Sales Strategy
Tips To Become A Better Salesperson | January 04, 2017 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY--As salespeople, as employees, we can all work smarter and harder. Many people find ways to sell better through experience. As a salesperson, don’t you wonder what you could be doing better? The good news is, there’s a list of blunders you can avoid.
Dave Mattson of Sandler Training has a list. From his Wall Street Journal bestseller, he actually has at least 49 of them in The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them.
This Forbes story by Kathy Caprino highlights Mattson’s 10 Essential Sales Principals that Most People Get Wrong. Caprino writes that ‘these 10 blunders are addressed through the Sandler Rules, and the solutions to these errors are reinforced regularly at the 225 Sandler Training centers located throughout the world.’
Let’s take a look at three Sales Principals from that article that regularly are disregarded and what you can do about it in your store:
1. ‘Thinking that your sales “presentation” will seal the deal. You should always be helping the prospect discover the best reasons to buy from you – not telling them why they should. The prospect should know that they’ll be buying from you long before you present your final pitch or proposal.’
2. ‘Talking too much. One of the oldest Sandler philosophies is the 70/30 rule. So often and especially in the beginning of a relationship, salespeople think they need to be doing all the talking, when they should be listening and asking questions. Keep in mind, if a prospect wanted a rundown of your products or services, he or she could just visit your website. The sales process is a conversation, and an honest and open one at that.’
As the saying goes, humans have one mouth and two ears – possibly for just this reason. Remind yourself and your co-workers or your employees of this and let them practice their listening skills – often – and with each other, not on the customers.
And possibly the most important and most obvious one,
3. ‘Keeping your fingers crossed that a prospect doesn’t notice a problem. Sandler teaches that the only way to avoid a potential disaster is to address it before it erupts. Always come clean and be open and transparent if something problematic comes up along the selling cycle. The prospect will respect that you “came clean” and shared it, and together you can problem-solve, building a solidifying team approach to the issue.’
Actually this last one works well for almost any situation, especially with your boss as well as your client or prospect. Transparency is the way to live and keep your sales up and your reputation clean. We ALL make mistakes. The trick is to admit it when you can and own up to it. Fix it before it gets to be a deal breaker. Hard to do at first, but work on it. Again, practice, but not on the customers.