I have never met a successful business that did not have at least one individual with strong sales skills. Having some sales skills is an absolute "must" to run a successful business.
For most people their image of a salesman is the guy who you mistakenly invited into your home to talk about replacing your windows, or the shop assistant who badgers you to buy insurance that you don't need with your new washing machine.
Forget these people. They don't have sales skills.
A great salesman is helpful, they listen to your problem, provide options and then propose their solution. When you purchase their solution you walk away thinking that guy was really helpful and you don't see them as a salesman.
Good selling is few and far between these days, so if you learn a few basic sales skills you will stand out head and shoulders above your competition.
Typically most companies launch into a "sale patter" as soon as they get in front of a prospect, it normally takes the form of a monologue of features and benefits about the product. This is the norm, and this is most likely what many of your competitors do. I have always run my businesses from a set of simple rules, and I'm going to share a simple sales technique with you now that I guarantee will win you more sales against the competition and will be less effort and less stressful than your current approach.
So let's look at the 'norm' again:
- The prospect gives you a rough idea of what they want.
- You meet the prospect, you say, "hello" and then launch into your demo, company history, portfolio, product features etc.
- You ask the prospect if they like the look of what you showed them.
- The prospect says they will get back to you.
- You leave, and wait for their call.
This is awful, but the great news is that almost everyone sells like this, which means with a bit of thought we can do so much better.
Let's look at this again, from a smarter perspective:
- The prospect gives you a rough idea of what they want.
- You make common ground with the prospect. You look for a topic you have in common and try to engage them in a conversation. Do this well and the prospect will see you as a friend and hence trust you before you even show them your product or solution.
- You ask them some pre-prepared questions to find out their problem(s). (Do not mention your product or service)
- You ask more questions to find out the effect this problem has on their life/ business. (Do not mention your product or service)
- You ask them exactly what they are looking for or what their objectives are. (by this point you have still not discussed or mentioned your product or service)
- Now you give your demo, pull out your portfolio etc, but this time you show only the features and examples that match what the prospect is looking for. You focus on these and explain why the prospects life will be improved by them. Effectively you are re-telling them what they just told you but matching their needs to your product / service.
- Mention quickly some of the other features/ benefits but do not go on about them.
- Ask the prospect what they think.
- If they sound negative or evasive then ask them if they have "any concerns about what I have shown you".
if they say "yes" then ask them for those concerns (objections) and do your best to resolve them
then, ask again if they have any other concerns, if they say yes, repeat the above process
- Once the objections have been resolved either ask for the business or ask, "what is the process you are taking to make a decision?", then find out when they plan to make that decision.
- Depending on what you are selling you may or may not win the sale in that meeting. If you can't win the sale in that meeting make sure you arrange to follow up this meeting by sending a summary or proposal and then religiously phoning them tracking their process to making a decision. Avoid email follow ups as a two way phone call always provides you more information on what is going on.
I guarantee that if you follow this process you will win many more sales and you will take market share from your competitors. At first some of the techniques here, such as the questioning of the prospect without mentioning your product or service, can seem a little strange but when you get the hang of them you will find your sales meetings less effort, less stressful but massively more successful.
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