Shrewdly turn sales-breakers into sales-makers

Published on Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Every salesperson worth his salt will have a repertoire of instances where he tracks down prospects, approaches them, launches his sales call - only to have them start spewing objections on anything from the product, service, solution or even say, the delivery schedule.
Needless to say, it’s a nightmare come true as the customer lashes out with, ‘The price is too high’, ‘Product quality is not up to the mark’, ‘Company reputation is not good enough’. Even diversionary tactics like, ‘I am satisfied with another service’, ‘Send me more information’, ‘Call me after two months’ or simply, ‘I am not interested’ surface.
Discomfited and dejected, sales personnel often turn away in the face of such hostile rejection.
Well, sales opposition is uncomfortable and confusing, but as a frontline salesman, you have to realise that resistance is quite normal. After all, no matter how compelling the need, how good your product, how perfect your presentation or how persuasive your sales spiel is, prospects always have and always will reject and have objections. They may misunderstand your description, be sceptical of the product, stall (for maybe a better deal) or basically be sales-adverse.
While the objections are obstacles, you can still counter them effectually. Yes, all is not lost; you can still close the sale.The trick is to shrewdly turn the sales-breakers into sales-makers. In fact, top marketing experts actually welcome objections as the stepping stones to sales success. Not only does it open the door to further communication and clarification, but also presents an opportunity to establish the much-needed buyer-seller rapport.

When on the grill
Take the heat – Some emotional preparation is in order as customers will definitely upset you with their objections. Accept the nauseating remarks as a natural part of the sales process and do not take them personally. Keep your sense of balance and perspective by making a determined effort to maintain your composure despite the provocation.
In your stride – Recognise that the prospect’s needs are important and allow him to express his objections freely. Do not dismiss them as dumb protests with standard ‘objection handlers’ like, ‘You are wrong’ or ‘You don’t understand’. Pay attention to what he has to say and understand his problem instead of talking around the issue.
Line your ducks in a row - When faced with a valid objection, you cannot afford to shoot from the hip or just ad lib a response. It is advisable to learn everything about the product before you venture out to sell it. This way not only will you sound confident and knowledgeable, but can also fine-tune your message to meet specific needs. Again, it turns handy for reselling a product or shedding light on new advantages to overcome an objection. You can even go to the extent of arming yourself with prepared responses to all actual and anticipated objections.
Do not refute an objection - The resistance has face value and you have to keep what the prospect has said in mind when framing a suitable answer. Imagine yourself in the prospect’s shoes to be able to determine the cause and analyse it as a reasonable objection.
When responding, question the objection without offering any judgement on its validity. Try sounding them out with, “If we were to do this (for correcting the objection), then what?” This will help you to probe into the actual needs and discover the real hot buttons, as at times people tend to forestall with price or budget objections to cover their real ones.
Make it a point to address every objection with a plausible response; the best sales people are those who do not let any objection go unanswered. At times, you can yourself draw attention to potential objections even before they are raised, by say, emphasising other merits or presenting a logical rationalisation. You can go to the extent of ‘putting words in the prospect’s mouth’ or breaking ground with a radical perspective like in the case of Heinz: ‘When customers complained that Heinz super-thick tomato ketchup was difficult to pour, company leadership took a revolutionary stance by asking, “What if we did nothing?” Rather than getting worried about the complaints, Heinz simply turned this feature into a benefit. The resulting advertising campaign sent a clear message: If it comes out of the bottle too easily, then it must be low-quality ketchup!’
So, do not take a blow-off like - ‘I am too busy’ or ‘I don’t have the budget’ - lying down, but convert it into an opportunity to make a point with a mini sales message. But, whatever you say or do, remember that arguing with a prospect, lying or trying to degrade the competition is completely forbidden.
Also, while you should definitely not take ‘No’ for an answer, some objections will be insurmountable and some prospects totally unyielding. It is advisable to let them be; you don’t have to sell to every person you come in contact with. Give your best shot to mastering the opposition of the more likely ones and you will be in business pronto!

PAYAL CHANANIA

Answer all questions of a screener elaborately

Published on Wednesday, May 14, 2008

After the initial resume screening, companies employ a further assessment tool to vet applicants directly. By way of a screening interview, they weed out unqualified and uninterested candidates, thus narrowing the candidate pool considerably.
This preliminary step is used to qualify candidates before they meet with a hiring authority for possible selection. By separating the grain from the chaff, screening interviews prove to be a quick and efficient strategy that saves both time and money.
The result is a shortlist of qualified candidates who meet the minimum requirements and should be called for interviewing, radically reducing the number of actual formal interviews.
Experienced and professional screeners - either a third-party recruiter or a member of the hiring company’s HR department, generally conduct a screening interview.
While most commonly conducted on the telephone, screening by video conference or online is picking up slowly.
At times, screening questionnaires (online or paper-based) with open-ended or multiple-choice questions are also used to determine candidate eligibility. On a rare occasion, companies do call applicants for a brief face-to-face meeting too.
Irrespective of the approach, screeners are primarily looking to verify candidate qualifications and other essential criteria along with judging real interest in and enthusiasm for the job. The emphasis is on learning more about the candidate prior to the actual interview – character, attitude, ethics, communication skills, professional style, reasons for job hunting - so as to determine whether he/she would be a good fit for the company, the job and the work culture.
Screening is basically a casual discussion, which can last for a few minutes to say, half an hour. The format is highly structured with straight questions and answers that can even be tape recorded for other interviewers. But, the screener will only pick out the best prospects, not hire anyone outright.

