Selling can be complicated, right? You’re always trying to win and gain an advantage, but with so many variables things can seem out of your control and it can be difficult to see what’s actually making a difference. So what can you do to ensure you start off on the right foot every time?
There are tons of tips and tricks related to helping the sales process such as time management, meeting and next step preparation, proposal writing, prospect management etc., however one of the most fundamental pieces in the art of sales repeatedly gets overlooked. Selling is all about forging trust and building relationships, so what’s the best way to go about doing that?
Remembering the human aspect of sales.
After all, your prospects, customers, and clients are all human, right? Despite how individual and unique we all are, we have common needs among which are the requirements to be heard and respected.
Traditionally, sellers like to believe they are great talkers and unfortunately that’s what they tend to focus on - talking and pitching and continuing to try to talk a buyer into their product or service.
If that’s been your approach it’s high time to start directing your attention towards something else: listening. You’re going to have to become a world-class listener so that you can discover and begin to understand what your potential buyer actually needs.
Grasping what’s going on in your prospect’s life or business will help you identify whether there’s a natural fit for what you’re selling or if you’re better off spending your time elsewhere. Listening and asking the right questions is crucial.
It all comes down to this: sales is about having a conversation.
When you’re preparing to have an important conversation in your personal life, you might think of a few questions you’d like answers to and a few points you’d like to make, but you don’t script the whole thing out. You also hopefully don’t aim just to lecture or preach, but to gain some insight or understanding.
Why should any of that change when you’re having an important sales meeting?
Stop treating your sales as a pitch that you have to get through as quickly as possible and with as little input from your prospect as possible. Instead get involved in a discussion, with questions you need the answers to in order to comprehend the scope of your prospect’s need and hopefully with lots of questions coming from their side too.
If you’re new to sales or simply realize it’s time to change your approach, start practicing with family or role-playing with coworkers. It might feel uncomfortable at first and you will probably find yourself tongue tied more often than not, but it will eventually become natural.
Start noticing what triggers your discomfort. Are there any points that come up which make you sound defensive? Is there anything that you can’t explain in a simple and easy to understand manner? It’s at the point where you’re able to easily have a conversation with anyone and everyone that you’ll see your sales success skyrocket.
While there’s probably a billion pieces of sales advice and tips floating around out there, it’s important that you remember the basics of selling by leading with a conversation to appeal to your buyer’s humanity.
