If you’re in the sales business, you’re in the people business. Believing in your product and convincing others to believe in your product (enough to buy it!) is at the heart of your profession. To do this effectively you must develop a deep understanding of who your customers are and how your product can improve their lives. Knowing your customer is more than understanding demographics and target markets, it’s recognizing their deepest needs, desires, motives, and goals.
Envision the most effective sales people you know. Would you consider them empaths? Or would you consider them cold, unfriendly, and apathetic? Chances are, the most successful salespeople you will meet are extremely good at connecting with potential buyers on this human-level. They build authentic, lasting relationships with their clients, which not only gives them opportunities for repeat business, but also opens the door to referrals and new business.
You might be asking how.
- Be sincere. Small gestures like asking the client, “Is now a good time?”, when making an unexpected phone call can set you apart from the competition.
- Ask smart questions and focus the conversation on the client, not on the product you’re selling. Once you’ve build solid rapport and have cultivated a deep understanding of your client’s objectives, then you can use that knowledge to discuss how your product/service can help them.
- Be more than just “good enough” to convince someone to agree to a transaction. Consider each prospective client as a new, budding relationship – the foundations of which being trust and credibility.
I would love to hear how you are implementing these tactics into your own practice. Feel free to share in the comments section below.
Cheers to a prosperous New Year ahead.
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