Help Me Sell a Stapler........ (1 Viewer)

[Michael D. Bunting]

You could always use the Larry David approach:

From "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Season 2, Episode 11, "The Car Salesman"

G.T.S

When a customer asks Larry what those letters stand for, he replies, "Guaranteed Tremendous Safety."

or

A Tilting Need

Larry tells a potential car buyer that he's personally never needed to tilt a car seat: "I've never had a tilting need."




Good luck!

 

[Eric_L]

You all made the classic rookie sales mistake. You put the emphasis on your product instead of your customer.

Your stapler don't matter. Your customer does not give a $#it about your stapler. They won't until they know you give a $#it about them.

If you know what their needs are, you can then describe why that stapler is the best stapler in the world for them - or suggest a different one that is more suitable.

Ask them questions; The first one should always be "In order to find you the right stapler, I need to ask you a few questions, do you mind? (ask to ask) Do you have a present need for a stapler? If not when was the last time you did? Just what did you need it to do? Heavy duty/light duty/surgical? How often do you want to replace staples? How long do you need your stapler to work before replacing it? What is your most favorite thing about the last stapler you had? What was your most frustrating thing about it? etc etc etc.

Once you have this info you can communicate the features and benefits (yes, learn feature and benefit selling. It is powerful) that are specific to your customer.

'Mr Jones, you only use a stapler on occasion for light duty work. You liked that your last stapler seldom needed refilling but were unhappy with the fact that it often bent staples. (repeating needs) Let me show you this model. It is made with the new 'pointguard' technology (feature) which guarantees never to bend a staple, especially when you need it most (benefit)....."
(of course, this is BS, but in real life never BS, know your products)

So, the three things you demonstrate that you know (and you do know them right?)
1) Needs based selling
2) Feature and Benefit selling
3) Profiling

Closing techniques are good to know also. The two-choice close is always good, but I feel that if you do your needs-based and feature/benefit sales, then the close is all but certain. My favorite close is simply asking "How do you feel about that?". The operating word is 'feel'. They will either say 'great' or "I have a concern about..." I use this to sell six and seven digit contracts regularly.

If you are not familiar with these things, don't worry, car sales is a great place to learn them. Get books on selling. Search online. Learn other methods and find what works best for you.

Also, a word of caution. Don't get caught up in the 'car salesman' crowd. Keep a respectable distance from them. Many engage in self-destructive behavior. You are better than that. This is a platform from which you will go on to even bigger and better things. Always remember that. Keep your eye on the ball. Don't let the crowd distract you.

There's plenty of other advice I'd like to share, but space/time is an issue. You'll have fun learning them on your own. (avoiding price selling, selling service, handling objections, getting a commitment, connecting with your customer, etc)

Best of luck.

 

[BrettB]

Eric, I'm sold, how much you want for that stapler?

 

[Jason Merrick]

The only problem with your approach Eric, is that the manager supposedly says "Sell me THIS stapler"... so if you start asking about his needs, what if he gives you the opposite "stapling" needs that the stapler in front of you can provide? Now you are really up a creek trying to sell the wrong stapler to the manager.

Ha! Who's the rookie now?

 

[Eric_L]

Ha! Who's the rookie now?

You are...

-the rookie at interviewing candidates. The manager already owns the stapler. He just wants to know what, if any sales skills and talent this person has. I provided many.

Also, from a strictly ethical point, if there is ever a situation where a product is not the most suitable for a customer's needs, a good salesman will tell them that. No commission is worth your integrity. If you are good, your income is already above average anyway, and the loss of one commission is meaningless. If the manager does not appreciate that then he is not worthy of your labor.

 

[Jason Merrick]

Well, I disagree with you...

If the manager asks you to sell him "x" and you try to dance around that by asking probing questions, he may just get annoyed and tune you out. He also may appreciate your methods, but that's a big maybe. If you use some of the other suggestions and show your ability to quickly demonstrate features and benefits on something like a simple office product, then you have probably shown him what he is looking for.

I hope you didn't take offense to the rookie jab, I was just throwing your line back at you... and no, I'm not a rookie either. I was in sales for ten years prior to my current career and have also been in lower-level management where I had to interview potential employees.

 

[Tim Holyoke]

Dave - Where are you in Wisconsin? I'm actually a student at UW-Whitewater (will be a junior) and want to get into sales myself. My Grandpa ran a few car dealerships over the last 30 years, so I know firsthand it can be a very rewarding financially. I don't know what kind of sales I want to get into yet, but I've heard car sales is a good starting point for any sales career. Just curious if you've been in sales for quite a while or just getting into it.



Eric - You obviously know your stuff. What would a good starting point be for a 20 year old who wants to get into sales (read above)? I'm really a believer in the idea that you are there to help the customer, not to make sales and money. I think that you will make more sales being genuinely interested in the customer and being a nice guy, but I sometimes wonder. Like I said above I'm in school, but actually only have classes on Tuesday and Thursday, so I'm looking for something that will get me some sales experience. Any advice? Thanks a lot.

 

[NickSo]

Watch BOILER ROOM

According to the movie, ask rhetorical questions...

"Im throwing you a life preserver here, Bob, won't you take it?"

 

[Eric_L]

I'm really a believer in the idea that you are there to help the customer, not to make sales and money

wrong. You ARE there to make money. Lots of it. The key is that if you take care of your business, it will take care of you. Your customers are your business.


Since you are twenty and in school I'll wrap this with an anecdote my very first sales manager shared with me. It is something you may be able to apply today.

"A salesman I worked with once had the habit of bringing the most beautiful women to the company parties. Never the same one twice. He was not much to look at, but somehow got these gorgeous women to date him.

I asked him one day his secret. He replied "Nine times out of ten when I ask a random woman to have sex she will slap me. However, the tenth woman is always worth nine slaps."

Sales is much like this (though hopefully not nearly so cheesy). Expect more 'no' than 'yes'. Be a glutton for punishment. The more 'no' you get the closer you are to a 'yes'. The more 'yes' you get the better you will be at it and the more 'yes' you will get.

If you're interested, here is my career path (so far)
Graduate college - radio sales, recovery of dignity, consumer loans, realization of evil, transfer to bank specialist, encouraged by dear friends to go into securities... Seven years and counting....

Good luck. Tell us more about how it goes.

 

[Dave Poehlman]

Dave - Where are you in Wisconsin?

I'm in Milwaukee... I'm not really a salesman... I used to work some retail in college, but discovered I'm not the selling type. So, I've chosen possibly the most anti-social of jobs: I.T. (well, except for a night watchman)

Oh wait, you were talking to the other Dave from Wisconsin. :b

 

[wally]

"Look, I not going to sell you a stapler, I want to provide you a document fastening system."

"Would you like your new system delivered to your home or office?"