So what is the difference between a secretarial service and a virtual assistant?



The Gritty Virtual Assistant has a posting that goes over what the difference is and it has largely to do with what a Virtual assistant can do for you.

As you may recall from previous post, I recommend that small business owners outsource some work so that you can concentrate on running your business and a Virtual Assistance may be the service you need. Remember, outsourcing is fine so long as it will not affect your customer service.

We have all heard the horror stories of companies doing overseas outsourcing of their customer service centers. This directly contributes to lower customer service which means it is bad for your bottom line. However a Virtual Assistant will handle things that happened behind the scene so customer service is not affected.

Since we have been talking about selling for just over a week, I decided to include this video of sales guru Tom Hopkins today.

An important point he makes at the beginning of the video which goes not only into selling a product but also into the very business you start, and that is you have to believe in your business and enjoy what you sell.

If you do not believe in your product and stand behind your product 100%, then you will not be believable to the customer. While there is always that salesperson will sell something they don't believe in to make a buck, how much will you be enjoying your business if you are selling something that you don't believe in?

You did the icebreaking, you qualified the customer, you showed the customer the benefits of the product, you did a trial close, you overcame any objections, you closed the sale, and you added the necessary accessories, now what?



Now is the time to do the many things we have talked about before to turn one time customers into loyal customers. Ask them if they would like to receive emails about special promotions you are running (just ensure them that you will not be selling their email addresses to anyone!).

One idea would be to put coupons on your shopping bags that tell gives the customer an incentive to come back to your store. You could also try putting coupons into the bags but these can have mixed results depending on how many people actually look at the coupon.

This would be a great time to put your networking together and have several business put coupons on bags and then share the bags. This will allow you to the opportunity to get your name out to even more people and several different stores.

You can relax for a moment as you have completed the sales process. Now go out and sell.

While this series focused on retail store, the selling process can work in a variety of areas to help you close more sales. Remember, it doesn't matter how many people you talk to in a day, what matters is how many you closed and got the money in the bank.

Happy selling.

For more ideas go to the Sales and Sales Management Blog

Now that you have closed the sale, you are done right?



Wrong.

Well, if you're a typical store these days you are done, however you're a small business owner so you need to make sure the customer has everything they need before walking out the door. It is time to suggest the important accessories for their purchase.

If they are buying a printer ask them if they need a cable for it. If they are buying a digital camera suggest rechargeable batteries for it (if it doesn't come with them) and a memory card.

Nothing is more frustrating for a customer than when they buy a product and then find out that they need to go back to the store and buy something else for it. Don't feel like you are pushing products on a customer, you are just getting them what they need. I have had to deal with way too many customers who were not told they needed a USB cable or their batteries died quickly and wanted to know why it wasn't told to them that they should by these products. If you suggest the products and they say no, then the customer is responsible for not buying them.

OK, there is also a financial benefit for you. Often times the accessories have a gross margin substantially higher than the main item so you are also making more money.

Don't forget to accessorize.

Zig Ziglar is a good place for information on selling.

You did icebreaking with the customer, you qualified the customer, you found the best product to suit the customer's needs, you gave the customer the benefits of the product, you did a trial close, and you overcame objections so you're done right? No, now comes the most important part of the transaction and that is closing the sale.



This may be hard to believe but the number one reason why most salespeople loose the customer is because they never ask the customer to buy! Can you imagine spending all this time with the customer, finding out all their needs and finding them the right product then not ask them if they are ready to buy?

At one retailer I worked for, there was a person who was supposed to be the electronics expert of the store. He would get into conversations with his customer, often spending an hour or more with them but the customer would end up walking out the door. When asked if he asked for the sale the usual response was "he was just looking". The longer he spent with the customer the less likely he was to make a sale.

So what's the worse that could happen, the customer will say no and you move on. But if you do not ask the question then you have wasted yours and the customer's time.

Ask for the sale.

The Sales and Sales Management Blog has more on selling.

So you did a trial close and the customer wasn't ready to buy, so now what?



Now you try to find out what is keeping the customer from buying your product, which is called overcoming the objection. Now you need to find out what is keeping the customer from buying your product and once again I will use the printer example.

"So Mr. Customer, you will greatly benefit from the speed this printer has, it will save you money due to the low operating cost, so what is keeping you from making a decision?"

The customer may have already told you this when you did the trail close, but if not then this is good question could ask. Here is some responses the customer will come up with:

-Worried about the price

If the customer brings up the cost, then ask them if they are worried about the price or the cost. This will usually get a response of a blank stare or someone saying there is no difference. Then you point out that the price is what they pay today, the cost is what the total will be for the lifetime of the product and then you show them how it will not be a big price over the lifetime.

-Want to think about it

If the customer leaves without buying, there is a 95% chance you will never see them again if they leave (unless they are a loyal customer). Chances are they want to check out your competitors so you may mention what your competitors price this printer at, show them what they will find at your competitors, and mention your return policy.

There is many other objections that customer may come up with many of them a diversionary tactic.

Zig Ziglar has some great information on overcoming objections.

Next time we will talk about closing the sale.

You have now given your customer a couple of benefits that your product offers, so is the customer ready to buy?

Now is the time to test the waters and see if your customer is ready to make that purchasing decision by doing a trial close. A trial close has nothing to do with the courts, it is just a question or a statement that allows you to see if your customer is ready to say yes to what you are selling.

Now I know many small business owners reading this may not come from a sales background and may think by doing this you are being too pushy but your not. You are just finding out if you have hit the right hot button and caused that makes the customer ready to buy.

Some salespeople will continue on rambling about everything the product does and the customer is ready to buy but when the salesman decides to keep talking will instead go shopping somewhere else.

Going back to the printer customer, lets say that you have given the customer a couple of benefits of the product so lets do a trail close and see if they are ready.

Here are a couple of examples:

"This printer will save you money due to lower cost per page. Now I have USB cables in six and ten foot lengths, which one would you like?"

"This takes the number 15 toner, would you like an additional toner with your printer today".

If you have done a good job of meeting the needs of the customer then they will say, give me a six foot one, or I don't need an extra toner today.

Other times the customer will just say they have a few more questions, and then go from there.

What it all comes down to is not talking too much. Find out if the customer is ready to buy and sell them what they want.

Once again a great reference for sales is the Sales and Sales Management Blog.