How to improve your sales technique
You know what to say, you know your product, its features and benefits, and you know it will benefit your customer, so why can’t you make that sale? Well, the public has a perception of sellers: they think you’re only interested in the sale, and they know they’ll probably pay you a bonus for every sale you make.
In short, they are skeptical of everything you say. It’s your job to change that vision, and an effective way to do that is to focus on your customer. For this you can actively listen.
active listening
Active listening is the secret to a great sales technique. It allows you to put your full focus on the customer, so you can really figure out what they want and need. And, we don’t just mean hearing the words without actually hearing them, we mean really hearing and understanding them. You must make the client feel that you care about him personally, that you want to solve his problem. And beware, this cannot be faked. If you try to trick your client into thinking you care about him, he’ll pick up on it in your tone and body language, whether you like it or not!
Active listening will make the client feel special; at that moment he will have your full attention. This will encourage them to open up to you, allowing you to tailor your presentation to their specific needs. It will become much more natural than any pre-prepared sales pitch you can offer.
Do you actively listen?
A simple check to see if you are actively listening is to note where your attention is while the customer is speaking. If you start formulating your response before they’re done speaking, you can be pretty sure you’re not listening correctly.
Other ways to focus on your customer
Here are some other simple things you can do to help you improve your sales technique by completely focusing on the customer to:
Be friendly, this is pretty much a given. If you can’t be friendly with your potential customers, you really should rethink your career in sales. And, it has to be genuine or they’ll feel it – people are generally very good at spotting insincerity!
Relax: being tense will be reflected in your body language and your tone of voice. And if you’re tense, chances are your customer is too, which isn’t a good way to start a conversation.
Look the customer in the eye. I don’t know about you, but I think there’s nothing worse than someone talking to me without making eye contact. It makes me think they have something to hide. However, be aware of cultural differences. In some cultures it is not acceptable to look people directly in the eye unless you know them well.
Find out something about your client; for example, do you both have a dog? Do you like a certain genre of film? Or do you both love the theater? This common ground will give you a great foundation to start from and show the customer that you are a normal person like them, not some super selling machine!
Ask how they would like to be addressed; don’t assume it’s okay to call the customer by their first name, some people don’t like that. However, if he’s happy for you to use his first name, go for it and do it often, as it fosters a sense of reassurance.
Find out what motivated them to learn about your product – this information is like gold for you. It tells you why the customer wants your product and allows you to tailor your conversation to that particular area. For example, imagine that you sell vacuum cleaners that are good at picking up dog hair, removing dust mites, and removing stuck-on dirt from your carpets. If you find out that the client has a dog, you can focus on removing dirt and hair as the main benefit. If you find out that the customer has asthma, there would be no point in concentrating on picking up dog hair, but effective removal of dust mites would be a huge selling point. So be sure to ask questions about your customers’ lives and habits so you can show them how your product or service will simplify theirs.