Having a great product,although instrumental,is not necessarily the defining factor behind its success. You can have the best product, but if no one is buying it,the product is going to be a flop.
Set sales presentation goals
When you are selling a physical product or a service you should have tangible goals before entering an interaction. Often the goals are incremental steps towards a final sale. If you are a freelancer,try to schedule a second interview. If you are talking to a lower-level employee in a company, work on scheduling a meeting with a higher-level decision maker. If you are talking to a decision maker in a company, work on prompting the potential buyer to request a business proposal.
Get a prospective buyer to pick up and use your product
No matter what you are selling, fish to your local market or you are a freelancer hunting for your next job, the best way to close on a sale is to form a connection with your buyer. Not only is it easier to sell your product to someone that you have a connection with, it is more likely that they will become a repeat buyer.Why is it so important that this connection is established? Well, most of us would like to think that we are all rational thinkers, that behind every decision lies a well reasoned argument. That is not necessarily the whole picture. The research of Nobel Prize laureate, Professor Kahneman, posits that behind every judgment, every decision is made after a battle between our intuition and logic. The logical part of the brain is responsible for analyzing problems and coming up with answers. It is an expert at problem solving. However, it is very energy consuming and when used, occupies most of the attentive mind. Conversely, the intuitive mind is fast, automatic and incredibly powerful. The intuitive mind is our autopilot; it is hidden from our conscious but it is still responsible for most of the things we do, believe and think.
The first step to building this rapport starts with understanding the position, needs and even worldview of your prospect. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything they say, just show that you understand their position. The best thing you can hear from someone at this stage is “that’s right”. Sales people have this stigma that they are pushy people and just have a script ready to close on a deal. When you are forcing your opinion onto others, they will give up trying to reason and just deflect/give up with something like “you are right”. Notice the subtle differences between two answers. In the first one your counterpart feels understood. In the latter they just want you to move on while not necessarily agreeing with you and even some aversion may form towards you and what you are selling.
Dealing with objections
This revolves around your product. You must know the ins and outs of what you are selling. Before presenting to someone, take some time to learn as much as you can about them and/or their company. Use that knowledge to predict what their worst objections/accusation would be towards your product; these are usually the worst part of the deal from the buyer’s point of view, and address them upfront. Share and deal with the possible accusation as early as possible. With this approach you are defusing negatives before they even come up in the conversation. You are in a much stronger position to deal with objections if you are the one who brought them up; with previous research and preparation, you have time to prepare a response. Conversely, if you wait until the prospect brings up any negatives, you are put in a weaker position to deal with them. It becomes worse if the prospect thinks that you tried to hide the negatives, which breaks any trust/rapport you might have built up until that point.A potential buyer may notice a negative, but they may never bring it; that secretly kills any possible deal and does not even give you a chance to offer a response.
Be honest about your product
The best way to generate long-term lovers of your product is to be honest. To achieve that you need to be transparent about your product, do not overstate its capabilities. Additionally, admit if there are some aspects you may lack complete knowledge; this helps in building trust. If it turns out what you are selling is not right for that customer at that time, be honest about that fact and if possible, help the customer to find what they are looking for. Honesty and generosity with your time do not lead to immediate sales, but it can translate to future sales.
