increase your sales and longterm

Whether you are in real estate, insurance, network marketing, or any other sales related industry, knowing why a customer buys is critical. How can such various sales industries be addressed simultaneously? Because ALL customers--regardless of what they are buying--have a common thread. According to The New Conceptual Selling by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman, "People buy for their own reasons, not for yours." This sounds like common sense, but it is a concept overlooked by most salespeople.In the first chapter of The New Conceptual Selling, Miller and Heiman expand on this idea and demonstrate how salespeople can improve their sales and long-term profitability by keeping this inind. In traditional sales, the salesperson is initiates the transaction, does most of the talking, and is responsible for the outcome. However, in today's high tech, global internet market, customers are well educated and have more purchasing options. In order to survive in this highly competitive field, salespeople need to engage customers as their partners in each sale and include them in the process. This will give salespeople a higher chance of ending the transaction in a win-win solution for both parties.In order to improve your client relationships and enhance your sales, stop selling--in the traditional sense--and start listening. It is crucial to know your customers' reasons for buying before diving into a product pitch. It is essential to know what solutions they desire before attempting to offer any. Traditional sales methods of "performing" for customers--explaining detailed product information, statistics, analyzes, graphs, and charts; keeping the dialogue going, filling any awkward silences; keeping them on the right track (yours), and quickly fielding any objections--are growing obsolete.Search out a customer's true needs--instead of pushing the product you need to sell. Focus on truly satisfying a customer rather than doing whatever it takes to make a sale. Remember that every customer is unique with unique reasons for purchasing your solution. Don't expect to use the same script with every customer and lead each of them to signing on the dotted line. Try a new approach instead of just doing more of the old one. Positive thinking won't always be enough. Sometimes you will have to learn, grow, and change yourself in order to change your results.In order to incorporate these customer-engaging ideas, according to Miller and Heiman your sales calls should include three phases: getting information, giving information and getting a commitment. In the first phase, getting information, find out as much as you can about your customer's situation. Find out why they are dissatisfied with their current situation, what solution they have in mind, what else they have tried to resolve or fix the problem and any other details that will help you understand where they are coming from. Then in the second phase, giving information, you can tailor your product or solution knowledge to how it will apply to this particular individual. You do not need to give them every last detail you know about your product, only the information pertinent to them and their situation. Finally in the third phase, getting a commitment, you can help your customer make the best possible choice for their situation.It is important to note you will not always have the solution they need! Sometimes you will have to admit that your product or solution is not what they are searching for. It is always best to admit this up front, rather than down the road. As salespeople, we all have a customer that was more work than they were worth, at least one customer we wish we had never sold to. While difficult to pass up a sale, if it isn't in the customer's best interest, it probably won't be in your best interest in the long term either.Applying these techniques will make for happier customers up front, but it will also increase your long-term profitability. These customers are more than just customers. They are now your partners in this sale. They will come back for repeat business, give good referrals and through their networks, can increase your sales exponentially. An unsatisfied customer can do exactly the opposite.Look for my next article which will detail how customers make buying decisions.

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