As a child I vividly remember being warned about strangers and never to trust them. When we saw an odd adult approaching us we would run away. Sad but it did keep us protected from predatory adults.
Nowadays the same warning is given to customers but this time the caution is the typical salesperson.
The archetypal 1990’s salesperson. All gift of the gab, slick, overcoming objections, too much talking, smooth and debonair. So 1990’s. Customers fear them.
The message if you’re in selling is to not come across as the emblematic salesperson if you want to sell.
- Honour their buying process, they want to buy so let them
- Don’t force a sales process on them
- Let them say no. In fact, at the beginning of a sales meeting mention that they can say yes or no at the end. That’s fine.
- Handle objections early, never ever leave them to the end.
- Stop talking too much
- Ask more softened and curious type questions
- Let the customer keep control of everything
- Let them search the internet whenever it suits them
- Become an expert on your topic and product and learn how to explain things clearly, making complex appear simple.
- Don’t appear too smooth
- Dress down slightly, nothing too sharp, take your tie off, loosen your collar.
- Never call yourself a: salesperson, sales adviser, account executive, sales executive, key account manager – these are only for internal paygrades – they put off customers. Keep away from the term sales. Call yourself a product adviser or a product expert. Remember they want to buy and may need to consult a product expert, a salesperson will put them off.
The world has changed, salespeople are feared. Unfortunately the world hasn’t changed regarding predatory adults and maybe our perverse fear as children did actually help us. Use this notion to increase your sales as a modern salesperson.
