Content Dam Diq Online Articles 2013 05 Allen Guy Sm
Content Dam Diq Online Articles 2013 05 Allen Guy Sm
Content Dam Diq Online Articles 2013 05 Allen Guy Sm
Content Dam Diq Online Articles 2013 05 Allen Guy Sm
Content Dam Diq Online Articles 2013 05 Allen Guy Sm

The answers to five commonly asked dental sales questions

May 28, 2013
Kevin Henry, Cofounder, IgniteDA.net

I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Allen Guy, the author of “Playing to Win: The Sport of Selling and How You Can Win The Game.” His book is available on Amazon.com at this link.

1. What is the most common mistake you believe salespeople make?
I feel the biggest mistake salespeople make is not establishing the buyer’s needs. Most of us are eager to share about our products and begin the presentation segment prior to allowing the customer to state his or her needs. In my view, the simplest way is to ask questions to uncover potential opportunities for one’s products. Probing questions reveal information that defines the buyer’s needs and provides pertinent information to the seller to meet those needs. A clear understanding of the buyer’s wants is critical to success, but it’s a common mistake veteran and rookie salespeople continue to make.

2. How can salespeople keep reinventing themselves for their customers?
In industries where the products change infrequently or the sales process requires multiple calls, presentations can become stagnate and lead to sluggish sales. To avoid this downturn in sales, a salesperson should consider the following:
a. Fresh ideas –
Fresh ideas to the sales approach can generate new revenue sources. For example, if you’re selling to the dental industry, where a dentist may invest in X-ray equipment only two or three times in his or her career, you may have to expand your product/service offering to include brokering older, yet functional equipment to young dentists just starting out. This change may open a new door to an existing client to replace equipment, and it may create a new long-term customer as well.

b. Success stories – Much in the same way fresh ideas create new opportunities, so do fresh successes. Positive encounters with other customers can help provide a new look to an old product. If you show a potential buyer tht the market still demands a tried and true product, doors of new opportunity may be opened for you.

c. Purpose – In an industry that is more relationship based than transactional based, i.e., a manufacturer’s rep versus a retail sales rep, be careful to make purpose driven calls as opposed to “howdy-doody” or meet-and-greet calls. Too often salespeople end their schedule of calls much like this – “Mary, it was good to see you again. Give me a call if you need me.” A purpose-driven call should end with a message similar to this – “Mary, I hope you’ll consider the _______________ we discussed today. Can I give you a call next week to check with you?” Prior to making a call, define the purpose of your call.

3. Which is worse: Being too anxious to close the sale, or sitting back and waiting for the customer and missing a window of opportunity?
Could there be a more loaded question than this one? While the answer may seem to be straightforward, it’s really quite complex. People are personalities and personalities are as unique as precious gemstones, each with its own color and flaws. If you’re a quarterback (controller) personality selling to a wide receiver (detailer) personality, you’d serve yourself well to be patient with the buyer and allow him or her the time needed to consider all the facts. However, at some point, you’ll need to ask for the business, so you can’t just sit back and do nothing. On the other hand, if you’re a running back (celebrator) whose prospect is a lineman (whatever player), you need to create some sense of urgency to move both of you forward.

If my only choices were being too anxious or waiting, I’d have to take the risk of seeming too anxious. The risk of never asking for the business is too great to simply let the opportunity pass you by. If being a little anxious for the sell didn’t work, would we still have telemarketing, infomercials, or sales reps proactively selling our products and services?

4. What advice can you give a salesperson if his or her client is only buying on price?
Anyone in sales is going to encounter the pricing objection. The first thing we need to realize is that if we sell on price alone, we can soon lose a client for that very reason. Therefore, it’s important to create value that exceeds the price regardless of what your price may be. However, when faced with a price sensitive customer, the issue still has to be addressed. The practice I use is to wait until the client raises the pricing issue a second time to ensure it really is an objection and not just a smokescreen. At that point, I then reveal the price and immediately ask the customer for feedback with a short question such as, “Mike, it does seem to be a fair price for the value you’ll receive.” Regardless of Mike’s answer, we now have the proverbial 800-pound gorilla out in the open, which allows us to discuss it. Buyers recognize our right to be profitable. Our job is to show the buyers value for their dollar through the products or services we sell. Value can be enhanced by multiple factors, including service, return on investment, safety, competitiveness, and more. Look at your industry and determine the features of your products or services that enhance customer value.

5. How has technology, including social media, changed the game for salesperson?
Technology has certainly changed in my lifetime as a salesperson. Any factor influencing sales can have either a positive or negative impact on the results. If we were to look at the positive impacts technology has had on any product, the changes would include:
a. Research –
As sales reps, our jobs have been made significantly easier by our ability to find new opportunities with just a few keystrokes.

b. Product —
Technology has provided improvements in the development, manufacturing, and delivery of today’s products. Playing To Win is a prime example. E-books sales now more than rival traditional print, making products available to a larger audience at lower prices.

c. Marketing –
It’s obvious that with technology and social media, our way of communicating to existing and potential buyers has changed the face of sales. Facebook, Twitter, and others have created a world in which we can target potential buyers on their terms.

As far as negative factors brought about by technology, consider:
a. Competition – New websites, thus new competition, are being created every day. Where we once competed with limited rivals in perhaps our own market, the Internet has supplied countless low-margin, high-volume vendors for almost anything.

b. Pricing –
As competition increases, prices decrease. With the seemingly limitless outlets, traditional vendors have had to lower prices, which can result in less revenue and profit.

c. Information –
Competitors can access your information and dissect your strategies and tactics to move ahead of you, and this can happen long before you realize it.

Allen Guy has more than 25 years of experience in sales and management, primarily in the banking and financial services industries. He is a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and a graduate of the University of Georgia.