You Can Get More Orders By Being Specific

What’s wrong with asking this question?

Three Reasons NOT To Ask This Question:

1. It’s too vague

2. It sounds as though the sales rep may not know what the customer buys and/or is taking the customer’s business for granted.

3. It’s easy to say "no" to this question and get the sales rep off the telephone quickly.

PREPARATION equals SUCCESS

By taking a few minutes BEFORE calling to look at the customer’s ordering history, you can change the outcome of an otherwise boring and unproductive sales call.

LOOK (at your computer/customer’s ordering history) at the products your customer has ordered over the past year or two years.

LOOK at the pattern: two cases of a certain product every two months or four boxes of another product every three months. LOOK to see if there has been a change in the ordering pattern. Maybe it’s been 10 months since the first item was ordered. If so, you can say:

"I’ve been studying your account and see that you last ordered the XYZ-3L toner in January this year and last year you ordered that product every other month. You are probably running low on that. Shall I send out your usual order of two cases today or do you need more?"

Why does this get better results than "do you need anything today?"

YOU SOUND LIKE A PROFESSIONAL

** You sound like you have prepared for this call.

** You sound credible because you know exactly what products the customer orders.

** You sound as though you are concerned about the customer’s needs.

** By being SPECIFIC and naming the exact product your customer ordered and WHEN they ordered, you will cause him/her to THINK about what they need to order.

If the customer hasn’t ordered a product in 10 months that they used to buy every two months, you may have lost the business to a competitor. If this is the case, you need to know WHY the customer ordered elsewhere.

I M P O R T A N T

DON’T SPEAK until AFTER the prospect answers your question. Even if the silence feels uncomfortable. If you speak too soon or try to GUESS at the customer’s answer you are making it easy for him/her to avoid answering your question. You are making it easy for the customer to end the phone call without answering your question.

About the Author

Reprinted with permission
(Copyright, 2000, Ann Barrs Selling Supplies.com) Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears "Reprinted with permission from Ann Barrs Selling Supplies.com Weekly E-Mail Sales Tips. To subscribe free, E-mail to: annbarr@sellingsupplies.com with "subscribe" in the subject line."


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