If you want to become a salesman, it can seem overwhelming at first. After all, sales is one of the most difficult fields to be successful in. However, it is necessary that you have the right strategies if you are going to succeed. Then, it will all seem much more simple. Here are five tips to becoming a top notch salesman:
Master the Art of Influence
Sales at its core is just influence and persuasion. You need to be able to get people to take actions that are good for them, even if there is resistance at first. Helping them see the light and making them think it’s their idea is what persuasion is all about.
If you aren’t a great persuader right now, consider influence training programs. They will show you how to lead people from a “no” to a “yes” using human psychology. After all, these things have been studied and documented. Why reinvent the wheel when you can learn a process that works?
Ask Questions
Questions are the answer. The person who asks questions are in control of a conversation. It makes sense when you think about it. How many letters are in the word “sales?” If you just answered that question then you proved the power of questions. People have an unconscious need to answer a question that is posed to them.
In terms of sales, use questions that advance the process. For instance, “how many pounds would you like to use?” would be a great question if you are a gym owner or trainer. It focuses the customer’s mind on the problems they have. Then, from there you can use the following sequence to agitate the problem:
Agitation Sequence
Once you have defined a problem by getting an answer from a customer, you can drill deeper on it. Find out the real core emotional needs they have and the pain points. For instance, ask “and how does it make you feel that you aren’t able to move around like you used to due to the extra weight?”
Some feel this is rude or approaching the realm of too much information. The reality is you are doing the opposite. When you show that you are a professional who truly cares by asking questions instead of making statements, you’re letting them express their wants and needs and simply acting like a sales therapist.
Presenting Your Solution and Close
The final step for any sales person is to present their product and prepare to close the deal. In order to do this, you need to build value in your product. This is the number one place that people go wrong.
Salesman constantly pitch a product, get a lot of commitments about wants and needs up front, and then wonder why they are not getting the deal. The truth is that the sales process requires you to understand your product on a deep level.
Use Emotion and Logic
Mention the features of your product, but don’t leave it at that. Finish each slide or segment by tying the features into benefits that have a real effect. For instance, an engine with 1,000 HP on a new car you’re selling is a feature. A benefit would be that they can accelerate faster to avoid traffic collisions on the highway.
This way, closing is easy. It should be so rational in their minds that they want to buy now. If they resist, then you can pull out one of your closing techniques that fits the situation.
When it comes to sales, there is no such thing as an easy out. You need to learn the skills above if you are going to persuade people to buy your product. Focus on your skillbuilding based on the five tips above. Then, take opportunities to apply them in the real world. Soon, you’ll have a new vision of the sales field in a way that makes you the master of your own income.