Here is the sales model that will show you how to be good at selling in your business
Running a business is a huge challenge. Selling is one of the toughest skills you should acquire as a business owner. Without that skill, your business couldn't last for long.
In this article of "how to be good at selling", we'll charm you with: what is the sales process, the winning approach successful salespeople use, how to take control over the sales conversation and how to manage the sales discussion.
Notice that we will explain shortly on each topic. Hence, you can understand the sales process from a bird's view. In each section, we'll add a link to the related extended article.
Before we start, let's postpone the number regarding effective salespeople.
Numbers of the top sales professionals
Top salespeople are not afraid to pick up the phone and call customers It is known that 92% of sales interactions would occur on the phone. Read more here.
Only a quarter of sellers succeeded to exceed their sales goals in a year. Read more here.
A great sales strategy that top salespeople execute is asking for leads. Unfortunately, only a fifth of salesmen and women do it regularly. Read more here.
Table of content
What is a sales process
Think about a route that you need to take to the potential customers. From one edge, they heard of you the first time to the other edge that they close the deal. In this imaginary road, there are 3 obstacles you should conquer to build customer relationships.
The first is you. Every business owner has some fears. One of them is selling. They ask themselves: would I be good enough, how prospects would react to me, would they be satisfied with my product usage and other agent objections like money, time, trust, etc.
The second is leading the sales conversation. You should know when to speak and when to listen.
The third is building a professional relationship. You should comprehend how to start a sales call or meeting, what questions to ask, how to present the product descriptions solutions, closing and building trust.
Each phase has its own challenges. In the next part, we'll charm you with the first challenge of a winning sales attitude.
Establishing the best sales approach
Once in a while, you encounter sellers who don't appear to be happy with their job. While you have a sales meeting, they just do you a favor when they answer simple questions or concerns. Hence, you know what would be the result, right?
This is probably the most important part of the sales conversation. The crazy part here is that it is related to your beliefs, life, routine, habits, and hobbies but indirectly to sales. It is the bridge between selling and your private life. For instance: the way you get up in the morning is the way you will sell! So, what does the sales approach consist of?
Do you believe in your sales skills?
Here you should think about a professional runner. If he believes in his ability to win, his chances to succeed in doing that are increasing, and vice versa.
Do you believe that the average person would want to buy what you offer?
In this scenario, think about a seller who sells courses in digital marketing. If she thinks that customers don't want to buy her courses due to price, her sales will drop.
Do you believe that you have the most compatible solution for your customers?
This is a great question because you may have great sales skills, you think customers would want to buy, but the product isn't good for them. Meaning, you have to lie to yourself to sell! This is the worst action plan you can have. It is unethical, and you would hurt your reputation.
If you want to know more on the right sales approach to win more sales, charm your business with this extended article.
Next, we'll charm you with leading the sales conversation.
How to take control over the sales conversation
Let's say that we have a seller who sells yachts. Her target audience is rich people who want to buy a yacht to show off their status and for pleasure. So she works very hard on building personal relationships. She lets her clients speak about how great they are, how they succeeded in earning their millions, and to complaint. Then she asks them what they want and how much they want that. In the end, she explains about the suitable yacht for them. How much do you think she sells? You are probably guessing a lot, and you are probably right. Now ask yourself why?
The saleswoman led her rich customers. She let them speak and knew when to return to her sales script. This is how you take control over the sales conversation. You ought to let the customers speak at least 50% of the sales discussion. You do that by asking discovery questions, pain, and mature questions. Also, you return after what the customers reply in your own words. Lastly, you adjust yourself to their tone of voice, pace, and style of communication.
On the other hand, you should know when to return to your sales script. You do that by knowing your goals and aiming the conversation to achieve them. Furthermore, you answer shortly and to the point to clients' questions and objections. Lastly, you address customers' needs in the solution phase.
You can find more information on controlling the sales conversation in this article.
Next, we'll charm in the section of this article. We'll explain shortly each part of the sales conversation and its order.
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How to manage the sales discussion
The average salesperson may not have a systematic selling process. Meaning that he or she doesn't have a beginning, main part and ending. This is the heart of managing the sales discussion and building personal relationships. Let's charm you with the next example. This time, you are a social platforms manager.
