The play on words in the title is not accidental: a good salesperson knows how to follow certain rules that you can also assimilate.
Whether you need to sell a project internally in the company you work for, or attract more clients for your business, or apply them for your part-time venture, these guidelines will be useful for you to discover how those who know do it.
Joe Girard has been listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the best salesman in the world. In 15 years of professional career he sold 13,001 cars in the United States.
What follows are some of its success principles that, as you see fit, you can adapt to be more successful.
What is needed? Consistency, persistence, continuity, confidence in yourself and determination to achieve and even exceed your goals.
Perhaps you have been led to believe that you are not cut out to sell, although the facts prove otherwise. No matter how shy you are, on some occasion you have sold something, offered it and the other person has benefited from your task.
The initial step is to prepare an effective strategy to achieve what you want.
To start: You must sell your idea to yourself. Many people make products or have great ideas… they just don’t implement them or put them into practice.
The skill of practicing is what makes the difference. If you do it permanently, at least six days a week full time, you will acquire valuable information about what works for you, and what doesn’t, to adjust your audience and improve your strategies.
Here are some fundamental keys to guide you:
The professional salesperson needs to put himself in the customer’s shoes. The common mistake is to think that “this is how it has always been done and it works”, “I can’t think of anything new to do”, or “I only send what they ask of me”.
It doesn’t matter if you have a store where you sell a lot “just because”, or you help your family in a common business. The fundamental thing is to leave the counter and stand on the other side.
The best way to listen to the voice of the market is to dig deep and ask questions. Of course, many avoid doing it because: a) It involves a lot of work and focus; b) The answers may be different from what you would like to hear.
Once you have investigated your market, you need to know reliably what obstacles your client has that prevent them from reaching what you sell or similar things.
These obstacles – sometimes real, such as lack of money, or lack of knowledge of available financing; sometimes subjective, like “There is a lot of inflation and I don’t know whether to make a purchase of this nature”– are great material for predicting some of the objections they may make to you.
When you know the obstacles, you can design different strategies for each audience segment.
Out of arrogance or ignorance, many people think that “everyone is my client.” And reality indicates that it is not this way. There are market segments for each one. Just as there is competition with things or services similar to yours, there are also people who can choose you (or not); for which you need to show him that you exist.
In your strategy you will need to find people who want to pay what you want for the service or product you provide.
The frequent mistake of a salesperson is to promote what they do to excessively broad audiences, who may not only not be able to pay them, but who do not see the need as their own.
Therefore, one of the keys to good salespeople is detecting the need and anticipating it.
Even if you are inventing wildfire, people need to see, feel and perceive in every possible way that what you have is unique.
If there are no real differentials (not what you think is different), there is no certain possibility for you to gain a place in the market.
For a good salesperson it is strategic to be close to customers. The act of selling does not consist of closing the deal, but rather 80% is built in the prior, only 10% in the purchase, and the other 10% in the subsequent follow-up. And there begins again the 80% prior to the next purchase, recommendation, or continuity of the link.
To achieve this, use all the tools available, many of them free of charge. Social Networks, periodic text messaging on the cell phone, an email, birthday greetings, check-ups from time to time; a special gift or promotion just for customers; Anything goes, without overwhelming you with communications that only try to sell more. The key is to make him feel special.
Above all, you should focus on finding out if your product or service has resolved their needs, and on knowing, first-hand, what you could do better for that customer. Ask him and let him express it to you.
It is common that many of us have had problems with sellers of products and services; and that is why the management of complaints and claims is strategic as a consequence of your sales act.
If you don’t take 100% responsibility for everything, you will lose the client.
For example, I know a car salesman who went to look for each customer – past, current or potential – at the waiting seats; he sat on the next one; He offered him a drink, and then invited him to come to his sales area. Those previous minutes allowed us to break the ice to know in detail what the client’s expectations were, in order to satisfy them to measure. He did a “pitch elevator” drill in his own way.
The winner needs to know how to express himself properly and know your product or service deeply.
It is sad to be received by salespeople without any enthusiasm, unprofessional and more engrossed in their lunch break or their cell phone than in the customer. What’s more: it makes you want to run to the competition’s store.
That lack of awareness and registration of others is what you need to overcome again and again, even if they don’t buy from you.
Prepare your presentation well, in 30 seconds. It is enough time to explain everything necessary to get to the point, be concise and answer 70% of a potential client’s doubts. Only 30 seconds.
It’s called “elevator pitch” because it refers to the time it usually takes to take an elevator ride with your client, who doesn’t want to listen to you for the world and, locked in the cubicle, will have no choice if you know how to do it.
Write it; rehearse it, practice it until it comes natural; prepare five or six different versions. Record yourself with your mobile and review your videos. Record your gestural-non-verbal language (55% of human communication), the tone of your voice and nuances (38%) and words (only 7%).
As you observe, it is more important to excite and move than what you say: focus on that as the first step.
If you want to be successful as a seller, potentially every person who inquires has some type of interest in what you offer. It’s true: not everyone will do it, although it is worth the effort.
Explore what they need, how they want it, what should happen for you to be their product or service provider; what value you are willing to invest; and how you can ensure their compliance if they buy from you.
Adjust your commercial schemes so that, practically, there is some solution for the one who really wants to buy from you.
You can make plans, promotions, payment strategies, bonuses, price freezes, staggered prices month by month, financing. There are hundreds of formulas to make sales: don’t stay with your conventional models.
A fake seller simply ships; He even avoids looking into the customer’s eyes, and greets him with a smile. Nothing more despicable.
On the other hand, if you want to sell like a professional, you need to generate an unforgettable experience, even if they don’t buy from you. You must leave your mark, your stamp, on each person you contact, since it will be the bridge for the next, while at the same time it will be your teacher in improving your art of selling.
Ask simple questions that create the illusion in the person that they have already purchased your product. For example: “Where would it be best for me to place this printer in your office?” If the person responds, he may tell you details (more information for you), and even brag that he is already using her. It is a tacit “yes”.
Apply the “3 Yes” rule: ask three questions so that they always answer with “Yes”. It is highly likely that the fourth question will also have an affirmative answer, since you will not give the brain time to think as much. The more “yeses” you get throughout the entire sales act, the fewer objections.
The issue of energy is essential to be a professional salesperson. If someone comes crestfallen, sad and doubtful, you will be reluctant to trust your purchase. You need to have a haughty, motivating energy that leads the act of meeting with your client.
Add to this being open to explain everything within your reach, and even to keep something that will serve as an excuse for you to call him a while later.
Be careful not to be invasive or burdensome: let people have “air” to think, move and reflect; and deliver at the end of your sales pitch, those that – if you have worked on them following these tips – will be the best so that the person can choose only based on the latter, and not the objections that may have appeared.
