Using open-ended questions can transform your sales career. Trust me I know. I was born and raised in the New York City area. Back then I did everything fast. I walked fast, ate fast, drove fast, and of course since I was in sales I talked fast. It worked then but it doesn’t work now. My whole approach to sales is different today. I believe there’s a reason why you’re born with two years and one mouth.
The reason is quite simple. In life, you’ll achieve more by listening than talking. In sales too! Hey - I’m a professional speaker and I get paid to talk, but like you I have to make the sale before I can give the speech. I’m convinced that asking the right open-ended questions is the quickest way to achieve increased sales and greater personal income in your territory. I’m also convinced, especially during a sales call, the less you say, the smarter you’ll sound.
Now don’t go skeptical on me. You see I’ve done it both ways. Asking the right questions pays more! Early on in my sales career, my mouth was the center of my universe. And I frequently got mugged by my own mouth. Trust me - that’s not fun. I’m not proud of that - I just learned from the experience.
Can you win sales by talking too much? You bet! However, you’ll win even more sales in less time as soon as you start asking the right open-ended questions. Over the years I’ve observed that closed-ended questions are the default questions for most salespeople. I can’t explain why it just happens to be true! Read the rest of this entry »
Being a salesperson is very much like being a performer on stage. Knowing what kind of person to hire as a salesperson is difficult sometimes; mainly because most people interview well, yet few perform well. To maximize your success in hiring a sales staff, there are some key traits to look for in interviewing.
First, is the individual likable? A salesperson is basically a personality. Fundamentally, the salesperson should be someone who you would like to be the face of the company. In my experience, it doesn’t matter if the salesperson is black or white, male or female, fat or thin; what matters is if I would want to spend five minutes speaking to them. Attractiveness counts, of course, but an attractive personality and presentation is much more important. Ensure your new hires are likable folks.
Second, your salespeople need to fundamentally understand the sales transaction enough to close sales. Many salespeople are successful simply because they work in an industry where there is little competition. Others are good at building relationships and this ability carries their sales numbers. However, the best salespeople understand the simple transaction; establish interest, showcase features and benefits, validate yourself and your organization, close. Read the rest of this entry »
Fixing the selling price can be based upon a value basis or a cost plus basis with either basis subject to modification according to market conditions. Not exactly scientific and true in all cases but the most profitable businesses tend to be managed by accountants while the best sales growth companies have a sales oriented manager at the helm.
Value basis is used to set selling prices according to the amount the customer will pay for the product and the value of products or services being provided. A strong influence when using a value basis are the benefits a customer will derive from purchasing the product from each business compared with alternative suppliers and the general market rate for that type of product.
Using a value basis that prices products above the general market level requires support and a marketing strategy to demonstrate to the market place the benefits and advantages a prospective client receives. Pricing a product or service below the accepted market price requires to be supported with ensuring as wide an audience as possible is aware of the bargain prices and the reasons why a lower price is being offered.
To establish the most profitable level at which selling prices should be pitched it is important to conduct market research to determine the general level of pricing within the product area. Also list the benefits and advantages within the context of other competitive products of the specific products being offered to enable the business to use these factors in support of the price structure adopted. Read the rest of this entry »
What do you do after your customer has purchased your product or service? Are missing out on future sales because you are not communicating with your customers and clients?
It’s easy to turn these first time buyers into future customers with a little follow-up. Sending out a letter may seem simple, but it can do a lot to bring customers back and get those customers to refer you to new ones.
Most experts recommend at least a 10-10-10 pattern when following up with a customer. Send out your first letter within 10 days. In another 10 days, contact them again. Then in 10 days contact the customer again. If you send a snail mail letter for the first contact, you could use email or telephone for the following two.
Always have an offer or some other incentive that is time sensitive included in your letter. This creates a sense of urgency. It will get people to contact you because they don’t want to miss out. Use the same offer through all 3 letters with the wording becoming more urgent in each one.
The 10-10-10 method is also recommended for people who are inquiring about your products and services. Statistics bear out that all kinds of companies, who don’t get back to people making inquiries, lose a customer. These customers tell other people about the bad service and businesses lose even more potential customers. It seems most businesses do not understand how important this is. It is a great way to make future sales and it also shows that you care about not only your customers, but your potential customers. Read the rest of this entry »
18 Oct
Posted by Sales Guru as Increase Sales
When listening intently to customers - and we all know that listening rather than talking is the secret of successful selling - you may sometimes notice that they have a preferred base of language. Often this is rooted in three of the senses: visual (seeing), auditory (hearing) and kinesthetic (feeling/action/touch). You may have often heard ‘visual people’ say “I see what you mean” or “that looks good to me” or “I’ll watch out for that”.
‘Auditory people’ may often say “I hear what you’re saying” or “That name rings a bell’ or “I’ll listen out for that”. ‘Kinesthetic people’ may often say such things as “Let’s touch on a few things” or “I feel that will work” or “Let’s explore that a bit more”. All very interesting but why does this matter to us in a selling situation?
Once we, as sales professionals, are aware of and sensitive to the customers preferred base, if we mirror this preference in our communication or presentations then the customer is more likely to ‘buy in’ to what we say. Put simply, by building rapport with the customer in this way we are more likely to make the sale.
