What Your Prospects REALLY Think Of You…

Whether it’s selling cars, courses, houses or holidays, sales comes in for a bad rap.

Your prospects may have formed a negative impression of you, even before you’ve uttered a single world.

The lumbering elephant in the room is that you’re in a profession saddled with a reputation of being full of unprincipled types who’ll use high-pressure tactics and peddle their grandmothers if there’s a buck to be made.  In terms of trust and respect, salespeople are sometimes at the bottom of the pile along with journalists, politicians and bankers.

While that doesn’t make for comfortable reading, you can blow customer perceptions out of the water with the following tactics:

– Get into the mind of your prospects

Selling is less about telling and more about listening.  One of the simplest ways of connecting with a prospect is to listen carefully to their needs and concerns.  If they are not forthcoming, ask penetrating questions to help you get to the heart of what they want.  Never be shy about seeking clarification.  People don’t want to be sold at; they want to be heard.

5 Ways to Listen Better: and a great listening model

– Establish trust

In his bestselling book Hyper Sales Growth, business guru Jack Daly says that “selling is the transfer of trust”, meaning that trust is a cornerstone of good selling, and that people do business with people they trust.  You may be able to cajole and manipulate a prospect into buying from you, but it will only happen the once.  Work on establishing trust with your prospects. There are a number of ways you can do this, including the authoritative tone of your voice, being knowledgeable, helping prospects think through their problems, respecting their views and not making outlandish claims that cannot be substantiated.

– Make your prospects’ problems disappear

Recognise that you are selling solutions not products and services.  Prospects are not particularly interested in whether your offering is “better than the rest”.  They only want to know if and how well it will address their needs.

– Don’t pitch too soon

Not only will you come across as pushy, but you could end up pitching the wrong products and services because you haven’t fully listened to your prospect’s needs.  Resist the urge to rush customers into a decision.  They must never feel hassled.

– Overcome objections

Often these are questions in disguise.  You may hear the word “no” but what the prospect is really saying is that they are unsure and need to know more.  Don’t get on the defensive or ridicule objections.  Uncover what is at the heart of them and use your knowledge of the customer and your products to remove these roadblocks.

Relationships Create Opportunities

By doing all of this, you will not only come across as a genuine human being, but you will inspire your customers to feel great about their purchasing decisions.  They will feel they have struck a deal with an authentic person who has their best interests at heart.  And so they will come back for more.

Concentrate on building great business relationships, and more opportunities will come to you.

For help on any of the above, give us a call and we can explore the various opportunities available to you.

Related Articles:

Give a Little Attitude to Your Prospects

Why Your Client Didn’t Call You Back