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Closing sales is the main measurable goal for professional sales pros. What is your closing rate? Is it tattooed on your brain? Bringing home the bacon is closing the sale without the threat of buyer’s remorse and possible cancellation. Indeed, many top sales people can close a high percentage of sales but the power of their subtle coercion just brings about a cancellation once the salesman has gone. All was for naught. A great performance but “no cigar”.

Here is a general idea of the basis for consultative selling technique? Most clients have the pre-conceived notion that a sales person is there to game them….because if they like the sales person they might buy the product or service. This is what we call the “white shoe” style of selling. It’s based on the premise that the client wants to help the sales person and not so much themselves; a very weak premise. If there is no sale, then it becomes a personal rejection of the sales person. Most people deeply fear rejection in any form.

Successful sales professionals know that it’s not about being like-able but is about identifying the need(s) and want(s) of the buyer. If the buyer sees no need for what you have to sell, chances are highly probable that you are wasting your time trying to make what your selling become a need. So, the first step in the consultative sale is to present yourself as an objective expert on how-if the buyer has the need-your product or service might represent a solution. An effective consultative sale will result in the client asking for the sale.

Building Urgency

Key to closing any sale is building urgency to make a decision. You do this by establishing upfront in the presentation that the buyer will give you a yes or no at the end of the process-either it makes sense or it doesn’t. Assure them that it won’t hurt your feelings if they say no. Rejection is no problem for you. The facts will make any decision apparent.

By not setting the expectation of a decision at the end of the presentation not only loses the opportunity to get a decision and save wasted return visits with the “hope” for an eventual sale, but also the sales person loses the opportunity to take control and bust the view that the sales person is there to do a song and dance. If you come in with a no nonsense, needs assessment approach-and mean it-you position yourself as an adviser and not a sales person.

A consultative sale depends on presenting a logical reason to buy. However, the buyer must first agree that they have the need (problem) and that they want to satisfy the need. It then becomes a matter of presenting facts that logically support what you have to offer. If done properly, at the end of the presentation, the buyer will ask for the sale: “So, what’s next?” or “What can you do for me?When a client asks for help or the next step in the process (closing signals), it demonstrates the following:

* You are not a salesperson in the traditional sense. Your job was to help facilitate a decision. You presented yourself as an expert on the subject-not a sales person.

* You help the buyer admit that there is a problem or need and that it should be resolved now.

* You set the ground rules that if your presentation makes sense, the buyer will give you a yes or no. Either it makes sense or not.

You kept the sales person out of the room. It was all dispassionate logic.

You showed that your main interest was helping the client meet their needs-not yours. If your product can meet the need, so much the better. But the decision was totally in the hands of the buyer.

* The buyer was under your control from the time you set the expectation of giving you a decision.

Always have your pen and contract at the ready when they ask for your help.

Perhaps it’s because there’s a close cultural connection between great music and smoky bars. Anyone who knows anything about jazz knows that its truly legendary improvisers – Coltrane, Bird, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie – cut their teeth playing in bars so smoky that it’s a good thing everybody was too busy improvising to need sheet music.

Or maybe it’s because both cigars and music are contemplative pleasures. A casual smoker can get a quick tobacco-fix from a cheap cigarette, just as a casual music listener can enjoy the background hum of pop songs on the car radio. But to really enjoy a great performance, or a good tobacco, sitting still and paying attention are necessary.

In any case, music and cigar smoking seem to belong together, and some of the most famous musicians are (or were) cigar devotees – just as, it turns out, one of the most famous of cigar devotees is also a musician. Avo Uvezian, the maker of Avo cigars, is also a respected classical and jazz pianist, a Julliard graduate, and even the one-time official pianist of the Shah of Iran. After a successful musical career based first in his native Middle East, and then in the contiguous United States, Uvezian moved in the 1980s to Puerto Rico, where he opened a restaurant and bar and dabbled in cigarmaking. After customers at his Puerto Rico restaurant told him how much they enjoyed some cigars he’d had rolled himself, from a blend of tobaccos he hand-picked, he opened his own Dominican Republic-based cigar factory, working with noted cigar maker Hendrik Kelner. Now his company makes three million cigars a year, and Uvezian himself still makes music – his first CD, Legacy, was released in 2004.

For another example, consider the great trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who smokes, by his own estimation, four or five cigars a day. Music allowed the Cuban-born Sandoval to rise to fame in his native Cuba – and to defect from that country in 1990, during a long stint playing concerts in Europe (he now lives in Florida). Sandoval has played the horn for Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, Gloria Estefan and Johnny Mathis, Michel Legrand and Frank Sinatra. His technically flawless playing has resulted in his being the kind of musician whose work is often known by people who couldn’t name him – he is brought in as a session musician by some of the world’s finest and best-known (see above), and he often scores movie soundtracks. As his work with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Leningrad Philharmonic prove, he’s even proved able to handle the rigors of classical music as well as jazz – sometimes doing both in the same concert.

