Sunday, December 26, 2010

How To Sell With Boldness

Are you having problems with selling your product and services? Do you constantly get turned down each time you introduce your products or services to a qualified customer? You could even be a sales executive who gets paralyzed emotionally each time you approach a potential customer. What you need is an understanding of how to sell with boldness. One thing that quality prospects appreciate in salespeople is boldness.

Most people with great capacities to build great businesses are roaming the streets, looking for jobs that are scarcely available because they aren’t confident about how to sell the quality products or services they are can offer.

The ability to sell is the number one business skill. Without selling, no business man will succeed. In order to remain in business, you have to be successful at making people pay for your products or services. The underlying truth is this:

NO SALES = NO BUSINESS

One of the major reasons for little or no sales in many businesses today is the inability to handle rejections that come with selling. Therefore let’s take a look at a few ways to combat this challenge.

1. BE THE BEST FAN OF YOUR PRODUCT

Don’t bother selling a product you can’t vouch for. The reason is simple: nobody will buy. You may not be the original producer or know everything about the product. But you must have understood the benefits of the product by use and be able to share your pleasant experiences with the prospect. Every potential buyer, client or investor is extra-sensitive when it comes to parting with money.

What they want to see is a salesperson or businessman who is sincere and can defend his or her claims on what the product is capable of offering. The best way to win a sale is to SPEAK WITH CONFIDENCE AND CONVICTION.

2. BE REAL AND HONEST

Prospects recognise sincerity in boldness when they it. Don’t try to mention a benefit that your product or service is not capable of offering the prospect. If your product has a limitation, admit it. List out the possible questions a prospect might want to ask about your product and prepare an appropriate response in advance.

3. EXPECT A POSITIVE RESPONSE

Visualize your prospect as a pleasant and reliable person. How do you approach a colleague you know is very pleasant and likeable? Your answer should determine the way you should approach every prospect. Good emotions are contagious and people are more than willing to return kind gestures if you offer it to them first. A genuine and friendly smile would win any sane person anytime, any day.

4. MAKE EXCUSES FOR YOUR PROSPECTS

Not all prospects you meet would be interested in your product. Not even all those that are interested would be willing to buy immediately. But if you have created a great first impression, then you can be sure that they will call you, recommend you or come back to request for that product or service.

Except for window shoppers many people want to take their time before buying a product especially when it is a substantial item like a car, house, large investment, insurance policy and so on. If a prospect doesn’t buy your product or service, just assume that it is because of lack of sufficient funds, or that she needs some time to think through the offer.

Don’t always think it is because of your inability to sell effectively; even the very best sales or business people get turned down sometimes. When you meet someone who is not ready to buy immediately, be nice, then drop your contacts before you move on. Who knows, she may turn up a few days later to discuss the offer.

5. ACCEPT REJECTIONS AS PART OF SELLING

Understand that every ‘NO’ could become a ‘MAYBE’ and every ‘MAYBE’ could become a ‘YES’. A ‘No’ may mean ‘I need more information on your product/service’ or ‘show me more benefits of your product’. Understand that the most rejected people in the world are the most successful salesmen. HOW?

• If you attempt to sell to 10 people, and you have a selling rate of 20%. Then you have been rejected by 8 people and accepted by 2.
• Now, instead of approaching 10 people, you approach 100 people within the same period, what happens? 20 Sales!
• Therefore the more people you dare to approach, the more sales you are likely to make.
• Increase your frequency of contacts with your customers and ask them to buy more often. Build relationships even with those who don’t buy from you.
• Most business or sales people are not successful because they are not rejected enough.
• GET READY FOR MORE REJECTIONS BECAUSE IT IS IN THE MIDST OF REJECTIONS THAT WE ENCOUNTER OUR MAJOR BREAKTHROUGHS IN SELLING.

6. CONVERT YOUR PAINS OF REJECTION INTO IMPROVEMENT

• While it is good to risk rejections often by approaching more customers, make sure you learn from your mistakes and improve your capacity to win more sales with less attempts.
• One small negative attitude may be hindering your enormous potentials in selling. Study your selling process. If your choice of words is not working, change them. Adjust, modify, adapt and improve until your performance begins to increase.
• Outlined below is the flow path of using the pains of rejection to accelerate business success.

RISK REJECTION LEARN  CORRECTIMPROVE SALES

Wishing you a prosperous business year ahead.