Forget You: Think Them, for Sales Success

Forget you and forget your standard sales presentation.

Let me explain…all of us have our own unique way of perceiving the world. This map has been created from the moment you were born to this very day…all your experiences have gone into the pot and created your map. Nobody else will have had your experiences in exactly the same way. They will have had their own experiences and will perceive the world in their very unique way.

So what does this mean to you and importantly how can you use this to increase your sales success?

It’s really important to get into the map of your potential client, really understand them, their problems and desired objectives. Only then can you deliver an offering that is irresistible and create the desire to buy from you.

Why is it then that so many people pitch their offering before finding what the buyers ‘map’ is?

This causes so many challenges when it comes to sales:
– You get objections
– Not everything you pitch will be relevant
– You may leave relevant information out
– You’re not able to close based on the map of the buyer so closing is more random

It’s so much more effective…and easier, not to start with your pitch. Start by asking well crafted open questions. Any that start with who, what, when, where or how. Avoid ‘why’ questions as they are so confrontational. Find out what’s going on in their world, from their perspective.

Do they want to solve a problem or do they need something to move them forward?.

Forget what you think they need until you’ve got every last scrap of information from then. Then you can tailor your pitch exactly to their needs…using their words, values and beliefs.

It’s also crucial to use ‘YOU’ language. This is so much more engaging for them and shows that you are really in their space…their map! Whenever you use ‘WE’, ‘I’ or your company name, you are in your map and focusing on yourself, your offering or your company.

Do this and the benefits will be enormous:
– No objections because you’re only responding and not pitching
– More engaged buyers because you’re focusing on them
– Greater depth of information from your ‘YOU focused’ open questions
– More tailored close
– Higher conversion rate…more sales is always good 🙂

In short you’ll be increasing your selling skills – and increasing sales!

One more thing…give your buyers lots of time to answer, really listen and pause when you think they have stopped. It’s often in these pauses that you’ll get the golden nuggets of information.

Until next time.

Leigh

For previous ‘Tricks of the Trade’ go here