Please stop teasing me and help out. It would be greatly appreciated :-(
Please stop teasing me and help out. It would be greatly appreciated :-(
thesalesman wrote:
any actual help? any real sales people here?
VP of Sales here... Xc gave you good info. Add to that long hard hours first learning your product then presenting it then following and youve got it made.
Good luck.
Been in sales for 30 years, this year.
Depends on what sort of sales you are conducting.
You need to find out the prospect's needs. You need to earn their time whether it be in an appointment, where they clearly know what you are up to because you were honest and told them or you are in the middle of an elevator speech.
Typical sale:
What are their need's? You should not insult someone with your value proposition if you haven't taken the time to find out what their needs are.
Don't pitch until you have earned the right. DON'T START PITCHING.
Don't ask questions and pretend to listen. Listen to everything they say and paraphrase it back to them to show that you listened.
Two ears, one mouth, use them accordingly. Who cares about you? Only you. So don't talk about yourself. Third party credibility on a product or service doesn't count if you talk about your own experience, unless they explicitly ask about your experience. No lies.
What is/are the feature(s) of the product or service that your are showing? Then what is the benefit of the feature??? (as the customer sits there, they are thinking WIFM, Whats In It For Me). So tell them.
Don't show a feature unless you can show the benefit. Don't mention a benefit and gloss over it, explain it clearly, give that benefit its due!
But tell them in order. Firstly ask yourself, have I earned the right to tell the feature and the benefit of this product or service? No? Go back to the beginning in a natural way, not a clunky way - you are you and not a robot.
Feature. Benefits. Get agreement that they see that this is a benefit of the feature and it is a benefit to them.
If not, you have an objection. The salesperson's favourite word is "no".
Not "yes". Well yes can be, but your favourite answer or word is "no" -- keep that in mind.
Why?
Because you ask them why. Why? does this feature or benefit not help you? If they tell you, then you can hurdle the objection and get their agreement -- solve that problem. You cannot get their agreement if you do not tackle the objection. When and only when you get their agreement, do you move on. No hurrying. No panicking in the chute, clear the hurdle, get their agreement.
In what order are you giving the value proposition?
Yeah, I thought so...BEFORE you do a feature-benefit profile, because you have to take the correct steps and earn the right to "sell" the product.
"Sell" don't "tell" sort-of-speak.
ALL ALONG, in almost every step, you are trial closing and listening for buying signals and listening like a cat for objections.
For example: "You said you like this hair brush because of the soft bristles, because the soft bristles don't make your hair frizzy, is this correct"?
See feature-then-benefit-then-agreement. But don't do it too heavy-handed or they'll think you are a snake-oil salesman.
Order of things:
Meeting, ice-break, listen, get appointment or permission to discuss their needs.
Discuss their needs and know them.
Paraphrase them back.
(all the while listening for objections and buying signals).
If it fits and you have earned the right, do a value proposition.
Listen more.
Feature -- benefit profile.
Buying signals, no more objections? CLOSE, sharpshooter. Or at least unearth buying signals through summary closing.
There are about 35 popular closes.
If you don't ask for the sale, you are going to fail.
Alternative close is a great one because you can use it as a summary close or a final close.
Alternative close example:
"When paying, would you prefer using credit card or shall we invoice you?"
or
"Would you prefer the dress in red or the blue one?"
When they are ready to buy, they will choose to pay one way or the other, or inquire about a third payment option. When they are ready to choose they will choose a colour or throw the objection at you, "I don't like either colour".
"We also have green, gray and purple, would you like to see them?"
Instead of choosing yes or no, they choose a method of payment or colour of dress.
Magic.
You get this hot moment, that is tense and crucial, and can be scary. When you ask for the sale, you shut up and let them answer with an objection or a confirmation. First person to move typically loses. If the awkward silence is bother you, you need practice. Let them come up with an objection.
Keep in mind, some people intend to never buy. When you have wasted yours and their time enough, let them back out with a bullshit objection and be an effective sales person and leave. BUT REMEMBER, it was you who qualified them. When qualifying early on, you want to know whether you can provide them with a product or service and it makes sense to them and they are in a position - at least reasonably soon within the buying cycle, to buy. It's all on you, chap.
Do not:
-- Talk about yourself unless they ask.
-- Pitch before it is appropriate.
-- Forget to ask for the sale.
-- Avoid objections.
-- Listen, but not prove you listened. Listen damnit! Seriously.
If the product or service is not going to work, avoid the hassle of a return, complaint or losing that customer next time, by telling them to not buy it. You are a sales professional, not a scumbag.
When you hear some person saying this, "you know so-and-so is so talkative, they really have the gift of the gab, they should be in sales."
You are listening to a person who knows nothing about sales.
Sometimes introverts are powerful sales people.
We are born salespeople. Need proof? When you wanted $10 as a kid, the feature was: "Mom, I will mow the lawn and then you wont have to do it. If I mow the lawn, can I have the $10"?
Nice work.
Also, giving the customer too much technical information is often pointless. When you are buying an audio system or a car, you don't really need to know the coeffience of drag in a tornado, when going 70 miles per hour or the dyanamic range of 12,000 cycles and the rubberized diaphram and the voice coil material, unless the customer expresses themselves as a geek, and if so, don't try to keep up with them, frauds by action smell worse than skunks.
Being too professional is hideous, find the right amount.
Be confident, it is only human interaction, you are one of the humans.
Find the answer if you don't know it. Don't do anything further with the sales process until you find the answer to something you don't know.
It is like a chain, one link is missing. Don't sell the chain on the promise of adding the missing link. Add the missing link, prove you added it, get their agreement, close the sale.
AI advice isn't bad.
This is what I'd do tomorrow.
I'd go to their competitor and ask them to show you their conference rooms etc., and tell you what options are included, and then ask for a price sheet.
Act like your a buyer, and be sold to.
Good luck.
Isn't bad?
ISN'T BAD?
I charge for that type of advice, although better coordinated and laid out...