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Take your PAL with you on your next sales call.

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

Take your PAL with you on your next sales call.

PAL stands for purpose, agenda, and limit.

Too often, sales people go into an appointment without a clearly defined objective. When I’ve asked salespeople about the purpose of their customer meeting, I’ve heard comments like “because they are one of my largest accounts”, or “I haven’t seen them in a while”. Be careful not to waste your customer’s time, or your time on a sales call without substance (these calls are also known as “howdy calls”). Establish a purpose for your appointment. For example, placing sales orders through your website, that may benefit your customer by saving them time and streamlining their internal process.

Your agenda needs to include all of the items necessary to meet your stated purpose. Create a written list of action items to be discussed during the sales call. The PAL should also be discussed with your customer, so they understand why you’ve requested their time and the objective of your sales call. If your customer has any issues they want to discuss, these should be addressed first, even if that means your agenda will be delayed until a future meeting. Customer issues always supersede the salesperson’s agenda.

The limit component of the PAL corresponds to the time allotment of the sales call. It’s important that you never exceed the amount of time your customer has scheduled. If you need additional time, try saying “I see we’re running short on time today, can I schedule another appointment with you to continue our conversation?” Your customer will appreciate that you respect their time. If you have created customer interest, they will give you another appointment, or allow you additional time during your current appointment. Time extensions need to be the customer’s call, not the salesperson’s call.

Take your PAL with you next time you make a sales call. I think you and your customer will both benefit.

Mike’s Upcoming Sales Skills Workshops for March…

1. Sales Skills 201

● Creating Effective Sales Collateral
● Creating Customer Loyalty
● Preparing a Professional Presentation

Date/Time: Friday, March 21, 2008 ● 9:00am – 12:00pm

Location: Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce ● 201 N. Central Ave., 27th floor – Phx

Investment: Chamber Members - $59.00 ● Non-members - $69.00

Register today to Norma Macias at 602-495-6484 or nmacias@phoenixchamber.com.

2. Creating Your Effective Networking Commercial!

After learning some tips to develop an effective 30-second networking commercial, we will work on your specific message. Your opening statement will create customer interest and assist you with developing networking relationships that are critical to your business development.

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 ● 10:30am – 12:00pm

Location: Arizona Small Business Association at 4130 E. Van Buren St, Ste 150 - Phx

Investment: ASBA Members - $30.00 or Non-members - $40.00

Register today at 602-265-4563 or rsvp@asba.com.

Mike also recommends the AzSalesPros Quarterly Sales Conference - where you will benefit from some of our experts to help you expand your business.

Date/Time: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 ● 7:30am – 12:00pm

Location: 9659 N. Hayden Rd, Scottsdale, 85258

For more Information or to Register - click here.

Have a great sales week!

Listen More by Talking Less.

Sales Tip of the Week from Mike Leeds – Pro Sales Coaching

Listen More by Talking Less.

Do you want to get the most out of your questions to customers?

When asking questions, it is very common to ask “closed-ended” questions which often result in a “yes or no” answer, or a single word answer. This is the main reason that sales people end up speaking an average of 78% of the time, and only listening 22% of the time during a conversation. If we want as much information as possible to help our customer with solving a problem or a need, we need to flip these numbers and begin listening 78% of the time. The key is to ask “open-ended” questions to probe for information.

I’d like to share with you a tip for asking “open-ended” questions: First, try to limit your questions that begin with “do”, “can” or “is”. The answers to these questions will often be a single word, forcing many sales people to make the mistake of asking more closed ended questions (the interrogation technique). Second, focus on questions that start with “how” or with a first letter of “w” (i.e. What, Why, Who, Where or When). These questions will allow your customer to expand their answers so you can quickly and accurately determine their need. The result is your customer will be doing the talking, while you are actively listening, taking notes, and asking follow-up questions for more information.

Examples of some open-ended questions that will create great dialog:

How do you measure success?
What issues or challenges are you encountering?
Where do you see your business expanding?

Mike’s Upcoming Sales Skills Workshops for February…

1. Sales Skills 401 ● Effectively Communicating With Different Personality Styles

Date/Time: Friday, February 15, 2008 ● 9:00am – 12:00pm

Location: Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce ● 201 N. Central Ave., 27th floor – Phx

Investment: Members - $59.00 ● Non-members - $69.00

Register today to Norma Macias at 602-495-6484 or nmacias@phoenixchamber.com.

2. Creating Your Effective Networking Commercial!

After learning some tips to develop an effective 30-second networking commercial, we will work on your specific message. Your opening statement will create customer interest and assist you with developing networking relationships that are critical to your business development.

Date/Time: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 ● 10:30am – 12:00pm

Location: Arizona Small Business Association at 4130 E Van Buren St, Ste 150 - Phx

Investment: ASBA Members - $30.00 or Non-members - $40.00

Register today at 602-265-4563 or rsvp@asba.com.

Have a great sales week!