I recently sat in on two sales presentations. I love to subject myself to salespeople to critique them and to stay in touch with the current level of performance in the sales profession. The first salesperson asked one question of me and then jumped right into his “pitch.” He was pretty good at telling me his story, but he had absolutely no idea about what my company does and no real understanding as to whether I needed his product. The second salesperson jumped right into the presentation without even asking my name. When I later asked him about his approach, he suggested that since I must have been very busy, he didn’t want to waste any time building rapport or assessing needs and thought that it would be better to just get right to the point.
Let me share 5 things that successful salespeople do, which you could also do to increase your sales. These five things are not secret or magic. In fact, they are probably things that you know, but just don’t do because you don’t understand how powerful they are in closing the sale.
1. You should be closing the sale from the first moment the prospect first sets eyes on you. Your appearance is the first impression you make with the prospect. If you don’t have the look of a person they want to buy from, they probably won’t buy from you. Dress the part of a successful salesperson, act the part of a successful salesperson, speak the part of a successful salesperson and become a successful salesperson.
2. The most important person in the world of selling is the customer. Treat them as if they are. Don’t put yourself above them and don’t focus on yourself. They may act polite, but they really don’t care about you. They care about themselves, their problems and what you can do for them. When you focus on the customer, you are literally closing the sale.
3. Diagnosing the customer’s needs, I believe, is even more important to the process of closing a sale than just flat out asking for the sale. People buy from people they believe, like and trust. Diagnosing needs, builds trust and confidence better than anything else you can do. Your prospects and customers will want to buy from you because you have gone where no other salesperson has ever ventured. You have discovered the core of their needs. For that reason alone, you have made the sale.
4. Honesty is not typically expected from a salesperson. It should be the most important character trait of every person that sells, but sadly it isn’t. Your honest and straightforward approach, hiding nothing from the prospective buyer, is one of the best methods to close a sale. Honesty does not have degrees. You are either honest or you are not. Dishonesty will eventually lead to your failure as a salesperson. Your reputation will precede you. So remember, people buy from people they believe, like and trust.
5. See the people. Spend time with your prospects and customers. Sales are not made in the office. Sales are made in the presence of buyers. Get out of your office and be among the people you are selling to. They want to see that you care enough to spend time with them. Romance your prospects and customers by delivering new news and repeating to them things you have previously shared. Selling takes place when you create a dialogue and you need to be with your prospects to have a dialogue. I’m not talking about bothering buyers with the two most worthless questions a salesperson can ask, i.e., “Have you made up your mind yet and do you have any questions?” Take them meaningful information and personally assist them in the decision making process.
There is no magic bullet or secret formula used by the world’s best salespeople. The difference is that they do the things that both you and they know and even though you know those things, you choose not to do them. You can quote me on this: “Successful salespeople do what they know, whereas, less successful sales people know, but don’t do.” The world of successful salespeople is characterized by doing, not just knowing.
