How to Ask the Right Questions in Sales

When you are selling yourself or a product, you need to ask the right questions.  The goal is to not talk the whole time, but to guide the questions in a way that they reveal the right information to you with little effort.  You need to be able to prepare yourself by doing your homework before the meeting.  You will need to know What you are going to ask, Why you are asking the question, and How you will ask the question.  The point of this is that any question you ask can be tweaked slightly to get more information from your prospect.  As a sales professional, you need to uncover the prospects needs before you can give a proper presentation.

http://leansixsigmasource.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/istock_qa-sign_xsmall.jpg

Closing: Make the Sale or Don't

http://www.setthestageforsuccess.com/content_images/sales_thumb.jpg

Closing is the second most important step in the sales process behind Finding Needs, and it can lead to making the sale or losing it.  Closing can mean a couple of different things depending on whether you are trying to make a large sale or a small sale.  During a small sale, a successful close will always lead to making the sale and having them sign on the dotted line.  For a large sale, mostly business to business types where there are multiple people involved in the decision making process, you will most likely not be able to close that day.  When this is the case DO NOT USE TYPICAL CLOSING TECHNIQUES!  Doing this will offend your prospect and make them think that you are too pushy.  Remember:  in sales you need to form a relationship with the buyer, and being seen as pushy or uncaring of their needs will make them not want to form that relationship.

Listening Skills vs. Swift Talking in Sales

Most people that think of a salesperson is somebody who can talk people into buying their product even if they don't need it.  I have heard the term "He can sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves."  While the ability to be convincing is important in sales, the ability to listen to your prospect is much more important.  How does a good sales professional know how to gear their presentation?  They spent time listening to the customer's needs and adapt the rest of the sales process around those needs.  After you have listened enough to discover their needs and analyze what type of buyer they are, the "swift talking" skills can be applied more efficiently.

http://birdman55.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/listen_hear.jpg

Features and Benefits

Take a look at this video about selling Features and Benefits, and how important it is to the entire sales process.  If you do not do this correctly you will have more objections and you are selling your product short.  Please let me know if you have any questions or if you need some more examples.

steve@dadesalesandmarketing.com

http://dadesalesandmarketing.com/

Follow These Steps to Make a Sale

As a salesperson, you should be able to control a conversation.  This does not mean that you should dominate the conversation, but you should be able to steer the direction in a way that will give you a better chance of making the sale.  Many salespeople think that they need to just spit out a bunch of features and the customer will see how great their product is and buy it, these people are peddlers.  A true sales professional takes as much time listening to their customer as they do talking, and there are certain steps you should take to present yourself and your product in a way that will make your customer want to buy.