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Ask yourself this question several times before you leave the proposal on your client's desk, or even meet a new prospect at a event/conference. Why would a prospect talk to you?
Here's a great post why as a sales consultant one should listen 80% and talk 20%. Why? The customer will have fun! Listen to understand what your prospect is trying to tell you. Is your prospect venting out? Signs he/she has a genuine problem, and you can offer a fix. No problems can be fixed simply by complaining or pointing out whom to blame. Sell the problem you solve, not the product you sell. Approach each prospect with a mindset to partner with them to solve a problem together. Is your prospect bragging his profits? People love to talk about themselves, so why not let them? How you dedicate to listen makes all the tiny differences. Discover opportunities to bridge the gaps with your solution.
".. Every prospect is someone else’s client."
Cold prospecting is hard. It can take up to 8+ touches for a prospect to respond. Open-ended questions garner extraordinary data points. At the point when the prospect is talking, you find chances to connect the holes with your answer. Knowing how your prospect likes to communicate shows their buying language, and does not reflect their attitude. Sales is a conditional game, largely dependent on the seller's attitude, not the buyer's. Be a go-getter! Alter your sales by changing your attitude, a little thing that makes a lot of difference. In sales, not all sellers can handle emotions. And, outsourcing sales is a good choice! Hire an independent sales maverick on-demand.
Price is what you pay when you buy, Cost is what happens if you don't, Value is the difference.
Talking attitude, there's a big contrast between business and life. You walk a thin line when you try to balance between relationships in business. A few sales gurus have an opinion about talking to new prospects like "You don’t need more friends, you need more sales" which is hard slap on the face when it comes to prospecting. Earning trust is difficult in any relationships, and sales is no exception. Trust is priceless asset in sales, and scoring that single point comes from value. Don't force relationships to happen. The right people open to you at the right time with the seeds you sow. Respect and honesty matters a lot in enduring a long term relationship. And, relationships move out of the laboratory on first signs of hostility and indifference.
"..Keep things simple."
Sales representatives tend to be pushy. Here's an interesting quote – "When you see John Jones, through John Jones eyes, you will sell John Jones what John Jones buys" So, what does that mean? Its not about what you are selling, and prospects don't care why you are selling. No buyer cares about your calamities, your stress taken, your losses, your hardships as a company/individual selling products/services. Pushing products by throwing an offer, deep-slashing prices is a flawed way to sell anything!
How do you end up selling anything? You have to see it through the eyes of the person you are selling to. Put on their shoes, and understand what's stopping them. When you tend to exhibit your weakness by showing desperation, you lose business, and enterprising buyers will offer pennies on the top dollar. To re-iterate, people care about their benefits more than any of seller's problems, which largely are used to an advantage. Understand what's in it for them?
Keep hustling folks.