Photo by Christiann Koepke on Unsplash
What’s needed to be effective in sales? Merely having a gregarious personality will no longer cut it in the 21st century.
As a manager, if you want to improve your company’s sales performance, become a winning sales organization and review your recruitment techniques in hiring salespeople. Further, it’s important to check your motives before hiring for the best talent.
As salesperson, if you want to make more money, do an attitude check and hone your skills. En route to asking for an order, the best salespeople approach their customers with an attitude of service and gratitude.
They avoid committing the seven deadly sins of selling.
Attributes of the most-effective salespeople
Here’s the list:
1. They use due diligence in searching for needs to fill.
2. They persevere in sales calls – by focusing on daily footwork vis-à-vis sales goals while targeting the right persons.
3. They’re great listeners to their prospects, and sometimes have to know how to read between the lines.
4. They empathize with the concerns of their customers – and convey concern about their customers’ welfare.
5. They show enthusiasm but with good etiquette and respect – a serious side in order to be taken seriously.
6. They focus on understanding the needs of their customers. They’re magnanimous, not needy, and continually research customers’ target audience and their industries.
7. They’re critical thinkers and have thought leadership in order to develop and apply solutions.
8. They constantly assess their successes and failures – then fine-tune their approach and strive to provide value to help their customers make money.
9. They pay close attention to details and manage the affairs related to their accounts.
10. They express gratitude to customers – they know a simple thank you goes a long way to strengthen relationships.
11. They prevent buyer’s remorse.
12. They aren’t defensive when criticized. Instead, they take notes.
13. They assertively communicate and stay in touch with customers.
14. They avoid taking shortcuts, and never ask anyone to do the work they need to do themselves.
15. They treat customers like they would a valued spouse in a good marriage by providing added value whenever feasible.
16. They don’t constantly cut prices just to make a sale – they know the value of both their products and services.
17. They manage time well – for both them and customers.
18. They make sales fun.
Incidentally, 70 percent of the time when companies and salespeople lose customers, it’s because their customers feel taken for granted.
With these attributes, companies and salespeople will enjoy longtime customer loyalty with repeat business and referrals.
From the Coach’s Corner, here are more sales strategies:
The Seven Steps to Higher Sales — Secrets for sales success – seven steps to higher sales, five value perceptions that motivate customers to buy, and the three-step process for overcoming sales objections.
11 Sales Strategies to Outsell Your Big Competitors — Big companies have obvious advantages over small businesses. Their brands are well-known. They can afford sales training, sales-support staff and customer-relationship management software. On the other hand, there are good reasons why Cyber Monday has become big. Yes, many online customers do it to save money on sales taxes.
For Profits, 10 German Business Etiquette Tips Apply in the U.S. — Hats were once considered the business norm for me. Formality required that men remove their hats when entering a building or when they were introduced to a lady. Baby boomers can recall it was a cultural, social-changing event – and quite a shock in 1961 – when President John F. Kennedy appeared hatless at his frigid outdoor inauguration.
7 Tips for Strong Results in Setting B2B Appointments with CEOs — As every salesperson knows, face time with B2B prospects gives you a foundation for sales success. Execution in the appointment-setting process is, of course, is key to being successful. The ideal situation is to get sales leads via networking and referrals.
You Can Get Bigger Corporate Accounts in 5 Steps — So your company needs to grow and you’ve decided to go after bigger fish. Getting bigger corporate accounts is easier, if you develop the right system. But not only must you have reason to be confident, you must position yourself and your company to instill confidence in your prospects.
6 Tips to Increase the Quality, Quantity of Your Client Referrals — As a professional, you can ease the pain and save time in making sales calls, if you’re a good steward of your already-existing circle of associates and clients – potential centers of influence. That’s a term that refers to people who can and will refer business your way.
“How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.”
-Gilbert K. Chesterton
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