Many times when sales reps are hired to sell Google AdWords, or Yahoo, MSN, or other SEM (search engine marketing) solutions, they are trained to go out and tell the small business owner why their companies’ SEM solution is superior to their competitors…and they tell the same “value story” the same way to every business owner. One of the reasons companies who hire sales reps to sell SEM take this approach, is that it’s easy to teach, and it can be repeated over and over with every sales interaction. It then becomes a numbers game. Make lots and lots of sales calls and a certain percentage will buy. The problem with this approach is that small business owners have become very skeptical with sales reps who call them on the phone or show up at their location and make promises about the how well their solution will work…and they don’t know anything about that individual business owner’s current situation or anything about their industry.  In many cases, the reason this approach doesn’t work is due to a lack of trust and credibility.

As an example, let’s take a landscaping contractor. Are all landscapers the same? Do they all offer the same products and services? Do sales reps consider all of the possibilities before the sales interaction? How much research is done before the first contact? How many questions are written out to fully understand that individual contractor’s capabilities, capacity, focus areas, unique selling proposition, geography, etc.?

There are many sales reps who take the approach that, “I will get all of that information once I know they are interested in buying SEM.” Unfortunately, that’s backward thinking. Put yourself in that landscaper’s shoes.  Would you put your trust in someone who didn’t know anything about your company and give them some of your advertising dollars to try to promote your business online?

The other mistake that is often made by sales reps who take the same approach with every business is that when they do try to attempt to understand a business owner’s needs, they jump right in with very broad open end questions such as, “So, what are your business goals for this year?”

The problem with asking that question too early in the sales process is that the sales rep may not have earned the right to ask that question yet. The sales rep would be better off doing some quick research on the business and industry (by the way, this doesn’t take long if you know what you are looking for) and asking a much more specific and significant question early on to gain credibility and lower the business owner’s guard.

For example, what if the sales rep approached that same landscaper after looking at their web site, and doing some brief research on Google (such as typing “choosing a landscape contractor”) and after introducing themselves asked, “Mr. Landscaper, one of the reasons for my call today is that I wanted to ask you about your computerized design service…do you charge for that service or is it free?”

By the way, asking a very specific and significant close-ended question early on in the sales interaction will almost always get some type of response.  Don’t believe it…try it!

The response may sound like this. “No we don’t charge for the service, but I won’t leave the design with the client unless they do business with us. Why do you want to know?” The sales rep can then respond, “The reason for my question is that through some of my research I noticed a high volume of potential clients who are going online to look for a landscaper who offers computerized design and I may have a few ideas that may help you attract more of those types of clients.”

The point is, make it about their business…not yours…not yet. Sales reps won’t win many potential business owners over by starting the sales interaction with all kinds of features and benefits about how great their company is until the business owner knows that you have done your homework and understand their business and industry. Once that credibility is gained and the business owner’s guard has been lowered, then more open-ended questions can be asked. When the sales rep truly understands what the business owner is trying to accomplish, it creates a better opportunity to show how their unique SEM solution will make sense.

Mike Centorani
Vice President of Training and Development
Matchcraft, Inc.
www.matchcraft.com