40. Zero Defect Demo
Sales Reps Can Get 100% Close Ratio
Most sales reps never learn to sell effectively. They learned on the job by going on calls with a manager or a more senior rep. Maybe they sat in on a few training classes which were in reality rah-rah motivational sessions. These sessions are like eating cotton candy instead of a real meal, tastes good but doesn’t last long.
The reps make calls, visit prospects, socialize, and show product features. They have no systematic approach to the sales process, but instead wing it. Whatever happens is what happens. Many reps are afraid to ask for the order and don’t know how to close. If they don’t get a sale, they simply make more calls. If enough calls are made, some easy sales will be made, but not the harder ones.
Sales Team 1 has perfected an approach to the sales process called the Zero Defect Demo™. A creative strategy is literally engineered both from a market positioning and psychological perspective. A systematic methodology and a script are then developed. Notice the word script. This is a known effective approach. It is not a canned pitch that is read like a book.
Any objections after a presentation are noted. If a definite trend is identified, like a price is too high objection, the sales approach and script are modified to eliminate that objection (establish value more strongly to justify price) in subsequent presentations. If the presentation cannot overcome problems that are more structural in nature, then feedback and analysis will be provided so that marketing and product development teams may make the needed product or offer modifications.
The ultimate goal is a 100% close ratio.
This contrasts with the traditional goal of welcoming objections. This nonsense has been endlessly repeated in hundreds of books and seminars on sales. Supposedly if you get objections you find out what the prospect really thinks and why he won’t buy. The truth is if the prospect didn’t know anything about your company and product before the rep got there, he must have just learned it from the rep. If the rep did a lousy job presenting your story, then of course he got objections. The prospect is not being convinced. The dream is not being conveyed in an emotionally convincing way.
I welcome signed orders with checks, not objections. Compare this with the typical sales manager response which is to tell reps to make more calls and close harder. Doing the wrong thing more often only results in more failures. It’s also the root cause of ridiculously high sales rep turnover rates.
By evolving the sales process using feedback from prospects, the optimum approach can be found in a logical, rational manner. I find out why prospects say no, or why they say yes. Real world feedback that beats focus groups and other theoretical market research hands down.