How to Sell Effectively

With over 40 years in the Sales & Marketing industry, Rod Large, MD Smart-Train systems, explains his take on How To Sell.

Is there any such thing as a natural salesperson? Have you ever heard of a natural doctor? - No. Why would there be a natural salesperson? What is a doctor? A doctor is somebody who develops his skills, who spends a lot of time trying to understand his customer, who spends 80% of his training understanding how to diagnose. What do we do in most sales organizations? We have salespeople who, instead of having five years of training, if they get five minutes of training they are doing pretty well.
There are salespeople who are really outgoing, make it happen type of people, but there are also people who are very quiet and very analytical and understand people. We fail to understand that the traditional pyramid of selling, a little bit on opening, a little bit on features and benefits, and then heavy emphasis on close, and closing the sale, doesn't actually work. I've read a lot of books on selling and the bulk of these books talk about how to make a sale, how to close the deal. It's because we perceive How to Sell as a battle, we see the customer as the enemy, it's an adversarial relationship, and that never builds long term relationships.

Today's customers -- and we know because we are customers too -- are more in control. Many of us work in sales situations, so we know when a sales person is trying to manipulate us or use manipulative techniques so that they control the sale instead of us. Well we've learned the techniques too and have built up resistance to them. No thanks, just looking or Let me have a think about that I'll get back to you. Sound familiar?

Today, the new way of selling, the 21st century way of selling, is not what you say, it's what you ask - asking the right questions, building rapport, understanding the customer, identifying their buying motive. Because of the type of professions that are the most ethical and most honest and seen as being the most professional -- let me assure you, selling doesn't come at the top. It's the doctor and the nurse and the firemen -- because they help people, because people trust them. Doctors spend 80% of their time diagnosing! Only 20% is spent on affecting cures. Shouldn't we be thinking that way as salespeople if we want to be professional? 80 percent of the sales process should be about asking questions, identifying and understanding the customer's style, their buying motives, their why/want so that we realize that not everybody buys in exactly the same way. We need to understand how to deal with different people differently.

How to sell is about understanding how to ask questions, how to listen intently.

That is a skill. Good salespeople have developed new skills. They do it over and over again. There is a real difference. Dr Ian G Grey, an eminent psychologist summed it up when he said, The difference between successful salespeople and unsuccessful salespeople is very clear. The successful salesperson has developed the habit of doing the things that the unsuccessful salesperson will not do. You look at good salespeople. What do they do. They ask 10 times as many questions as a poor salesperson, they listen 10 times more intently; they take 10 times more time understanding the customer before they present their product or service. And they do it, not just once, but they do it habitually.

So our new process should reverse the old one.
We should ask lots of questions and identify key information to allow us to present a solution that fits the customer's needs and wants, and fits their circumstances and goals.
We must clarify the information is correct and establish the implications of an effective solution.
Present an appropriate solution in a way that obviously matches their wants and needs.
If there are concerns, we don't get upset. We deal with them professionally.
We invite the customer to be a long term client of ours and reassure them we'll look after them now and in the future.

The challenge on how to sell is not how to talk, it's how to listen. It's not how to tell, it's how to ask. It's a real art that needs perfecting, that needs long term development and coaching, and cannot be learned in five minutes. It is a long term behavioural change.

If you want to check your current level of sales skills, take a moment and click the link and complete an online sales profile. It only takes a couple of minutes, and you'll get instant feedback. What's more, if you provide your contact details, I'll give you a free indepth explanation including what you need to do to improve how you sell.

My next How to sell video will cover what makes people different, and a couple of secrets about how to sell to different people -- differently. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel to get updates on How to Sell.