Listen to a recording of Jacques Werth, the founder of High Probability Selling, explain how to transition from making cold prospecting calls to warm prospecting calls:
Author: Jacques Werth
What a High Probability Appointment Looks Like
by Jacques Werth, edited by Carl Ingalls and Paul Bunn
We were in a large meeting room in a nice hotel, in a suburb of Seattle. Twelve successful Realtors were attending a Real Estate Sales Mastery workshop. They were an unusually well-dressed group for a two-day offsite workshop.
At our request, one of the participants had borrowed a sample front door and door frame from a builder. It was in the front of the meeting room and it was braced to stand on its own. The outside of the door was to the right, and to the left of the inside of the door we had a kitchen table and some chairs. Those were the props that we needed to begin the first exercise.
One of the workshop participants was asked to role-play how she approaches a visit to a homeowner who wants to sell his house. The instructor played the part of the home owner.
The first Realtor walked up to the outside of the door and knocked. The instructor opened the door and said “Hello.”
The Realtor flashed a big smile, held out her hand and said, very cordially, “Mr. Smith, it is so good to meet you. I am Pam Jackson with XYZ Real Estate. How are you today?”
The instructor invited her in and offered her a chair in the “kitchen.”
“Your home is very lovely. I really like what you did with the kitchen,” said Pam with delight, while looking all around.
The instructor stopped the role-play at that point and thanked Pam. He asked her to switch roles. She would now play the homeowner and the next participant would play the Realtor. That participant was even more effusive than Pam. Each successive Realtor tried to out-do those what went before them in their attempts to impress the prospect with their enthusiasm, charm and likeability.
During those role-plays, the other Realtors watched intently and remained very quiet. Several preened their clothing and hair before it was their turn.
For the second part of the role-play the instructor played the part of the Realtor, with Pam playing the homeowner. The instructor knocked on the door, and the Pam opened it. “Yes?’ she said.
“I’m Joe Instructor with HPS Realty. Are you Pam Jackson?”
“Yes, I am,” she said, reaching to shake his hand. “Come in. I suppose you want to look over the house.”
“Before we do that, we need to get to know each other and determine whether we have a mutually acceptable basis for doing business.”
Homeowner: “Okay, we can sit in the kitchen, here.”
Realtor: “When we spoke on the phone we agreed this meeting would take about ninety minutes of uninterrupted time. Have you arranged for that?”
Homeowner: “Yes, I turned off my phone and put the dog out in the back yard.”
Realtor: “We agreed that the purpose of our meeting is to determine whether we have a mutually acceptable basis for selling your home. Is that your intention?”
Homeowner: “Yes.”
Realtor: “And, we agreed that if we can meet your conditions of satisfaction for the sale of your home, we will make a decision about that today. Is that still your intention?”
Homeowner: “Yes, it is.”
The instructor thanked Pam and asked her to rejoin the rest of the group. Then, he asked the entire group, “What did you notice about the way I just approached Pam, the prospect?”
They called out their answers:
“You were very straight-forward.”
“You were dignified.”
“You were very relaxed.”
“You were authentic.”
“You were not acting.”
“You were in control.”
“You asked for and got commitments.”
Pam then capped it off with, “I felt privileged to be your prospect. I felt respected, and I felt respect for you.”
The above article was copied from an earlier post on this blog, and recently edited by Paul Bunn and Carl Ingalls.
Secret Sales Tips and Tricks
by Jacques Werth
Why are those words so alluring?
The most successful salespeople seldom read articles with those words in the title. Such articles are for salespeople who think that selling is just a bag of tips and tricks.
There are no secret tips. There are no magic tricks. Effective selling is about finding a sales process that works, following that process carefully, and measuring the results. Pay attention to doing it right. You can’t learn how to sell just by reading articles or participating in sales discussion groups. Although it is possible to learn to sell by reading a lot of books, this doesn’t work for most people.
Books and CD’s can teach you a great deal about selling, but not much about the step-by-step details on how to actually do it. For that, we recommend training and practice.
The idea of “tips and tricks” is just another sales trick.
10 Tips for Prospecting Success
by Jacques Werth
The ability to prospect efficiently, effectively and enjoyably will enable you to meet with prospects that need, want and can afford your products and services – now. Your confidence will soar and empower you to develop a consistently superior income stream.
1. Start with a highly targeted telephone prospecting list, consisting of people or companies that are most likely to buy your type of products and services. Use a highly reputable list broker to find such a list. Start with a list of no more than 600 names. You cannot afford to develop your own list; It is much too time consuming. If you already have a book of business, follow this prospecting process with your existing clients as if they are new prospects.
2. Call every name on your list every 3-4 weeks. Understand that only a small percentage of your list will be ready to buy the first time that you call. Many more will be ready each successive time that you call. People buy in their own time for their own reasons; not because you have to make a sale this week. Calling them frequently is vital to prospecting success.
