How to Sell Better and Sell More? Sales Secrets

 

 

I got a job for sales executive position in a firm. To prepare myself for that, I did a certificate course in sales from Alison.com. I enjoyed that course so much. Later I came to know that the course was designed exclusively for Microsoft employees.

This Alison trainer have more than 30 years of experience in sales. He knew the nuts and bolts of sales. His name is Tony Morris.

In this post, I will try to summarize Tony Morris' principles for how to sell better and sell more.

Can anyone become a salesman?

First of all, you need to understand that anyone can sell. You might also hear this proverb that to sell is human. Well, it is very true. A teacher sells his ideas. A businessman sells products or services. An employee sells himself in front of his employer. Everybody sells. So, why not better be at selling?

What is selling in business?

Selling is nothing but a business discussion between two parties. That's why human interference is very important in selling.

How to sell? What are the fundamental customer questions?

While buying from you, every customer asks these very two questions.

• Do you have what it takes? Meaning, do you have the right products or offers that can solve my purpose and,
  
• This is more important one: Do I want to do business with you? Do I trust you?

People will always keep telling you that people buy from the people they like. That is complete rubbish. People don't buy from the people they like. They buy from the people they trust. 

You need to become trustworthy to run a business successfully. You should never lie to your customers if you want to build a strong and long term relationship with them.

That is why the 'fixed rate' shops are so successful. Because they never confuse their customers on price. They tell customers about the price and product, as it is.

Work with integrity and succeed with integrity

-Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

Why is human interference so important in selling? And how to be perfect at it?

Products do not sell themselves. Sometimes they do. But why would a person buy from you, when there is so much competition out there. And you are not the only one selling that product.

Therefore human interference is needed, to let the other person know about your product, to educate about your product. What newness your product brings to the market? What do you stand for?

This human involvement becomes more important in selling high-end products. As your customers may want you to educate them about your product. So it is clear why human interference is important in sales.

Now the question is how to connect with your customers beautifully?

Surveys show that your vocal communication has less effect on sales in comparison to your body language. So, how to improve your body language while selling? Here are the few pointers to remember while communicating with your customers, so that your customers will trust you and buy from you.

• Make an eye contact with your customers
• Smile as long as it does not cause distress
• Shake hands with equal power
• Lean in a little bit towards your customer to assure him that you are listening and interested to carry on the conversation
• Maintain an interpersonal space of about 1 to 3 metres, according to the country culture.
• Visual and auditory skills, make the other person happy

How to improve your communication skills to sell better?

You have done everything right, your body posture right, your auditory and visual skills right, etc. But if you won't open up and speak then you can not sell anything. How to communicate?

• Start with asking questions

There are 2 kinds of questions. Open-ended questions and closed questions. Which one should you involve in your communication? The open ones.

An example of a closed question will be, when is your birthday. The answers to such questions are usually one line, and you can not add much to it.

While the open-ended questions are exploratory. For example, what are the pain points you face in this business? Here, as you proceed, you can give options to your customers. How can your offering solve their pain points, etc?

• Active Listening
  

Active listening means the conversation should hold from both sides.

You can actually clarify things that you might misunderstood. You can ask the other person, 'do you mean …'?

Written conversations should include short sentences. And, one sentence should carry one message. Another sentence should carry another message.

• Demonstrate confidence

I know that nervousness is natural. And you have every reason to get nervous while starting a conversation. You are also a human being. But you must demonstrate confidence among others. It builds your trustworthiness.

To bring confidence in yourself you must prepare well. So, preparation and knowledge is the key to better confidence.

• Testimonials help a lot

Sometimes when customers are not saying 'yes' to buy your product, testimonials help a lot. You can tell your customers about the other customers who are happy to buy your product.

That's it for selling. I will repeat the 4 principles to keep in mind while communicating to sell better:

1. Start with asking questions
2. Listen actively
3. Demonstrate confidence
4. Tell about testimonials

The first and the last thing to remember while selling is it's all about building trust with the other person.

Sharing is caring!