No matter what your product or service is, you have to sell to stay in business. So make up your mind now to be a winner at the sales game.
How do you convert a prospect into a customer? That is the million-dollar question that has eluded so many sales people over the years. It shouldn’t. Selling is simple.
To really understand how you can dramatically improve your selling skills it’s necessary to first understand that selling is nothing more than professionally helping people to buy. The key word here is professionally.
Professionalism is the hallmark of a great sales person. The more professional you appear, the more prospects will listen to you.
People like dealing with experts in their field. They want good advice before buying. They are afraid of being caught by some clever sales person whose only interest is to make money. Being professional isn’t difficult.
Simple Rules for Sales Success
All it takes is a genuine desire to help others to buy, and paying attention to detail in the following areas:
- Developing a good sales kit
- Dressing well
- Always being on time
- Keeping in touch with prospects
- Doing your homework
- Keeping testimonials
- Building a rapport
- Finding out what is most important to your prospect
- Always following up
- Asking for referrals
- Saying thank you
- Being consistent
- Observe these rules and you will outshine the majority of sales people.
Selling is not telling, it’s asking questions to establish a need. Without a need for your product or service you’re wasting your time.
Another important aspect of selling is to establish exactly who your target market is. Who are you trying to sell to? Failure to answer this will lead to a poor sales conversion rate. Knowing your target market will also enable you to communicate in a way that your prospects can relate to.
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Critical Consumer Facts:
- An average company loses 50% of its customers every five years. The cost of replacing them can be six to seven times more expensive. This means that you get a 600% to 700% bigger bang for your buck by retaining and marketing to your existing customers than acquiring new customers.
- For every month that you don’t communicate with your client you lose 10% of your influence with that client. You have to communicate with your clients every month, no matter what.
- 82% of homeowners can’t recall the name of their real estate agent if they bought their home more than two years ago. Imagine the sales that are lost because of a failure to maintain personal relationships with clients. What strategies do you have in place to ensure that you maintain a personal relationship with your clients?
- Saying thank you to your clients will increase your business by 17%. Calculate 17% of your current profits. Now ask yourself whether or not it’s worth saying thank you? The important thing to remember is that this is not an opportunity to sell. It’s about the relationship.
- Research shows that a 5% increase in customer loyalty will yield 20% to 80% to your bottom line profit. What could you do with a 20% to 80% increase in your bottom-line profit?
A buying decision is based on a mixture of fact and emotion. Based on what is being sold, this averages 20% logic and 80% emotion. It is vital to know this if you want to be successful at sales.
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