During a recent seminar, the speaker made a comment that was very profound and right on the money. He said that no matter how good a sales person you think you are or have been, you never really "sold" anything. The truth is the person bought but you didn't sell.
In every sale that is closed the buyer came to the conclusion to buy. The salesperson (or member service rep or loan
Given that, the old acronym of ABC-Always Be Closing-doesn't fit anymore in today's society. Truth is we as
In the action of consultative selling we need to continually qualify our members/ prospects to ensure that our
A focus on closing can create several problems including:
* Anxiety on the part of the sales rep.
* Asking for the order too soon in the sales process.
* A feeling on the part of the member that they are being sold rather than assisted.
* A member who doesn't truly understand the capabilities of the product or service.
A concentration on qualifying puts the focus on the member rather than on making the sale, and it's that type of
* Performing proper pre-call planning (if applicable).
* Proving to the prospect that the pre-call planning was done and verifying that the data and the assumptions are
* Asking the member or potential SEG detailed questions to fill in the gaps of information from the pre-call
* Using the information gathered to this point to develop a picture of the possible problems and needs of the
* Pointing out the benefits of the product or service and determining with the client if it will alleviate a problem
If both the credit union rep and the member agree that a particular product or service has a high propensity to fulfill
The process detailed above can seem rather simplistic for certain business-to-business transactions with lengthy sales
Before this mindset and process becomes second nature to your CU's staff, managers need to set the tone by promoting this attitude in their staff. Here are some tips on how to do that:
* Focus not only on results but also on reps performing the proper activities such as number of sales calls or
* When a rep has hit a slump, examine the process. Sometimes it's necessary to go back to basics even with the
* Engage in role-play activities with your staff on a continual basis. It's a lot easier on the rep to make a mistake in
Understanding that we never actually close a sale is not a defeatist attitude but an empowering situation. It allows us
Ken Bator is president of Bator Training & Consulting, Inc. Mr. Bator can be reached at P.O. Box 4844, Naperville,