Awesomememorabilia.com reviews – Sales Business Required Skills Creating good first impressions Making a strong first impression will help you develop customer relationships and make sales. From the moment you approach a customer, your behaviour, attitude and personal presentation will influence your customer's decision to buy. Meeting and greeting Your customer will make early decisions about you - and how much time they'll give you - based on your appearance, your body language and mannerisms, your tone of voice and facial expressions, your words, and your demeanour. Here are some useful first-impression tips: •
Make eye contact.
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Give a nice, warm smile.
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Open with a sincere, friendly greeting.
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Pay attention to the customer - not to the product, your stock or a colleague.
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Greet the customer and ask a useful opening question. For example, 'Good afternoon. Can I help
you find our sale items?' •
Never ignore the customer.
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Show the customer that they have your willing, undivided attention.
Personal presentation Your appearance shows your customer that you respect them, your business and your products and services. Here are some useful personal presentation tips: •
Be sure your posture is straight, confident and relaxed.
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Don't distract your customer with personal fidgeting and adjustments or by handling stock while
you're talking to them. •
Dress to impress - take care over your choice of dress, and tailor your wardrobe, and make-up,
to appeal to your customer base. •
Make sure your hair and nails are well-groomed.
Positive attitude There are many things affecting your business that you can't control. Your personal attitude is something you can control. Your attitude affects the way you approach people and events in business. Choosing to approach potential customers positively, confidently, enthusiastically and with a helpful attitude - even when you're tired, stressed or frustrated - will improve your sales performance and grow your sales. Remember that every business exists to meet customers’ needs. If you believe your job is to understand and solve the customer’s problems, then you will exude a natural, helpful confidence.
No matter how good your products or services are, their success depends on your ability to sell them. Your business will grow or fail based on the success of your products and services, and how well you persuade your customers to buy them. Anyone can learn sales skills. Regardless of what you are selling, you and your sales team can achieve great product sales by mastering a set of proven selling skills that focus on: •
confidence
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relationship-building
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listening
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persuasion
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product knowledge.
This guide explains how these core skills can help you perfect the sales process, including building trust, identifying your customers' needs, selecting and presenting products for your customers, handling questions and objections, and closing sales.
Verbal communication skills for selling Your communication skills determine your chances of a sale - from your opening pitch to your closing statements. Developing your questioning, vocal and conversational skills will help you build on a strong first impression by gaining trust and establishing credibility. Questioning skills Asking appropriate, purposeful questions can help you identify whether your customer is likely to buy your products, and move them through the selling process. There are several types of questions that can help you in the sales process. Closed questions Closed questions require a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer. For example: 'Are you looking for a television today?' Closed questions are used to: •
find out facts
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limit or guide discussion
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gather basic information from the customer that you can use to generate an open question.
Open questions Open questions require a customer to explain or elaborate. For example: 'What type of product are you looking for?' Open questions are used to: •
gather specific information so you can determine your customer's wants and needs
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build relationships with customers so that they are comfortable dealing with you.
Probing questions Probing questions are about a specific topic to uncover more information. For example: 'What type of television do you think would fit best on your wall?' Probing questions are used to: •
obtain more specific information in order to fully understand your customer's needs
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uncover and clarify your customer's perceptions and opinions.
Confirming questions Confirming questions are designed to check that your customer understands what you've said. For example: 'Which of these features would benefit you most?' Confirming questions are used to check that you've successfully communicated information to your customer. Summary confirmation questions Summary confirmation questions are designed to check that you understand what your customer has told you. For example: 'Are you saying you'd prefer to order the next model in our range?' Summary confirmation questions are used to: •
check that you understand your customer's needs
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check that the benefits you've outlined meet their needs.
Conversational skills Good salespeople look for a way to make a connection with their customer, and build a conversation based on trust and understanding. Conversation skills include: •
asking non-confronting questions to show you genuinely care about your customer's needs
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talking knowledgeably about your product or service
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displaying interest and warmth
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avoiding bias or stereotyping
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adjusting to your customer's verbal style
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telling the truth
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offering observations that show you understand
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accepting and acknowledging your customer's opinions
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refraining from interrupting or correcting unnecessarily
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watching for and responding to signs of discomfort or boredom
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being diplomatic
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making small talk - when it's called for and to an appropriate degree.
Vocal skills Good communicators know that what they say is often less important than the way they say it. Use your voice to make an impact by: •
adjusting your pitch to suit the conversation
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adjusting your volume to ensure clarity, and suit your customer's comfort and hearing needs
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speaking in a steady tone of voice to show calm and confidence
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slowing the speed of your speech so it is calm and clear
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varying the inflection in your voice to suit your message - to show enthusiasm, common sense,
interest, and gravity •
enunciating your words clearly
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varying the quality and intensity of your voice to hold interest
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conveying meaning using the sound of your voice to reinforce your messages.