Be A Good Salesperson (Pocket guide to success)
Definition of Consultative/Successful Selling"The process of helping
clients achieve their goals/objectives through the use of our products
and
services”
The
Dynamics of Selling
One of the most important aspects of selling is that people buy people
first. Before a prospective client
will
consider buying a product or solution from you they have to be
comfortable
with you in that they have confidence in you, that they trust you and
that they
believe that you are working in their best interests.
In summary the three key behaviours you need to
exhibit if you are to be successful are;
Confidence - In that
you know what you are talking about
and have the necessary knowledge and understanding to resolveclient issues
Trust - That you
have the commitment and
capability to deliver against agreed actionsIntegrity
- That you will
always recommend
actions and solutions that are in the client’s best interest and
not for
profitOnce the client is happy with you and that you have satisfied them on this level you can proceed to the next level which is to develop a sales opportunity.
To do this you have to understand the next concept:
Why
People Buy
People buy
because they have a need, but to be a good salesperson knowing that the
client
has a need is not enough, you need to get beneath the surface to
understand why
they have a need and what is the key driver behind the need.
This information will put you in a much stronger position to respond to the need by offering the best solution to resolve their need helping create differentiation and thus gaining a competitive edge.
The three typical drivers to
peoples buying motivations are the need
to;
Resolve
an immediate or pending problemMake an improvement on
current
situationAddress
ego or statusSurprisingly many people buy products because it makes them feel good and not because it is necessarily a good commercial decision.
It is also important to be aware that many people buy on emotion (gut reaction) and justify with facts.
This will typically happen when the salesperson and client have a good rapport. The client wants to do business with the salesperson but will still have to justify to senior management or the committee why that have decided to buy from this particular firm.
Lastly and most importantly whilst clients often recognise that they have a need their inexperience can lead them to believe what the best solution to their need is; this can lead to problems. If the salesperson agrees with the client without exploring the need in more detail there is a danger that they could be offering the wrong solution to the clients need. Later when the client realises that they have bought the wrong solution invariably they blame the salesperson not themselves.
This is why it is critical to explore and clarify the situation in order to do a full diagnosis of the clients need before offering a solution.
This way you get it right for the client, they remain happy long term and the relationship develops.
However, after you have completed the diagnosis you have to ensure that you do not lose the client when you come to present the solution.
To be successful when presenting the solution you have to understand the next concept of:
What
People Buy
The
mistake
that most people make at this point is that they start to tell the
client about
all the good things their product does and how it works.
The client usually gets lost in the detail and can not see the relevance between your proposal and their requirements.
The most important
thing the client wants to know is will your proposal fulfill their
need, will it do what they want it to do.
When presenting your
solution it is imperative that you ensure that the client can clearly
see how your proposition meets their needs
and will do what they want done.
This means
matching the exact benefits to the clients needs then explaining how
it works and providing examples and evidence.
So is that
it; unfortunately not, even when you have presented your solution
there is still more work to be done.
Human
behaviour is such that few people will agree to buy without having some
concerns, otherwise known as objections.
You have
to be prepared to come up against and overcome objections. This takes
us
to
the next level.
Overcoming
Objections
There is a
concept know as 'buyers remorse', that is the buyer often experiences
doubts at
the point of sale that they are making the right decision and put
forward
reasons as to why they should not proceed.
You should
anticipate this and be prepared
to confidently answer any questions or provide a sound logical argument
as to
why it is in their interest to proceed.
In some
cases the client is looking
for reassurance that the decision they are taking is the right one, in
others
instances they may have valid concerns. As long as your logical
reasoning out weighs
their concerns you should be able to convince them to proceed.
As a last
point many people think that
encountering objections is a bad thing, in most instances it is not as
objections means the buyer is demonstrating interest, if we can over
come their
concerns there is a real possibility of making a sale.
It is when
the client is not objecting
and displaying no interest that you are in most trouble.
You are
almost there, last step of the
process. Having put in all of the hard effort to get this far it would
be
unthinkable not to reap the rewards of your hard efforts.
However in
a lot of cases salespeople
do not close due to a lack of confidence. So many people leave the
closing to the
client by leaving literature to read, or relying on the client to call
them with
a final decision.
If you are
going to be successful in
your sales activities you have to be confident enough to gain client
commitment or close the sale.
This takes
us to the last level.
Gaining
Client Commitment
The reason
why most people do not
seek commitment is the fear of failure. It is at this point that the
client can
say no and the opportunity is over, lost.
Because of
this most people avoid
failure by just not asking the question. They would rather keep the
opportunity on-going than risk failure.
The
problem with this is that the
client seldom reads the literature and even less so calls the
salesperson back.
You have
to believe that if you have a
done your job well in that you have identified the client's need,
gained their
agreement to the fact the need exists and that they want to do
something about
it and that your proposal meets their requirements, they will be
expecting you to close.
You have
earned the right and should
not be apologetic or reluctant to ask for their commitment to go ahead.
Nothing
complicated or sophisticated,
just ask the question;
Have I
answered all of your questions
- yes - in that case are you happy to proceed on the basis we have
discussed?
If the
answer is no we are back in to
objection handling until the client is totally satisfied and
comfortable to
make the decision to proceed.
Is it that easy
Unfortunately
not, once in front
of the client we have a good opportunity to develop a sale. What is the
really
difficult part is getting in front of them in the first place.
The
problem is that buyers are bombarded
with so many marketing and sales approaches that they are instantly
wary and
reluctant to talk let alone buy.
Advertising,
email, internet, texts,
telephone calls, mail shots the list goes on, it is no wonder that
people are
so negative to any sales approach.
This makes
getting in front of the buyer
exceedingly difficult. To be successful you should focus on developing
relationships where your clients are satisfied to the point that they
will buy
from you again. Protect your existing client base do not neglect them
in favour
of chasing new business.
Cross sell
across your client’s
organisation
Where
appropriate ask if they are
prepared to make introductions to other potential buyers.
Warm leads and
introductions are far more productive than cold calling.
Summary
Being a
good
salesperson requires a lot of hard work and effort, it can be very
unrewarding
at times and consequently affect your confidence.
Confidence
is crucial to being successful so you need to be able to motivate
yourself and drive yourself on through difficult times.
If you do
not believe in yourself no one else will.
Remain
focused and be positive, if you work hard enough the results will
follow.
I hope you
have found this over view helpful. If you would like any further
information on being a good salesperson please do not hesitate to call
me.
David
Howard
Tel: +44
(0) 1494 815599
or hit the
button and I will get back to you.
Best of
luck with your sales.