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Sales Strategies: Why Prospects Buy From You

Written by: Michael Beck

Article Overview: In truth, it’s WHO YOU ARE, rather than what you do or what you know, that persuades someone to buy from you. People will choose to do business with you because they like you, relate to you, and trust you.

Sales Strategies: Why Prospects Buy From You

In truth, it’s WHO YOU ARE, rather than what you do or what you know, that persuades someone to buy from you. People will choose to do business with you because they like you, relate to you, and trust you. What traits define “who you are” in the minds of others? Obviously there are many things which define who we are, but the following list is a good place to start.

Have Integrity
• Do what you say you’re going to do.
• Show up on time
• Return phone calls in a timely manner

Care About Others
• Do what’s in the best interest of others, even if it doesn’t result in a sale
• Add value beyond the value of your products and services
• Take an interest in your prospects and your clients as people, not just as business relationships

Have a Professional Appearance
• Dress and act professionally, which usually means slightly better than your prospects
• Be relatable
• Be respectful of people and their time

Have a Positive Attitude
• People like to do business with people they like and like being around
• Be a positive and optimistic person
• Focus on the possibilities and not the obstacles

If a person continually improves in these areas, not only will it cause more people to choose to buy from them, but they will ATTRACT more of the kinds of clients they want. Opportunities will seem to “materialize” because of who we are. Plus, you’ll enjoy your business more than ever before.

Most of us could benefit from improving in one or more of the areas mentioned above, but it can be a challenge to achieve that improvement. Often it’s difficult to improve in these areas simply because we’re blind to where and how we could improve. We’re creatures of habit and mostly operate on “autopilot”. Additionally, it’s really not about how we see ourselves, but rather how others perceive us. Therefore, trying to make many of the changes necessary is almost impossible. The most effective way to identify areas for improvement is to ask those around us. (Obviously, we need to choose people who want us to succeed and who we trust.) Once we become aware of those areas we want to change, the next challenge is in actually making those changes. The problem here is that because what we’re trying to change are habits – habits that no longer serve us – we generally aren’t even aware when we behave the way we do. After all, they’re HABITS. So once again, the best way to make the changes that we want is to enlist the help of people around us. Ask those people you trust to point out to you when you fall into those old habits that you want to break. In this way, your attention will be drawn to your actions so you can act with intention rather than by habit or reaction. By getting an objective perspective and then making the changes you want, you’ll be able to accelerate your success, make more money, and stop selling!

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Article Tags: autopilot, best interest, business relationships, cho, creatures of habit, integrity, many things, obstacles, optimistic person, person focus, positive attitude, possibilities, professional appearance, prospects, time return, timely manner, truth



Related Forum Posts
Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing
Simple way to avoid Cold Calling - Gary, A chiropractor I work with hates cold calling (me too!) and he uses a technique to warm people up to using his services - it's so simple! In Sales your dealing with 3 pools of people: 1. Strangers 2. Prospects 3. Returning Customers You need to move people from one pool to the next. We'll concentrate on #1 and #2 as it's most relevant to your question. My Clients does the following (you just have to tailor it to your situation - be creative). My Client (we'll call him Bob) Bob leverages his time and resources to only get people that need his offer (pain relief) to put their hand up. Dealing with Strangers can get expensive and they don't like to be told what to do as they have no trust or relationship built with him. So to get Strangers to put their hands up he writes up an offer with a free report on a particular pain relief - let's say lower back pain (note: he can simply just change lower back pain to neck pain and have a new report). and uses multiple marketing vehicles to promote the Free report - magazines, newspaper, forums, postcards, private clinics etc. The only people picking up this information are the very people Bob would like as customers as they have Lower back pain. Bob's Free report ends with him stating his services and includes a Free in-house Consultation with no obligation. You'd be surprised at how easily Bob converts Strangers into Prospects. Note: They become prospects when they ask for the Free Guide and in exchange provide their contact details. This gives Bob unlimited opportunity to contact them for the Free in-house consultation with no obligation to continue using him. At this stage Bob's ability to close the sale lies in his office providing good customer service, Bob's ability to help the prospect and provide value at the free in-house consultation. Notice, he hasn't had to pick up the phone to COLD-CALL his Stranger pool or his Prospect pool. Hope that example helps to increase your prospecting!
Re: Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional - [quote="ltrahan":31w9r2iz]Hi Evan, I am noticing that many of the posts in the Sales/Marketing section deal with online marketing, SEM and and SEO and Affiliates. I was wondering if it might be a good idea to separate that section into two; 1) Online Sales and Marketing; 2) Traditional Sales and Marketing[/quote:31w9r2iz] I second the request...
Different Hats - CEO Sales & Marketing & Leadership Development Company Strategic Vision 10 Alliances & Growth Strategies 10 Hiring & Managing People 8 Mentoring 8-9 Strategic Planning for Clients 10 Execution of Marketing Campaigns 9-10 (i have great people who do the nitty gritty) Financial Management 9 Bookkeeping 3 (outsourced as I really hate the fine details like GST0 Administrative Follow Up 6-7 (again have great staff) Writing & Publishing 9 (getting better all the time!) Speaking 10 (so I have been told) Self Promotion 9-10 Web development & Promotion 6-7 (learning more and have brought on players who are 10+) Babysitting Employees (1 - wont do it, that's why I work so hard to hire and motivate the people I have) Great topic Kevin!! Jude
Re: FREE Toronto Referral Workshop - Kevin, I'll try to get a copy of the slides and summarize the 14 Strategies. Stay tuned!


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