We all have grown up listening to the legendary stories of the man who could sell anything a comb to a bald man or the ace salesman who sold ice to an igloo resident. The thought that comes to mind is what tricks they had up their sleeves to sell expertly. Knowing how to sell what you have is a vital skill that you need to excel in business.
An increase in company sales has a direct impact on your reputation as a salesperson, and it also means incentives, promotions, and salary raises for you. Selling is a continuous process, and you keep learning as you grow in the business. Whether you are selling face-to-face or going online, the core principles on how to remain the same. There is no defined sales process or steps you can take, but there are some core values that apply to every business, and by imbibing them in your professional life, selling anything to anybody becomes an easy task.
Know your product or service
The key to being able to sell anything to anybody is having an in-depth understanding of what your products and services are and how they can improve the client’s life. List the features and benefits of your product, think about who your clients will be, and if you have client feedback, then take it into consideration and then form a basic sales pitch. A feature benefit matrix is a simple tool you can use to map out the features and benefits of your product or offered service.
- Create a buyer persona
The more you are clear about who your target customers are going to be, the better it is to sell anything to anybody. Describe your ideal buyer in as much detail as possible. You can sort the target customers as per their demographics, or psychographic features such as mental and emotional characteristics, or values, or lifestyle choices, or attitudes. For every characteristic, list the selling points of your product or service to match it. All this information forms the buyer persona.
- Get to know the customer and focus on the buyer
Every conversation you have with the buyer, should be about them. Same goes for every email, message, demo, and meeting. Don’t talk too much about products or yourself. If the customer asks something about you, then answer with basic details and don’t try to deflect. This is the first step to building a relationship and the most important one too. When you get to know the customer, it opens a channel for effective communications and builds trust and likability. You will know more about the needs, motivations, and decision-making processes of the prospect.
- Research beforehand
As the wise have said, forewarned is forearmed. Most of your prospective buyers will do their research before talking to sales person. Hence, you should devote some time learning about them too. It will help increase the sales. When you know your customer, it is easier to meet their needs. Research on the buyer persona and modify your pitch accordingly. Knowing the needs, wants, fear points, lifestyle, and motivations of your prospective will help you determine how your product or service will fit with that particular buyer persona. The search will take just about 5-10 minutes. You can search on social media profiles, blogs, media presence, etc., and if you are doing the B2B business, then read up on press releases, financial statements and Google.
- Be helpful
It might not seem much like a sales pitch, but if you want to sell anything to anybody, then start by being helpful instead of aggressive. Offer help in a way that the customer thinks is most valuable. Aim should be to give solutions and not just the products. Educate and inform the buyer by sharing relevant articles, details, and demonstrations, etc. You don’t have to wait for the customer to come to you with problems, be proactive and offer assistance.
- Engage with thoughtful questions
no matter how much you have researched, there will still be gaps in your knowledge, and till the time you fully understand the prospect, you will not be able to help the customer if you don’t understand their fear and pain points. Hence ask a lot of thoughtful questions. You can take a list of crafted questions to dig deeper, but don’t be too rigid about them. The focus should be on encouraging the customer to think about their needs and challenges.
- Listen to what the prospect is saying
Hear and hear carefully, and then communicate to them if you have understood correctly. If you need clarifications, then ask more questions. Remember and reference, and use what you have learned to address the needs. Active listening is a crucial skill in mastering the art of selling anything to anybody.
- A little psychology will not hurt
Our brains are wired to respond to certain situations in certain ways, and you should know it. Sale techniques are based on fundamental human behaviours and emotional triggers that affect the decision-making progress. If you understand this, then you can curate more compelling sales strategies. There are different principles you can study, such as, The Decoy Effect, The Anchoring Effect, Loss Aversion, Peak-End Rule, Curse of Knowledge, The principle of Reciprocity, Social Proof, Liking etc.
- Learn the use of power of stories
People respond more to messages that are delivered as stories. Story telling evokes strong emotional responses. Share the stories about the transformation of your products, customer testimonials, success tales, etc. during the sales pitch.
Know the customer types
Just like every salesperson has a unique personality, the customers have unique personalities too. Pay attention to the type of customer, they can have a driver, amiable, expressive, and analytical personalities.
Whether you are doing an individual sale or targeting a business for the sale, it is important to remember to be human. Your leads are people too, and they want to be treated as such. The customers are not cash machines. During the entire sales process, be transparent, communicative, and real about your product or service.
Read Also: Know the Power of AI in Sales and it Importance in 2024