Hitting the right note
On the whole, applicants should understand that screening rules are principally different from the normal hiring or selection interviews.
The emphasis is on providing facts that corroborate with the CV and highlight your suitability for the position in question, not building a rapport or portraying your personality. As a career analyst puts it, “Save your winning personality for the person making hiring decisions!”
Candidates should basically conform to what they have already mentioned in the resume. Be confident and give straight-forward, succinct and focussed answers. But, ensure that you never deviate from the truth, as interviewers will verify them during the hiring interview and reference checks.
Understand that the interviewer is basically interested in corroborating your qualifications, experience, workplace preferences and salary expectations with the organisation and job in question, and proceed accordingly.
You can take the initiative to quickly point the interviewer to key areas in your resume that reflect the job needs and also highlight relevant qualifications/accomplishments. What’s more, this is your chance to provide additional information that is specific to the job and could not be covered in the standard resume.
Keep in mind that screeners also seek to identify potential red flags like inconsistencies and will surely dig for dirt like gaps in employment history or other inconsistencies in the resume based on qualifications, work background and experience.
You can reap the advantage of being well prepared by devising a list of potential questions and rehearsing eloquent answers for the same.
Common queries include but are not limited to your work history, leadership skills, key motivators, strengths/weaknesses, achievements/failures, preferred work environment, expected salary, description of your last job, why you quit, what interests you in the new position/company and what skills/contributions you can bring to the same.
While providing the crucial information, you can even seize an opening to ask targeted questions about the company, job role, goals, and responsibilities and work culture with the aim to land a further job interview.
Generally speaking, if your responses pass muster, you will advance to the next interviewing level. But, if the interviewer does not volunteer the information on his own you can tactfully inquire the same with a gracious, “I have really enjoyed talking to you and learning more about your firm. Should I expect to hear from you by a certain date?”
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PAYAL CHANANIA

Internal placement – gives growth chance for aspiring staff

Published on Wednesday, May 14, 2008

It’s a known fact that the lure of greener pastures beckons even the most-satisfied employees every now and then.
To keep from losing good workers to this exciting temptation, employers are proffering the proverbial ‘new wine in old bottle’ through internal transfers in the same old company. They give an exclusive first shot at openings to existing em ployees to provide the sorely-needed change. It can be by way of a new opportunity, a challenging assignment, a new boss, exposure to latest technology or just increase in salary.
Such in-house options either move employees up or about, ranging from reassignments and lateral transfers in a similar role or cross-functional moves to even promotions to a higher level.
Apart from the obvious potential as an effective retention tool, employers favour inside hiring as they are familiar with employees’ skills and ‘known’ performance who in turn are no stranger to the company culture, terminology and way of working. As such, internal transferees can fit into the new role without missing a beat, doing away with the customary orientation or break-in period for new hires. Moreover, as an HR expert points out, “Employee transfers are an essential mechanism for knowledge transition and the sharing of best practices.” With redeployment, vacancies are filled faster as employees are less likely to reject the offer, not to mention that hiring, advertising and skill assessment costs become negligible.
Again, an internal placement generally creates a ripple of promotions as many people are moved up to fill each vacancy, opening up more opportunities for everyone. This explicit motivation coupled with the perceptible interest in employees’ development and career enhancement goes a long way in bolstering company image as a foundation of long-term employment security.

What’s in store?
Internal recruitment does emerge as an attractive means of rewarding loyalty and performance even while meeting resource needs, but filling a vacancy with an existing employee is actually easier said than done. Scores of complexities need to be addressed like:
Self-service – When advertising internally, companies do nothing more than post openings on the intranet or on bulletin boards near the cafeteria. It is up to the employees to identify their needs and reach out for matching opportunities on their own. This self-nomination approach limits the effectiveness of internal recruitment as employers have no control over who applies, or more importantly, who doesn’t. The best employees may either be unaware of the vacancy or reluctant to pursue the same. They may even find it easier to seek out similar opportunities outside the company than within.
A more proactive approach is called for where HR managers can effectively seek out key employees or even look for the right employee in the internal talent pool.
Managerial possessiveness – It has often been noticed that managers feel a sense of ownership over the resources in their department, refusing to allow their best and brightest staff to be shifted to another division. They feel threatened by apparent employee disloyalty and may hold back internal mobility by vetoing the move or even punish workers for contemplating the move. Further discontent also stems from the prospect of having to recruit a replacement again.
Top management should anticipate objections from concerned managers and facilitate discussions that enlighten them on the bigger picture of broader success. Once managers understand the overall benefits (especially as employees may leave due to lack of new opportunities) they will embrace the change, at times even to the extent of initiating career planning dialogue with employees.
The ins and outs – Companies impose internal transfer restrictions based on tenure, performance rating or even managerial approval which can frustrate talented and ambitious employees to the point of jumping ship.
Sometimes, releasing a trained employee from an existing department or ongoing project is not that easy.
Infighting and jockeying for positions comes into play; employees even angle for transfers just to escape a boss. Managers are also known to indulge in favouritism, isolating the rest.
Internal candidates may bring familiarity, but still need time and space to pick up the finer aspects of the role. At times, they may need training and guidance to become acquainted with the new line of business.
Therefore, internal recruitment needs to be a systematic process that avails maximum benefits instead of further complicating the system. For instance, managers should conjoin employee career aspirations with internal job requirements and not use transfers just to aid retention. Then and only then, it can create an effective internal resource rotation that aids successful succession planning.

PAYAL CHANANIA