If you are in business – you are in sales. Regardless of your position or job title within the organisation, you are an advocate for its products and services.
Here are 7 secrets to successful selling:
1. Don’t be a stereotype
The stereotypical view of a sales person is someone who is pushy, over-confident and rude. Is that how you would describe yourself? (I’m guessing the answer is no).
So who is a salesperson?
The most successful sales people are those who can easily connect with their customers and find solutions to their problems in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Through writing and following a robust sales philosophy and system for your business, you will reap the benefits of a successful sales team who are true representatives of your organisation.
Your sales philosophy is a belief system that consists of the core principles, perspectives and values that you and your business follow. This philosophy will shape and define the behaviours and decisions made by your employees during the sales process.
2. Identify the type of sales person you want to be
There are 4 main types of sales people:
- The order taker waits for someone to ask if they can buy a product or service from them.
- The product pusher talks about nothing more than the product and pushes it upon their customers, regardless of whether it is what they need or not.
- The over promiser promises the world to secure the sale and doesn’t care much beyond that point.
- The problem solver identifies the customers pain points through questioning and listening, and delivers a solution which meets or exceeds their needs.
Which type of sales person do you want people to associate with your business?
3. Continually review your sales process
Your sales process should be a documented, step by step process which is reviewed and assessed regularly.
Which aspects are working well? Which are causing issues? What can be done to improve the sales experience for the customer?
If you identify a problem in your sales process, it is highly likely that it was caused in the step before the problem arose. Go back and walk through the system to identify improvements that can be made.
Your sales system should be a repeatable process which delivers positive results time and time again.
4. Do your customers like, know and trust you?
Building strong relationships is key to establishing long term customers who will return to you time and time again.
Your customers should like, know and trust you – this instils them with belief that you have their best intentions at the forefront of your mind and you will help them to make the best decisions based on the facts of their situation.
How do you build this type of relationship? Through…
5. Active listening
Listening with the intent to understand is important in any relationship. Do not listen to respond – listen to hear and understand what is being said.
Firstly, listen with your eyes. Body language and non-verbal signs speak volumes.
Secondly, listen with your heart to really understand and feel what the other person is saying.
Lastly, listen with your ears to the choice of words being used and what they mean in the context they are spoken.
If you can learn to listen twice as much as you speak and actively chose not to interrupt when someone else is talking, the person is far more likely to go into greater depth about their situation / feelings / challenges than they otherwise would.
6. Ask great questions
If you are asking questions, you are in control. Use point 5 to actively listen to the answers given and focus on pain words (frustration, worry, sadness, upset, anxiety, concern etc) to understand the root of the problem. The better you understand the problem, the better the solution you can offer.
Ask open ended questions and use encouraging phrases to extract more information, e.g. “tell me more”, “how did that make you feel?”, “what happened next?”.
7. The close
I cannot emphasis enough how important the close is in the sales process.
A close with an “either / or” option that includes the next steps often works best. For example:
“Do you have all the information you need or would you like me to expand on any of the points we have spoken about today?”, then “Great, now that we have covered all the main points, the next step is to put a date in the diary for the work to commence – shall we do that now?”
Once you decide on your perfect close, you must practice practice practice. Say it out loud over and over again until the words feel completely natural and flow with ease.
Remember that people are driven 80% by emotion and 20% by logic when they make a purchase. Therefore, appealing to their emotional state and providing solutions that make them feel comfortable and happy will heighten their desire to buy. Your attitude and behaviour during the sales process, plus your ability to connect with the customer, are key factors in sales success.