Whilst I could spend hours trying to convince you how selling is becoming an introverts playground it would be pointless. We’ve all come to accept and respect that sales is not what it used to be – you have listen and learn over harassing and attacking the customer with speeches and buzzwords.
So now we get into how the sales professionals of the world conduct their actions and processes, or more importantly how the successful sales people do it. There is a huge difference between the good and the bad sales people and most of the times it’s pretty obvious where the bad fall down but it seems to be harder to pinpoint just exactly why the successful sales people are like that.
There are no hidden secrets or clubs that tell you how to do it, in fact selling comes so naturally to us we do it every single day but when it gets give a professional title we begin to over think the entire process – think about any action that you do which is done on a subconscious level and consider what happens when you start thinking about it, everything just seems to implode on itself. This is the sale as sales.
So let’s get into what makes for a successful sales person.
Great With Rapport
A lot of sales people seemingly fail to grasp the importance of doing this at the most earliest of stages, or they acknowledge the importance but rarely do anything about it. Rapport should come as a standard procedure for all sales people as it just plays too much of a vital role within the sales cycle. If you’re good at listening then you’re leaps and bounds ahead as you’ll be able to recall information, specific dates or locations etc, which will help with taking down the natural barriers associated with sales people.
If you’re not good at listening then it’s time to start learning how to do it and do it well. Without this new tool you’re going to have a hard time getting into the customers good books.
Uncovering the Need
There are two types of customer – one that know’s what your product is and one that doesn’t know it. In other words one that know’s they need it and the other that doesn’t know it. It’s easy to sell to the customer that know’s what it is and why they need it but a lot harder for the other, yet to educated, customer, so it’s your duty and task to ensure that this customer with no idea understands why they need your services.
This doesn’t mean you start selling snake oil but instead you focus on unearthing the problem areas they may be having or may come across in the future and explain how your service is going to fix it all for them. You’ll find that this customer base is actually a lonely place to be as your competitors will be going after the customers who know about your product, instead taking this new route may come with a long sale cycle but it will certainly be a long term partnership you’ll be having.
Knowing Interest
No matter how good you are are sales, selling ice to an Eskimo no longer works in today’s day and age. Why? Because people have become aware of sleazy tactics and really have the power in their hands with the internet and most importantly a distinct desire to leave reviews about every experience.
Now you have to be great at gauging and understanding interest that the customer may or may not have which will ultimately align your approach to the sales pitch. The last thing you need to be doing is wasting your time and the prospects time if they are in fact not at all interested – time is our biggest asset.
Setting Expectations
Setting true to life and achievable expectations is something so few of us, including me, can do. We all like to go way over the top and end up being miserable in the process – instead focus on setting small goals that all add up and lead to the bigger goal. The smaller steps allow for mistakes and adjustments that going full steam into something huge just wouldn’t.
Got a big account you’re after? Start early in the process. Find the people who you need to influence, work on a way to get your knowledge and company in front of them and over time drip feed them things to steer towards you. Send a few “feeler” emails over and go into the real question once your gauge of interest-meter has hit the top.
Whilst it takes a while to form habits and get into the groove of things it all pays dividends in the end. Being successful in sales isn’t about being able to talk the talk and gloat about your huge bonus – it’s about building effective relationships with customers that last a long time.