The number one excuse I hear from traders as to why they don’t prospect and build new business is, “I come in with every intention of making prospect calls, but by ten o’clock the day takes on a life of its own. I can’t control it, there’s so much to do and not enough time.” BS and double BS! These traders are letting the day manage them instead of managing their day.

These same traders are sitting next to someone who is selling twice and three times what they are selling with the same amount of time. Is it luck? Does the boss like them better? NO, NO, and triple NO!

Money Maker #105 Sellers who are successful manage their day. They are ruthless and disciplined with their time. They don’t do administrative tasks during selling time. They don’t let their fellow traders turn them into administrative assistants. They don’t chase low percentage Inquiry for themselves or for other traders.

They manage their day instead of letting their day manage them. They do it every hour, every day, every month and every year, and out-perform those who don’t. They look at their fellow low-performing sales partners and ask themselves (but only for a moment and not very often) why are they wasting their time on that?

What kind of seller do you want to be?

Need help managing your time? Download this Time Grid from my Book Selling Lumber: Sales Secrets of a Lumber Broker and tune in each Friday at 4pm PST to the Sales Doctor Radio program. In Portland on 1410 am or around the world online at SalesDoctor.biz.

The opposite of love isn’t hate. The opposite of love is indifference.

Rookies shut down or are shaken by objections. Professional sellers embrace them.

Money Maker #55 Professional sellers know that if they can overcome the objection, the order is theirs.

If your customers will tell you what they don’t like, you can begin to fix it. Try these turn around techniques to Close on objections.

Objection: Your Price is Too High

Customer: “I can’t buy that because your price is too high”

You: “If I can work on the price for you, would you buy it from me?”

Or

“What price works for you?”

Objection: I’m Not Buying Right Now

Customer: “I don’t need any of that right now.”

You: “When will you be needing it?”

Objection: The Market is Terrible

Customer: “The market is falling, I can’t buy right now.”

You: “When do you see this market turning around?”

This approach will sometimes invite a counter. In other cases it keeps the negotiation going so you can live to fight for the order. In any case, it is a heck of a lot better than, “Well OK, I guess I’ll call you next week.”

These turn-around questions on objections keep the customer talking and thinking out loud about how they can put the business together with you. These turn-arounds work on any objection, be it shipment, stock etc.

Objections show interest. Don’t run from them, run to them.

If you are too high, there must be a price that works. If your shipment is too far out, there must be a shipment that will work.

Want to learn more about this and other Sales Doctor secrets? Click here to buy Selling Lumber: Sales Secrets of a Lumber Broker and tune in each Friday at 4pm PST to the Sales Doctor Radio program. In Portland on 1410 am or around the world online at SalesDoctor.biz.

MoneyMaker #22: 99% of problems that occur during Closing can be traced directly to the Inquiry (needs analysis) portion of the sales call.

Many customers want us to cure their problem without knowing what ails them. We must find out the details of their needs in the Inquiry stage. If we don’t, we can’t sell them. All we can do is quote them. Quoting is not profitable, selling is.

If you ask your customer a pertinent question in the Inquiry process and they won’t give you an answer, or give you a vague answer, you must find out the answer to this question before moving on. This is what I call a “Mini-Close.” A Mini-Close is any information you will need at Closing that comes up before the actual Close. Many sellers let these Mini-Closes go. They are afraid of upsetting their customer. They are afraid of, or avoid conflict resolution during the Inquiry stage and then are shocked when they can’t resolve conflict when it comes time to Close!

Most often, for example, the question of price is left untouched because the seller doesn’t want to deal with it. Cover price and any other possible need areas in the Inquiry stage!