Business, Entrepreneurship, Sales

Whether your convincing your kids to eat their vegetables at dinner time or positioning yourself for a promotion at work – we’re all in sales.

• Do you think you don’t have to worry about selling because it’s not in your job description?
• Do you think that selling is using sleazy tactics to manipulate customers into buying something they don’t need?
• Do you think that you can’t succeed in sales unless you’re an outgoing extrovert?

At some point throughout our day we’re all faced with an opportunity to influence the outcome of a situation in our favour. Some people do it a lot better than others.

This isn’t because they hold any special position of power, social standing or authority. It’s because they stop thinking about their own needs and start thinking of the needs of others. Seems a little counter-intuitive right? But it works.

Want to learn how to explode your business success and gain massive popularity amongst your peers? Read on…

The most successful sales people I know are never thinking about what they ‘get’ if they ‘convert’ the sale, they’re always thinking about ways in which they can further satisfy the needs of the other person. How can they best be of service?

“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” – Napoleon Hill

You see, sales isn’t about making money, it’s having the ability to care. The ability to care enough to truly understand another’s needs and satisfy those needs to the best of your ability.

That’s why I’m allergic to “the hard sell” or “pressure selling”. If it’s hard, you’re doing it wrong.

Ever heard someone use the term “you could sell ice to Eskimos!”? Yeah, I get that all the time. Is it because I’m a gun salesman? Nope. Is it because I manipulate people into buying? Na-Ah. Is it because I have cheaper prices than everyone else? Not even close!

I would love for you to subscribe to this blog, hire me one-on-one to Pick My Brain or book me to Speak to Your Team, but offering those services for a limited time only in a pressure environment is not only ridiculous, it would destroy the value in my offer. Instead I seek to understand, to learn and to listen to your requirements, and then deliver the most applicable content at just the right time to maximise the value I bring to the table.

I’m not advertising, I’m reminding you that I’m here for you. I’m available when you need me. I’m a resource that you can tap whenever you need. If that time isn’t right now, that’s cool too – If I can be of assistance in the future, please let me know.

The difference between poor sales people and high-performance sales people is their ability to care about others. Seek out the solution that will change their world, not just their day, and you will have a customer for life. It’s not hard when you care.

OK OK, I get it. But how do I make more money by caring?

It’s actually very easy.

If selling is about caring, and caring is about understanding needs, how do we establish those needs?

Ask questions. Wait, that didn’t have enough emphasis, try again: ASK QUESTIONS!

“Every time you ask a question, you are inviting someone to talk. People like talking, so don’t be surprised if you finish up being popular and very successful.”

All steps in selling is asking questions. Never tell, always sell.

Establishing a need. Until someone has a problem, you can’t offer them a solution. Don’t start talking about yourself, ask questions first to establish a need. I want to know what I can do to help you. The more needs (questions) you establish the more reasons you win the sale. You’re looking for the most “yes” answers to your questions as possible.

Once you have established the need(s), you then summarise them back to the person to ensure you haven’t misinterpreted anything and show you have cared by listening.

Then, make a statement as a question.

For Example:

Ask lots of qualifying questions:

• Do you have a heap of great ideas but aren’t sure how to make them work?
• Have you started a business that isn’t making the money you’d hoped?
• Could your team benefit from increased focus  and motivation?
• Would your business grow if you could attract more repeat business from your existing customers?
• Would it be valuable for your team to understand how to maintain their momentum & performance?
• Would you like to learn how to position ‘you’ as a powerful point of difference in your industry?

Summarise their responses back to them as a question:

“So if I understand correctly John (insert name), your team could really benefit by maintaining their focus, learning how to increase repeat business and generating much larger sales by understanding needs… is that right?”

Statement as a question:

“John, I speak to business leaders, managers and entrepreneurs who have the challenge of increasing sales, building long-term customer relationships and retaining high quality staff. I help them uniquely position their business, communicate their value to the customer and drive sales through strong buyer relationships.

If we organised a time for me to speak with your team about consistently exceeding expectations in your business, do you think that is something you’d be interested in?”

Caveat:

Never offer a service until you have absolutely confirmed a need for it.

My Need:

Would you please now show me that you care by leaving a comment below and sharing this article?

Do you agree or disagree? How else do you grow your sales through communication?