The Best All-Time Sales Tips

The holidays are quickly approaching, which means sales are ramping up. In December 2013, Brits spent £8.8 billion, and are expected to spend even more this year.

Salespeeople at all levels are ramping up their pitches, too, for the upcoming season, so we thought it would be interesting to put together a list of the best all-time sales tips.

Everyone has their favourite sales advice that’s stuck with them over the years. Some of it resonates differently with people, and so I find the best all-time sales tips are very subjective. What would be one person’s most pertinent advice might not mean as much to someone else.

1. Listen more than you talk. If you monopolise the conversation, how will you ever find out what your prospect really needs? You want to leave a favourable impression with prospects and clients, and you won’t if you sermonise for two hours about your product. Dale Carnegie said, “We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it.” Be one of few words. You’ll learn more and will be less likely to put a foot in it. More here – Why Ask When You Don’t Listen

2. Know your client. John Henry Patterson was the founder of the National Cash Register Company. He was also a gifted salesperson. In fact, Patterson established the world’s first sales training school at his company headquarters in the U.S. Hung on the wall of every service department in the company was the phrase, “We cannot afford to have a single dissatisfied customer.” When you truly know your client, it’s virtually impossible for them to be dissatisfied

3. You must believe in what you’re selling. There’s no way around this. It’s readily apparent when a salesperson isn’t 100 per cent sold on his own product or service. David Olgivy said it quite succinctly. “It is flagrantly dishonest for an advertising agent to urge consumers to buy a product which he would not allow his own wife to buy”.

4. It’s not what you say—it’s what your customer believes. If you use all of your formidable powers to persuade someone to purchase something they’re not fully sold on, you may have won the battle, but you’ll have lost the war. Dale Carnegie said, “Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still.” Remember, you’re looking to develop repeat customers, not one-offs

5. Make others feel important. The greatest yearning of most people today is recognition. When you make others feel important, you’re touching a core emotion. “People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.” This is one of the truest sales tips ever spoke by Zig Ziglar that is still valid today. Take this tip to heart, and see the difference in your sales volume

6. Attitude is more important than aptitude. Sales skills and techniques can be taught, but a good attitude is better than gold to a salesperson. A positive attitude gets you through all of those sales calls where the answer is “No.” A pleasant attitude doesn’t take attention away from a sales presentation like a poor attitude does. Like David Ogilvy said about advertisements, “A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself.” Drama queens don’t make good salespersons.

7. Sell the sizzle. This classic quote by Elmer Wheeler really doesn’t need much explanation. The only thing your prospect or customer really cares about is what your product or service will do for them. Can it make them richer, smarter, healthier, or their business more profitable or easier? It’s all about the benefits.

8. Continue to learn and practice. If you’re not continually training your sales staff, you could be leaving serious money on the table. Let’s say for example, an average customer spends £200 per month with your company, and that customer is loyal to you for 5 years, which adds up to a lifetime value of £12,000. Now if your untrained salesperson is fumbling one sale per week over 46 weeks, that amounts to £552,000 in lost business, and over 5 years this could come to £2,760,000. Remember this is per salesperson. Sales is not so much about talent as it is the effort you put in to continually improve. Zig Ziglar once said during an interview, “Success is not measured by what you have done compared to others, but compared to what you’re capable of doing.”

There’s the list – a mixture of sage advice from some of the most famous salespersons in history, flavoured with a modern twist to put things into perspective.

If you’re interested in working more on your skills and techniques, Natural Training offers a wide variety of courses that can hone your natural abilities and bump you up to one of the top salespersons in your company. Call our experts today to get started – 0207 043 1582

For mote insight, check out this FREE e-Book – The World’s Greatest Salesman