The cigar-music connection is especially strong in Cuba, known as one of the world’s cigar capitals. Both cigars and music are staples of island life (the cigar remains one of the island’s most prominent exports), and the strength of both in Cuban culture depends partly on the nimble and intelligent blending of elements from everywhere – wrappers and fillers from different parts of Latin America, rhythms and melodies from the African coast, South America, US pop, Western European classical, etc. In other words, Cuban cigarmaking and Cuban music have both survived, and flourished, by mixing and melding.

For generations, cigar rollers were entertained by the sound of paid musicians or by music from the radio. (This tradition continues even now in the Dominican Republic, where workers at the Arturo Fuente factory, among other places, are treated to the work of performing musicians.) With this tradition in place, it’s no wonder that some of Cuba’s music legends got their start as cigar-factory entertainers; and since tobacco smoking has been a part of Latin American life far longer than it has in some other places – Columbus’s sailors noted it being smoked in what is now modern Cuba in the year 1493, so there’s many more centuries of lore to draw on its psychological and emotional associations are deeper and richer, providing better material for songwriters to mine. Thus famous Cuban songwriter Beny More, himself a former entertainer for the cigar-factory workers, touches on the song in a number of his classic compositions.

It might be said that the electronic cigarette is the best product that has ever came along for those who smoke. It has many undeniable advantages over traditional tobacco cigarettes and lot smokers are just now finding that out. Smoking cigarettes is one of the most difficult habits to give up and so many who smoke have tried time and time again unsuccessfully to stop. The electronic cigarettes is not being marketed as a tool to help you stop smoking, but rather as an alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes; even though the electronic cigarette does deliver doses of nicotine like many stop smoking aids do. The decision and will power to quit smoking is as always in the hands of the smoker.

If you are tired of paying the outrageous prices for a pack of cigarettes today, the electronic versions are more affordable. They deliver the same smoking satisfaction without the tar associated with tobacco products that are burned. Electronic cigarettes have no carcinogens at all because nothing is burned. The nicotine solution is only heated by the atomizer that is activated by a rechargeable battery stick when you inhale. The smoke that is exhaled is really just water vapor. It is less harmful to others if it is harmful at all, than second hand smoke from regular cigarettes.

There have been numerous studies done on the <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.premiumecigarette.com”>Electronic Cigarette</a> and so far most of the findings have been that they appear be less harmful because of one fact alone, and that is the lack of the thousands of harmful chemicals that are in tobacco cigarettes. This fact however, is still being debated and not all researchers agree that electronic cigarettes are any better for you physically than tobacco cigarettes. That aside, there are advantages over tobacco cigarettes that are plainly obvious.

There is no bad odor from electronic cigarettes, as well as no tar residue in your body or your surroundings. They can be much more convenient to use for a smoker because there is no lighting involved. An artificial glowing red tip is as close to a fire as you get with an electronic cigarette. They will not burn anything. You can lay them down wherever you like with no worry of starting a fire. It is the numbers of filters that have to be disposed of is significantly reduced because one nicotine filter is equivalent to a half a pack of cigarettes or more. There are even less filters to be disposed of when you choose to buy the nicotine solution to refill your filters, which is even more economical.

Whether or not you believe that electronic cigarettes are a better smoking choice for you, must be decided by you. Many smokers have already switched over to this new revolution because it is less offensive to others and more convenient and cheaper for them.

Overcoming objections is not hard. It is a simple matter of assuming the customer is going to buy and then solving their problem. In this article, I am going to give a true example of how a salesperson walked right past a sale they could have easily gotten using a some simple techniques for overcoming objections.

First, let’s set the scene for the true life example for overcoming objections.

Last Monday, which was the 31st day of August (I mention the date for a reason you will see) my wife and I decided to buy a new car and went to a dealership. The salesperson showed us three vehicles that would have been acceptable. One was the most luxurious model and we really liked it but said it was we couldn’t afford it. That left two vehicles. One of them had a bad order and we rejected it. But then…out of the blue…came the final crushing objection. My wife said that she doesn’t like the color of either of them. The salesperson tried to find other inventory in his computer and kind of lost our interest while he was lost in working the computer for a long time. Then, he brought his manager to see us. The manager was nice but also made no attempt to close us. When we left, my wife said she was disappointed that they didn’t try to sell us as she would have bought any of the three vehicles if they had made it easy for us to make the purchase. Let’s look at some of the approaches they could have taken that could have easily turned a disappointed hand shake into a sale.

