Identify Problems and Then Present Solutions

Successful sales and marketing people find out what the prospects need and then present their products and service as a solution to their need. Are we asking questions? Are we being observant? Are we listening? Selling is 100% about meeting the prospect’s needs! If you have any other agenda, your success will be minimal.

Buyer’s are interested in only one thing, and that one thing is “what’s important to me.” Find the answer to that question and the rest of the sales process is easy. Too many sales people assume that prospect needs their product. They lead the conversation by telling the prospect what their product will do for them. They talk about the features and benefits and then expect the prospect to buy it.

Sales and marketing success can be found in this simple four-step formula:

1. Build rapport by asking questions about the prospect and encouraging them to talk about themselves.
2. Ask questions about their specific needs and problems that might be solved using your products and services. Don’t start presenting until the prospect has revealed all of their needs or problems.
3. Present your product as a solution to the needs they have presented. If your product is not the right solution, tell them so, and move on.
4. Encourage them to talk about how they feel your product will solve their problems. It is critical to have them talk about and envision your product as a solution to their needs.

Effective Time Management Is Essential For Business Success

Planning and scheduling time to sell is the most important activity in which a small business can be engaged. There are more things to be done each day than there is time to do them. Does that sound familiar? You are not alone! Sales and marketing often take a back seat to the urgent activities needing to be accomplished each day. If you do not make a conscious effort each day to promote your products and services you will soon be out of business.

Here are a few time tested and proven ideas that will put you on a winning course:

1. Set aside time each day to plan your daily activities. You will need about 15 minutes.
2. Make a list of all the things that need to be done today.
3. Prioritize your list so the most important things will get done.
4. Estimate how much time each activity will take (or how much time you are going to devote to that activity).
5. Determine a time frame in which the activity will take place, ie., 8:00 – 8:45, 1:00-3:00, etc.
6. If need be, schedule a block of time to accomplish several activities, ie., 9:00 - 12:00 to accomplish 6 different tasks where it may not make any difference which order they are done, but they will all be completed within the 3 hour block of time.
7. ALWAYS plan and schedule time for sales activities.

Think beyond the urgent tasks and schedule time for sales and marketing. If you don’t, things will continue the way they have always been, and sales will take a back seat to everything else and won’t get done. Plan each day and watch your sales increase!

Our Prospects Don't Want To Be Sold

Prospects don’t want to be sold. They want to buy. We all feel the pressure when a sales person approaches us. We want to avoid him because we know that he is going to put the “sales pitch” on us. Sure, we are looking to possibly make a purchase, but we don’t want someone selling us. The fact that we don’t want to be “sold” in a consumer situation is the very reason our prospects don’t want to be sold.

Instead of telling the prospect all there is to know about our products and services, ask properly worded questions that will cause the prospect to reveal to us the very thing that we would have told them. When prospects hear themselves making a statement, it is far more believable than if a sales person said it. In essence, the prospects will sell themselves.

Another powerful reason for talking less and asking more, is the creation of a dialogue. Most sales people generate a one-way line of communication, telling versus listening. Questioning gives the prospect an opportunity to share their point of view and to tell the sales person the advantages of a particular feature instead of the sales person selling the benefit.


Practice these two powerful principles and watch your sale grow: “People don’t want to be sold, they want to buy”, and “telling isn’t selling”.

Current Customers Are The Answer To Increasing Sales

Current clients are the very best source of new sales opportunities. Always be looking for new opportunities within your current customer base. Remind them of the good solutions you have provided them in solving their problems and then ask if there is anything else you can help them with. Set a goal to find one new sales opportunity each day with one of your customers. By the end of the month you will have found twenty new opportunities just from existing customers!

The next best source of finding new sales is through referrals from happy, satisfied customers. Ask your customers for their help. Let them know that you want to grow your business and they can help through giving you referrals. Again, set a goal to ask for and receive one referral each day. This may require planning in advance who to ask. It may also require asking several satisfied customers before you find one willing to give you a referral. Give them very specific ideas of what a good referral looks like. Make it easy for them and they will respond in a positive manner.

Follow this sales tip and you will double your sales with very little additional effort. Let your happy, satisfied customers help you be the best sales person you can possibly be.