Seven Must Have Skills for Sales to Soar

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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