HOW TO SELL 101: Five Quick and Easy Selling Tactics to Apply to Any Industry
Another day, another dollar. You walk into work and see your quota for the day, and think to yourself “this company is ridiculous for thinking we can sell this much”. You’re probably right; those quotas are ridiculous — but the thing is that they are attainable (most of the time).
Sometimes bad luck plagues your day (or your month) and you just simply get customers that don’t want to listen to you; the “ins and outs”; the “I’m just looking thank you”, as you’re trying to greet them. Those are out of your control — no matter what you say or do, if you did or didn’t try, they get what they get regardless of what you say or don’t say because they’re set on their ways. This is due to them either a) not wanting to spend more than what they went in for and b) think by listening to you that they will indeed spend more so they shut you out before you can speak.
The “ins and outs” are also occasionally c) time-poor; they got somewhere to be and they will be extremely peeved if you waste their time if they already know what they want — and bad customer service gives your brand a bad rep; negative word of mouth, as they call it.
SELLING TACTIC 1: Don’t waste your time on ins and outs
Be polite, and be on standby if they have questions, but leave them alone. You’re not doing yourself or the company any favours by pushing their buttons.
Wait a second though — not all ins and outs are total write-offs; you have to know the difference. It’s all about the non-verbal communication. If they look at you angrily/sternly and literally march to what they want and come directly to the counter, THAT person is your “in and out”.
Your “in and out” is NOT the person that smiles at your shyly when you greet them, listens to your speech about what promotions you’re having, and politely tells you that they’re just looking — that person is money (or potential money at least).
SELLING TACTIC 2: Every customer is potential money
Whether they’re a regular or not; always try and you will succeed. Observe your non-verbal cues, and if none are screaming negativity, then always go for it. The times you sort of try because you think they’re not going to get anything are where you’re missing out.
Which brings me to lesson 3, which is the most important lesson so far -
SELLING TACTIC 3: Fake it til you make it
You could have your talk-paths down, give all the product knowledge you know, but if the customer doesn’t get the vibe that you don’t 150% believe in your product to the point where you expect them to get it, they won’t buy into it. You have to be confident to the point that it’s almost arrogance because you can’t leave room for any question that you’re not 100% correct.
And while we’re on that note of confidence — it’s not the only thing that matters. The customer is only going to listen to you if they trust you. Why should they trust you? You’re after their money. Give them reason to trust you.
SELLING TACTIC 4: Build a friendship with your customer
Typing away at finding their info on your computer? Ask them what they have on the agenda for the day, what they did that weekend, what they have planned coming up. Find something in what they say to run with and have a discussion about. You need to show them that you care about them as a person that goes beyond them being your customer, so that they know that you have their best interest in mind. That’s when they’ll listen to your recommendation, to your advice, to your expertise, because they know you’re taking care of them. And in turn, if they like you enough they’ll ask for you specifically when they come back. They’ll recommend people to come see you and ask for you.
But lastly, before you pitch anything, tactic 4 can also be used as a method to understand your customer’s needs. No two customers that walk in are looking for the same thing, so you can’t present each product you have in the same way.
SELLING TACTIC 5: Fact Find
Ask lots of questions. Be casual (not nosy) and always tie back to the friendship and genuine connection so that it seems sincere. Not every customer is going to outright tell you what they’re coming in for; you got to play some low key Q&A so that you can figure out how to tie your sales pitch to what they already told you. This way, using their own words to back up your product facts doesn’t leave room for debate.
If you start applying these five easy selling tactics in any industry, I guarantee that you will immediately notice an improvement in your sales game. Whether you’re selling clothes, shoes, credit cards and lines of credit, car rentals, or even raffle tickets — you will immediately be more successful. It’s all about putting in 100% effort in all the time, asking the right questions, knowing when it’s appropriate to back off, while projecting masterful expertise and trust.
*******************************************************************
Liked what you read? Want to read about a particular subject? Let me know; I’d love to hear from you! http://stefspilios.pagecloud.com/contact
Want more of a background on my experience? Check out my personal website here: http://stefspilios.pagecloud.com/about
Or my Linked In here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanie-spiliotopoulos-2bbb7a106/
Looking for more? Bryan Wilde does a great job of explaining some of these exact concepts in his article, How to Sell Anything: Sales Technique 101 http://udemyblog.wpengine.com/how-to-sell/
