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A Word About Collecting Payment and Closing Deals

If You Aren't Collecting Payment at the Time of Order, You're More Likely to "Lose the Sale"

Inside an agency owners group I saw a sales discussion in which a number of people said they had problems collecting payment and closing deals. They would think they had “closed the sale” and gotten the order, but when they later sent an invoice, the buyer would ghost them. 

Here’s my question in response: Do you have your screen for collecting payment ready when the buyer is ready to buy?

A major block to selling that I see with newer agency founders is that they don’t present this attitude: “It’s normal to buy.”

They’re busy being afraid. They’re afraid this person won’t buy. And the actions they take demonstrate it’s weird, unusual, wrong for someone to buy.

collecting payment, failing to get paid, ghosting payment, not completing the sale
If you make it weird to buy, say "bye bye" to the sale. Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

When You Act Like No One Has Been Here Before, They Won't Buy

When you don’t have your method of collecting payment ready, you’re telling your prospect, “Oh, wow—nobody ever got here before! This is strange!” And what do you think the prospect’s emotional reaction to that is? (“Yikes, I’m outta here!”)

My hardcore close, based on 25+ years of experience, is, “So, what do you want to do next?”

When I feel all questions have been taken care of, the prospect has a need for what I offer, a problem large enough to warrant my involvement, and a personality I and my team can work with…then it is natural for them to say something like, “I’d like to buy. How do we get started?” How do I pay you?

And then, instantly, I bring up the payment processing page. It is normal to buy. I have been here a zillion times before. I have been here earlier today. It is normal to buy. Here is the process. People do this. Many people have done it before you.

Make It Normal to Buy

Make this change. If there is a gap between you and collecting the money, get rid of that gap. Collect the money.

I was a credit manager for a national electrical wholesaler for four years around the time I was 30. I collected $2 million a month and got very good at talking to people about the very touchy subject of money. I learned that you must ask for the money, you must be ready to collect the money, and it must feel normal to everyone involved that you are collecting the money.

buyer, purchase, payment, take payment, normal to buy, buying process
Make It Feel Normal for Your Customer to Buy. Photo by energepic.com from Pexels

Are You Presenting Yourself As Someone People Regularly Buy Things From?

Observe how you present yourself and your content on sales calls. Are you nervous? unprepared? unsure?

Everything about what you do needs to express “I have been here before. Many buyers have been here with me before. This is normal. It is normal to buy.”

What changes will you put into action to make this happen?

When I originally posted this in the agency group, fellow member Boyd Trimmell commented: “Failure to collect payment immediately is why so many small service businesses struggle with cash flow.” He is dead right.

The accounting maxim goes: A dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. The interest rate aka inflation, creating the Time Value of Money concept, makes it so. Add to that if you aren’t collecting payment now it’s less likely that you ever will, and you’ll see the problem clearly: you’re delaying or completely denying that cash your business needs. Cash is the lifeblood of business. If you’re an employee and not an owner, understand this…you are paid by money collected. If you don’t collect, the business will soon run out of cash and you won’t be paid at all. As Stuart Wilde said: “When they show up, bill ’em”.

>> Jason Kanigan is a strategist who works with agency owners to increase the profitabilty and effectiveness of their organizations. Book a consultation with Jason here <<
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Why Demos Fail to Sell

why demos fail to sell, DemoGuy, software demonstration

Why Demos Fail to Sell: A Question

Why do SaaS (Software as a Service) B2B firms make you go through a demo? This was the question on an expert platform I'm a member of. "What's with all the secrecy?" Why not, as is common in the B2C world, simply let the user download the SaaS and use it for a free trial period? Wouldn't that lead to better traction and more paying customers?

The original version of this post was written in October 2014. Recently, a SaaS founder was sharing a list of factors that helped them get over eight figures ($10MM) in revenue this year...and guess what the first item was? "No Free Demo". So that prompted a review of this post. Let's see how things have updated in the past nine years:

"No Free Demo"

Before leaving Canada, I was Business Development Manager of a full service boutique IT firm. One of our main products was for network security. 'Book demos, book demos, book demos' was the direction. The idea was to get people on a call and screenshare appointment with one of our techs. My experience and understanding from then to now leads me to this conclusion:

I don't think it's secrecy. I believe it's bad selling.

"Look at this awesome thing I developed! Surely if you look at it, and I can control the demonstration, I can explain everything about it. Then you'll really want it!"

Sometimes a product or service creator can be fearful someone will "steal" their idea. They have not realized ideas are a dime a dozen: it's execution that is difficult to match! This could lead to the perception of secrecy. But I believe poor understanding of selling is a much more common issue in the SaaS world.

Underlying Reasons Why Demos Fail to Sell

Many products are developed because the creator had an idea. Not because the market told them they needed it, note. This is why so many SaaS startups fail. No need. Then they make up some sort of pricing structure which has no basis in reality and certainly isn't profitable...and then must go out into the marketplace and try to convert people into becoming users. Tough road!

What most salespeople (and people who shouldn't really be in sales, but accidentally fell into the role) fail to understand is that customers rarely buy because of ALL the features your product or service has. They tend to buy because of ONE of these.

Example: the network security product I sold had four main features. But buyers would only be interested in one of them--a different one each time. Only months later, when they came back and asked the now-perceived-as-expert (me), "Gee, we need X...do you know anything that does that?" I could then happily inform them, "What you have now does that already."

