Category Archives: Heavy Equipment Salesman

Heavy equipment salesman should not run after commission

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Sales jobs are one of the most lucrative jobs that is always available and in demand in almost every field or industry. If you are good in sales and can achieve huge sales targets easily, you will surely flourish in your career. What makes most of the sales jobs so much popular is huge amount of commission that you are offered for every sale that you make.

This is exceptionally popular for selling the expensive goods such as the heavy construction equipment. The heavy construction equipment or vehicles are one of those things that can fetch a good deal of profit from a single sell, due to the high price of the vehicles. Hence, the sellers almost always can afford to provide commissions for the sale of these vehicles or equipment.

Why should you not run after commissions?

Often, commissions are considered to be a motivating factor behind increasing sales. However, the fact in reality is that these commissions do not motivate the salesmen at all. With every single commission promise, comes a high target of sales that the salesmen have to achieve. If they do not achieve the sales, they are not given the commission. Hence, they do not feel “motivated” with this commission; rather they feel burdened with this huge target that they have to achieve.

But, heavy construction equipment or vehicles are something that is not something easy to sell. These are quite expensive and unless it is a large construction business, there is very little chance that the equipment will be sold frequently. Moreover, the longevity of the heavy construction equipment is extremely high and they do not get damaged easily. Due to this reason, the scope of sales of the heavy construction equipment such as a hydraulic crane, a mixing machine, scissor lifts, pavers, excavators, loaders etc. is limited.

What should be the alternative?

As already mentioned, with sales commissions, comes the target or burden of high sales results, this actually disturbs the mood for good business. Hence, those, who are looking for a job as a salesman in a heavy equipment selling company, should not run after a commission. The aim should not be to gain maximum income from commissions; rather it should be on how to become a better salesman.

For that you need to focus more on the knowledge of increasing sales in your field. With more interest in the vehicle or equipment that you sell and with more focus on how the customers would be benefited by the heavy construction equipment, the sales would be increased. The sellers or the businesses should also concentrate more on hiring the skilled heavy equipment salesmen and not hire anyone, who is looking for a commission, without having the skills for selling the equipment. Businesses will gain more profit from good or skilled sellers; rather than by setting targets for new salesmen and promising to give them commissions for the number of sales that they make in every month or in a given period of time.

 

Hard work can make you the best heavy equipment salesman

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We may have heard the proverb “There is no substitute for hard work” a million times but when it comes to working hard in literal terms, we will not find many who indeed does that. We all want to do it smartly taking minimum effort but we expect the maximum outcome. Well, it may work in some case but not every time. Your luck may favor you at times but if it will also ditch you when you are not prepared. For a salesman it is all about hard work. The luck factor plays a small role in his career. As long as he is not good in his work he will just not be able to excel. He will never be able to achieve growth no matter how long he stays a part of the industry. There is one more thing that plays a vital role to become the best salesman and that is positivity. Some also call it as being motivated but motivation comes when you have positivity flowing inside you.

Learn selling techniques:-

Having good communication skill is not enough to sustain in the selling industry especially when you are selling heavy equipment. If you are a good communicator you can speak well but it should also make sense to the listener. This means that you got to the point and can’t deviate from the subject. This means that you need to learn some selling techniques. Heavy equipment is in itself a largely complex subject and it certainly takes time for a person to learn it well. If you are a salesman, you should be prepared to answer questions that are technical and may require in-depth knowledge of the subject. Here is where your selling technique may come to your rescue just in case if you do not know the answer. You can probably use the technique and seek an exit from the question. This does not mean that you will evade the question all together but will hold it for a day or for some time so that you can check that from your mentor or from a veteran.

Watch training videos:-

Training videos can be very helpful for new entrants. They can learn some selling skills watching the videos and can also expand their knowledge about heavy equipment and its ancillaries. While selling heavy equipment it is very important to know when you should stop selling the machine and begin selling its ancillaries. Not every buyer will be ready to buy the machine. They may be looking for certain parts of the machine or some kind of attachments. The training videos will help you realize your mistakes that you normally do while on a sales call or during a meeting. Remember that these videos help you to strengthen the foundation on which you will set your career.

Talk more about machine with your mentors and people from the construction industry who deal with machines. Catching up with an operator will always help you to learn more about heavy equipment and how it works. You can get to know the problems that an operator usually experience and on that you can pitch your sales line whenever you go for a sales call.

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Heavy equipment salesman should give some importance to his/her personality

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We have been hearing this famous saying since ages “First impression is the last impression”. Not sure how far this saying is correct but as far as the construction industry is concerned this saying matters a lot. Right from heavy equipment salesperson to the marketing guys who are promoting a construction company. These guys need to carry a pleasing personality and can never manage to look shoddy. There are few mannerisms as well which they are supposed to follow whenever they go out to meet a client.

The client will not entertain them knowing the name of the company they are coming from. The first thing that will catch the attention of the client is the personality of the salesman and the way he is able to carry himself. It matters a lot when you are part of a profession where you have to meet clients in person and talk about your products. Not every successful sale is done by convincing.

You may be a good communicator and can speak real well but at the end of the day if you are not at all presentable then your entire effort can go for a toss. There are few things that can make a good personality and one must consciously follow those things to ensure that they look good and presentable.

