SKILL
of five to eight criteria you can use to qualify and classify future prospects.
Top Performers
Five Tips to Build a Successful Sales Career RICHARD PLAUGHER
Everything you need to sell well can be divided into four critical skill areas: customer knowledge, product knowledge, communication, and time/goal management. Master each of these and you’ll have the foundation for a sales career that’s built to last.
CUSTOMER KNOWLEDGE Ethical salespeople make helping customers a top priority; but, to help your customers, you need to know what they want and need. To find out more about them, put your mouth on hold and use your eyes and ears. Develop a list of ques- tions to ask each of your prospects, and make sure your questions help
you get the facts on them (including current needs, problems, long- and short-term objectives, product ben- efits that are most important to them, etc.), as well as their feelings about you and your product. To build your knowledge of cus- tomers in general, use the informa- tion you gather on each sales call to develop an ideal client profile – a list
10 | SEPTEMBER 2018 SELLING POWER © 2018 SELLING POWER. CALL 1-800-752-7355 FOR REPRINT PERMISSION.
PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE With a thorough knowledge of your product and all it can do for your pros- pects, you’ll be better equipped to per- suade people to buy it. Be sure you’re familiar with your entire product line – a lack of knowledge about any one of your products could cost you a sale. Try dividing product information into three categories: features, advan- tages, and benefits. Features are your product’s specifications; advantages are features unique to your product that set it apart from your competi- tion; and benefits tell your prospects how your product will improve their businesses or their lives – answering the “What’s in it for me?” question. For each of your products, divide a sheet of paper into three sections (one for each category), then fill in the information for that product under each section heading. Before your sales calls, match your prospect or customer’s needs with the items on your product sheet to customize your sales approach.
COMMUNICATION Effective communication skills not only help you make a favorable impression on your prospects; they also make you more persuasive. Pay attention not only to what you say, but how you say it. Your words will be more convincing if you say them with confidence – enunciating clearly in a voice loud enough for your prospects to hear easily. Match your product’s benefits to your customer’s needs and, when possible, use the same words as your prospects to describe their needs. Listen closely to the way your pros- pects talk and the language they use. Mirroring their speech patterns can help build rapport and take you closer to a sale. Customize each presenta- tion to the prospect who’ll hear it, and make sure you don’t say anything to put prospects on the defensive.
BLOOMICON /
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37