For example, a salesman mirroring a ‘visual’ customer may say “I see how that may be an issue for you, let’s look at how we might solve it for you”
A salesman mirroring a ‘kinesthetic’ customer may say “How does that feel to you?”
Is there something in this that you could listen out for in your next customer visit? That is, assuming, you are an ‘auditory’ person!
I hope so.
Selling is essentially an art of persuasion, which is based on relationships. In its simplest terms, success in selling is determined by your ability to form high- quality relationships with your customers. This can be established by listening to your customers, fulfilling their needs and increasing your credibility.
1. Listen to your customers
It has often been said that God gave you two ears and one mouth, and in a sales conversation, you should use them in that proportion. The best salespeople are superb listeners and are skilled at establishing relationships. Very often, customers who start off uninterested in your offering will warm up to you and decide to buy from you for the simple reason that you listen well and you seem to care about them and their situation. You understand their needs and seek to aid them. Similarly, this helps you by fine-tuning your sales pitch to fulfill their needs. It is important at this juncture, to emphasis on the sincerity involved when making the sale.
2. Fulfill existing needs
If you have followed the 1st tip well, you will have uncovered a wealth of information about your perspective customer. Top salespeople are skilled at asking good questions and listening carefully to the answers. This essentially enables them to focus on satisfying the most important and pressing needs of the customers with their products or services. Show your customer how the benefits of your products is able to fulfill their existing needs.
3. Increase your credibility
In the world of sales and marketing, creating credibility and rapport with the masses is essential. Increase your credibility with the following methods: positive online ratings in auction sites, real- life testimonials, reputation in the field of expertise, quality of article contributions, pictures of products or yourself.
For those who are keen on mastering these concepts, you can refer to my blog which elaborate on them in greater detail for your convenience.
Sales representatives are successful today because they gain the majority of their targeted customers business. They manage the relationship and continuously build relationship equity. That doesn’t mean they operate with the old lone wolf mentality doing everything under the sun for the customer.
They are successful because they take full advantage of all the resources their company has to offer. Transactions and promos flow through a managed relationship. They also dedicate a specific amount of their time to new account development and penetration of those accounts with high potential rather than over providing service functions to existing accounts. Ten Key identifying factors that will help maximize sales success include:
1. Not being afraid to prospect for new accounts and new business. Have enough confidence to view rejection as simply a step closer to success.
2. Understanding the value of planning and actually documenting the key actions necessary to meet specific objectives at specific accounts.
3. Become professional with your planned presentations whether it is to an individual buyer or a group of customer decision makers. Perfect your 25 word elevator speech that clearly outlines your value proposition. Get it down pat for those opportunistic moments that may occur.
4. Goals are a matter of course and they include more than just revenue and margin growth. Milestones are established for target accounts to highlight progress toward their major goals.
5. No one likes record keeping and paperwork but the really successful sales professional understands the necessity and the value received in return for being methodical with their record keeping. Read the rest of this entry »
When selling online, it can be easy to forget about the human factors in a business, which are touch and feel. You can have some of the greatest pictures in the world, hired the best photographer, but sometimes, you just have to get your products into a potential customers hand for them to appreciate your work.
If you create your own products, such as jewelry, clothing, totes and purses etc, then you have a great opportunity to create your own advertising program, and still have the human touch in your business.
Here is the best way, to get the word out that you are in business, and to let potential customers see your work in person, and yet still have access to your other work online, which could then lead to sales or a newsletter, affiliate products and more.
Create your best pieces, and I mean your best!. Seek out some of your best and supportive friends and family that work in very public areas, where there are likely to be lots of potential customers or admirers.
Have them wear or display your product, if it is jewelry, have a great pin or necklace or earrings, if its clothing, a nice dress, sweater, or if its bags, a unique tote, or painted bag.. the list is endless.. and make sure your piece suits your friend or relative, and they are more likely to promote it. Better yet, make it a gift for them, they will appreciate it, and it can be classified as an advertising expense for you.
Make sure they have business cards of yours, to hand to interested people. Make sure your card contains your name, what you do, and your website address, and on your website, offer a opt in mail in list to keep them up to date with new pieces, shows, and affiliate products that you could sell as well as your own pieces.
Grow your online business by keeping the human touch.
Some people are great at it. Calling strangers and people they barely know comes easy for them. They speak with ease and don’t take it personally when potential customers are rude, curse at them or slam down the phone in their ear. Some people are born to be cold callers.
Then there are the rest of us.
Breaking out in a cold sweat, hands quivering, heart pounding so loud the neighbors think someone’s knocking on their door.
We put it off. “Making calls” is last on our to-do list every day and we conveniently never get to it. So we put it on the next day’s list. At the bottom. So the cycle continues. And it never gets done.
But there are times when cold calling can not only is a good idea, it’s necessary. Maybe you got a couple of leads and if you wait, you may lose the opportunity to gain new customers. You know it needs to be done but you’re stressing out at the thought of picking up that phone.
Here are a few tips for warming up to the idea of cold calling. Read the rest of this entry »