Some believe that sales is an uneducated role. I believe being able to sell is one of the hardest roles a person can take on. A sales person LIVES and DIES by the bell. Look at Wolf of Wall Street (highly reccomend it if you havent already). Through my career to date, Ive learnt and picked up some very SPECIFIC SALES TECHNIQUES which are probably not the norm or the most obvious, but WORK LIKE YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE. Here are my sales techniques that you wont get on a sales training course or online guide.
DO NOT LISTEN!
The most effective sales person is not the sales person that listens, it’s the sales person that CHOOSES when to listen. Be selective, and when you are fed something that is a hurdle or stands in the way of you closing, IGNORE it and continue with your pitch.
E.G. When calling a prospect after sending a proposal you’re told that “Im just in the middle of a meeting can I call you back later?” – Whatever your intent, don’t just accept their statement and continue with your approach. If you were going to ask them if there ready to proceed, continue until you get a response. If the prospect was that busy, they wouldn’t have answered the phone, meaning they can take another 30-60 seconds of being on the phone with you until you have the information you want.
SILENCE IS GOLDEN!
Whether you’re opening a lead up, qualifying, negotiating or closing, don’t fill the silent gap! Silence is one of the most powerful sales skills you have available to you. Ask a leading / probing / qualifying question, and STOP. Count the seconds, LET your prospect fill the silence with a response. In this moment, SECONDS will feel like HOURS to you, but in reality within 2 seconds the person you are pitching will naturally feel anxious and speak. This technique has helped me to not only CLOSE prospects, but take control of prospects that felt they had the upper hand in negotiations and end up winning a more VALUABLE deal.
MONEY TALKS!
Don’t be shy about qualifying a sales prospect early on and also keeping money at the front of your discussions. Being MONEY oriented will show your prospect that you understand the purpose of the deal you are trying to close. Ofcourse, the nature of how your talk about MONEY depends on what you are selling.
E.G if you are a door to door sales person selling electricity, you need to openly talk about the MONEY you will SAVE your customer. Alternatively, you could be pitching a large blue chip for the provision of Search Marketing, and you would talk openly about the MONEY you will MAKE for the client.
DEATH BY POWERPOINT IS A MYTH!
I hear this all the time from sales people pitching me. Personally I think its an excuse they use because they couldn’t be bothered to put a PowerPoint presentation together that would engage me. The best sales people will use whatever tools they have available to them. Creating a SALES PRESENTATION using PowerPoint does require some effort, however done correctly and you will astound your audience and most certainly be on the road to closing. This single sales technique is one of the best techniques I picked up from my manager at a previous agency.
TOP TIP – GET TO GRIP WITH ANIMATIONS!
FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT!
Used strategically and in moderation, a little exaggeration doesn’t hurt; it only serves to strengthen your pitch. That said, be very very careful, any fabrication of product or service capabilities will need to be backed up if you are going to RETAIN your customer or client, so FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT in moderation. Ensure you know the full capabilities of what you are selling, and go with the flow. This sales technique usually works well if you exaggerate the level of demand for a product. Exaggerating demand is something that is intangible and could be here today gone tomorrow, but it could be the difference in you closing the deal.
