Remaining Positive When Selling ESP’s
The number one reason sales people are not successful at selling ESP is because they just don’t offer it. There may be a lot of different reasons why sales people don’t offer the ESP; maybe they don’t believe in it or maybe they are just lazy, though personally I tend to think it is because they just get told “no” too many times. Let’s face facts, over half of the customers you present the ESP to will probably say no. With that many no’s, I know it’s hard to remain positive, but there are things you can do to help.
Let’s take a quick look at the consumer buying statistics of ESP’s. 30% never purchase an ESP, they just don’t believe in them. 50% might purchase an ESP depending on the product and the price, and I like to say the presentation by the sales person, and 20% purchase them all the time. So if we figure we can close the 20% that purchase them all the time, and add to that half of the 50% the might purchase one, that gives us 45%. Let me tell you, if your closing 45% of qualified customers, your an ESP HERO!
So you see that at 45%, even the very best ESP sales people have over half of their customers tell them no. You cannot take it personally and let it discourage you from offering it. One tool I used to use to help me keep things in perspective was that I would draw two columns on a piece of paper, labeling one “YES” and one “NO”. Then each time I presented the ESP, I would make a mark on the paper, either under YES because I made the ESP sale or NO because I did not. This way I could keep track of how I was doing, and when I started to get down on myself from all the no’s I would check the sheet, if on average I was closing 2-5 customers out of every 10 then I could tell myself everything is fine, I am right on track.
That other thing you can do that will help you remain positive, is to be persistent. Not only being persistent in reminding yourself that you know how to sell ESP’s and you can do it, but also admitting to yourself that you can always learn more, and being persistent in seeking out new knowledge, knowledge about the ESP product and services, as well as ESP selling skills knowledge. Which I guess if your reading this, you are already doing that. If you continue to educate yourself, it will build your self-confidence.
So stay on track, be persistent and remember that every “no” only brings you closer to the next “yes:
