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!

Questions that begin with:

Can you . . .

Are you . . .

Do you . . .

Would you . . .

Sales questions that begin with these words can literally be answered with a single word. And that spells doom and gloom for professional salespeople. Look, you need to get your sales prospects and your customers talking and you won’t do it with closed-ended questions.

Here’s a better way.

Get them talking . . .

Uncover their problems . . .

Present your products/services as solutions . . .

It’s that easy. But it all starts with getting your sales prospects and customers talking. This is easy to say and hard to do unless you’re asking the right sales questions. Here’s a rock-solid open-ended question. Take it and use it to grow your business.

“What would it take to win your Supplier Of The Year Award?” Wouldn’t you love to know the answer to this question?

That is the question. You’ll start selling more today and everyday as soon as you start asking the right questions. Start selling more today and everyday.

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.

Third, your salespeople can be formulaic and mechanical, but they won’t be winners. The winners believe in a “live without a net” approach to sales. This means the best people have the sales script in their head, but usually operate on an instinctive, personality driven and on-the-spot improvised approach. These people adapt their personality to the individual much like a therapist approaches a patient. Being not only a salesperson, but a partner in the emotional aspect of the transaction is very important. The best salesperson leaves the customer feeling a strong sense of empathy; almost as though they have made a new friend.

Lastly, and probably most important, your salespeople need to be persistent. They need to be so persistent that they never take no for an answer. This means 200 dials instead of 100. This means knocking on doors until one is exhausted. There is always a new prospect to speak with. There is never a time when there is no hope to make a sale. Find your persistent and aggressive people and you will find a quality salesperson.

Overall, these key traits above will be the best traits. Obviously there are exceptions. We have all seen very aggressive and even obnoxious salespeople with strong numbers. We have also seen quiet and shy folks who have a natural sweetness that lends itself to a strong closing ability. Empathy, understanding of the sales transaction, instinctive ability, and persistence; these are the most important factors to seek in your prospective sales representatives.

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.

To maximum level at which value basis prices can be set is dependent upon the value the target customer places on that product or service taking into consideration the quality, service, availability and benefits provided.

Cost based pricing is a financial accounting calculation based upon fixing a gross profit margin that the business requires given the expected sales volume and fixed overhead or operating costs to produce a net profit. Normally a sales price set using a cost basis would be the amount paid for the product plus an incremental percentage.

Cost based pricing usually occurs in areas where competition is often working on the same cost basis and by selling similar products and services the volume of sales is sensitive to competitive prices. Market research should establish the range of competitive prices.

There are a number of influences that impact on setting the selling price of a product in addition to the cost and competition. Sales location, added values, buying policy, operational costs and others all require factoring into the calculation. Business size also has an influence as small business accounting is less sophisticated than accounting and financial control in larger businesses.

The tow single most important factors in setting the selling price of a product or service to generate the highest profit margin attainable are the competition and the original cost of the product.

In many cases the existing competition has already set a price for the product. Each business has to decide whether to accept this price according to the expected volume and the gross profit margin generated or charge a higher or lower price with the consequential effect on sales volume.

The purchase price paid drives the competitive edge. Larger business have greater opportunities to buy in larger quantities and obtain cheaper prices and many high volume businesses will search to source products from overseas markets to obtain even cheaper products.

If the purchase price paid by competitors is low then that cost must be either matched by adopting similar business practises or the products sold into a niche area of the market where more flexible prices can be obtained at the required volume to generate the gross margin required to cover fixed operating costs and achieve the target net profit.

Different prices can be set for different customers to exploit higher profit margins where possible and achieve higher volumes in market conditions where the price has a major influence on quantities bought. A manufacturer will often set different prices for each customer dependent on volumes purchased and the negotiation skills of the client purchasing function.

Market conditions often determine a range of pricing policies including offering quantity discounts for higher volumes, cash discounts for faster settlement, lower than normal prices to allow a market to be penetrated and established more easily and higher than normal prices in situations where supply may exceed demand. The accounting software or bookkeeping system employed should identify gains and losses due to different pricing structures.

The levels of supply and demand may change over time and a flexible pricing policy to take advantage of these changes is desirable. It is an economic fact that when demand exceeds supply prices will increase and when supply exceeds demand prices go lower. Failure to react quickly has a major impact on the total gross margin attained.

The overriding decision to be taken on setting selling prices is the amount of gross profit generated by the sales volume of those products in relation to current business policy and fixed operating costs and profit requirements that business needs to achieve and demonstrate through the accounting figures produced by the final bookkeeping reckoning.

From an accounting point of view the sales volume and price of each product should be calculated to determine the previous gross profit margin attained and planned for the future. The actual or forecast gross profit margins must cover the fixed operating costs of the business or remedial action taken to ensure the business is profitable. Setting prices is a combined decision of the sales and accounting function.

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.

So what exactly should you put in your letter? Here are a few things that can be put into the first follow-up letter. The second and third contacts should contain the same information written in a fresh way.

1) A thank you; a heartfelt thank you for choosing your company for their purchase. A little appreciation goes a long way. You don’t have to gush, just state your thanks simply and to the point.

