Sales are often difficult for beginner salespeople because they do not understand the role of preparing for a conversation with the customer. They think you can be good at your job with just a few body language rules or NLP tricks. Meanwhile, what gives you the biggest advantage in sales is good preparation for every conversation.
Preparation is a key success factor in many areas and sales are no exception. There are several dimensions in which we can consider preparation for a commercial conversation.
The first thing is to gain knowledge about the situation, problems and needs of your potential customer. The more you know before you even appear at the meeting, the easier it will be for you to lead the meeting. The easier it will be to direct the conversation so that it leads to a purchase. Simply exchanging comments about the weather, describing product benefits or praising your company will not give you that. You need to know the customer's 'pain' and show them that you will help them get rid of it. Read about the company from its website and industry magazines. If it is a large company, you can even buy their stock on the stock market to access information that is only available to investors. This information can be worth its weight in gold.
This should already give you knowledge of their needs, so that your offerings will be tailored to their situation, to what they want. But just getting information about the company's situation may not be enough to make a successful sale. Try to get information about the person you will be talking to - about his or her character traits, about his or her position in the company (also informal). What is she responsible for, what is her style of communication, what are her values? What does she like and what does she not like? The better you get to know your potential customers, the easier it will be for them to sell. And the most important thing - what is their interest in this purchase process? What is important for them? Remember that apart from the interest of the company, everyone cares about what he or she will gain personally from the transaction. I'm not talking about bribes, but about slaughter like strengthening their position, prestige, etc. I'm not talking about bribes.
The second thing - practice your sales presentation (conversation), just like an actor exercises his issues before a play in the theatre. Do role-playing with your workmate. Alternatively, you can take part in a sales training where you will have the opportunity to practice the scenes with the trainer. Avoid 'training' that limits your participation to listening to what the 'trainer' says.
Third thing - additionally use visualization. See your sales meeting through the eyes of your imagination. Imagine that everything is going great. See all the details, hear your voice as well as what the client says. And what is most important in all this - imagine success. See how the customer signs the contract. Feel the joy of successful sales. See what you spend your commission on.
Sales, just like public speeches, do not have to be difficult - it is enough to take care of these matters earlier and come prepared.
Preparation is a key success factor in many areas and sales are no exception. There are several dimensions in which we can consider preparation for a commercial conversation.
The first thing is to gain knowledge about the situation, problems and needs of your potential customer. The more you know before you even appear at the meeting, the easier it will be for you to lead the meeting. The easier it will be to direct the conversation so that it leads to a purchase. Simply exchanging comments about the weather, describing product benefits or praising your company will not give you that. You need to know the customer's 'pain' and show them that you will help them get rid of it. Read about the company from its website and industry magazines. If it is a large company, you can even buy their stock on the stock market to access information that is only available to investors. This information can be worth its weight in gold.
This should already give you knowledge of their needs, so that your offerings will be tailored to their situation, to what they want. But just getting information about the company's situation may not be enough to make a successful sale. Try to get information about the person you will be talking to - about his or her character traits, about his or her position in the company (also informal). What is she responsible for, what is her style of communication, what are her values? What does she like and what does she not like? The better you get to know your potential customers, the easier it will be for them to sell. And the most important thing - what is their interest in this purchase process? What is important for them? Remember that apart from the interest of the company, everyone cares about what he or she will gain personally from the transaction. I'm not talking about bribes, but about slaughter like strengthening their position, prestige, etc. I'm not talking about bribes.
The second thing - practice your sales presentation (conversation), just like an actor exercises his issues before a play in the theatre. Do role-playing with your workmate. Alternatively, you can take part in a sales training where you will have the opportunity to practice the scenes with the trainer. Avoid 'training' that limits your participation to listening to what the 'trainer' says.
Third thing - additionally use visualization. See your sales meeting through the eyes of your imagination. Imagine that everything is going great. See all the details, hear your voice as well as what the client says. And what is most important in all this - imagine success. See how the customer signs the contract. Feel the joy of successful sales. See what you spend your commission on.
Sales, just like public speeches, do not have to be difficult - it is enough to take care of these matters earlier and come prepared.