3. Present a “prospecting offer” of no more than 45 words that clearly states who you are, what you are selling, and two features of your product or service. Finish up with “Is that what you want?” Each time you call, change the two features. That will prevent most prospects from getting annoyed. It will also eliminate most of the rejection that is caused by traditional cold calling.
4. If the prospect says “No” or “I am not interested,” you say “Okay, good bye.” Do not press for an appointment. Do not try to engage the prospect in a conversation or ask any questions. This will be the most pleasant sales call they ever get. It will assure that very few prospects will ask you not to call again.
5. Schedule your prospecting sessions for 3½ hours. Take a fifteen-minute break between each hour. This is more productive than five prospecting sessions of one hour each.
6. Tape yourself. Use a tape recorder with an open microphone to tape your side of each call. Start the tape when the prospect answers. Listen to how you sound. The goal is to hear yourself using your usual conversational tones. Do not try to sound like a professional salesperson. Do not come across as overly enthusiastic, unusually friendly, or enticing. Just relax and present your offer without persuasion.
7. Always be in a “Disqualification” mode. Be determined to spend your selling time only with High Probability Prospects. Disqualify Low Probability Prospects quickly and courteously. Don’t allow desperation or anxiousness to deter you from your mission. If the prospect says “Yes,” you ask “Why?” Let the prospect convince you that he/she is a High Probability Prospect.
8. Accept the fact that prospecting really is a “numbers game.” The most important numbers are your Dials per Hour and the ratio of prospecting Offers to Dials. Most agents dial at least fifty numbers per hour.
9. Keep accurate records of your prospecting sessions. We have trained thousands of agents to be successful prospectors. The most successful keep accurate records. The least successful don’t. The act of keeping records will enable your subconscious mind to constantly improve your results.
10. Most top producers make fewer appointments, but close most of the prospects they meet.
You can learn more about efficient, effective, and enjoyable prospecting by going to www.HighProbSell.com.
He’s Got the Magic
I went into five automobile showrooms, all with the same make cars, in order to choose the one where I bought my last car.
My experience at the first four dealerships, after their big toothed smile greetings, each salesperson assured me that I would get the best deal and the best service if I bought a car from them; especially if I bought it on that day.
At the fifth dealership, a very large one, a salesperson named Walt asked me, “Do you want to buy a car, or would you like me to leave you alone while you look at the models on the floor?”
I said, “I want to buy a car” and I told him which model I wanted.
He said, “Who will be driving your new car?”
I said, “Mostly me, but sometimes my wife. She is going to drive our luxury gas guzzler, and I’m going to drive the new one to and from work.”
He said, “Does she need to be in on the decision to buy?”
I said, “Yes, but only to select the exterior and interior colors.”
He said, “What kind of work do you do?”
“I’m a sales consultant and trainer,” I said.
“I wish I had some good sales training before I got into this business,” he said. “I had to learn the hard way.”
“Most good salespeople learn the hard way,” I said. “What’s the most important thing you learned about sales?”
Walt replied, “I came to realize that the prospects are always in control and they want to be treated with respect.”
Later on, when I returned to pick up the car, I asked who the top salesperson in the agency was and they said, “Definitely that would be Walt, even though he’s kind of quiet and reserved…but he’s got something…he’s got the magic.”
9 Tips for Prospecting Success
by Jacques Werth
President, High Probability Selling
Prospecting effectively is often the key difference between success and failure in sales.
“Get me in front of them, and I can do the rest” is a commonly heard phrase from many salespeople, and prospecting is often seen as the most challenging part of the sales process.
The ability to prospect efficiently, effectively and enjoyably will enable you to meet with prospects that need, want and can afford your products and services – now. When you meet with those kinds of prospects, your confidence will soar, and empower you to earn a consistently superior income. Here’s how to find them:
9 Tips for Prospecting Success:
1. Start with a highly targeted prospecting list, consisting of people or companies that are most likely to buy your type of products and services. Use a highly reputable list broker to find such a list. The cost should be no more than 25¢ per name. Start with a list of no more than 500 names. If you have a sufficient book of business already, you can also call your existing customers as if they are new prospects.
2. Call every name on your list every 3-4 weeks. Understand that only a small percentage of your list will be ready to buy the first time that you call. More will be ready each successive time that you call. Most prospects will not want to meet with you until you have presented prospecting offers at least three times.
3. Present a “prospecting offer” of no more than 45 words that clearly states who you are, what you are selling, and two features of your product or service. Finish up with “Is that what you want?” Change the two features of your offer each subsequent time you contact your list. That will prevent most prospects from getting annoyed. It will also eliminate most of the rejection that is caused by traditional cold calling.
4. Differentiate yourself by taking “no” for an answer. If the prospect says “No” or “I’m not interested,” you say “Okay, good bye.” Do not press for an appointment. Do not try to engage the prospect in a conversation or ask any further questions or build a relationship. Differentiate yourself…be the salesperson that respects what prospects say…even if it’s “no”. Let that build the relationship.
