It feels as if every 5 minutes a new book on sales gets published. Someone says that now, in recession times, being able to sell becomes an even more vital skill. Others hope to get that share of market a retired seller, or a very discouraged one, has left off. Last but not least, there’s always someone taking advantage of the situation, teaching to sell in spite of the crisis.
It’s actually in such moments it becomes necessary to improve your skills and wait for the next wave, ready to ride it, rather than proceeding by trial and error. It is, in short, the best time to consider sales from a different visual angle.
What is a sale? Each one of us has a different answer. Here’s mine. Selling is an harmonious pas de deux, and the stage a chessboard. We have to know how the different pieces move. The goal is not to checkmate. It’s to settle for a draw which makes us even happier than a win.
My motto is Always think what's best for your client. You'll be enormously rewarded on many a level. This is true especially for sales, where the ethical aspect of the seller, in the long run, makes the real difference, allowing him/her to build his/her own results.
It’s what you do that sells it. Keep it in mind.
Every sale is a trustworthy relationship involving four elements: the buyer, money, the seller, the product.
We may have various situations
1 - The beginning is as follows:
Money --> buyer --> seller --> product
There is no point of contact, nor the possibility to create (set) a dialogue between buyer and seller. The former keeps his money hidden, the latter hides the product. They may need each other, but in such situation everything is doomed to stay as it is. It’s a static situation. Both are at the extremes.
2 – The buyer knows what he/she wants, but does not know the seller, where to find the product or there’s lack of rapport or trust in the seller.
Money --> buyer --> product --> seller In this case, the sale could be finalized only if the seller was the only provider of the product in the entire world. It is real monopoly. In this case, think of the client and have an ethical attitude is twice as much as important.
3 – The buyer is willing to purchase and asks the seller for further information.
Buyer --> money --> seller --> product The quality of information are a prerequisite condition for either purchasing the item or establishing a long lasting relationship with the buyer. In other words, sell the buyer a rip-off and you will never see him again! We get back to case 1.
4 – the buyer has identified and found the item he/she wants to buy, has the money and is satisfied with his/her relationship with the seller. Here’s how it goes
Buyer --> money --> product --> seller Thus the sale is finalized. Buyer --> product --> money --> sellerAs we can easily see, money and product are never next to each other in the first three cases. When, on the other hand, money has passed the buyer and faces the product, but mostly the buyer has faith and trusts the seller, the sale will be finalized, and money rests in the seller’s hands.
If a seller has a product, several selling techniques and great persuasion at his disposal, the buyer has a tool that could be much more powerful: his/her pockets. If money does not come out, it does not enter the dynamics and therefore the sale will not take place.
That’s why it is important to get cantered on the client and fulfil all his requests, always keeping the focus on the product, its advantages and its real features.
Ethics and thoroughness of information are vital. In every field and with whichever goods. Even if the sale concerns an automatic, water resistant and unbreakable Swiss watch, in short a life-lasting item. Once the item is sold, the customer is “filed”. But if you have provided all the requested information, have respected the client and his/her money (the respect for money is very important – always keep in mind it is a very powerful offensive weapon the buyer has against you; even thinking about it must be handled with care), our satisfied customer will send us new prospects. In other words, you have worked once and fruits keep coming.
It will, therefore, be extremely important to follow-up your customers even after the sale. They may always need you, and then all your skills will have to be used the best possible way. The client, as we said, may tell great things about you, but if after the sale you don’t help him when in need, that will have a much more dangerous and harmful effect on you: tell his/her friends to keep their hands in their pockets.
It’s what you do that sells. What you do and, mostly, how you do it. Selling is a perspective that must be regarded in the medium-long run. Like when we plant a tree. Most of the time, once the pip of an apple is planted, is necessary to make it grow. Once the tree has grown, you’ll have all the apples you want. As long as you keep your tree healthy.
