We all have either opened our front door or answered the telephone only to have a human robot spout off a canned sales pitch using a halting speaking cadence and less than no emotion.
For example (in a flat monotone voice): “Hello. My Name. Is. Alan. Sipe. And. I. Would. Like. To. Tell. You. About. A. Wonderful. New. Product.”
Now, granted you probably would have said ‘No thank you,’ closed the door or hung up the phone by the time they got to the fourth or fifth word. Most canned presentations are dull and monotonous, and they usually fail.
However, it is my contrarian opinion that each and every product should have a canned presentation for you to work from. A canned or pre-written presentation containing all the features, advantages, and benefits gives you a track to run on so you will be sure to cover all the important features — just don’t bother memorizing it. Use the pre-written presentation to get to know the product and then outline the benefits in your own words that you are comfortable with.
You should also use your own words and phrases that fit the wide range of individual personalities you call on. Different personality types require different tactics for selling to them.
Here is a list of some of the characters we all have called on:
Tool Nut: They will buy almost anything. You gotta love these people!
Family Man: Coaches something or everything for his kids. Leaves work right on time each day to get to some practice. He has the big van to carry a whole team and talks about his kids constantly.
Macho-Macho-Man: This customer wears super tight shirts to show off his physique. Macho-Man has some ink on his arms of barbed wire, guns, knives and a skull-and-crossbones. He is convinced that he is the baddest dude in the building.
Pipe-Smoking Over-Thinker: Over-thinkers will finally buy something but they make it as slow and painful as possible, analyzing every last detail.
Too Busy to Listen: This customer will not sit still to listen to the details of the product and then comes back to you after the sale asking either how the tool works or why it won’t do something. They are distracted easily.
Mr. Cheapo: Always, always, always wants a deal.
Successful selling to the wide variety of personalities you call on is really a fun challenge and keeps you on your toes when presenting to them.
Here are some tips and tricks to help you improve your closing rates with these different personalities.
Tool Nut: The Tool Nut is the technician who works with tools all day and then goes home to read all the hand tool blogs on the internet at night. The word “new” in front of any tool is like a drug they can’t resist.
You can easily spot a Tool Nut by looking directly into their eyes. A normal person’s pupil is round. Their pupils are shaped like a 12 point socket.
The best way to close a deal with the Tool Nut is to simply say, “Have you seen this new tool?”
Family Man: Family Man is usually an ordinary person who is civic-, church- and family-centered. They are pretty well-organized since they have so many things going on in their lives.
Family Man likes his family and will identify with your family. Bring up your child in college, on some team, or in the school play. Help them feel that you are part of the family.
Family Man wants to get done with work on time, so the speed and accuracy of a tool is important to them. Try something like, “This tool will help you do its task quickly to get you out of here on time.”
When selling the benefit of a tool, phrase it like this: “Having kids who participate in after school activities requires a lot of money, so completing more repairs ahead of the book rate will help you bring more money home.”
Macho-Macho-Man: They are usually an OK person. They just love the attention they receive by acting like a badass. Macho Man loves to hear his own name so use it often. Macho Man does not want to be compared to other technicians. He is the king of the hill and will do things his way. So, where the “get on the band wagon” close of telling the prospect that lots of people are using this tool is great for most people, it is not a good one for Macho Man.
Tell Macho Man how strong the tool is: “You are known around the shop to be hard on tools because of your strength. This tool is designed to take good hard professional use.”
Let Macho Man know that he will be respected by others in the shop for making this wise purchase. It won’t hurt to say “Yes sir” a few times in each presentation.
Pipe-Smoking Over-Thinker: People who smoke pipes are very patient and thoughtful. If you think about it, a pipe smoker is patient enough to fuss with the pipe all the time, cleaning it, filling it, lighting it, tamping the tobacco down, lighting it again, and so on. So, when they buy, they are just as willing to take their time, and your time.
Don’t rush your presentation. Go slow, cover all the details. No detail is too small for these people. Use phrases like: “When you analyze this tool...” and “Our analysis of this application shows it will fit your need because...”
A phrase like: “You are respected around the shop for the diligence you use when making a purchase. I think this tool will fit right in with your usual detailed decision making.”
I was once making a call on a pipe-smoking hospital administrator who was known to be very slow in decision making and analyzing a product to death. When I arrived, he asked if his new assistant could join the meeting and of course I said it was fine. It turned out the new assistant also smoked a pipe and they sat side by side behind the administrator’s desk, smoking their pipes and looking bored. No sale!
Too Busy to Listen: In my opinion these people are the worst to sell to. You really need to get these people away from as many distractions as possible — get them on the truck with the door closed.
Be sure to look Mr. Too Busy in the eye when you speak to them. Eye-to-eye contact gets attention. Trial close a lot as you do your presentation and ask a lot of questions; this will help them focus.
You will probably need to use a hard close on Mr. Too Busy because, oftentimes, they snap to attention when you ask them to buy and they realize they don’t know exactly what they are buying. Do not let them out of your grasp. Close hard since they are likely to forget pretty much all you’ve told them if they get off the truck.
A good review close should work here. “Mr. Busy, as we went through this product you said you liked Feature/Advantage/Benefit 1, correct? FAB 2, correct? FAB 3, correct? (and so on) So, based on you liking all the benefits of this product let us get the paperwork out of the way, OK?” Remember, now is when you remain absolutely quiet and make them answer you.
Mr. Cheapo: This customer is a pain but don’t let their penchant for saving get you rattled. Be sure you understand this person’s motivations. If this is the person who is always looking for a deal but drives a Ford F350, then you know they will spend the money. They just want a deal. However, if this technician uses all inexpensive, homeowner quality tools, maybe he just isn’t the prospect for you. Hey, you can’t win them all.
As you make your presentation, express savings any way you can. “This product has been selling well so we are manufacturing more and the selling price has gone down,” or “This product is on promotion, so now is the time to save on it.”
Try bundling several products together and offer him a “special” price. The phrase “Have I got a deal for you!” was invented for this customer.
Look at it his way: As a mobile jobber you are lucky that you get to see your customers and prospects every week. You have plenty of opportunities to size them up and work out the best way to talk to them. With 350 million people in the U.S., there are 350 million personalities.
Simply take the time to customize your presentations to fit your prospect’s personality and then ask for the order.
Now, go sell something.
