Franchise Update Magazine Issue IV, 2014 | страница 66

Grow Market Lead
64

It’s closing
time
BY STEVE OLSON

Sell More Franchises Now!

O

Mastering the psychology of buyers

nce a salesman complained,
“What an idiot! I can’t believe
my prospect went with our
competition.” In quizzing him
about the lost candidate, the troubled
rep was clueless about the buyer’s motivations, concerns, and goals in owning
a business. My question is, “Was it the
buyer or the sales rep who was the idiot?”
In today’s change-prone economy,
sales pros gain the edge by moving directly into their prospect’s world. They
probe, read, adapt, and outsell their
competition by fully understanding
and responding to how their candidates
think and behave. Here are selling insights that may help increase your recruiting success.
• Buyers expect responsiveness.
Today franchise follow-up is still in
crisis mode. According to Franchise
Update Media’s annual surveys, late
or no callbacks to email requests are
the norm rather than the exception;
too many respondents are immediately
thrown into voicemail jungle; and inquiring prospects, if lucky, may receive
correspondence several days later. At a
$50 median cost per lead, many brands
are losing potential deals. The “first to
the door” sales pros are winning the
development race.
• Buyers are seeking a relationship. Franchising is people-driven, not
product-driven! Buyers smell productpushers 10 miles away, which is why
many sales people fail at selling franchises. You’ll outperform competitors
by focusing on a prospect, their families,
aspirations, and the health and wealth
of their futures. By gaining their credibility, confidence, and trust, you’re in
the driver’s seat.
• Buyers don’t know how to buy
a franchise. Most of your prospects
Franchiseupdate ISS U E IV, 2 0 1 4

haven’t purchased a franchise before, so
how would they know how to go about
it? You’re the expert, not them. It’s your
role to take control of the investigation
through leadership. If you don’t, they
will! If you fail to define the steps and
timeline of your buying process early
on, they’ll create their own, which in
most cases leads to confusion, uncertainty, and lost deals.
• Buyers are highly impressionable and fragile. Every word you utter to a prospect is recorded in their
memory. What you say and do will
greatly influence their investigation.
Minor errors have major impact, e.g.,
when your investment costs don’t match
your brochure estimates; when you
take 2 days to return their phone call;
when you misspell their name on your
follow-up correspondence; when you
ask the same question twice; or when
you’re 15 minutes late picking them up