Sales 101: Asking for the Order

"Ask, and you shall receive", a biblical principal that offers some of the best sales advice for beginning salespeople and experienced sales professionals alike. The best sales presentation imaginable generally will not yield the desired results unless the salesperson asks for the business.

Is this advice just for persons who make their living offering products and services to others for a commission? Yes, of course, but it is actually for all of us. After all, everybody sells! Surprised? Everybody does sell, although many people may not realize it at the time or think of themselves as salespeople. We sell ourselves and our ideas everyday.

In the job interview setting, we are selling the potential employer as to why we are the best person for the job. The boy who desires to date the girl he is enamored with must sell her as to the benefits of going out with him. The man proposing marriage to his sweetheart is selling her as to the lifelong benefits of being with him only. We all sell, in one manner or another, although possibly not in the traditional sense.

Selling, distilled down to its most basic roots, is simply the matching of benefits to needs and desires. The salesperson acts as the broker who is simply bringing the product or service to the table so that the buyer can be shown the personal benefits of ownership or use. Under ideal circumstances, the salesperson's purpose is simply to help the buyer purchase what he needs or wants. It is a win-win scenario for both. There is no coercion.

What is missing in many sales presentations however, is the final close? asking for the order. I have witnessed countless sales presentations during my career where the salesperson has done a magnificent job in making her presentation. She answered all of the objections. She probed and used trial closes along the way. At the peak of the presentation, the crescendo? she says "have a nice day" or "I'll see you next time" or "call me when you are ready" or some other lame comment and then turns to walk away. She never asked for the order!

My sales motto has always been, "Ask, or the answer is always no", and it really is. We must always perform the next natural step in the progression of our wonderful sales presentation, after the objections have been answered, and that is to ask the customer to make a buying decision now. This is the reason why there are salespeople. We would not be needed otherwise.

After all, an interested potential customer can go to the internet these days and learn just about every fact imaginable concerning our products or service. He can also examine our competitors. The customer is better educated than ever before. The salesperson must be at least as well educated as her customer as to the features, advantages and benefits of her own products and services, as well as those of her competitors. Keeping these facts in mind, what then is the role of the salesperson? Salespeople exist to close the sale. That is all.

As salespeople, if we fail to ask for the order, seldom will we actually receive the business and related commissions we desire. So... "Ask, and you shall receive."

Daniel Sitter is the author of the breakthrough e-book, Learning For Profit, the revolutionary "how-to" book providing simple, step-by-step instructions to teach people exactly how to learn new skills faster than ever before. It is what the author calls a "skinny book", a new generation of e-book designed for busy people. Containing no "filler or fluff", it gets right to the point with no wasted time. It can be read easily and quickly on a computer, a PDA or printed for later reference.

Visit http://www.learningforprofit.com/ or contact the author directly. This e-book is currently available from C|net's download.com, the authors' web site and a variety of online book merchants. Mr. Sitter is also a contributing writer for several online and traditional publications.

---

Three Secret Keys to Persuasion Magic

Just a few critical distinctions can supercharge your communication skills:1... Read More

8 Sales Lead Generation Methods

I've been getting lots of email from my readers lately.... Read More

10 Amazing Ways To Jump Start Your Sales

1. Find a strategic business partner. Look for ones that... Read More

The Road to Achieving Training Success: What Holds the Key?

As a trainer, you will be able to see a... Read More

How to Use Humor to Increase Sales

Using cartoons can help brand your marketing and drive home... Read More

Get Tough

You deal with rejections, frustrations, disappointment, and possibly disrespect on... Read More

Keep Sales Simple

For those of us working in the exciting world of... Read More

Secrets to Getting in Front of Your Best Prospects

As a salesperson, your ultimate goal, of course, is to... Read More

How Salespeople Can Create Immediate Believability And Credibility

It pays to be specific. I believe that statement is... Read More

4 Reasons Why the Sale is Not Made

When sales are down, a salesperson must begin to take... Read More

Order Takers vs. Sales Professionals

As business owners we all know that in a ideal... Read More

The Canned Sales Pitch Myth

Canned or scripted sales approaches are rarely successful, because one... Read More

Prep Your Customer

When I first moved to Seattle, I worked for 9... Read More

The Art And Science of Closing - How To Close More Sales Right Now

One of the questions I often get asked as a... Read More

How to Reduce Sales Resistance

Sales resistance is a fact of life for most sales... Read More

How a Best Buy Sales Clerk Taught Me the Simple 6 Step Formula to Close ANY Sale!

Follow this story...I went to Best Buy today to get... Read More

Close More Sales With This Very Simple 3 Step Sales Process.

As Financial Services Sales Professional you need to build trust... Read More

Pressure Washer Business; Cleaning Composite Decks

There is a new trend in the way wood decks... Read More

Sales Leads: 10 Sure Fire Ways To Unleash An Avalanche Of Sales

If you knew a few sure fire ideas that have... Read More

Multiply Your Sales

When Thomas Edison's light bulb finally burned for 45 straight... Read More

Are You Deaf? Dumb? Blind at Trade Shows?

I'm constantly amazed how otherwise smart marketeers become deaf, dumb... Read More

Transforming Problems into Sales

My silent fish tank was no more. Enough water had... Read More

10 Boundless Ways To Anchor Down More Sales

1. Multiply your marketing and advertising efforts on the Internet.... Read More

Evaluating Your Customer

It is one thing to make a sales presentation, but... Read More

The Reason Why They Buy

If you're a business person you want to sell your... Read More

What Does It Take To WIN A Sale?

What to do when you win or lose.You have given... Read More

The Top 10 Powerful Tools for Growing Sales Through Creating Connection

Your mission as a business owner is to develop a... Read More

Boost Your Productivity, Networking and Sales: Make an Impression

Through out our career and lives we regularly get an... Read More

How To Master the Art of Super Salesmanship

Mastering the "art of selling" is simply knowing how to... Read More

7 Ways to Cut Loose from Old Sales Thinking

Sooner or later, we all backslide into old ways of... Read More

Training for Trade Shows - 5 FAQs

Trade shows are so obvious. You go. You hand out... Read More

Follow-Up Marketing: How to Win More Sales with Less Effort

A study done by the Association of Sales Executives revealed... Read More

The Truth About Sale Success!

Bill Brooks of The Brooks Group wrote an article several... Read More