The Sales Sector

INTERVIEW PROFESSIONAL’S ULTIMATE 24 POINT SALES GUIDE

1. The no.1 key to success in sales today is speed. The first one to deliver an effective pitch to a sales prospect has the best chance of landing the sale
   
   
2. In sales, it is essential that you have the ability to adapt your approach, and that you do so whenever necessary. It will significantly affect how well you sell if you can adapt your approach depending on the type of person that you’re dealing with
   
   
3. Don’t rush the sale.
   High-pressure sales – where you try to pressure the sales prospect into making a decision, are notoriously unsuccessful in today’s sales environment. A low-pressure sales approach is always best
   
   
4. Use a close ratio.
   If you feel you need to push yourself to improve your sales, here is something you can do that might help. Start keeping of count each customer that is personally assisted by you, versus those ones you actually make a sale to. Divide the larger figure (which would be those you merely greet and assist), by the smaller figure (those you actually make a sale to), and you will have your close ratio! At first you may find it hard to keep count, but with practice you’ll soon have a clear idea of the ratio of people you’ve sold to at any particular point in the day. Taking the extra effort to go through such a mental excursion has the potential to turn you into a more seasoned salesperson, and it will also increase your hunger for a better sales performance, on top of being an effective way to boost your confidence and motivation

5. Always make good on promises.
   In this industry, particularly in business-to-business sales, establishing trust and building relationships is crucial for success. So, if you say you’re going to do something, make sure you really do it!

6. The trust that you are able to build with your customer is a lot more useful than any technique that you use to sell. Remember that establishing trust is better than any sales technique
   
   
7. In order to be the most effective salesperson you can be, it really is imperative that you are as knowledgeable as possible about the products or services you’re selling
   
   
8. Solution-centric approaches to selling are among the most successful. This means thinking about the customer and what they are trying to accomplish from their perspective – as opposed to simply trying to sell them something they don’t really need. Not only is such an approach better for the buyer, but it will usually increase your chance of a sale too

9. When creating a lead generation message, the title is the part you should pay most attention to! You can lose 67% of your potential audience simply because of a bad title. The best way to come up with your title is to consider one from your sales prospects point of view. Ask yourself if it reflects on something that is relevant to them and feels effective enough to grab their attention

10. Social media networks are not only a good source of information, but are also a great place to generate sales leads

11. When writing emails or other sales paraphernalia, a good technique is to either make it as personalized or as humorous as possible. It normally evokes a much better response if you utilize this approach

12. Your companies values statement should take no more than 30 seconds to recite to customers

13. When making presentations, avoid using bullet points, and instead use pictures or animation with the text below

14. The best way to open a presentation is to start with a great story

15. Always do your best to hone your sales pitch to fit the circumstances, and remember that you can plan your approach to a sale based on the sort of responses and objections you feel your prospects could make

16. If the customer shows displeasure at paying the price asked, giving a price example (where the customer would spend more on the same or similar product or service) thereby providing a context on the amount you’re asking for – can significantly sway the customer and help you make the sale

17. When dealing with customers or sales prospects, if a problem arises, try and use explanations rather than excuses

18. When selling, always focus on your prospects or clients needs. Simply changing the way you speak can make a huge difference to how well you are received. For example, start by changing the pronouns you use; instead of saying, ‘I have this product and I’m sure you’ll love it’, try, ‘I have this product and I’m convinced you’ll see that its great value for money – here’s why’.
    
    
19. The solution-centric approach.
    An effective method is to sell your product in a way that emphasises how much time or money it will help your prospect save. Use repetition and follow through with solid reasons as to how and why this is the case. Essentially, here you are emphasising the benefits of the product, and explaining to your sales prospect how this will help them. This is what is referred to as a solution-centric approach

20. If you wait to think about add-on sales until after you close there tends to be so much going on you can be prone to forget about them. A better way to sell is to try and introduce add-ons somewhere in your initial sales pitch when making your opening presentation

21. Remember that assertive lead generations are usually more effective than less assertive ones

22. Expertise can work against you if you get overconfident and start assuming what the customer needs. This can make you come across as arrogant and overbearing in a way that you might not even realise. That’s why you should always use your expertise to guide and advise the customer, nothing more

23. Before you leave a meeting, try to make sure that you and the prospect have a clear next step. A step that is definable and measurable. Here is an example:
    A clear next step. ‘I’ll talk with you next Friday at 1pm’.
    An unclear next step. ‘I will follow up with you soon’.

24. Knowing your customer’s customer can be highly advantageous in the world of sales. Whether it’s business to business or business to consumer sales, knowing who or what your customers client base is can greatly help you hone your sales pitch and can ultimately help boost your sales

Every business has its own preferred selling platform. Some businesses rely on advertising to generate their sales leads, while others rely on word of mouth or walk-ins. Once the sales leads are acquired though, it’s then the job of the salesperson to pitch to their sales prospect and attempt to close the sale. While the best sales methods tend to be approaches based on trust and relationship building, every salesperson has their own favoured technique or way of doing things, with some of these being more effective than others.
Here we will look at two of the most effective ones

Relationship Selling

It’s said it costs 4 times more to get a new customer than it does to keep an existing one

Relationship selling is about building trust and establishing good relationships with sales prospects by listening to their needs and in doing so turning them into repeat customers. It’s about building friendship and reciprocity with the customer to maintain the great business relationship you have worked so hard to establish. Relationship selling is based on the principle of putting the needs of your customer first. The premise is that you deliver a more satisfactory service which in turn creates a more loyal and generous type of customer. It’s low pressure, honest selling at its best. One of the most important aspects of relationship selling is to maintain regular contact with your clients. If you don’t do this, you run the risk of letting a competitor steal that client you’ve worked so hard to build a relationship with

Solution Selling

Solution selling is a sales methodology. It involves approaching the sale from the perspective of your sales prospect by addressing the needs and problems that they have, and explaining how your product or service can address those needs