Sales Velocity Partners
www.salesvelocitypartners.com
Life Is Sales You’re either bringing ‘em in or chasing them away…unfortunately, it is often difficult to know the difference. A strong knowledge base provides a means of accelerating the sales process. Having the ability to provide the appropriate information in the most efficient manner eliminates or reduces the time needed to complete the sales process. I don’t know, but I’ll find out and get back to you” is always better than “I don’t know.” But it's never as good as having the answer on the spot. Not knowing often stops the sales process like a pause button.
Know Your Product You must be the expert on the product or service that you sell. Product knowledge is where features and benefits come into play. The ability to address the strengths and weaknesses of your products enables you to move through a conversation to the sales opportunity.
Know Your Company Have a working understanding of your company. Where it has been? Where it is going? What are its' focus and core competencies? Make an impression and know what your customer is doing. If you can identify potential needs based on the customer’s business model and current circumstances, you can bring forward a more focused approach for sales.
Know Your Customer Find out more about whom you will be addressing and as much about their current projects and circumstances as possible. By having a sense of what they are striving to accomplish, you can present your products and services in a way that will seem more relevant.
Know the Competition More often than not, customers are looking at multiple solutions. Ultimately they will have to choose what they perceive to be the best solution to address their needs. Help them with this chore by being the one to distinguish what you provide from the other products or services on the market. Go through the decision point-by-point. By helping a customer work through the decision, you also give them the ammunition they need to justify their decision to themselves, or their managers.
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Sales Velocity Partners
www.salesvelocitypartners.com
Listen – Don’t Speak In the sales conversation, the most powerful tool is being able to listen more than you speak. The ultimate best source of information is the customer. By asking probing questions and listening to the answers, you achieve two objectives. The first is to determine the customer's need, which leads to how you can help. The second is to enable the customer to discover for himself that you are presenting the appropriate solution.
Ask Questions Questions bring people together, and answers take them apart. In the sales process, well-intended questions can be effective in forwarding conversations. For example, you might want to ask a customer to give you a more in-depth view of his industry. Even better, ask a customer to tell you what their customers want. This enables you to support the customer's ultimate goals.
Uncover the Problem Customers are often bombarded with a sales approach that says “what you have is wrong,” followed by “what you really need, I have.” Then the salesman launches into a long, generic presentation. Get potential customers to talk about their company problems in detail. Use questions and examples to enable the customer to discover how to accomplish their objectives with your products and services.
Stay in Communication Persistence can be a great strength in sales. Often potential customers don't have an immediate need for your services and reminders make a big difference in staying on the radar screen. There are numerous resources for staying in communication with your customers such as direct calls, e-mail, written communications, literature, and industry interactions.
No Effort goes Unnoticed It is often easier to justify why we didn’t do something extra than to justify why we did. However, in establishing a reputation for yourself and your company, going the extra distance often is what separates the wheat from the chaff at the time the critical decision is made as to what to buy. Assume that an extra effort gets noticed and present it in a way that can be recognized as being beyond the call of duty. It always comes back to you: front, side, or center.
The Customer is Always Right Even when he’s dead wrong he’s right. It is easy to say that the customer is off base, doesn’t have a clue, and you could fix them and their problems if they would just let you. This attitude leaves little room to establish a long-term relationship.
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Sales Velocity Partners
www.salesvelocitypartners.com
Always Follow Up The sales conversation, like all conversations, fades over time. A critical step to a successful sale is keeping the dialogue and actions moving forward. Even when the answer is not now, it is important to know when to follow up, or when to follow up on the actions taken to move the process forward.
Acknowledge Your Customers Efforts Recognizing customers for their accomplishments is a powerful way to build a relationship. During the sales conversation, the customer told you what they wanted to accomplish, and how they hoped your product would help them reach that goal. Be sure to congratulate them when they hit those goals.
Know When to Say "Thank You but NO THANK YOU" Win-Win is a two-way street. There are times when a potential customer will continue to make requests such as asking for information, resources, and services without any intention of buying. This behavior is not easy to distinguish at first, but over time it becomes clear. In these circumstances, either say "no," or offer what is needed along with the associated costs.
ASK FOR THE SALE! This is the ultimate test. It is always important to ask for the sale. The point is not so much the answer as it is a chance to give the customer an opportunity to make the commitment to buy or not, and to find out what are the appropriate actions needed to complete the process or when to follow up. Unless you check on where you are in the process, it can be difficult to know where to go or what to do next.
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