Halloween has just been and gone; the time of year where we can dress up and knock on stranger’s doors and ask for sweets. It’s odd isn’t it; the only time of year in which we encourage our kids to take sweets from strangers!
This year whilst taking my kiddies out, I got thinking; trick or treating is not too different to sales. In fact, trick or treating is just an extension of door to door sales if we really think about it.
So, I got thinking even more; what can trick or treating teach us about sales? How can this odd tradition encourage our sales activities in our businesses?
Look for Clues
As with any kind of sales activity, trick or treating is a numbers game. The more doors you knock on, the greater chance of more sweets! However, if you are strapped for time, or want to be more observant you can look for certain clues as to understand whom to target.
We can class these as ‘buying’ signals really. These are the indicators and the signals to help you as a sales person know if the person MAY be interested in whatever it is you are selling. So, in the real life, this could be an incoming enquiry to your business, a referral, a recommendation, a LinkedIn post stating “I am looking for….” Etc. However in a Halloween example, this would be the pumpkin outside the house or the over the top decorations. We all know there is a greater chance of sweets (or a sale) with the people whom show off these signals.
So, be vigilant. Keep your eyes peeled. Keep your radars open! Look for clues and act when you see them!
However…..
Having said all of the above, it does not mean we should not target those without decorations – or displaying any forms of buying signals. We have to keep an open mind and give everyone the chance or option to say no, or to turn us down. After all, who are we to decide if a prospect will want a product or service.
Just because someone has not laid out a pumpkin does not mean they have sweets inside their house just waiting to be picked. So we should not neglect any houses.
The same could be said for sales. Just because you ‘don’t think’ your prospect will have a need for your product or service does not mean you shouldn’t try. At the end of the day, they may want to refer you to someone else, or perhaps will want to use your services in 6 months’ time.
So still, give everyone a chance. The more doors you knock, the greater chance you will get more sweets!
As my mum always said; “if you don’t ask, you don’t receive!”
No Sweets?
Normally, sales people and business owners get disheartened when they hear a ‘no’. Rejection sucks. There is no doubt about that. So, with every good intention many people will start to make sales call, or go door knocking and after a couple of failed attempts they procrastinate or start to look for other jobs to do.
But you don’t do that with trick or treating, do you? You don’t go to a house, hear that they have no sweets left or perhaps don’t want to take part, and then give up and go home! You move on to the next house!
We should all do that with our sales activities too. If we get rejected, if we get turned down, or perhaps the person we are trying to sell to doesn’t need us; what should we do? Keep going? We must always keep moving forward and move on to the next one – you never know how many sweets the next house has for you!
Too Many Sweets?
We have seen it all too often. A sales person gets a massive commission and they take it easy for the rest of the month. Or a business lands a massive contract and they cool down their pipeline; they don’t continue to prospect.
The same can happen on Halloween. What happens if you go to the first house and they give you a whole tub of Celebrations? Do you go home? Do you call it a night? No of course not, you keep going!
It can be very easy to rest on our laurels once we have seen some great success. However, what happens when the sweet pot runs out? What happens when that massive contract finishes? What happens when the contract we have been relying on falls through?
Keep your emotions neutral and whether you are getting 0 sales and struggling, or perhaps you are dominating your sales you need to remain as neutral as possible.
So there we have it; you might not have known there were some good sales tips to be taken from Trick or Treating – but there certainly is! Next time you are going door knocking, or perhaps making sales calls, be sure to think about your Halloween evening! Just without the scary costume of course!
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