Sales Techniques Tips
This blog article is all about sales techniques tips to increase your closing rate. Sometimes it really is the simplest things that can have the greatest impact. Below is a list of things you can do, to make prospects more likely to buy from you. The list shows results from a survey completed by buyers indicating what actions make them more likely to buy from a seller.
What Would Make Buyers More Likely To Buy
Below is the % of buyers that said an improvement in the listed area would make them more likely to buy.
1. Propose a solution that is more compelling given my needs = 100%
2. Do a better job listening to me = 100%
3. Provide better references = 95%
4. Do a better job understanding my needs = 95%
5. Respond to my requests in a more timely manner = 93%
6. Improve presentation skills = 94%
7. Give more appropriate examples of past work = 92%
8. Talk less = 92%
9. Have a more professional website = 92%
10. Have more enthusiasm = 90%
11. Be less overzealous for the sale = 90%
12. Do a better job convincing me of the value I will receive = 90%
13. Be more professional = 89%
14. Be on time for in-person or phone meetings = 89%
15. Create better rapport and personal chemistry = 88%
16. Improve writing skills = 84%
17. Have a more informative website = 75%
Source: Rain Group 2010 - Sales Mistakes That Turn Buyers Away
You will notice that 3 of the top five items we can do that will increase the highest % of buyers to be more willing to buy from us are related to listening. If in the selling process we are doing a better job of listening we will be able to provide a more compelling solution given the prospects needs and also be able to demonstrate that we understand the buyers needs. This survey again shows that people want to be heard, not talked to. A perfect example of this was when I was working on one of my first accounts. I remember walking into the office of a small creative agency on behalf of a printing customer that was a customer of mine. I could tell immediately that they were interested in what I had to say. In the sales call I did not ask many questions and just told them was the company could do for them. To make matters worse I followed up later and again did not ask what their needs were but again reiterated what the company did. After meeting with the prospect and following up via telephone and email I still had no idea of what the prospects needs were. I am sure the prospect did not feel heard or highly valued. Needless to say I did not get a sale.
Providing better references is also a way that sellers can increase the likelihood of closing a sale with a high percentage of buyers. I know I am guilty of this often because on most occasions I do not provide any references at all. Going forward I will always try to include a relevant story of someone else that have used the service and how they benefited.
And the 5th item to top the list is responding in a more timely manner. This I learned when I worked in sales for a larger company. A mentor of mine had told me that when you get a request from a customer you need to respond as quickly as you can. I thought that this was silly and felt it would negatively affect my productivity so I did not take the advice. Well a request came in for a large order but I did not respond immediately and decided to leave it to the next day as I was working on something else and it would take a long time to complete information the buyer was requesting. Well when I went to submit the information the next day I was notified that the order had been awarded to another supplier. After that day I responded to requests from buyers immediately and I saw a significant increase in the number or orders I was getting. What would happen is the buyers would start coming to me first when there was an opportunity because they knew I was fast and easy to work with. To this day I still always try to respond as quickly as possible when I receive any kind of contact from a prospect. I do this because I know that the quicker you respond the higher the chance is that you will get the sale.
Conclusion............to close more sales make sure you are listening to your prospect and then provide a compelling solution that speaks specifically to the prospects needs, showing that you understand the prospects needs.
A great book on how to really listen and improve the closing rate of your sales is SPIN Selling. The best part about the book is what the different types of sales questions there are and in which order they should be asked. I will maybe have to write on this in another blog.
My name is Chris R. Keller. I work at Profitworks Small Business Services helping various B2B small businesses in Waterloo and Kitchener Ontario generate new customers. If you are interested in generating new customers for your B2B small businesses enter your email in the box provided below and click the "Send Me Free Updates" button. You will then receive free updates from this blog.
I hope this article on sales technique tips was interesting. Thanks for reading. I am always interested to get feedback from my readers. Let me know if there is a particular topic you want me to write on. Just contact us, put "Blog feedback" in your subject line, and in the email describe what you would like us to write about.
