Personal Selling
If you take the time to deeply absorb the following principles, and employ them in your business, you will sell more.
Authentic Relationship
Step one is to develop a relationship with your inner self that allows forward movement. If parts of you are not aligned with the success you seek they will hold you back.
Step two is to sell a product you personally believe in and love. Steve Jobs said: "People can tell if you're in it just to make a buck or if there is heart in what you sell." Yes, people can tell.
Step three is to define the type of people who will love your product and resonate with you personally. You may have several categories crop up in this section. Describe each type of person separately.
Step four is to foster relationships of total equality with the people you're targeting. If you have done the first three steps correctly this will flow easily in many cases. Keep in mind you will potentially be of enormous help to these people. Total equality is the authentic relational foundation you need so everybody wins. One of the biggest mistakes a seller can make is to become subservient.
Perspective, Agreements and Discovery
Step five is to cross the buyer/seller divide. Language for this may sound like: "If I'm in your shoes I'd be looking at two or three options, have you thought of _________? Authentically helping your client find the right solution will help you form a personal bond. Remember: business is personal. Looking at a situation from the viewpoint of your client is a key to personal selling.
Step six in personal selling is making up-front agreements about what each meeting is about and being perfectly clear about each step of the sales process. Manage your client's expectations.
Step seven is to discover as many levels of your client's wants and needs as you can comfortably manage in one sales call. There are usually economic considerations, interpersonal and individual pain points. The more of these you can discuss the greater the trust. This is why setting up a peer to peer relationship is so important. You may have to be assertive in this process to get to the truth. Language around this might sound like: "I can understand that ________ is important and it feels like there may be another aspect to this we have not covered."
Money Talk and Making a Decision
Step eight is to discuss budget. If you have done a good job on the previous steps these two aspects of the sales process will probably flow with relative ease through this step. You won't sell everybody but you will likely make a friend who will keep you in mind for the future and perhaps tell others about you. Your prospect has to be willing, and able to proceed to a sale. Language around this could sound like: "What are the constraints to moving forward?"
Step nine is to review all that has been covered and start the process of finding out how people make decisions. Are you speaking with the decision maker? How does their decision process work? What facts to they need to make a decision? Why are these facts important? This is where setting up a peer to peer relational process works to your advantage.
Delivery, Customer Service and Asking for Reviews
Step ten will help you thwart any buyers remorse that may have cropped up during the time between making a sale and delivery. As in step six tell your client exactly what to expect with respect to the delivery, care/handling of the product you are delivering.
Step eleven is customer service. In this step you are there to make sure your client is getting the maximum benefit from your product or service. Only when the benefits you have delivered have been firmly established can you successfully move to step twelve.
Step twelve is to make sure your customer is delighted and then ask for an appropriate level of customer review, personal referral and/or a testimonial. Don't go too far with this step, but don't shy away from asking for the above items. In many cases people will touch your heart because — if you really have had their best interests at heart — you may get something back that will touch you beyond expectation.
This is why section one is so critical for your success.
Call DeepSky Marketing for a free consultation to evaluate your personal selling and sales processes.