If you are like me, you hate pushy salespeople and you hate being sold to. I don’t know who trains these people, but they are clearly doing it wrong. Now on the other hand, I actually buy quite a bit, so there are salespeople and companies doing it right! Let’s look at the differences.
There are four types of salespeople in the world:
The Product Pusher, who is just absolutely in love with the product or service they are selling and pays no attention to whether or not it actually meets your needs! Then there is the Over-Seller, who promises you the moon, their first-born son, whatever it takes to convince you to do business with them. The third type is the Order Taker, who doesn’t actually try to sell you anything. They wait for the phone to ring or stand behind the counter to ring you up – they make no attempt to actually help you find what you need, they are totally indifferent to you until you say “I’ll take this”. The fourth type of salesperson in the Problem Solver, who asks you questions, listens to your wants and helps you select what you actually need.
Now it’s not hard to guess which one is the most popular with buyers out there – the Problem Solver. So what is it that the Problem Solver knows that the others do not? Well, the secret they know is that it is easier and far more pleasant and effective to help people BUY than it is to try to SELL them! They know that the 4 keys to more sales are actually the four buying decisions that each prospect goes through to make a decision. My favorite book on this subject is Action Selling by Duane Sparks, who describes the following 4 Buying Decisions that effective salespeople help their clients navigate.
Key 1
The First Key (buying) decision that a prospect makes is about you, the salesperson. Do they buy you? Do they know enough about you to Like and Trust you? People like to buy from people the Know, Like and Trust – what are you doing to be one of them? The number one way to get people to Like and Trust you is to be a listener, be generally interested in them, ask them questions, listen intently and show that you actually hear their answers, learn about them, care about them.
Key 2
The Second Key decision is about your company. Do they like and trust your company, do they believe in the values your company stands for (usually found on the website and/or social media)? The salesperson’s role in this decision is education on the company and how what the company is good at, what it stands for, is beneficial to the client. Remember, we are trying to solve the client’s problem, not sell them something.
Key 3
The Third Key decision is buying your product or service. Again, this is a major educational discussion with them. You have to ask enough pertinent questions (you earned the right to do so in the First Key) to truly understand the problem they need solved and you are matching solutions to their needs, which as you know are sometimes not what they say they want! If you don’t learn enough to correctly understand their needs, you won’t help them make a great buying decision, and that’s your job.
Key 4
The Fourth Key in the buying process is the Price/Time decision. If you have performed the third key well, your prospect understands the value they will get from having their problem solved by you and your company. Now it is simply helping them choose the right price point that matches the value you helped them uncover (in their words and numbers, not yours) and choosing to buy now. The more you can educate your prospect on the return on investment the better, as they want to BUY products and services that meet or exceed their expectations and provide them with a great solution to their problem.
If you’d like to know more about how to help your prospects to buy more from you, schedule a session with one of our coaches.
Author: Mark McNulty, Business Coach in Louisville, KY