Want to Influence More Sales?

January 21, 2013

Imagine ending with your largest sales year ever. What would that feel like? What would it do to your life?

If you want to make this year your best year ever, there are a few things you need to do. In this blog I am going to address the complex sale as most of our clients tend to have a product or service that requires a more lengthy sales process, a shattering of past beliefs, and a desire for the client to see you as a trusted partner, not a vendor.

The more complex your sale is the more the listener’s brain will fight you. The sale actually confuses them, tests what they know (which makes them feel stupid) and pushes them out of their comfort zone. Due to all of these reasons they then push back as their brain is trying to find REASONS to stay status quo.

The number one mistake I see sales people make in this area is they try to “fight back” by supplying the customer with more and more facts and reasons on why the product or service their are selling is the holy grail. For the customer, this then becomes “proof” that you only care about you and not them.

So to combat this, you need to help your customer overcome their desire to stay status quo. You do this by asking great probing questions that cause them to think, to reveal their thoughts, and to let them sell themselves. No one likes to be sold but people do like to buy. Allow them to do the buying.

Now once you start using the great probing questions you actually take the customer resistance side. This will cause them to argue against their own thoughts and solve their own resistance. It is much more powerful for you to say, “well it sounds like your present system, even though it won’t automatically digitize, works good enough for you.” As soon as you pull out of selling it frees them up to buy. You will be surprised to hear them say, “well I don’t think it will be good enough for us because we do need to digitize.” Hmmm… now that can lead to a great discussion that shows what they fear so you can help them through it.

Don’t let the economy hold you captive. Make this year your best year by making it your customer’s best year!

Learn more about sales training programs and sales presentation skills program at Impression Management Professionals in Minneapolis, MM