People have been trying to sell everything from food to services and jewelry for a millennia, but most sellers fail. A main issue is a reliance on unwise sales techniques or a lack of sales training.
One of the most common and most overlooked problems is ineffective listening skills and the belief that your sales pitch will make the sale. This is true even though the best sales coaches have preached reflective listening as the best way to close the deal for years. The reality is that almost everyone wants to talk about themselves, including salespeople. The best sales tip we can give at leadership training utah is to just close your mouth and pay attention to your customers' needs, emotions and motivations.
You are the most interesting topic you ever discuss, and its true for others also: your prospects like to talk about their own businesses or lives. Use the following list of techniques to boost your own sales strategies or to share with your coworkers and the salespeople you manage.
The first step in any successful sales transaction, though, is to think about your prospects. Do they know they should have your solution or product or are they experiencing a problem you can solve? What other solutions are available and are they good? Have these ideas in mind before you begin.
Next, you need to start listening. Consider these top-shelf sales tips:
- Stop talking! Don't be uncomfortable with a few moments of silence, and try not to repeat your presentation or any part of it unless you're 100 percent confident the client doesn't yet understand. It's an insult to their intelligence! Moreover,you wouldn't want to put a client to sleep -- instead, you want them to feel special and important to you.
- You're not as great as you think you are, at least not to people you don't know. Let go of your ego and remember that you can almost never really know how anyone else feels or what they need without listening to them. Ask clarifying questions often, and don't forget that closing deals isn't about anything more than building relationships. If you really want to make more sales, you should probably get out of the way more often.
Don't tell people what to do. No one likes to be ordered around, but a lot of would-be sellers end up doing this when they repeat and repeat their presentations without listening properly. A better way is to discuss the benefits of your product or service and listen while the prospect speaks, coming to believe that, in the process, your idea is the ideal choice. You can coach the conversation along, but stop there or you could lose it all. Emotions close sales. Product details have their purpose, but selling is really about whether your prospect has trust in you and what you're selling. This is true whether they know it or not. Listen for feelings about being overwhelmed and tired, as these are issues you could solve. Also, listen for pleasant emotions such as happiness, because this can help you understand your prospect's true needs. Find out what your customers want. If they are happy with their own fixes to the problem you think you see, learn more. If they aren't, find out how you can do better. If they are only interested in some parts of your proposed solution, understand that as well. At the end of the day, selling is a one-on-one transaction. Anyone who doesn't feel understood, will probably not continue working with you. Listen and then repeat or rephrase what the customer says. Known as reflective listening, this habit lets the customer know you're hearing what they say, that you care about it and are considering it, and that you are getting it right. Furthermore, this method clarifies what they expect from you. Know what they want In addition to listening to the client says he or she wants, find out what the real underlying motivations are. Usually, this means boosting the bottom line but it can also be something like improving inventory control, reducing work for them and more. These sales strategies might not be intuitive at first, but if you just give them a chance you will see that they are very effective. Remember that most would-be sellers just rush through with their standard speeches, not thinking about their customers at all. These salespeople are never successful. Realize success by closing your mouth and proving that you really care.