Website Marketing Club

Using the KISS Test To Increase Sales From Frank Rumbauskas

Oct 13, 2009 Sales

One term we all have heard is KISS or Keep It Simple, Stupid. The bulk of salespeople ignore this basic principle a lot of times.

Here are some examples of what I am talking about. While I was working at one position, I sat next to a person who could have been a top salesperson. We both operated almost the same in that rather than cold call, we ran our own personal marketing programs to create leads and simply took the call that came in. The problem is what he did with the calls. When I got calls from someone ready to buy, I went right into the closing and made arrangements to either come out with the paperwork or have it faxed over. He went into a full length company story and gave a lot of information he should not tell potential client unless they ask for it. These people who were ready to buy soon lost interest and did not buy a thing.

Another example is what happens every time I try to make a business purchase. Here I am, saying “Yes, I’m going to buy,” and the sales rep launches into a company story about how long they’ve been in business, who their big clients are, and on and on. Lucky for these salespeople, the product usually sells itself and I still buy. However, I’m willing to bet that a lot of people don’t. Nothing is more frustrating than picking up the phone saying, “Hi, here I am ready to buy,” and having some rep go into a story bragging about how great the company is and all that they can do. That comes off as pure arrogance to a business owner. What’s more, talking about your big enterprise clients alienates most small business owners. They assume their needs will be placed second to those of the big dogs and that they’ll be treated as just a number when calling for service.

The root of this massive problem is the training. Every course I’ve taken has gone through the steps of a sale. And what if all the steps do not take place? Objection handling is to be considered. While I was working for that company I mentioned earlier, many of my prospects did not object to my marketing because it took care of them in advance. When a salesperson assume that each of the steps are going to take place, a great deal of them will cause something to happen when it should not have in the beginning. Do not give a prospect a reason to have a major objection.

I’ve seen a lot of managers require their reps to fill out a “lead sheet” that documents each step of the sale. This assumes that each of the steps will happen when they may not. If you’re required to maintain these types of records, skip anything that doesn’t happen naturally. Don’t induce a prospect to enter a selling phase that may not only be unnecessary, but may cause you to lose the sale entirely.

The KISS test should be used when selling. Make sure what you are doing is necessary. Trust me, you will save yourself a great deal of wasted time and lost sales.

Tags: increase sales, Sales