KISS or Keep It Simple, Stupid is a term we all have heard. But the majority of salespeople violate this simple principle often.
Here are some examples of what I am talking about. While I was working at one position, I sat next to a person who could have been a top salesperson. We both operated almost the same in that rather than cold call, we ran our own personal marketing programs to create leads and simply took the call that came in. The problem is what he did with the calls. When I got calls from someone ready to buy, I went right into the closing and made arrangements to either come out with the paperwork or have it faxed over. He went into a full length company story and gave a lot of information he should not tell potential client unless they ask for it. These people who were ready to buy soon lost interest and did not buy a thing.
Another example is what happens every time I try to make a business purchase. Here I am, saying “Yes, I’m going to buy,” and the sales rep launches into a company story about how long they’ve been in business, who their big clients are, and on and on. Lucky for these salespeople, the product usually sells itself and I still buy. However, I’m willing to bet that a lot of people don’t. Nothing is more frustrating than picking up the phone saying, “Hi, here I am ready to buy,” and having some rep go into a story bragging about how great the company is and all that they can do. That comes off as pure arrogance to a business owner. What’s more, talking about your big enterprise clients alienates most small business owners. They assume their needs will be placed second to those of the big dogs and that they’ll be treated as just a number when calling for service.
I think most training is at the root of this massive problem. Every course I’ve taken has gone through the steps of a sale. The problem is, what if all the steps don’t take place? Consider “objection handling.” When I was working for that company I mentioned earlier, many of my prospects had no objections because my marketing pieces took care of them in advance. By assuming that each of these steps are going to take place, a lot of salespeople will cause something to happen when it really shouldn’t have to begin with. If a prospect doesn’t come up with any major objections, don’t give them a reason to!
Many managers require their salespeople to fill out a lead sheet that talk about each step of the sale. This gives the assumption that each step will happen when it may not. If you’re required to maintain these types of records, skip anything that doesn’t happen naturally. You could lose a sale entirely if you induce a prospect to enter the selling phase when it may not have been necessary.
Use the KISS test when you’re selling. Always ask yourself if what you’re doing is actually necessary. Believe me, you’ll save yourself a lot of wasted time and lost sales by doing so. I did.
