Seven Must Have Skills for Sales to Soar
Seven Must Have Skills for Sales to Soar
2. Find out what is most important to the customer. Your ability to discover those unique features and benefits that your client wants and needs are what you want to focus on. If you first personalize the sales process instead of talking about what you like best first, you turn a general shopping trip into special buying experience.
3. Take them to the solution. It's always amazing to me how the better salespeople will take the time to walk with me to the stand or aisle that holds what I'm asking about. And then they'll either hand the item to me or at least point to it and ask me if this is what I want to check out. This personalized selling approach communicates a favorable attitude rather than using the less friendly index finger to point to the location across three aisles and down to the left or right.
4. Learn how to listen. A recent study by Ramsey and Sohi in the Journal of Academy of Marketing Science clearly establishes that a customer's perception of how well a salesperson listens has a positive association with trust. Listening includes such behaviors as giving your full attention to the customer, responding to acknowledge understanding and asking clarifying questions. Listen more and you won't sell short.
5. Leave out the cliche "How can I help you?" Most of us have become so numb to this question either we automatically respond or we just do not hear it being asked. Greet your customers with a greeting that personalizes your attention to them, to current events in your company or with a question that gets their attention.
6. Overuse two words: thank you. Next to our own name, these are the words most of us love to hear often. Your greeting could include "Thank you for visiting us today." On occasion it becomes necessary to leave a customer momentarily. Certainly you want to ask if they would excuse you. And when you come back, you want to thank them for allowing you to take care of the situation. And always say thank you when a customer leaves your store whether they buy something or not.
7. Flash them a smile. Many persons feel pressured, believe they don't have enough time, or have some downright serious happenings in their life. They come into your place of business with this kind of baggage. A smile in someone's day when they don't expect it brightens an otherwise dark moment. A smile puts you in a favorable light. And have you noticed, when someone smiles at you it's quite natural to flash them a smile right back.
In general, today's customers want more of the personal approach to selling. Personal with the them in mind. Sure it may take more attention, time and energy. And no doubt there going to be times when it's just inappropriate. This adaptability is central to greater sales success in any business today. And thank you for adapting to help each customer buy. Your sales will soar.
Seven Must Have Skills for Sales to Soar - To learn more about this author, visit Patricia Weber's Website.
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1. Sell the way the buyer buys. People have their own style and way of buying. Lose your ego. And don't apply one size fits all. Become adept at knowing the preferred way your potential customer makes decisions. Then help them to understand your product or service in that way.
2. Find out what is most important to the customer. Your ability to discover those unique features and benefits that your client wants and needs are what you want to focus on. If you first personalize the sales process instead of talking about what you like best first, you turn a general shopping trip into special buying experience.
3. Take them to the solution. It's always amazing to me how the better salespeople will take the time to walk with me to the stand or aisle that holds what I'm asking about. And then they'll either hand the item to me or at least point to it and ask me if this is what I want to check out. This personalized selling approach communicates a favorable attitude rather than using the less friendly index finger to point to the location across three aisles and down to the left or right.
4. Learn how to listen. A recent study by Ramsey and Sohi in the Journal of Academy of Marketing Science clearly establishes that a customer's perception of how well a salesperson listens has a positive association with trust. Listening includes such behaviors as giving your full attention to the customer, responding to acknowledge understanding and asking clarifying questions. Listen more and you won't sell short.
5. Leave out the cliche "How can I help you?" Most of us have become so numb to this question either we automatically respond or we just do not hear it being asked. Greet your customers with a greeting that personalizes your attention to them, to current events in your company or with a question that gets their attention.
6. Overuse two words: thank you. Next to our own name, these are the words most of us love to hear often. Your greeting could include "Thank you for visiting us today." On occasion it becomes necessary to leave a customer momentarily. Certainly you want to ask if they would excuse you. And when you come back, you want to thank them for allowing you to take care of the situation. And always say thank you when a customer leaves your store whether they buy something or not.
7. Flash them a smile. Many persons feel pressured, believe they don't have enough time, or have some downright serious happenings in their life. They come into your place of business with this kind of baggage. A smile in someone's day when they don't expect it brightens an otherwise dark moment. A smile puts you in a favorable light. And have you noticed, when someone smiles at you it's quite natural to flash them a smile right back.
In general, today's customers want more of the personal approach to selling. Personal with the them in mind. Sure it may take more attention, time and energy. And no doubt there going to be times when it's just inappropriate. This adaptability is central to greater sales success in any business today. And thank you for adapting to help each customer buy. Your sales will soar.
Seven Must Have Skills for Sales to Soar - To learn more about this author, visit Patricia Weber's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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