A guest post by Sarika Periwal of karmaCRM.
Talking is the best tool of a salesperson. The only way that you have face to face of convincing a person to buy a specific product or service is by convincing them that they need it. This includes highlighting the benefits that the product brings to their life to make it simpler.
It also means that to be a successful salesperson you need to have impeccable communication skills. However, this is not an inherent skill but one that has to be developed through practice. Here are a few things that you should keep in mind when you next deliver your sales pitch to your prospective client.
Be clear in diction and pronunciation. To convince your prospective client to do anything, you need to ensure that he or she can actually understand what you are saying. The words you use need to be familiar to the prospective client. You must also be clear in diction and have correct pronunciation of the words that you use. It is not a bad idea to try out your sales pitch on a colleague before you try it out on a prospective client. They will be able to tell you just what to tone down and may even remind you of points that you may like to add to the pitch.
Keep it up to date. No service or product stays the same. In this age of competition, all companies are constantly offering newer and better products to their customers. As a salesperson, you need to be well-aware of what these changes are, so that you can communicate them to prospective clients. The information that you give them must always be the latest, and so your sales pitch has to be updated regularly.
Give all relevant information. Nothing is as irritating as being given half the details. After all, would it kill you to mention all the record documentation that you need before your client can make a purchase? Or mention all the features that would be beneficial to the client when he buys the product? A good salesperson will know which details must be shared and which they must let the client ask after. That makes the process more interactive and the client more satisfied with the answers he gets. And a satisfied client is always going to come back for another purchase from the company.
Be prepared to handle questions. If you do your homework well, it should not be a problem for you to handle any extra questions that a client asks. By demonstrating how well you know your company and product, you build confidence of the customer in your product or service. However, every once in a while, you may get asked a question that stumps you. In this situation, honesty is the best policy. Let the client know that you are unaware of the answer and that you will find out from the concerned authority and get back to them. Then do that in the follow-up call that you give them.
Sarika Periwal represents KarmaCRM, an online CRM system that helps manage customer data.
Tags: customers, Sales, Strategy and Tactics
Hi Sarika,
Thanks for sharing this article. Its is indeed very informative. I have been reading much about DO’s but there is very little which says DON’Ts. What would you say that what you should NOT DO so that folks listen to you.
I do not intend to hijack the discussion but there are only 2 DON’Ts which I would like to add to your article and would hope to see what other say as well as what is your opinion on this and how long can we stretch this DON’Ts.
- do not talk to a person who does not have decision making authority.
- do not go over-talking because you cannot always sell many a time others have to buy what you say.
Hi Sean
Agree with the first one partly. One can always talk to them in the hope they will be impressed and guide you tot he person who can. But one could do without wasting too much effort on such a person.
Also, don’t oversell! Don’t talk so much that the prospect does not get a chance to put forward his doubts. And don’t seem oversmart to the point of being intimidating. People are more comfortable buying from people they can relate to, people who seem to be ‘in their league’. So learn to adapt to the customer.
Hi Sarika,
Thanks for your reply. Its indeed a very good answer to my comment:)