A CLIENT NEEDS ANALYSIS CAN ALSO RESULT IN AN IMMEDIATE SALE
What’s the first thing we always tell rookie salespeople when they’ve dug up a brand new client? Don’t try to sell anything on the first call! Do a Client Needs Analysis (CNA). Then return for a second call at which you’ll present a thoughtful, well-prepared and attractive advertising proposal. And that’s exactly what they should be doing. But what if—in the course of that CNA—your salesperson could actually set up a close for that very call? There’s one way to do it
Remembering A Cardinal Rule of Interviewing
Before I reveal how to bring home business after only one sales call, let me first establish an important ground rule: Your salespeople must never create a situation in which the client can say “no”.
I can’t think of anything less productive than going through the trouble of finding, approaching, meeting and conducting a CNA with a new client—then hearing “no” before that first face-to-face encounter is over. At all times, your sales team should keep in mind something that radio interviewers have known for decades: Never ask a question that can be answered YES or NO.
How do we avoid this unpleasant response? We construct a simple yet effective fill-in-the-blanks question instead.
The One Question That Can Produce A Sale
The first-call trial close I suggest belongs only one place: at the very end of the CNA. Ask every other question, clarify every fact, first. Then, as the last thing in the face-to-face fact-finding, ask The Question. Nowhere else!
Here’s The Question:
“If you were to go on the radio right now—today—what would you want to say?”
Throw it out there and shut up. There’s no way to answer “no” to The Question. So just sit there attentively and make the client answer.
If what comes back is “I don’t know”, your salesperson should run back through some of the key information gleaned in the just-completed CNA. This clarification can prove invaluable for the next call.
ON THE OTHER HAND: If the client responds with something specific like, “Our service department is the biggest in the area and they’re all factory-certified” – Bingo! Your salesperson just set up the client to set up his own sale.
Respond by repeating and emphasizing the words the client just spoke:
- So they’re all factory-certified?
- And nobody has the size service department that you do.
- That’s pretty important, isn’t it?
- You know, I was going to get back to you in a few days with some ideas but what you’ve just told me—why don’t I get something written and email it to you this afternoon? On the air tomorrow.
The client’s next response will probably be “How much?”. To keep the momentum rolling, your salesperson can respond with: “I’ll write up two or three different plans and we can talk about them. Right now, let’s just get going on the message you want people to hear.”
At the very least, your salesperson has a motivated client and a quick turnaround.
And if the client is so excited that he wants to do a deal right then, whip out the appropriate form and sign him up! But don’t just take the order and run. That’s the kiss of death and the cause of an enormous amount of client and salesperson turnover. Make it clear that this order will just get him started with a well-planned schedule of radio advertising.
Even though that new client gets on the air right away your salesperson should augment that first-call close with the same well-crafted, CNA-based follow-up that would have happened even if he or she hadn’t been so clever on day one.
TUESDAY: DON'T BE SHY ABOUT ASKING FOR CREDIT APPS OR PAYMENT IN ADVANCE.
TUESDAY: DON'T BE SHY ABOUT ASKING FOR CREDIT APPS OR PAYMENT IN ADVANCE.
