How to Make an Effective Sales Talk
The most prominent criteria for a seller is to know the business, the product, and the need of the
prospective buyer. Now what we call an effective sales talk is the capability
of finding the need of the buyer via a pleasant conversational skill,
analyzing if that matches with the product/service that is being offered and to
what extent, if there is a possibility to create the sense of need in the
prospective buyer.
Here are some common points which are helpful to make an
effective sales talk. :
1. Listen :
Accurate and timely information is the key to success in selling. One of the blunders that poor salespeople make is giving information before they get information. In other words, they talk too much. If you are not a patient listener, you are going to make one or all of the following mistakes.
1) You will give too much information (more than is necessary to make the sale).
2) You will give the wrong information (based on the prospect’s needs, wants, desires, or problems).
3. You will give information that could sabotage your success either in the short or long term.
A good seller would understand that their job is not to sell their software or services but to help the prospect become comfortable with buying their products or services and giving themselves permission to buy now. Information is power and successful salespeople are masters at uncovering needs, problems, prejudices, concerns, and desires in a timely and truthful way.
1. 2. Sell a
Relationship, not a product :
selling is not about
only closing the current prospect on a particular product or service that
solves one of their pressing problems, needs, or desires. It is about
building a trusting relationship and partnership with them, by becoming a resource and helping them solve their on-going problems, or satisfying their continuing
and evolving needs and desires. A good seller knows that the lifetime
value of a client is far more than the value of one sale or transaction.
They take along the view of the relationship. It is not just about this sale
but about future sales, referrals, and customer trust and loyalty.
2. 3. Focus on
Buyer’s need more than showing your selling need:
People will be ready to
buy when they need to rather than when
you have to sell. You don’t change people’s buying habits
or circumstances. What you can do is accurately discover them and
then attempt to create a sense of urgency. A lot of buying is done due to
momentum. It is important to discover those “real” reasons or circumstances
as to why a prospect would buy now, later, not at all, or never. Once you
have discovered their real issues the sales superstar tailors their appeal to
those specific needs, desires, and buying circumstances.
4. Sell the
Value, not the price :
Most poorly trained salespeople tend to lower the
price when they receive price resistance. Any price, no matter how
low, will always seem high to a prospect or customer if their perceived value is low. The key to effectively handling price resistance
is to understand this simple, yet profound, concept. Prospects and
customers say they want low prices, but what they really want is low cost. What is the difference?
Price is what customers pay
for your product or service now. Cost is what the customer pays by buying
late, not at all or wrong. It is their overall cost over an extended
period of time.
In most cases, we get what
we pay for. Buy cheap and you get less value or higher cost. Buy expensive
and you get higher value or lower cost over time. This is not always
true but tends to be true most of the time.
A good seller sells value
and doesn’t defend the price. In the long run, it is much easier to justify a high
price if the value is there than poor quality and
constant product/service problems.
2. 5. Paint a
picture :
Once you know the
customer's needs and goals and the tangible impact of alleviating these pains
or attaining their goals, you must paint a picture of what their new world will
look like. How will it be better? Help them visualize the other side and build the excitement around it.
3. 6. Build the
foundation of trust:
Trust is the foundation of sales success. A good seller knows
how to identify the prospect’s real intent or their purpose. They are not
easily misled and tend to probe deeper when they feel they are not getting the
real truth from the prospect or customer. A buyer will not open up and share
their needs or believe in your solution if they don't trust you, no matter what
you do or what you say. You will not win the sale if they don't trust you.
4. 7. Never give
up control of the sales process:
A common mistake some salespeople make is that
they lose control of the sales process at some point. There are many ways
they accomplish this and here are just a few for your consideration:
- – They quote a price before they have had a chance to build value.
- – They don’t ask enough questions early in the sales process. They
just ramble on.
- – They send out literature when asked, without first qualifying the
prospect’s agenda or reasons for requesting it.
- – They send people to their website without first getting some basic
qualifying information and having a follow-up strategy after the prospect
has perused their site.
- – They don’t get advance deposits on services or products.
- – They leave “will calls” when calling a prospect.
Control of the sales process is one of the key strategies of a good
seller, They understand that control is not manipulation, but is in the
ultimate best interests of the prospect or client.
When the salesperson controls the sales process they are never
broad-sided with a lost sale they thought was in the bag.
Finally, a good salesman must know that there’s no such thing as a rulebook to have an effective sales talk. Great
sales representatives make it look easy,
but superior performance usually indicates a salesperson has taken the time to
hone their skills and is constantly iterating to better help their prospects.
Author's Note:
It is these cardinal points that a good salesman should follow in order to improve his sales and not some trashy one-liners (that every other local hawker has been yelling for the last 200 years in your neighborhood). After all, if any of those slogans had the magic of boosting sales without any other factor (marketing, brand-building, etc) influencing and/or complementing, those street hawkers would be sitting in an air-conditioned office with a healthy paycheck at their disposal every 30 days.
Anyway, more on sales slogans and one-liners that changed the world (along with other factors) later.
To be continued..........
