SalesMotivation.net

by Cheryl A. Clausen

After a poor sales conversation do you get off tracking spending time and energy feeling sorry for yourself? You may not be consciously aware that you’re doing it, but what do you do immediately after a sales call that doesn’t work out? In essence, many salespeople call time out. I’m not discouraging you from taking a time out. In fact, I’m encouraging you to take a time out. But it’s how you use that time out that will provide a real benefit for you.

During prime selling time it’s not uncommon to find salespeople sitting in the local coffee shop reading the paper because they need a little time to get over the last sales call. When you have a really bad sales conversation it can be upsetting even demoralizing. Time to regroup before the next appointment can be time well spent.

While the experience is fresh in your mind it’s the best time to actually learn from the experience, and make adaptations so you don’t repeat it. In all likelihood you got a stall or objection, or you just didn’t connect from the start and never had a conversation with the other person to begin with. If you’re going to get value from this experience there are a couple things you need to do.

Pinpoint where things started to go wrong. If you failed to connect was it because: you didn’t do your homework so you didn’t know enough about the prospect, you didn’t adapt your communication style to one that was more comfortable to the prospect, or did you try to sell the prospect and manipulate them? Failing to listen to the prospect causes the prospect to feel disrespected.

When you get a stall or objection and your solution is a good match it happens because you didn’t help the prospect to discover the value in your solution. Either you don’t understand the buying process, or you just need more practice to develop the skills needed to help the buyer through this thought process. In the meantime all is not lost.

List all the stalls and objections you know you’ll get or could get. Here are some common general objections:

I don’t have enough money It’s too complicated or too simple It isn’t all that important to me I’ll just wait and do it later I want to look into other options.

Keep going until you’ve listed every stall and objection you can think of. As you look at each one come up with an example or story that acknowledges the objection or stall. Relate the story in a way that makes your point point and removes the objection for the prospect.

Stories are a non-threatening way of getting the prospect to look at things from another perspective. They help people to gain a deeper understanding, and they increase your connection with the prospect. As you work through this thought process you’ll start to regain your confidence and get fired up for the next insurance sales conversation, and you’ll be much better prepared when you get there.

About the Author

About the author: Cheryl Clausen can help you get where you want to be. Look here to see how your Sales Skills match up. Could you succeed faster if you just had more time? To enhance your Time Management Skills, check this out.