You know what to say, you know your product, its features and benefits, and you know it will benefit your customer, so why can’t you make that sale? Well, the public has a perception of salespeople: They think you’re only interested in the sale, and they know you’ll probably get paid a bonus for every sale you make.
In short, they are skeptical of everything you say. It’s your job to change that view, and an effective way to do that is to focus on your customer. To do this you can actively listen.
active listening
Active listening is the secret to a great sales technique. It allows you to put all your focus on the customer, so you can really figure out what they want and need. And, we don’t just mean hearing the words without actually hearing them, we mean actually hearing and understanding them. You must make the customer feel that you care about him personally, that you want to solve his problem. And beware, this cannot be faked. If you’re trying to trick your customer into thinking you care about him, he’ll see it in your tone and body language, whether you like it or not!
Active listening will make the client feel special; at that moment he will have your full attention. This will encourage them to open up to you, allowing you to tailor your presentation to their specific needs. It will become much more natural than any pre-prepared sales pitch you might offer.
Do you actively listen?
A simple check to see if you are actively listening is to note where your attention is while the customer is speaking. If you start to formulate your response before you’ve finished speaking, you can be pretty sure you’re not listening correctly.
Other ways to focus on your customer
Here are some other simple things you can do to help improve your sales technique by being completely customer-focused to:
Be friendly, this is more or less a given. If you can’t be friendly with your prospects, you really should reconsider your career in sales. And, it must be genuine or they will feel it: people are generally very good at spotting insincerity!
Relax: being tense will be reflected in your body language and tone of voice. And if you’re tense, your customer is likely to be too, which isn’t a good way to start a conversation.
Look the customer in the eye. I don’t know about you, but I think there is nothing worse than someone talking to me without making eye contact. Makes me think they have something to hide. However, be aware of cultural differences. In some cultures it is not acceptable to look people directly in the eye unless you know them well.
Find out something about your client; For example, do you both have a dog? Do you like a certain genre of film? Or do you both love the theater? This common ground will give you a great base to start with and will show the customer that you are a normal person like them, not a super sales machine!
Ask how they would like to be addressed; don’t assume it’s okay to call the customer by their first name, some people don’t like that. However, if he is happy for you to use his first name, do so and do so often, as it fosters a sense of calm.
Find out what motivated them to learn about your product – this information is like gold to you. It tells you why the customer wants your product and allows you to tailor your conversation to that particular area. For example, imagine that you sell vacuum cleaners that are good at picking up dog hair, removing dust mites, and removing stuck-on dirt from your carpets. If you discover that the client has a dog, you can focus on the removal of dirt and hair as the main benefit. If you discover that the client suffers from asthma, there would be no point in concentrating on picking up the dog’s hair, but effective removal of dust mites would be a huge selling point. So be sure to ask questions about customers’ lives and habits so you can show them how your product or service will simplify theirs.