It’s The Last Day Of The Month

As I mentioned, it happened to be the last day of the month. What if the salesperson had asked if we really liked the luxury model we thought was out of our budget? If we said yes, he could have said. “Look, today is the last day of the month. Our expenses for the month are all paid. Any money we make now is just gravy. Now is the time to make an offer and see if you can get the luxury model to fit in your budget. Pick a number in your heart that will make you happy and I’ll get the paperwork started.” You can also adapt this to the beginning of the month and the middle of the month, to Saturdays, evenings and mornings.

Let’s Talk About The Color

My wife didn’t like the color, but what if the salesperson had said, “I know you don’t like the color but let me ask. Is there a price that would make the color acceptable? I mean if you saved enough would you accept a color that is different than the one you were hoping for? How much would you have to save? I doubt it but let’s see if we can get it in that range. I’ll get the paperwork started.”

Let’s Talk About The Odor

One vehicle was rejected due to a string cigar odor. The salesperson just agreed with us that it was overpowering. What if he had said, “Carl, we have a great reconditioning department and we are great at odor control. In fact, we do all the police cars for the city. I am confident we can get that odor to completely disappear. I am going to write on the order that this purchase is subject to us getting the odor to you satisfaction or the purchase is null and void. I’ll’ get the paperwork started.”

The Loyalty Bonus

“Carl, normally you couldn’t get that luxury model in your price range but I see you bought your current vehicle here. I am going to try to get you a loyalty bonus that will make this vehicle affordable. I’ll get the paperwork started.”

Let’s Talk Paint

Carl, I understand that you wife dislikes the color, so I’m going to write here that the vehicle if to be repainted in the color of your choice at no additional charge. I’ll get the paperwork started”. Now this may or may not be possible but it will get the buyers to sign a contract and get the negotiations rolling.

The Coin Flip

A last ditch “Hail Mary” approach is to find out which one they are “leaning towards” and then say, “Tell you what, I’ll flip you for it. Heads you buy it, tails you walk away”. You flip a coin and you have a 50% chance.

If Your Daughter….?

“Carl, let me ask you, if your daughter was looking for a good vehicle from a good dealer and she saw the ones you saw today, what would you advise her to do?” Many customer will say, “I’d advise here to take the XXXX”

Would These Methods Work?

We have discussed seven ideas to get the sale. Would they work? They will work on some people and not on others. But we know for sure that they won’t work if they are not tried. In our true example, the salesperson and the manager failed to try and lost the sale. Be sure you have lots of ways to solve the customers’ problems and always assume that they are buying. It is easy to overcome objections if you just don’t give up and if you try to solve the customer’s problem.

Among cigar smokers Cuban cigars are always abuzz.  However, legalized Cuban cigars aren’t as close as you might think.  Though there are many out there that suspect the embargo could be lifted in 2010, you can bet that there are other things that will have to happen before coveted Cubans are going to be legal in the USA.

Since the new administration has taken over, Barack Obama has discussed lifting the Cuban embargo and Cuban cigar lovers have salivated at the chance to get all the Cubans they can at reasonable prices.  It’s not likely, unfortunately, that this can happen overnight.  It is going to have to happen in stages and to quote Rush Limbaugh –“…you have no clue what is ahead of us as cigar smokers. What will happen is that the domestic manufacturers, defined by those who are in the Dominican and in Honduras, Nicaragua, Cameroon, all of the places where elements of cigars are grown, and all the places where they’re assembled, these people have in many cases marketed the brands of the Cuban cigars you’re talking about Hoyo De Monterrey, Punch, Simon Bolivar, all of these great Cuban brands have been marketed by other owners in the United States, and they are going to go to the Commerce Department, and they’re going to say we have made these brands popular, we have invested in the product and in the brand in this country, and they’re gonna ask the Commerce Department to ban the import of competing brand-name cigars from Cuba.”

Though it’s likely that we’re going to have to wait a while for Cuba cigars to be legal in the US I think that once Cubans are legal there will be a huge surge of cigar smokers and cigar smoking.  Much like the storm of online poker websites and poker players hit once Texas Hold’em became popular the cigar world will see the biggest cigar boom it has ever seen if Cuban cigars are legalized in the US.

There are also other economic factors that come into play when you’re talking about legalizing the most coveted cigars on the planet.  The economies of Honduras, The Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua will be severely affected once legal Cuban cigars are available to the masses. But, as I stated before, these economies will eventually come back to life stronger than ever once everyone realizes that Cuban cigars aren’t really that much different than the cigars produced in the above mentioned countries.  Not to mention that once Cuba has to produce cigars for Americans its production will be so overdone that the likelihood of the quality control diminishing is quite strong.

So, if you’re crossing your fingers for 2010 to be the year that you’re able to get all the Cuban cigars you want without having to sneak them in – keep dreaming!  We’ve got a long way before stocking up on Cubans will be legal in the US!

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