Even the best salesmen go through droughts from time to time. If sales is a science and art (which it is) the same formula for success won't work in every situation. A great sales manager will never tell their team that they've given them Poor or difficult prospects to work. How many times have you been in a situation when you were on a roll closing deals, like shooting fish in a barrel, and then all of a sudden the quality of leads diminish drastically, and your manager tries to blame you for putting up bad numbers? The nice way to respond would be: “Well, when they tell me they can't afford it, I believe them.”
This is somewhat paradoxical because it's hard to keep the attention of a rich man, but a poor person will let you listen to you spew features and benefits in your product or service for days only to waste you and your company's time when they tell you they're broke. Here are a few tricks to change up your pitch for these types of leads:
- Edu-tain Your Customer
Most unsuccessful people don't enjoy the process of learning. They probably didn't like school, and give up easily on almost everything they pursue. Every one likes being entertained though – whether they own a franchise of movie theaters or they live in a cardboard box leeching wi-fi bandwidth from a neighborhood Taco Bell.
If you can make the sales process entertaining, do this when you're stuck with Bad Leads. Edu-taining is the process of making the learning process euphoric. Sesame Street is a great example of this. Kids watch the show because it's silly and colorful, but they're also going to learn concepts and lessons along the way. People buy based on emotion, and not for logical reasons. This is especially true of the impoverished consumer. Does your product or service save the customer money? So what if it does. They're looking for the fun in what you are presenting, not what it's going to do for their bottom line. Sales demonstrations are a lot like a free class on how to achieve XYZ. Even if you're selling a tangible item, more importantly, you're still selling an idea or concept. Focus on the fun. You may even have to manufacture that fun in down times. Muster it up anyway you can when you're roaming through a desert of uninterested prospects. It's much more difficult for a poor person to part ways with the little money they have.
“I've found it!!”
- The Eureka Factor
“I've found it!!”
“What did you find?”
“What I'm toting!!”
Just a little sales humor there. But in all seriousness, I hope you believe in your product... because it's your paycheck and livelihood. If you can't get behind what you're offering the masses, you need to find something else to sling. I don't know how else to put this... if you're living... you're buying and selling. Just as you're breathing, eating, and working to survive, the citizens of planet earth are exchanging hard earned money for goods and services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
- Don't Pre-Judge Prospects
If you go into every presentation with an attitude of defeat, that's exactly what is going to happen. Are they broke and unqualified? Quite possibly. Does this make the closing the deal that much more difficult? Absolutely. Sometimes you have to play pretend. Imagine they ARE qualified leads – that they HAVE large amounts of disposable income and ARE willing to take the plunge into what you're offering. Don't judge the book by it's cover. Just because they're dressed like a clown and have given up on showering doesn't mean they can't afford it. Make every effort to relate to the customer and make sure you're putting their needs and concerns before yours. Your job is to make the value supersede the price. If you do this well, they'll make adjustments in their budget to buy your product.