Sell first, educate later. Often, putting too many choices or things to think about in front of a prospect will result in overwhelming them. Another example: I'm a producer for a TV network. When we first meet with a prospect, I don't go into everything we can do. I stick to one big idea, and that's what we sell. When I first started in the field, I tried upselling, cross selling, what have you. Nope. All that did was confuse the prospects. Now I sell them on the one big idea...and then come back a little later, now that they're used to working with us, and pick up the other orders I knew would be a good fit following the first discussion.

What to Do Now That You Know Why Demos Fail to Sell

The standard belief is: "If I can just get in front of enough people and tell them about every single feature of my SaaS, I will get lots of customers." And to a degree this is true. If you see enough prospects, you'll accidentally make some sales. But you probably won't truly know why they bought.

The demo is an outdated mode of selling. The assumption that people buy because of features and benefits is false. These salespeople don't know any other way, though. They want you on the call. Live. Then, they believe, they can convert you into a paying user. On your own, as a consumer, you're not to be trusted to come to your own correct conclusions.

As a SaaS developer, what else can you do?

Don't develop your tool in isolation! Don't create something just because you alone believe it would be a good idea.

Ask your target market.

Do the people you're going to be relying upon to be paying customers agree this is a needed solution to a real problem?

What do they want it to be and do?

What size of a problem does it solve for them (pricing and validation hint)?

Do they instantly "get it"? Or do you find yourself mired in the quicksand of attempted explanations and blank looks?

Many, many SaaS startups have tried and crashed and burned because they did not find out the answers to these simple questions before they went ahead and developed their solution. It was a solution to a problem nobody but the creator thought was important.

If you asked these questions before starting development, and got clear responses from your target market, you would be able to create a solution to a real problem...including features your audience has told you they will pay for. Now do you need a demo? Of course not. The sales copy will practically write itself. User adoption will happen like a rising tide. At that point, it's just a matter of letting your market know you and your solution exist.

One final example. I sell a stock trading software currently valued at $5000 (the price is going up!). My discussion with prospects is NEVER about technical issues: I might have to answer one or two little tech questions, but we do not even look at the software. Buyers invest in the software because they understand it will help them make more money. I'll say it again: I have never had to do a demo or show a single screenshot of this software to sell it for $5000.

>> Do you have a question about why demos fail to sell, selling or SaaS? Comment below to let us know! And if this info helped you, please Like or Share to get it in front of others. Jason Kanigan is a profit maximizer for individuals and organizations that competently solve serious problems for well-defined target markets. For more information about Jason, click here. <<

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The Danger of the Two Sales

The Danger of the Two Sales is a straightforward but not well-known marketing and sales problem that kills many new businesses.

Here's what happens to produce it:

Someone has a brainwave and makes a new product or service.

You see this all the time in the agency and Software-as-a-Service world...but you'll also see it in products, such as a condiment.

Then the creator goes out and tries to sell the thing, and discovers nobody wants it.

"Why don't they understand how great this is?" they shout. After all, it's clear as day to them why people need whatever it is.

But the public, the target market, other people... everyone else just doesn't get it.

The now-frustrated creator gives up.

the danger of the two sales, unable to sell, positioning problem, marketing problem

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

Understanding What Causes The Danger Of The Two Sales

What happened here?

The new business owner, fired up with the enthusiasm for their innovative idea, has dangerously bypassed the first problem in sales and marketing...

...identifying a problem people admit they'll pay to have solved.

This is the first of The Two Sales. You must make this first sale, and it is best if that sale is implicitly understood by your prospective customer before you begin talking to them.

In other words, the first sale is that your prospect admits there is a serious problem to be solved: one that they will pay money to fix.

If you haven't achieved this, you run a great risk of having your "solution" sound unnecessary or, even worse, nonsense. You'll ever make a sale in this situation.

The second of The Two Sales is that YOU are the best provider of solutions for this problem.

Can you see how if you blindly try to rush past the first of The Two Sales, that your target market agrees there's an issue here worth solving in the first place, your prospect will blink at you in confusion when you try to show off "your baby"?

Making Use Of The Two Sales

You might be astonished how often this situation comes up. If you keep the Danger of the Two Sales in mind as you begin, though, you'll be able to make use of it.

As a for-instance, I pre-qualify prospective clients for people who already believe that a metrics-based approach is good. For them to already be demonstrating they value numbers because they're collecting their own data—and aren't afraid of math.

So many newbie business owners are afraid of a little math.

When I do talk to someone about our services, I know they're already on board with doing some math...that they speak the language of marketing and operations results. I do not have to risk falling into the situation of trying to sell someone who just isn't into numbers and probably never will be. What a frustrating experience that would be!

Do you see how this directs your marketing?

Your marketing is best deployed in filtering in those people who already believe as you do. Then you can talk to those who qualify—those you've made The First Sale to—further about the details of your amazing solution.

Of course there are situations where a new problem and a new solution are very real. But you'll still have to deal with The Two Sales: before you'll ever make a sale you'll have to educate and convince someone, or get them to agree, that there is a serious problem in this area. Then you can move on to you being the best solution provider.

Many, many businesses have died an early death because their founders did not understand The Danger of the Two Sales. I encourage you to not be one of those founders.

2023 Update on The Danger of the Two Sales

In reminder...

The First Sale (from the buyer's point of view): Is this a good idea for me in general?

The Second Sale: Is YOUR solution the best one for me?

Rush past the first and you'll have a lot of trouble making the second.

Take your time to make the first, and now that you've got your buyer's ears open, you'll have a much easier time with the second.

>> Jason Kanigan is a business strategist and conversion expert. To book a session to speak with Jason, click here. <<