Maintain high sales numbers and satisfy your customer’s needs at the same time by using these Top 5 Sales Commandments.
There are many rules of thumb to follow in any sales process. As a salesperson, your ultimate goal is to maintain high numbers while satisfying your customer’s needs. There are five simple sales commandments that will help you do both – in every sale.
One: Sell Relationships. There is no such thing as a single sale. Businesses have come to depend on repeat customers and word of mouth. So instead of selling a product, sell a relationship and trust. Let the customer know that you will be there the next time they have a need, and explain why your range of products can help them in the future. Your customer will come back – and they will tell others.
Two: Sell value through benefits. At times it’s easy to lapse into a list of features for any product or service. It’s important to know the benefit of each product feature and communicate that to your customer. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes: do you really want to know the details of the feature? Customers want to know what’s in it for them, so set your presentation toward that goal. Show the customer how they’ll benefit from using your product or service – draw a mental picture of what they’ll look like, feel like, or be able to do once they purchase it.
Three: Sell to emotion. People buy products and services for emotional reasons. One of the most well known direct sales letters asked a life insurance prospect who was going to fill his shoes if he was no longer around. Who would take care of his children? Would his family be able to stay in their home and pay their bills if he passed away suddenly? Think about your customer’s emotions and sell in a way that taps into them. If you’re selling a high-end sports car, you’re not selling the double-wishbone suspension system – you’re selling the exhilaration of cornering at 120 miles per hour.
Four: Be subtle. People buy for emotional reasons but still do not like to be “sold”, what they what to do it “buy”. You can sell using benefits and emotions, but if your prospect gets one whiff of a “sales pitch” or a hard sell, he or she is going to run. So be subtle – use the benefits and emotions carefully. Talk to your prospect as if you’re friends having lunch or having a beer. Use everyday language but continue to show your prospect the benefits. Be personal – but maintain the subtlety.
Five: Justify a sale with rationale. Your customers will buy based on benefit and emotion. But to avoid buyer’s remorse, strengthen the sale with a rationale. If you were selling a health supplement, you could recap all the benefits and then put the financial details of the sale on different terms, such as “… for less than $1 a day you can have increased stamina and better digestion”. The insurance sales letter mentioned earlier used the daily price for peace of mind as the rationale for buying the policy. Whatever you do, make sure your customer feels like they’ve made a rational, beneficial choice.
Remember these five commandments as you’re embarking on your next sales presentation. You customer will buy based on benefits, emotions, and rationale -and he or she will come back each time there’s a need.
Copyright Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved.
