A sales strategy that actually works!

In this post I will not run through the ordinary dry subjects like opening lines, sales arguments, handling objections and closing techniques. But instead tell you the secret behind every great salesman! Big words? Maybe, but if you follow these 2 principles over time I can almost guarantee that you will close more sales than you do now.

There are some universal rules that apply either you’re selling face-to-face or through the telephone. Personally I have the most experience from door-to-door selling, which probably is the most “basic” way of selling that exists.

Principle 1

The salesman who works the hardest, visits the most prospects and do not let all the “no’s” he/she meets will in most cases have the prerequisite to sell the most (when all other things being equal). If you for example have 50 sales meetings with clients throughout the week, you stand a better chance of selling more than somebody with only 25 sales meetings. In addition, as a bonus you will experience getting “warmer”, increased self esteem (by the way, check out this motivation technique), and generally become a better salesperson since you are constantly training your sales skills.

Principle 2

Picture the following scenario: You are at home relaxing after a busy day at work, dinner is done, and you dozing at the sofa. Suddenly the phone rings, irritated you pick it up. Almost at the same time as you say “hey”, a voice at the speed of a machine-gun tells you the tremendous benefits of buying two fantastic pair of socks from their firm once a month! You try to interrupt him and politely say you’re not interested, but the motor-mouth keeps going. Its like he’s reading from a script, giving you an endless list of reasons to buy their product. After a while you can’t stand it any more and slams the phone down yelling something rather nasty.

What is the chance of getting a sale with this method? Microscopic, and even worse it that the quality of these contracts are simply terrible! The prospects who say yes under these circumstances only buy from you because they are pushed over. This kind of sales strategy will only get you trouble and canceled sales later on.

So what did the salesperson in this particular example do wrong? Yes, he/she didn’t use principle number 2, which is “before the salesperson can start selling the product, he/her has to sell the salesperson”. If you can’t make the customer like or respect you, chances are small you are ending up with a sale. Especially if you are selling a product the client doesn’t really need. Getting a prospect to like you is much more difficult by phone than face-to-face, but there are a lot of great salespersons who pull that of too.

We human beings like people who are similar to ourselves. Lets say you are going to sell a tractor to a sturdy farmer, who speaks very slowly with a low voice and are really passionate about deer hunting. In this example the salesperson should take his time. Lower the speed of your voice. If the prospect moves his body in a calm and slow manner, you should do the same (without overplaying go acting unnatural). Already at this point you have increased your chances of success. Try to find talking subjects that the client are interested in. If you see a giant deer head on the wall besides 3 hunting rifles chances are this guy LIKES deer hunting. Throw out a nonchalant question. For example: “What was the weight of that deer?”. No matter how calm and slow talking that farmer was just some minutes ago, you will most likely see him light up and start talking like a machine.

The more you get your prospects to do the talking, the better it is. Be sincerely interested in what he tells you. False sweet-talking is easy to reveal are generally negative. Stop and give him follow up questions from what he just told you. Example: “Where did you shoot it?”. These few minutes you now have invested in the client without talking about your product is extremely effective. Most likely he will at this time like you (what we aimed for). I addition (just as important), you have put him in a positive state of mind with all this talk about his favorite subject. Now is the time to start talking about you product. If he is in demand and/or can afford it, there will be a great possibility he might wind up dealing with you, either now, or in the future.

Happy selling!