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March/April 2014 11 continued on page 14 Pricing Woes, Time Management, Internet Sales, Competitive Pressures Tom Reilly, Joe Ellers, Don Buttrey, Dave Kahle & Jim Pancero: Five Popular FEDA Speakers Address Your Top Sales Challenges One of the most important jobs of a salesperson is open- ing new accounts. The problem is that this is also the sec- ond most difficult job. (The most difficult job is to get an appointment with a prospect and there is a direct correlation here). Getting that first critical order is a func- tion of bringing the following together: The right customer, the right decision- maker, the right product and the right reason—equals prospecting success. The right customers. Your pros- pects need to have goals similar to what you are offering as your competitive advantage. If you sell based on quality or performance and the customer has a reputation for buying the cheapest alternative, you will not get very far in that account. You can tell a lot about 2 Challenge 2 Challenge 2 Challenge 2 the account by what they currently buy. (If they have no loyalty to any supplier, that's a pretty good indication that they are strictly a price buyer.) The right decision-maker(s). Unless you have identified the right per- son (or people), you will be frozen out of the account—not because you don't have the right product but because your contact does not have the authority to buy it. Sometimes the easiest person to talk to is the wrong person. The right product. It's best to start with a product that you believe gives you some sort of competitive advantage. The advantage might be quicker perfor- mance, better performance, less power costs, less maintenance costs or lower purchase price—but you have to have something. A lot of times, salespeople present a "me- too" product and wonder why no one buys it. The right reason. To get a new custom- er, you need to offer a product (or service) that provides enough value for them to make a decision to use something new—and, enough value to overcome the customer's propensity to "just do what we did last time." If, for example, the customer is buying a pizza oven and you offer an option that gives about the same results and costs $3 less, there's just not enough additional value to make them interested. A key recognition is that prospecting success is really tied to sales call success. The ability to set a sales call with the right person (at the right prospect) to talk about the right product is a key to prospecting success. A sale is the result of a series of small, sequential commit- ments. The first of these commitments is an appointment. Cold calls (and survey calls) are great ways to begin a relationship but at some point a salesperson has to shift from drop-bys to professional sales calls. When you're unable to get a customer to commit to a specific date/time/pur- pose, the chances of ultimate success with that prospect drops dramatically. And without a time commitment, there's little chance of securing an order. To increase prospecting success, begin with a compelling reason for the customer to switch. Then, target the right prospects (and the right decision- makers) and build commitment through setting professional sales calls. About Joseph Ellers Joe has been responsible for more than $2 billion in sales, most of it within the distribution channel, dur- ing his 30 years in sales. He is direc- tor of Palmetto Associates, a training and consulting firm based in Clemson, South Carolina. For more information about online sales training opportu- nities, his newsletter, or other sales resources, visit his website at joeellers. com. March/April 2014 11 What's Their Greatest Challenge? Three recipients of the "DSR of the Year" award share their strategies for overcoming personal hurdles and talk predictions for 2014. See page 16 for more details. Getting a Prospect to Say Yes Closing on that first critical order is the result of a series of small, sequential commitments—starting with an appointment—says Joseph Ellers, the author of The Best Distribution Sales Book Ever!