10 Ways to Become a Better College Salesperson

 It is true the economy is rebounding at glacier speed!  Yes, prospects are still cautious about spending money.  And absolutely there have been college and state budget cuts.  The fact still remains you, as the college salesperson, are expected to find and bring in new business, increase revenue, and meet your sales goals.  Here are 10 ways to become a better college salesperson: 

1. Say I Will, Not I’ll Try – This is a key step to becoming a better salesperson.  Saying I will lose weight is much stronger than I’ll try to lose weight.  The same is true for sales.  By saying “I Will”, you close the escape door.  You look for creative ways to find the right prospects, for getting referrals/recommendations into those prospects, for asking better questions, and making your sales goals.
    
2. Be Prepared – Have a process and a plan to determine your top prospects to call.  Research those prospects using their website, Google and another search engine.  Have your approach ready and non-scripted.  Be yourself, and grab that prospect’s attention with what’s in it for them if they do business with your college.
    
3. Be Personally Accountable – Stop blaming the economy, college administration, or marketing for low sales volume.  Start saying, “How Can I” get more business—even in this economy?  “What Can I” do to help prospects understand what a great solution-provider the college can be for them.  Set aside time to prospect—and do it!  Follow up on a regular basis.
    
4. Evaluate Your Last Successful Sales Call – Determine why it worked and the prospect bought your products and services.  What process did you follow?  What questions did you ask?  How did you gain trust?  Then replicate those things again.
    
5. Schedule Prospecting Time Each Week –Set aside 2-4 hours per week to make outbound prospecting calls with the purpose of scheduling a face-to-face meeting.  Guard this time and make those prospecting calls happen.  Make calls when you are energetic and fresh.  Make sure all the pre-research has been done and these are the prospects who could actually buy from you.  Smile, and have fun with this.
    
6. Try Different Approaches –Identify yourself and immediately go into how you have helped other companies in their market to increase productivity, save money, or become more competitive.  State a fact you learned from their company research.  See what works and replicate it.  Practice your approach on your co-workers or on your voicemail.  How do you sound?  Would you schedule an appointment with you?
    
7. Call on Higher Level Decision Makers –If you enter on the “C” level, you will obtain larger contracts, shorter decision-making time, and larger buy-in for future business.  It may take a referral or additional research to open the door, but it will be worth it.
    
8. Ask Better Questions –Create a list of 20-25 questions that your prospect hasn’t heard before and your competition isn’t asking.  Probe deeper to uncover the true need and issue of the company.  Ask what outcomes they are expecting and the areas they want to change.  Ask what will be the cost if they don’t “fix” this problem.
    
9. Engage the Prospect –Smile, listen, build trust and rapport, show knowledge from research and above all, talk about why they should do business with your college.  When you smile, it shows confidence.  An engaged prospect is looking for ways to make your products and services work for them.  An unengaged prospect is looking for ways to get rid of you!
    
10.  Ask for the Business – Follow all the steps of Solution Selling, and after you have hand-delivered the proposal, answered objections and set aside their fears—ask for the business.  Utilize trial closes up to this point.  Then ask them “How Does This Look?”  If they say great—move to the contract stage and fulfillment.  If they are still hesitating, or have to think about it—the true value wasn’t revealed for the prospect, or all of their objections weren’t answered.

For more information on how to become a better sales person at your college or university, contact:
Kathy Yeager
Contract Training Edge
913-593-5347
kyeager@ctedge.net

To Contact CT Edge:

Contract Training Edge, LLC
941-275-4808 (telephone)
kyeager@ctedge.net