So you have probably said to yourself time and time again, “This year I’m going to make some changes!” Well, if you’re in sales, there is a whole lot of money being spent between now and December 31, 2014. Not just in retail, but in business-to-business sales as well. Many departments have money budgeted for the year that ends up in surplus. If that money isn’t spent it won’t get carried over into the next year. How many of your prospects and clients have that “extra” money to spend before year-end?
The time to change is NOW! This first part of a two part series will get you started. Check out these first 3 steps:
1) Stop Selling. . . Close More Business.
When you really want (or possibly need) the business, it’s easy to drop into the “convincing” mode. You begin to sound like the stereotypical salesperson. You over-explain your strategies, start justifying the investment and defending your techniques - all things you shouldn’t be doing. The bottom line, you’re talking too much and you are decreasing your chance of closing the sale.
Your job is to help the prospect discover how you can help them solve their problems, meet their challenges and reach their goals. . . not tell them. Learn to educate with questions and third-party stories.
Recognize when the sale is made. . . and then be quiet. Salespeople who talk too much soon become victims of the 5 / 55 rule--they make the sale in the first 5 minutes, and then spend the next 55 minutes “buying” it back. Once the prospect has made their buying decision, trying to reinforce their decision by adding additional information will often do more harm than good.
2) Actively Listen to Your Prospects.
Your degree of success as a sales professional is directly related to your ability to listen. Your primary goal in the early stages of the selling process is to gather information. There will be plenty of time later to give information if the prospect attains the status of “qualified”. Only by listening, and listening well, can you determine if the prospect graduates to that level. So, close your mouth and open your ears.
Listening is not a passive activity. You must pay attention to every word. You can’t be thinking about how to respond or what you will say next while the other person is speaking. You must also listen for the tonality of speech, which often imparts a message independent of the words.
You must “listen” to the non-verbal messages--facial expressions, breathing, clenched fist, etc. These messages sometime speak louder than words.
Don’t interrupt while the other person is speaking. Let them finish and then ask your questions or make comments. This allows you to hear their complete thought and perhaps gain a better understanding of what they are saying.
3) Learn to See the Prospect’s Point of View.
As the saying suggests, “walk a mile in their moccasins” before making judgments and recommendations. Before you can really understand what your prospect wants or needs, you must understand what they feel and why they say the things they do.
Respect their point of view, even if you don’t agree with it. Learn to empathize with them. This doesn’t mean that you have to refrain from having your own point of view, it only means you can understand theirs.
Read Part Two now! Click here
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