If They won’t Buy the Product, They will Buy into the Value

Sales can be a tricky business. Some salespeople appear effortlessly successful with supreme confidence in their own abilities. The reality is that the sales process is one engrossed in highs and lows for salespeople of all levels.

One week you may hit the jackpot with an ultra-successful phone call, the next you fear looking directly into your manager’s eyes due to a lack of sales pipeline development. This is the way sales works, for everyone.

Using traditional methods such as “Spin Selling” and the infamous ABC (always be closing) rule – from the hit movie Boiler Room – are still very much prevalent. Salespeople need to be sniffing out potential clients through every interaction, however not every call or meeting will turn into a sale.

Senior decision makers receive sales calls all day long. While secretaries and busy schedules prevent them from answering the phone to all callers, the calls/meetings they do take can sometimes leave them irate from an aggressive sales push.

It’s down to you, the salesperson to identify the tone of the prospect’s voice. When your target client is simply not interested in parting with his or her cash, market to them. If they won’t buy the product or service they will buy into the value.

Step away from the sales aspect of the conversation and find a more common ground. Just because they won’t buy, it doesn’t mean your product or service doesn’t have a value. Google the company and read a recent news publication on their website. Discuss a previous role he or she may have had or even bring the conversation towards an industry specific topic.

Once you have guided the conversation towards a more conversational and amicable subject, start developing subtle values of yourself and your organization. Point out previous experience that you and your company have in this area while being overtly clear that you are an industry colleague, not a desperate salesperson.

While they may not become a client anytime soon, you have a senior individual who now views you as someone with intrinsic value. The next time your potential sale is dwindling, take off your sales baseball cap and put on your marketing trilby. Your pipeline will thank you later.