The selling process is highly important to any business. Often referred to simply as sales, it keeps revenue flowing into the business. Revenue is the lifeblood of any enterprise. It keeps the business afloat and facilitates growth. One may have the best product in the world. However, if they aren't making any sales then it means nothing. There are a number of special skills that can help an entrepreneur to make successful sales. These skills are essential because they help the owners of a business to sell products, get revenue and make profits. Here are 10 sales techniques that you need to master if you're an entrepreneur.
Appeal to the needs of your customer
Entrepreneurs normally have a very close and emotional connection with their products. Due to spending many months or years developing and perfecting them, they are tremendously proud of their work. This tempts them to fill their sales pitches with the good qualities of their products. Unfortunately, this is usually not enough to convince the customer to make a purchase. Instead of using this approach, entrepreneurs should design and use a sales pitch that takes the needs of the customer into account. Ask about their problem and structure your sales pitch such that you offer a solution through your product. This indicates empathy and will help to make sales in the target market.
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Make hot calls
In the old days, salespeople performed cold calls. This is where they got the phone numbers of potential clients and simply called them to make sales pitches. They hoped to strike gold and sell products or services. This strategy was random and the chances of making sales were erratic. Today, entrepreneurs can perform hot calling. This is where they research potential clients prior to making the calls. This research helps them to identify the needs that these clients have. After learning them, they can proceed to make an informed sales call. They can structure their sales pitches such that their product or service offers a solution to the problems that the client is facing. Hot calling dramatically improves the chances of making a sale. It is an essential sales technique for entrepreneurs.
Identify the hot buttons
Every consumer has a reason for buying a particular product or service. These reasons are known as hot buttons. They vary from one individual to another. As such, there is a variety of hot buttons in the market today. It is the entrepreneur's task to find out which hot buttons they are dealing with. After that, they can structure their sales pitches to address these hot buttons and subsequently make sales. As a matter of fact, one way to find out each consumer's hot buttons is by approaching sales using open-ended and closed-ended questions. After gathering information, then you can pitch your product or service as the ideal solution for their hot buttons.
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Use your networks
Networks allow professionals to develop legitimacy and credibility in the market. Entrepreneurs understand the importance of networking. Therefore, they attend many networking events and bond with other entrepreneurs. Despite being fun and a good way to stimulate ideas, this is not helpful in terms of generating sales. Entrepreneurs should network with people who could use their products to satisfy a need. This is because these are the people who are much more likely to make purchases. Shifting one's networking perspective from other entrepreneurs to potential clients is a great sales technique for entrepreneurs.
Get to the response quickly
When you make a sales pitch to a potential client, they can accept your offer or reject it. During sales, entrepreneurs need to know and accept this as the reality. Even if a potential client is so polite that they actually listen to the whole of your sales pitch, they might still say no. This wastes your time. Thus when you are making sales pitches, ensure that you get to your selling point as fast as you can. Try to balance haste and clarity. Be fast enough that you don't waste time on a client who won't buy and slow enough that you still explain your sales pitch clearly.
Frame your mindset to win new clients
Initially, businesspeople viewed sales as a one-way street. This means that they perceived the salesperson to be in total control of the sales pitch. The client was at the mercy of a salesperson during a pitch. Today, this mentality has shifted. Clients are just as informed about products and services as the salespeople. According to statistics, 70% of clients go through a product review prior to making a purchase. Therefore, they already have a very clear idea of what the product looks like and does. As such, a salesperson should indicate the value of the product or service in terms of solving the client's problems. This requires a shift in mentality on the side of the salesperson. The ability to make this shift is a valuable technique to entrepreneurs today.
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Use personal stories in your pitch
Successful sales pitches always have an aspect of storytelling to them. Clients readily connect with stories and anecdotes more than a straight-forward request to action. It is highly advisable to apply some stories in your sales pitch. The stories can describe how the product is legitimate because a certain influential figure has invested in it. When backed by factual evidence, this is an ideal way to get the attention of a potential consumer. You can name a celebrity or anyone else that the potential consumer is likely to admire based on the research that you have conducted on them.
Comprehend your value proposition to the best of your ability
It is important to maintain focus on the needs of your clients as you make a sales pitch. However, you should also understand the value of your product. Known as value proposition, these are the characteristics of your product that make it ideal for the client to purchase. Preparing a good value proposition allows you to be confident as you make your sales pitch. You will be ready to answer any questions and highly confident in yourself. This eliminates the fear of failure.This is because you will know that you can't get rejected for knowing too little about your product.
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Embrace the role of a salesperson
There are numerous negative ideas that are associated with salespeople. They are perceived as being manipulative and out to get a quick buck. As an entrepreneur, you have to embrace this role despite the opinions around it. Prepare yourself properly and look smart. Remember to be polite and be positive. Try your best to convince the potential client to make a purchase. However, if you see that they are unwilling to budge, simply close the pitch and move on to the next one.
Overcome the fear of rejection by constant review and improvement
This is a challenge that every salesperson has to deal with. The truth is that you are going to get rejected multiple times in your selling efforts. Nobody in the world has a 100% closing rate. To overcome this fear, identify what you can improve in your sales pitch. Doing this helps you to perfect your pitches. This way, you can start reducing the rejections to a minimum and also maximize your closing rate. This is a technique that is very helpful to entrepreneurs.
The Important Take Away
Every business needs to make sales. They bring in the cash that is necessary for growth. Entrepreneurs need to have sales skills too. This is because they are the primary drivers of their enterprises. Therefore, they need to have good selling skills to generate revenue for their businesses. The techniques above can help them to accomplish this. They are instrumental in ensuring the overall success of a business venture.
