How Your Salesforce Can Avoid the “Used Car Salesman” Feeling

A career in sales can be demanding and requires quick thinking. Upselling and using rebuttals are things taught to every salesperson in training. You do have to pay attention to your words and think your thoughts through before speaking, otherwise you come across to consumers as if you are trying too hard. This is how the “used car salesman” stereotype comes into play. Making a few changes to training materials and reading consumer reviews can help a salesforce produce higher sales numbers.

Non-Current Quotes of Wisdom

One of the biggest mistakes that a salesperson can make is quoting someone that is no longer living. To remain relevant in the sales world, you must be “with the times”. If quotes are provided by the company, research current entrepreneurs and top sales executive quotes. Recognizable names may entice a customer to listen a little longer and at least consider making a purchase.

Inquire about Preferred Payment Amounts

If your salesforce is working with expensive items that require financing, approaching discussions about money should be done so with finesse. Once a consumer asks about a price, quickly respond with the correct number. Wait for a response and ask how much the client would want to pay per month. Speaking in terms of monthly payment and attempting to work toward what the customer can afford – rather than just telling them how much they have to pay each month – often works better and results in more sales.

In-Bound Sales Scripts

Sales is about more than meeting sales goals and pushing specific products. Some positions are in-bound sales where you are listening to a customer’s needs and carefully suggesting which products would best benefit them to solve their issue. Scripts are boring and customers know when staff is reading off of them, especially if they are a repeat or frequent customer. Stray from the script and customize it to make what you say seem more natural. Gain supervisor approval before freestyling first.

Too Many Follow-Ups

Contacting customers too many times to follow-up is a big annoyance. You will be more likely to receive a rude or inappropriate response when reaching out too many times, especially after a customer did not reply to an initial attempt to follow-up. No answer likely means that they are not interested. Attempt contact twice, and leave a method to contact you. After two attempts and no answer, leave the customer alone.

Provide Good Leads

Salespeople can only be so productive with leads. It is important to ensure that the leads are genuinely interested. Time wasted on mishandled time, poor leads, and lost productivity costs businesses a reported $1-trillion annually. Consider developing a team to send a follow-up email to those on lead lists to confirm interest and actually set an appointment for a sales call. This sets the salesperson up with people that want to listen and make a purchase.

Learn to Listen

Before you can offer a solution for a customer’s problem to make a sale, you must learn to listen to them first. A customer is going to tell you what their main issue is, what they need and likely, what their budget is. All of these are key pieces of information that you have to pay attention to. Offering a customer what they don’t want and not listening to what they are telling you is the best way to lose a sale.

Don’t Offer Private or Secret Incentives

If you are a person-to-person salesperson, offering incentives or making side agreements to make a sale likely goes against company regulations. It becomes a bigger problem when a customer tells their friends and family about the side deal and they all expect the same thing. You could end up an unemployed salesperson from using tactics like this. Be straight forward with customers and only offer what you are permitted to by your employer.

Stop Nervous Pitch Recovery Talking

Customers know when you are struggling when reading your script or delivering your pitch. This can cause you to ramble or give away sensitive company information. Nervous speaking loses your customer because they have lost the ability to follow the direction of your words.

Closing Thoughts

A salesperson has to work hard for every commission dollar earned. At the same time, they have sales goals to meet and company standards to uphold. Following a pitch written by an employer makes a salesperson nervous, so consider allowing salespeople to create their own script based upon the mood of the conversation. This often works better and results in more sales goals being met.