Last week we discussed in a blog post that you don’t want to be perceived as a salesperson by a customer. The following benefits of not seeming like a salesperson were identified: -Customer will trust you more -You will stand out from the competition -The customer will not feel like they are being ‘sold’ a product or service -- So what do you want to be known as? In short, you want the customer to think of you as a consultant. Think about some words and phrases to describe a consultant versus a salesperson. A few that come to mind are: Caring Honest Helpful -- How do you be as a consultant when it's your job to sell? Ask Questions As humans, we don’t like conversations to be one-sided. Most people in sales will spend too much time talking about things that the customer doesn’t care about. This is a surefire way to make the customer uninterested in the conversation. Ask questions to get them talking. Listen Carefully As a follow-up to asking questions, you must listen to the customers’ answers. If you are asking good questions to find out about their situation and not listening closely to their responses, then you will be unable to present your product or service in a way that appeals to them. Have Empathy By listening carefully you will be able to hear their biggest problems and how they have affected job performance. Try to think about things from their perspective. Be genuine. Try to help the customer solve their problems. Avoid being too pushy and words that are associated with a salesperson. Pretend like you are talking to a friend and not a potential customer. Present How Your Product Solves Their Problems Now that you know the exact problems that the customer has and you’ve built rapport it is time to present how your product solves their problems. Remember to keep a similar tone when closing. Edit: Added a few more ways to be a consultant rather than a salesperson. Show Indifference Don't be pushy. Even if it's near the end of the month of or end the of the quarter. Prospects can smell desperation from a mile away. If you are too aggressive then there's a decent chance you will get ghosted. Again, people don't want to be sold. They want to feel like they're in control. Pushing back on people isn't a bad idea. It shows that you have some empathy for their position and will likely reduce the number of deals that fall apart at the last second. Be Human Show emotion. Don't be robotic with how you're talking to them. A good tip I heard recently from Sam Nelson at Outreach was to smile when you're talking to them on the phone. This affects the tone of your voice because you end up talking to the person more like they are one of your friends. -- People hate to be sold - they want to buy. They want to feel like they are in control. Being a consultant and not a salesperson makes them feel like they are still in control. Remember that next time you are talking to a potential customer. -- If you want more tips on sales, we have free online videos for you to watch. The online sales training videos will help you learn some sales skills as well as give you a preview of what our bootcamp training is like. And if you're asking yourself: "How can I find a boot camp near me?" You can learn sales skills online because our sales bootcamp is virtual.
