A sales executive called me over phone to get an appointment. The conversation went as follows:
Salesman: “Sir, Good Morning, my name is Prashant. I have a great product and would like to meet you 2 days later.”
I: “Good Morning, Prashant, can you tell me which company you are representing?”
Salesman: “Sir I represent an American MNC which makes top of the line products in different categories. We have operation in 120 countries across the world.”
I: “Can you tell me which company you are from”
Salesman: “ Sir, this will change the way you look at your life. More than the products, it will help you find a meaning in life. It can also help you earn few thousands more without much effort. And I will be able to explain you about the product and our company only after a meeting.”
I: “Are you from a MLM company where you would like me to make me a millionaire and that there was a truck driver who retired at the age of 37 after becoming the franchisee of your company?”
Salesman: “Sir you are absolutely right. How do you know that? I was about to say that.”
I: Mr. Prashant, I am quite delighted to hear the canned sales talk from you and thank you very much for making me a millionaire at the age of 37. Unfortunately I have crossed that age 10 years back. You are most welcome to meet me 2 days later However you will be the 26th person to whom I would be saying NO over the last six months for uttering the same old script.”
The guy hanged the phone and did not call me later.
Does this sound familiar? Is there any merit in salesmen making canned presentation? Most of my clients during the pre-training briefing insist that I should give the salesmen a standard script which should be produced verbatim for all the sales calls. When asked for the reason the Sales Manager used to invariably say, “It impresses the customer.”
This trend of a standard script was quite common with pharmaceutical companies. The logic was simple. A Medical Representative has to make at least 10 calls each day. And the product should be shown on a flipchart explaining the product benefits. This model was later accepted by even the non-pharma companies.
The reasons for the failure of a canned approach are:
The business has changed from a sellers’ market to a buyers’ market. Today’s customers have more choices than earlier.
Customer anticipates what the salesman would say which makes the conversation
monotonous and boring.
Each customer is unique in terms of his attitude, behaviour, culture etc. Even the
same customer may display a different type of behaviour at different times. In the
morning he may have the energy to listen to you but in a immediate post-lunch
meeting, he may not have the same energy level. The attention span may get reduced
due to his work-pressure too.
The attention span of customers has come down thanks to computers, mobiles and PDAs .Hearing a familiar script produces anger and boredom in customers.
Why salesmen resort to canned presentations?
Management Pressure: It is assumed that the boss knows the best. And the sales team has been told that there is only one way of talking and so be it.
Low-self esteem of the salesman.
Locus of control: Due to poor self-esteem the salesman feels that the customer is all too powerful. Under such a paradigm he presumes that a canned speech may rescue him. This is termed as Premature Cognitive Commitment (PCC) by Ellen Langer, a renowned Psychologist at Harvard Business School. A belief in PCC makes the salesman focus more on the outcome (I want to get this order,) rather than the process. (Can I understand the concerns he has about me, my organization and the products before selling?)
The focus on the outcome leads to fatigue and exhaustion not only to the customer but also to the buyer because it is a mindless activity.
What is the paradigm shift the salesman should have to overcome this challenge?
To keep the customer engaged he should move from mindlessness to mindfulness. It is assumed that practice makes a man perfect but the truth is otherwise. It makes one mindless because whenever you perform an activity in a routine way, it moves out of your consciousness and becomes dull and boring.
So how do you manage to establish rapport with the customer without sounding artificial? It is quite simple. Greet him with a smile. It should be natural. An artificial smile may make the customer feel you belong to a Multi-Level Marketing company. Later give a brief introduction about your name and the company you represent. Rather than speaking about the entire range of products give a an overview and say, “ Are you aware of our company and the product range?” If he says NO then give some more inputs. If he says yes, then avoid the sales pitch. Now it is apt to make the purpose of your visit which can be either introducing a new product range or a new concept of problem solving.
This should not take more than 2-3 minutes. After that ask a few questions and start building on the conversation.
For more details please refer the book "Contextual Selling" by the author at: www.paradigm-info.com
