(By Loyd Ford) Sales is so competitive. Often sellers can feel underappreciated and yet we all know that sales is the bottom-line. You get the thrill of the sale and you have had the agony of selling in the uneven off-balance Covid era. But everyone selling today deserves encouragement and we believe encouragement is so important. So here is the ‘list of 9 opportunities to encourage your sales.’
- Ask questions focused on them and listen closely. People want to be heard. If you listen, they will tell you their story and you will discover their triggers for buying, too. Understand what motivates your customers to buy.
- Show that you are more than the other sales reps or even opportunities your potential clients are seeing. I never recommend showing up in front of a client without a well thought out and positive set of opportunities for the client. Those opportunities don’t all have to be about buying. You want to be seen as a positive resource ‘river’ for your clients.
- People understand the visual faster. Be visual in your selling. Many learn visually, connect visually and the world moves to visual.
- Tell your story with an ending that assumes the close.
- Great brands stand out (and so should you). This is no joke. If you don’t truly stand out now, study how to master this skill and build the image that will help you make it happen in your market.
- Let objections come to you and have a plan for overcoming objections in sales. Some people are afraid of objections; in reality, they are your friend in the sales process. If you have the client talking, go back to step one above and smile as you grow opportunity by helping your clients move past objections.
- Loosen up and give. Sellers worry about giving away too much up-front. Giving makes you appear consistently more valuable and it leads to more trust and more sales.
- Nudge your potential clients for a decision. Don’t pull up before the sale is complete. All sellers are familiar with the process of ‘ask for the order,’ but this is often not done. You can spend a lot of time and not ask the ask. Learn to always ask and your sales will boost.
- Consistently over-deliver what you promise. This is the best part of the list of 9. If you build a reputation of always overdelivering, you and your sales will be a welcome part of local business owners lives (and others).
Sales is a profession to be proud of and hopefully you are proud of your product today. Radio should be about selling creativity and always thinking ‘outside the box.’ Using these 9 will help you achieve more sales. That’s the real bottom-line. Learn how to do these 9 well and your sales will be encouraging.
Loyd Ford consults radio stations, coaches personalities, and provides behavioral and strategic programming to radio with RPC. If you’re on the Clubhouse app, you can join Loyd’s radio pro encouragement group “The Encouragers.” Reach him anytime. 864.448.4169 or [email protected].