“Thank you for allowing us the opportunity of providing a great product to you. I am confident that you will be happy with your purchase and I appreciate your business.”

2) A re-enforcement of why choosing your company was a great idea in the first place. This will cut down on “buyer’s remorse”. Help them to feel their purchase was necessary and buying from you was the only way to go.

3) A time limited offer. Offer them something to complement their original purchase. In the case of a customer who has already purchased your product or service, you could offer them a limited time offer on another one of your products or for your service in the future. Develop a sense of urgency so the customer acts within the “limited time”.

Each time you contact the customer, enhance the sense of urgency. The second contact should build on the urgency of the first and so on. The third time you contact them you can even say something like “Only 3 days left to take advantage of this great offer.”

4) Refer them to another product or service (not that of a competitor) that would complement their purchase. Suggesting other products shows them you not only care they bought from you, but that they are happy with their purchase. This could be an offering from an affiliate program you belong to so that you can still make money.

5) Ask for referrals. A simple “If you like our service tell others, if you didn’t tell us!” might be enough. You can offer a percentage off their next purchase for referring a new customer or a special offer for those they refer.

6) You should include a coupon for your services. You could encourage them to pass it on if they are not going to use it themselves. They may know someone who needs your services and this could mean the difference between their friend purchasing or not.

7) Attach a business card to the letter. This gives the customer something to give to someone else when they tell them about your company. You never know how many times that little card can get passed along.

Another option is to send a survey or customer feedback form. Again, offer some incentive to fill it out. It will give you both the bad and the good of the customer’s experience with your company. This will give you information to use in your next contact letter.

Contact your customers. Make them loyal customers who keep coming back for more and bring new customers with them.

‘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.

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.

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.

6. Time management should be forever on your mind and you need to continuously practice efficient time control.

7. You’ve got to be Hunnnnggggrrrry! Hungry for knowledge to improve your skills and demonstrate enough curiosity that you don’t wait for company sponsored seminars for education and training. Read, listen to tapes and finance your own self improvement in addition to company programs.

8. Don’t chase orders, chase customers. Be willing to lose an order but fight aggressively to never lose a customer unless you need to prune your territory garden due to unacceptable profitability.

9. Your objective on every sales call is to identify the customer’s real needs, not to just take an order. Take pride in being a solution provider and demand creator instead of a demand fulfiller.

10. Understand that often a key to your success lies in your ability to educate the customer. This may range in the form of business acumen to helping the customer understand real value. Become an expert at demonstrating the difference between price and cost.

The formula for success is simple:

FIND THE CUSTOMER PAIN - TAKE THE PAIN AWAY = SET YOUR PRICE

Customers will pay plenty, if you can reduce their “PAIN” Find out what the customer’s problems are and where they are in pain. Look at it from their point of view, not yours.

Customers no longer spout off about quality products and reliable deliveries. That’s a given. Although all customers are trained to say “Your Price is to High”, if you find the pain, price is not an issue. Remember the emerging role of the sales professional today is not to increase sales. Let me repeat that— your role today is not to increase sales. Your role as a sales professional today is to systematically and consistently increase the number of customers who choose you to be their #1 supplier……..

It’s not about Features and Benefits

Today it’s not about the features and benefits of your product. It’s about value and how your customers are going to make a profit. You no longer just sell yourself and everything falls into place. Today, relationships are still very important but they are the ante to play. Customers are smarter and more educated. You must bring every resource your company has into play and leverage those resources to create competitive advantage. Learn to really listen to your customers. Let them talk and when there seems to be a pause in the conversation resist the temptation to start talking again. Chances are good that the customer has more to say. The quieter you are the more they will tell you. Listen long enough with a few strategically placed questions and the customer might just tell you exactly how to gain his business. (And it won’t just be about price)

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.

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.

1. Write your script. To avoid fumbling over your words or forgetting important points, it helps to have a script in front of you when you call prospective customers and clients. Practice it out-loud several times so you don’t end up mechanically following your script word-for-word. You don’t want people to think they are talking to a robot. The first couple of calls might seem forced but before long your words will flow freely and an occasional glance at your script will be all you need.

2. Give away FREE stuff. People love to get something for nothing and when they hear the word, “free,” they are more likely to stop and listen. Offer a small gift or discount with their first order or just for taking the time to meet with you for half an hour. Freebies are a great way to get people to try something or, at the very least, listen to what you have to say.

3. Just do it. There is nothing like facing your fears head on to give you a burst of confidence. Making that first call may take all of your strength but you’ll gain it all back, plus some, by the time you hang up. Even if the call doesn’t result in a sale, you did it! You took control of your fear, which already makes you a success!

4. Brush it off. Chances are, you will encounter rude people, even if they requested information and are expecting your call. But keep in mind they are not rejecting you, personally. Maybe they just had a bad day or are in the middle of watching their favorite television show. Ask if there is a better time to call and quickly end the call. Then forget about it and move on!

Like anything else, cold calling takes a little practice not only to get your words to come out smoothly but to develop a tough skin and determination to keep calling despite rejection. You will see success if you simply keep at it. Who knows? The one who says “yes,” may turn out to be your best client yet. Soon, you’ll be wondering why you ever sweated over cold calls.