Looking presentable is important:-

Imagine if you are approached by a person who is not well shaved, his shirt tucked out and quite casual in his behavior and he tries to pitch a product to buy. The first thing that will come in your mind is “Is he representing his company or came here to meet his friend?” Well, this is what we all will think if we are approached by someone of this kind. We have certain expectation from salesman of reputed companies. They are in fact considered the first ambassador of any company.

You see them and make out the stature of the company. This is why being presentable is so important. It actually reflects the company that you are working for. If you are not presentable enough that will show your company in negative light and once the client has made an impression in his mind, it will then become very difficult for anybody to change that. No matter how good the company is in producing quality heavy equipment, he/she will still have his reservations. Just when he/she hears about your company, he/she will remember you. That kind of impression you will leave if you do not carry a pleasing personality.

You may lose sale:-

Losing a sale for a salesman selling heavy equipment is no less than losing a war. He/she has to spend lot of time and energy with a client to sell one heavy equipment and he/she just can’t let that go for a reason as lame as not having a pleasing personality. It hurts a lot for the guy who has spent so much of his effort on that sale. All you need to do is follow some basic rules like wearing ironed shirt and trouser and should be clean, clean shave and look like a professional.

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How to handle rejection as a heavy equipment salesman

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We all see selling as a difficult profession. It is because you got to convince people to buy something that you believe is important for them. However, the person to whom you are trying to sell it may not find it to be at all important. So your job then becomes to talk about all the possible features related to the product and create the need for it in the mind of the taker. This creation of need in the mind of the prospect is a real tough job and not many are able to do that successfully. Many ace sales persons have written in their books about the difficulties they have experienced while creating the need in the minds of the prospective buyer and they have also suggested ways and means that one can take to tackle that part of the problem. However, there is something more important that a salesperson should be learning before learning anything else and that is the way to handle a rejection.

Salesmen who are into selling of heavy equipment have a real tough time doing their job. They are actually dealing with a high priced product that is basically sold to people belonging to a particular domain. This means that your market is quite restricted. It is not like selling a high priced car that many like but can’t buy as they can’t afford it. Here the case is completely different. You are dealing with an item whose takers belong to a specific industry and therefore your scope to sell it in good numbers becomes restricted. This is perhaps the reason why a heavy equipment salesman has the chance to experience rejection lot many times than a salesman selling a car.

Be optimistic in your approach:-

Your approach speaks a lot about your personality and especially when you are a heavy equipment salesman your approach matters a lot than anything else. Your knowledge on your product needs to be absolutely bang-on and that perhaps constitute a larger portion of your self-confidence but your approach towards your profession should be nothing less than splendid. You may have been rejected many times and there may be situations when people will simply not want to meet you but that should not deter you or your approach towards meeting people. Your frame of mind should be always optimistic, nothing less than positive. It is this positive approach that plays an instrumental role towards handling rejection.

Share your experiences with your seniors:-

It is always useful to be around people who are jolly and have a good sense of humor and if such people are your seniors you should consider yourself to be damn lucky. You can share your experience where the prospect didn’t want to buy the machine or have insulted you or simply asked you to leave, leaving you dejected. Your senior in this case will give you a piece of their mind and try to ease you by cracking a joke or two. It also acts as a stress buster. Not just your senior but share your days’ time with anybody that you are convenient with. You can also play around with your dog for that matter. It is undeniably a great way to handle rejections.

Heavy equipment salesman should have little understanding of the construction business

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A salesman selling a particular product should have little understanding about its utility and how it can be useful to the end user. He needs to do a study on the effectiveness of the product in the life of the consumers and once he does that selling the product will become quite simple for him. Though selling anything is a difficult business but as long as you understand the intricacies of a business and the efficacy of your product in that business you will be able to pitch it in the right way. Salesman who gives more attention knowing the product often end up getting frustrated because they probably know everything about the product they are selling but not much about its use to the ultimate user. This is perhaps not the right sign to start selling a commodity.

Salesmen who are into selling heavy equipment should keep in mind the need of the customer first and why they will want to buy the stuff they are selling. This is where the importance of knowing the construction business comes into picture. As long as you do not know the purpose for him to buy the machine you will be unable to pitch it correctly. You will then try to brag about the feature of the machine but little you know if that machine is at all needed by him in his business. You lose a client in this fashion and perhaps someone else who has a better knowledge about the industry will be able to sell it to him. You may only be left to wonder what went wrong with your approach and what the other salesman did to bag the sale.

You can learn about the construction business in the trainings that are held by your companies. They will speak about the business in particular and also which type of heavy equipment is required for what kind of job. Also you can pitch in products like bucket, attachments and other accessories. So it is not always that you have to sell the entire heavy equipment. Some construction business owners need to just upgrade their machine. Now you can’t ask them to get rid of the old one and buy a new one which has the upgraded feature. He will never want to do that and it will also not be a good salesmanship on your part.

What you can do is have a hearty talk with your client. Try to figure out his actual requirement and where you fit in. it is only after that that you can pitch a product to him. Please remember that if you sell the stuff that benefits the consumer he will more likely give you more business but if you sell him items that gives you good commission then you may sold him the machine for the last time. Never indulge in such mistakes. Short term gains should never be your goal and always pitch in products that are beneficial for the client.