Article
One: Two Simple Steps to Sales Success by Matt Drought
Sales has become overly complicated. A simple search in the books section on Amazon reveals over 18,000 books dedicated to the subject. This results in sales professionals trying 101 reinvented hints and tips and “magic wand solutions” such as “mirroring”, “the Porcupine Close” and the “12 Tube Stops to Negotiation”
Sales doesn’t have to be this complicated. It is in fact easy – but only when you get the basics right.
Two Steps
It is said that most concepts in life can be broken down into two simple steps. For example, the two steps to boxing is:
1) Hit, and
2) Avoid getting hit.
From there it’s simply a matter of doing those two basics better than anyone else.
The same goes for sales. Here are the two simple steps:
1) Gather valuable information, and
2) Solve a problem
If you do those two things better than anyone else on the prospective client’s radar, the probability is you will win the business. Best of all, the usual concerns and headaches involved in selling, such as cold calling, objection handling and closing all fade into the distance.
Let’s have a closer look at how you go about doing this:
1. Gather valuable information
There are two types of information you can gather on a client:
a. Information in the public domain
Sales peak performers take the time to research key facts about a company that will help to develop a close understanding of the prospective client. The main areas of a website of most use are company reports (particularly the exec summary at the front), the about us page, a blog if they have one and most importantly the people page. Also try Googling the prospective client’s name. Little nuggets of information such as their recent presence at an industry event, or even their pastimes can give you the edge.
b. Information not in the public domain
While public domain information is useful, its use is diminished by the fact that your competitors will also have access to it. A better way to gather information is via strategic questioning skills. Questioning skills are undervalued by most salespeople - yet they are simply the most important skill a sales person can have. The benefits of asking professional questions are many but include; raising your credibility from the outset of the conversation, helping develop strong rapport and most importantly leading the prospective client to a self-realisation that they have issues that need to be solved.
What do you think of someone who asks you a stupid question? (No need to answer that out loud). Now what do you think of someone who asks you a professional, intelligent question? Society rates very highly people who are able to ask intelligent questions. Look to the world of entertainment (Michael Parkinson), journalism (Jeremy Paxman) and psychology (Paul Britton) if you are in any doubt about this.
The better we can hone our skills at asking professional, credible questions the more prospective clients will value us, appreciate that we are not calling from a call centre and give us their time more readily.
2. Solve a problem
We all have business problems. Here are mine: We need to move offices but can’t afford the time to look around; we need a dedicated telesales person but can’t afford the time to interview, nor do we want to pay a recruiter a huge fee; we need a new colour printer but don’t trust the printer market anymore after being let down a few times…the list goes on.
You have your own problems. So do your prospects. Everyone does. The key to selling (after you have gathered the right information) is to solve problems. This means articulating the solution in exact terms that are going to thrill (not just mildly please) the prospect. But here’s the key: When you are articulating their issues, focus just on one, maybe two specific problems, and avoid mentioning all the other wonderful ways you can help them one day in the future. Prospective clients don’t like being overwhelmed – they usually want to go on a date before getting married.
Steps to solving a problem:
a. Recap their situation in brief, accurate, spoken or written words.
Paraphrase if you want, but try not to lose meaning, or twist things your way. This shows great active listening skills.
b. Focus just on their one major problem, then work out the best way to solve it using your resources.
If you can’t, source another supplier who can. Being selfless like this will only take 10 minutes but your prospective client will love you for it.
c. Present your solution to them without
waffling. Don’t confuse the sale like so many sales people do every day. Your prospect doesn’t need to hear how global you are, or your wonderful account management model. Your job is to clear paths and make it simple for them to say “yes”. Tip: If there are more than 3 things/stages involved in them getting to “yes” then you need to simplify your approach. It’s easy to lose a sale at this stage by giving your prospective client too much to think about.
Conclusion
Sales doesn’t have to be complicated. You will absolutely make more sales if you focus on being the best you can be at gathering information and solving problems. Continually working on these basic, yet crucial, skills will ensure a brilliant selling career.
Matt Drought is the Director of Natural Training, a company that focuses purely on providing fresh, relevant and highly practical sales and communication skills training with an emphasis on developing your brilliant natural potential. Natural Training runs open workshops and company specific in-house training across the UK. For more information visit
http://www.naturaltraining.com
or email matt.drought@naturaltraining.com
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