Sales Tips For Prospecting and Closing
By: Jerry Lawrence Markham Team System
Michael Warhurst – International Sales Director
11-Dec-2013
This is aimed at sharing some fundamental sales tips, which will help you in making a killing at sales. These tips are garnered from some of the most successful salespeople on our planet. Reading through them might just help you find the chinks in your sales strategy and help build a better one.
Selling is anything but easy, as you might have discovered, when you tried to make your first sale. Selling is a tough mind game. Below, I have provided you with some phenomenal sales tips and strategies, which will not only help you get more customers, but change your whole perspective about selling.
Sales Tips .
Who's the best salesperson? The one who can sell a refrigerator to an Eskimo! Nice joke, isn't it? Besides being a good joke, it also conveys one of the most important sales secrets. Theoretical sales training is not enough – developing likely prospective buyers must be like breathing.
Nothing can be comparable to practical experience. So let's go into exploring what selling is all about and looking at some great sales tips. Selling is based on the art of reading people and persuasion. You can only get better with the practice of certain basic selling principles. Here are some good tips from some of the best in the sales business.
1)Know Your Thing Thoroughly!
Before you make your sale, you must know every single thing about what you are selling. You must know its unique selling points (USPs). Also know the pros and cons of your products and the cons of any competitors. Illuminate the pros, but do not hide the cons either. It is good to know the strong and weak points of the product as any good salesperson, worth their salt, will tell you. It helps when you have good product knowledge, and, intelligent customers like that. Product knowledge enables you to answer prospect’s queries thoroughly and gain their trust. You can also recommend them a product according to their unique needs/demands. Customers appreciate the expertise you offer in helping them make the right purchase. Ergo, being knowledgeable about what you sell, is very important. You should also know the competition for your product and be able to explain the benefits which your product offers, over not having it and other brands. Instead of a seller, look at yourself as an 'Assistant Buyer'.
2)Ask questions.
Getting potential buyers to open up about themselves is a powerful aid in focusing in on benefits and can reveal the key to closing the sale.
3)Confidence is The Key!
Before you make a sale, you must be absolutely sure about closing it. When a customer sees your enthusiasm about a product, even if he/she has no prior intention of buying, he/she will definitely listen. Make eye contact while talking. Please do not talk like a programmed robot which has been fed product information. It is a huge turn off! So in short, be confident. You can sell only if you yourself are convinced. If you are not sold on your product or service, it will be an uphill battle to sell someone else. Your lack of conviction will scream through.
4)To be a Good Seller, Think Like a Buyer.
Before you make your sales pitch to the prospective buyer, discover what the prospect is thinking about your opportunity and what does he/she want. That will certainly help you out in deciding what to say and what not to say under any circumstances! Think about what benefits/opportunities the buyer is looking for and plan your sales pitch accordingly. Emphasize the features and benefits that would be the most appealing for a buyer. Think and speak benefits, benefits, benefits! All features are relevant only if and when they lead to buyer benefits and opportunities!
5)It Is Not Only About Benefits/Opportunities, But Also Emotions!
Yes, logically presented reasoning about how your product benefits/opportunities are exciting is certainly important. However, remember your customers (like you) are also creatures of emotion. To close the sale of your product/service, you need to appeal to the prospect’s emotions and not just logical benefits/opportunities. This is what I was talking about in the case of that Eskimo-Refrigerator sale! In some cases, you may want to convince the buyer about how buying the product will provide a major status boost and add to their status quotient. Appeal to the heart and ego of the customer!
6)Tempt and Conquer!
If it wasn't for temptation, selling anything would be impossible. Temptation is the weapon with which you can conquer your customer. If you are successful in tempting the customer with your product, half your battle is won. Once they fall for temptation, they are in, hook, line and sinker. Temptation and greed are a salesman's friend! So make your sales pitch in such a way, that the customer thinks that his/her life is incomplete without that product! 'Tempt and Conquer', that should be your motto. Temptation and greed can be your best ammunition! Wouldn’t you like to be able to do/say......? Get the prospect saying “YES” before you go for the close.
7)Listen to Your Customer.
Listen to what your customer wants and remember what he/she says. Customer is the unarguable king/queen, don't forget that. Even if the customer decides not to buy, ask him/her the reasons for not buying the product. That may help you in later sales pitches. Don't give up on him/her too soon. Try to clear the customer's confusion if he/she has any and lead him/her towards the light.
8)Handle 'No' Positively.
There is always going to be rejection. As few as one out of ten people may actually buy. Still if you make your sales pitch effectively, they may return for your offer some day. Persistence is the key. You have to develop your own effective sales negotiation skills and techniques. You may have to knock on a thousand doors before you close your first deal. That's how it is. Sales is all about persistence. So taking 'No' positively is one of the important sales tips. Take every 'No', as a reason to persist more and work harder. ALWAYS ASK FOR REFERRALS EVEN WHEN TURNED DOWN!
Happy selling!
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"Jerry Lawrence Markham Team Systems" - JLMTS for private meetings and Consultation
This system was co-founded by experts from India, East Europe, USA, and Canada.
We Believe that by implementing the JLMTS system, your Organization will have a Massive Transformation with reference to Leadership, and help you to increase Sales.
Jerry Lawrence Markham Team System
Michael Warhurst – International Sales Director
Email : mwarhurst@primus.ca
