In his famous book Wombat Selling, Michael Hewitt-Gleeson says ‘there’s no such thing as closing the sale!’ During a talk to leading insurance salespeople, Michael even offered $100,000 if some one could come on stage and close him.
Needless to say no one was able to and he kept his $100,000
So this made me think…
What is the real value a salesperson brings to an organisation and how might that be changing?
If the salesperson can’t close a sale then what is their role in the sales process?
Michael Hewitt-Gleeson also put forward the thought that a sales person’s role is to make enough ‘check moves’ so that the prospect can close themselves.
He describes a sales process made up of ‘check moves’.
A ‘check move’ is defined as ‘a customer contact of any kind.’
So following this process sales people need to have great follow through and discipline so that the ‘check moves’ are consistent and continuous.
But there is an issue..
Most prospects are incredibly busy these days and therefore don’t want to take multiple face to face visits from a sales person.
More and more ‘check moves’ are being done online which can be mechanised through the thoughtful use of auto responders.
This means that some of the value of salespeople is being transferred into online software and those increased costs must be paid for by the business.
Unless this value is recovered in sales the additional costs will mean a reduction in profitability.
I doubt whether any sales person would want a reduction in salary but it is clear that part of their function is being taken online where it is far more efficient and costs effective.
Do you have any live experiences on this?
How are you going about recovering the additional costs of developing your online presence?
I read Michael’s book a couple of years ago. I liked it alot because I’ve never been good at the ‘closing’ part of sales and so his ideas appealed to me.
But after years of just trying to do check moves I still believe there is inherent value in the skill of being able to ask the right questions, present answers in the right light and pose a proposition in a way that is more likely to result in a sale.
These are skills I have found very difficult to learn. The words continue to fail me and I am just not that fast off the mark.
As for automated systems, yes we can write compelling newsletters and blast them out to thousands of people, but it is far more valuable to engage someone in a converstation than it is to expect them to read something that was delivered by a robot.
I am a perpetual tyre kicker myself. I don’t buy till I’m about to starve or someone throws me a bone. I usually dodge the floor sales staff because I know they will convice me to do something I may later regret.
So where can I find a gun sales person?