| My mom always used to tell me how we learn
more in life from our failures than we do from our successes, yet for too many of us in
sales this concept doesn't seem to sink in.
I've lost plenty of sales in my life. If I wanted to get
really down on myself, all I'd have to do is take a piece of paper and start writing down
as many as I could remember. If I wanted to go into a complete state of despair, all I'd
have to do is to write down next to each sale I lost the amount of commission I failed to
receive because of the lost sale.
For this simple reason too many of us in sales choose not
to dwell on what didn't happen. Instead, we merely move on.
It's much easier to move on than dwell on the past, and I'm
a firm believer that dwelling on the past doesn't do anyone any good. If you want to
damage your sales motivation, go right ahead and dwell all you want.
As much as we can't dwell on the past, we do need to spend
a few minutes doing an autopsy on the lost sale and learning from it. If we don't learn
from each sale we fail to close, then we're committing ourselves to a pattern of losing
more sales.
The key I've found to the process is to do the autopsy on
the failed sales call right away. The sooner you can do it, the sooner you can apply what
you've learned to the next sales call.
The only downside to doing it quickly is you have to make
sure you're in a stable frame of mind. I'm not meaning to be rude with this comment, but
you can't think clearly if you're so hot emotionally over losing the sale. If you are
worked up over the lost sale – wait till you calm down. Then do your autopsy.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Was I able to get the customer to state their key needs and
desired benefits?
- Why specifically did the customer choose not to buy from me?
How do I know that?
- What were two things I know the customer appreciated about
me?
- What did the customer ask and how did I answer? What can I
learn from the questions?
- What were all of the customer's objections and how did I
respond to them?
- Did the customer clearly understand my value proposition?
How do I know that?
- What closing technique did I try? How specifically did the
customer respond to it?
- What did the customer agree with me on? How can I leverage
this for future sales?
- What is my next step with this prospect / customer?
Take the time to answer these questions. Doing so will
provide you with key information you need. Also, never hesitate to go back to the customer
after they've turned you down and ask them why they didn't select you. Be sincere in how
you speak to the customer and be appreciative for what they tell you.
This is not the time to be defensive or attempt to convince
the customer they've made a dumb decision by selecting someone else. Your ability to be
professional and appreciative in listening to what the customer shares with you will do
more than anything else to help ensure you have a good relationship going forward with
that person.
It's been my experience both personally and professionally
that by doing this process right, you can position yourself to become the salesperson
these individuals turn to in the future.
The beautiful thing about this entire process is you come
away with two major outcomes.
First, you find out things you can do differently to help
you with other customers. Second, you deepen your relationship with the customer you
weren't able to close, setting yourself up to potentially close with them next time
around.
© 2011 |
