3 small sales tips to make a BIG lasting impact.
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1. Make interaction personal and humanize your relationship.
Care about remembering their name
My name is Dayne. Did you pronounce that correctly? Probably not. It's pronounced "Dane" same as the breed of dog, "great Dane". Now, remember that! Don't blame your laziness on "being bad with names". Write it down, say it 5 times in conversation or come up with an association to help you remember it.
Side note: In some professional settings, it's more appropriate to address a person by Sir or Ma'am.
A simple detail like remembering someone's name and taking the time to learn the correct pronunciation is a sure way to increase your level of engagement with that person. This is especially important in the world of sales and customer service. This gesture initials the human emotion of caring.
2. Greet correctly and ask the right questions at the right time.
It goes without saying that if a customer walks into your place of business, they are there because they have a problem and are interested in your products and services as a solution. Your job is to connect with that customer and help them discover what product or service is going to be the solution to their problem. It's that simple.
Here are some greeting rules I liked to follow when I owned a fitness center and a customer walked through the door.
Ex) "Good morning and welcome to Easton Fitness. How are you today?"
Engage with positivity and the correct level of energy.
You don't want to be overwhelming nor do you want to seem uninterested. Try your best to read their body language and demeanor and match it accordingly. Their response to this initial engagement will tell you how to continue your interaction.
Ask questions that they know to answer to and listen.
You'll notice that in my greeting example, my first question was not "how can I help you?". They don't know the answer to that question! My first question was always "how are you today?". They know the answer to that! The way that they answer a non-aggressive engagement question like that, is more valuable information to you than it would be for them to try to tell you how you can help them.
Help them out of their shell, establish goals and ask "What and Why" questions.
At this point, if you're good at reading body language and vocal tone, you already know what you're dealing with. Depending on their response to "how are you today?" you know if they are excited, neutral, reserved, or straight-up skeptical. In the best-case scenario, they are excited or neutral. If not, you've got some work to do in helping them out of their shell. Either way, my follow-up questions were always "what and why" questions.
What brings you in today?
What can I help you with? (*very different than "how can I help you?")
Why do you want to solve your problem and what product or service do you think would help you with that?
Did you listen? They just showed you their full hand of cards. Now you know why they are there, what they need help with, and how they think you might be the right solution. Now, your next move is critical. Don't try to close the "deal" and become pushy. Keep you're composure and follow through with helping them.
3. Be honest, follow through, and set expectations.
Nothing will kill your sale and reputation faster than being dishonest or untrustworthy. Too many salesmen and women make this mistake. If you have the mindset that sales are a poker game played between business and customer, you're going to piss people off and lose people's trust. This is especially with car dealerships. Sales are all about helping people to the best of your ability. Period. When you can create a win-win scenario, everyone is happy.
Okay, let's say that you crushed your interaction with the customer, you know each other's names, you both found out that you love 70's rock, and you are ready to take the next step and close the deal. Follow through and set expectations.
Offer pricing and scheduling options as much as possible. Be budget minded and sell your value.
Create a plan/schedule of events to move forward with. I use the fitness industry as an example a lot, but don't leave that encounter unless you know when you're going to see each other next.
Set expectations. Layout and explain what your next interaction with them is going to entail. "Great, we are on the schedule for once a week on Tuesdays at 4 pm. Our next appointment will be a more in-depth consultation. During that session, we will do a little more detailed assessment and outline our plan going forward. We are also going to do a short workout."
Once your in-person interaction is complete, you have one more piece of follow-up to do! Do you know what that is? Leave your answer in the comment section below.
Thank you very much for reading or listening to this episode. I look forward to sharing with you more of my knowledge and feeling on the topics of business, marketing and sales. Stay tuned for more content to come soon.
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