5. Schedule your prospecting sessions for 3½ hours. Take a fifteen-minute break between each hour. Don’t mix your prospecting time in with other tasks.
6. Record yourself. Use a recorder with an open microphone to record your side of each call. Play it back and listen to how you sound (from the perspective of you as a prospect). The goal is to hear yourself using usual conversational tones. Do not try to sound like a professional salesperson. Do not try to come across as overly enthusiastic, unusually friendly or enticing. Just relax and present your offer without persuasion.
7. Always be in a “Disqualification” mode. Be determined to spend your selling time only with High Probability Prospects. Disqualify low probability prospects quickly and courteously. Don’t allow desperation or anxiousness to deter you from that mission.
8. Accept the fact that prospecting really is a “numbers game”. The most important numbers are your Dials Per Hour and the ratio of prospecting Offers to Dials.
9. Keep accurate statistics of your prospecting sessions. We have trained thousands of salespeople to be successful prospectors. The most successful of those keep very accurate statistics. The act of keeping statistics will cause your subconscious mind to constantly improve your results. Our “High Probability Prospecting Activity Record” form may help you do this. You can download it here: prospecting-activity-record-2009-06-22
Effective telephone prospecting is one of the most productive ways to build up your sales volume, with very little up-front expense and a minimum of marketing expertise.
Start with telephone prospecting, and eventually you will get so many referrals from your existing customers that you will need to an assistant to prospect for you.
Until Next Time…Sell Well
Jacques Werth – High Probability Selling
Copyright 2007.
Selling – Why is it So Hard to Learn?
By Jacques Werth
High Probability Selling
The primary reason it is so hard to learn to sell (well) is that almost all modern selling systems do not work very well. Virtually all selling systems are based on the “Needs Selling” paradigm, which was developed over seventy years ago. Modern versions of Needs Selling such as, “Consultative Selling,” “Solution Selling,” Spin Selling,” and “Value Based Selling,” etc., are all based on the same premise.
The basic premise of almost all ancient and modern selling systems is that a salesperson is supposed to meet with “interested” prospects, and persuade and convince them to buy. Those systems worked well until the mid-1980s. None of the techniques and systems designed for persuading and convincing are still very effective.
Virtually every other business discipline has gone through a multitude of changes in order to accommodate the myriad technical, psychographic, social and business changes that occurred over the last fifty years. However, sales is still about persuading and convincing interested prospects to buy.
Therefore, people keep inventing new techniques for persuading and convincing. Between Tom Hopkins’ first book “Mastering the Art of Selling” in 1981, until Charles Vega’s “1001 Professional Sales Tips” in 2006, many thousands of sales techniques have been developed.
As an example, one trainer teaches “99 ways to close a sale.” When it was suggested that no one could actually remember 99 different closing techniques, he responded, “It is not that difficult. There are really only 9 different closing techniques, and 11 variations of them, depending on the situation. So, you only need to remember 20 ways to close.”
With thousands of techniques and systems touting different ways to do the same thing, how can anyone remember and decide what to do and when to do it? It is a wonder that anyone can learn how to sell.
Even now, you are still expected to convince and persuade prospects to buy something they are merely interested in. How can you expect to do that, when it is so difficult to convince yourself to do anything differently?
Contrast all of that with High Probability Selling.
The basic premise is to meet with prospects who already want to buy the features of your products and services, and to mutually determine whether you have an acceptable basis for doing business. No persuading or convincing is required.
In High Probability Prospecting, there are 12 basic responses to telephone prospecting offers. And, there is one standard reply to each of those responses. You have those 12 replies printed out in front of you when you are prospecting. No memorization is required.
There are two basic ways to set up appointments with prospects. There are five basic questions to get commitments to do business. That too, requires no memorization.
When you visit with committed prospects, eighty percent of the time you are working from a printed questionnaire. There are four basic closes that are utilized about 35 times, at appropriate points throughout the questionnaire.
No memorization is required, and no pressure or discomfort is generated.
Even during free-form discussions and inquiries, you are working from a guideline with seven basic rules. Hardly any memorization required.
You do not have to constantly apply your brainpower to search your memory for what comes next or for the best reply to a question. Therefore, you can use it to really listen to your prospects and work with them effectively.
High Probability Selling is a step-by-step sales process. It is relatively easy to learn. It can be customized for your products, services and markets. Like any other tool or process, skill comes with utilization. You still have to do the work if you want to earn what the real professionals earn. But first you need to decide – do you want to learn this new sales process?
If you want to learn the process and mindset of top producing salespeople, you may want to learn more about High Probability Selling.
Until Next Time…Sell Well
Jacques Werth – High Probability Selling
Copyright 2007.
Tags: How+to+sell, The+secret+to+selling, Selling+and+Persuasion