen the chance for miscommunication is a step in the right direction.
- Successful salespeople are generally willing to accept a heavy commission ratio, which implies they are confident about their sales skills and the product they are selling.
- Heather notes that her best salespeople are rarely discouraged when a potential customer says NO. When working on the phone, especially, salespeople get more noes than yeses. But, as she explains to them, every NO will get them that much closer to a YES. Heather also encourages her salespeople to change a categorical NO into a partial sale or, at least, a phone call “down the road.”
- Just as successful salespeople need to have a positive attitude, they also need positive reinforcement. Not everyone is a self-motivator, Heather relates. Good sales managers understand how difficult selling can be and how important it is to encourage their sales staff in a positive way.
- Practice, practice, practice. Heather asks her salespeople to role play and to brainstorm for lists of new tips, phrases, and techniques that are particularly effective.
- And, practice your ABCs, too. Heather wants her salespeople to “always be closing.” As she says, “It is easier to ask for a sale in small bites rather than in one big gulp at the end of the presentation.” By Heather Schuster, CLP
Terra-Firma Landscape, Inc.
Muskego, WI
hschuster@wi.rr.com
(as told to Rod Dickens, ALCA Contributing Writer)
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