Social platforms' manager: Hello, I'm speaking with MR Oralio. Oralio: Yes. Social platforms' manager: My name is Lee. Good morning. Oralio: Good morning Social platforms' manager: I'm calling you from Best Pick Social Networks Managing. The reason that I call is that you left us a message on our website. We can manage your entire social networks in one place. Leaving you hours a month to run your business. You want that, right? Oralio: Of course. Social platforms' manager: Great, so what we'll do is take your entire social networks and manage it in one place. It means that you no longer have to check what is going on social media. Also, we will upload posts that we know that have more chances to become viral. Those who aren't, will still get good exposure and drive traffic to your website. Hence, you can sell more. Each post we will upload, we will share a link with you, and where it was posted. So, you have total control on what we do. Lastly, we'll send you a report once a week to show you our progress. Thus, you can be confident that you are in good hands. How does it sound? Oralio: It sounds great, but I'm not quite sure that this is what I need. By the way, how much does your service cost? Social platforms' manager: I'm not quite sure how many networks we should manage, but it should cost around $750. Oralio: Sorry, but it seems too expansive for me. Perhaps we could work together in the future.
Let's examine what was the cause of Oralio saying: "it is too expansive for me". In the sales pitch, the seller didn't ask questions. Hence, in the end, he didn't know what was the customer base of social networks. So, he gave a price that wasn't in the budget of the potential buyer. In addition, he wasn't sure about the price, which meant that his closing wasn't good.
On the other hand, he had a great opening. He tried to check if he spoke with the right person. In addition, he blessed the customer to start the discussion positively. At the end of his opening, he also mentioned his added value to build up customer's curiosity. He said: "We can manage your entire social networks in one place. Leaving you hours a month to run your business".
Furthermore, he was almost a true sales expert when he presented the solution. He emphasized the benefits and used storytelling to do that.
In this example, we walk you through the entire sales methodology. Let's charm you a bit on each phase separately.
Sales introduction
Sales leaders know that there is no second for first impressions. Meaning you have a short time of less than one minute to leave a good impression. You do that by checking that customers want and willing to speak with you. Also, you emphasize your competitive advantage and a differentiation to make customers curious.
We can charm you with more information on sales introduction in this article.
Sales questions
This is the most important part of the sales cycle. Sales representatives know that without a need, there is no sale. You do that by asking questions in the right form. Starting from general questions, proceeding with pain, sharpening and mature questions. This is how you determine if there will be a purchase decision.
We can charm you with more information on sales questions in this article.
Sales solutions (the presentation phase in the sales process)
In this part, sales people present the product. Here, you will address customers needs. You do that by emphasizing the benefits which will solve the prospective customers pain points. Don't forget to include customers in the presentation by asking confirmation questions and relationship building questions.
We can charm you with more information on sales solutions in this article.
Sales closing
This is where each sales performer is heading. In this part, you will discover if your sales efforts were worthwhile. You present the prices, one more benefit of the product, and ask for closing to end the first sales cycle.
We can charm you with more information on sales closing in this article.
Still, there is one more subject we should be expanding a bit. Each buyer persona won't be so easy. They would ask questions and mainly raise concerns (or objections). In the last part we will explain briefly how to soften objections and move more smoothly in the sales conversation.
How to deal with customers suspicion and raise their trust
This is the last piece in this sales model. Every sales rep knows that they need customers' trust to close more deals. Let's go back to our last example of social platforms' manager. Oralio is asking him how he can be sure that he doesn't throw his money? The manager is replying that he is sure that it won't happen. This kind of answer will make Oralio more suspicious. This is because the manger didn't provide any proof that he can deliver the job. In other words, the manager didn't show his expertise and tried to get consents. So how can you raise trust in each buyer persona?
Here are the 4 techniques to break customers suspicion status quo.
Professionalism - This is where you show your expertise by knowing every aspect of your product, competitors, and customers concerns.
Consents - This is where you try to reach an agreement with customers. It can be something regarding the product, their pain, market or even personal topics.
Dialogue - This is where you involve the customers in the conversation. You do that by asking questions, mirroring, letting customers speak, raising their concerns and so on.
Building rapport - This is where you try to get closer to the customers. You do that by using consultative selling, asking questions, active listening, finding common topics to speak about, mimicking the style, tone, and pace of customers voice, and communication.
We can charm you with more information on raising customers' trust in this article.
In the last part, we've charmed you with 4 steps you should walk through to convince more potential clients to close. In between, you should focus on raising their trust by using the other 4 tools we've given you.
Summary of how to be good at selling in the business
In this article we charmed you with a sales model to be able to observe selling from a bird point of view. We discussed the right sales approach, gaining control over the sales conversation and managing the sales process.
The best advice we can give you here is to examine, which part you think might need improvement. Then, read the related article. Hence, you can dive deeper and convince more prospective buyers to close.
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