HARDISON’S TIPS – OCTOBER 19, 2021 – SALES TIPS FOR THE NEW OR THINKING ABOUT SALES -2
For every organization, sales is the engine that drives the business.
Understand the Prospect’s Pain Points
Your prospects have a singular interest — solving whatever problems they may be experiencing. Going on about the magnificence of your product can only get you so far. How does your product benefit your prospect directly?
Use each interaction with a prospect to ask questions to identify their biggest pain points, such as:
- Could you help me understand your business process a little better?
- What are your everyday goals? Long-term goals?
- What are the biggest concerns and hurdles you face?
- What are your expectations for the solution?
- Do you have any budget constraints?
- If you solved a particular problem, how much better would things be for you? How so?
It’s important that you actively listen to the prospect’s answers. Too often salespeople are so engaged with pushing and selling that they forget that sometimes the best salespeople listen more than they speak. This way you can learn a lot about not only your prospect, but also your own product and how to better sell it.
Remember what I said earlier “Buyers don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care”.
Offer a solution focused on the buyer’s pain points. Sales pitches work best when you show prospects that you understand their obstacles and that your product has the capability to solve those problems for them.
Know Your Customer in Advance
Your prospects are looking for answers — and they expect you to provide them.
One of the best sales tips is to prepare in advance for all meetings with all the information you may need to give your prospects to turn them into customers. This includes knowing as much about them and their situation as possible. As the saying goes, “Show them you know them.”
Being well-prepared for a meeting demonstrates not only your competency and knowledge but shows that you care enough to be present and confident in all customer interactions.
Sure, there will be times when you have to just show up, or maybe even when a prospect calls you out of nowhere. In these cases, it’s important to have quick access to any information your average customer may need, and be able to discuss it in-depth.
Be sure you have a handle on the following:
- What’s the goal of the call for you?
- What do I need to find out during the call?
- What are my product’s strengths? Weaknesses?
- Who is the decision-maker on your prospect’s end?
- If you’ve met before, where were things left off in the last meeting?
A surprising amount of sales reps don’t take the time to research their prospect or prepare for calls, which only undermines their efforts and leaves a poor impression for the prospect. Pre-call planning helps you obtain the necessary information you need to add value to the conversation.
Developing this sales habit will create trust from your prospects — and confidence within your own sales game.
