Just as you are selling to people, you must also remember
that you are not only selling and representing a product or service, but you
are in effect selling yourself. When beginning a sales relationship, it is
important to remember a few key aspects to representing yourself well.
First, be interesting. If potential customers are bored by
you, they have less of a chance of being enthralled by any product or service
you are representing.
Develop intellect. Of course you are an intelligent person,
but can you converse in an intelligent manner? Can you discuss related subjects
with thoughtfulness and hold your clients' interest? You are in their territory
now, can you speak their language?
Never be arrogant -- never talk up or down to your potential
clients. It's rude and will serve only to alienate them. Respect the buyer, and
they will respect you.
Along the same lines, develop your empathy levels. If you
can relate to your customers' situations authentically, it helps to build
rapport.
Rapport is the most important process in influencing others.
It is vital if you want to maintain relationships. Without it, you are unlikely
to achieve willing agreement to what you want. People who have excellent
rapport with others create harmonious relationships based on trust and
understanding of mutual needs.
Finally, the greatest compliment a customer can pay you is
to describe you as "professional."
Being professional is not one thing, it is three -- It is
what you do, what you say and how you present yourself.
Can you present your idea in 200 words or less? Agency and
corporate decision-makers have less and less time and bigger and bigger stacks
of irrelevant proposals piling up on their desks.
If you can encapsulate the campaign idea and why it makes
sense for their product, brand, or service in 200 words or less, you've got an
excellent chance of getting a meeting where you can dig deeper and co-craft a
homework assignment; a key element to making the sponsorship sale.
Only 200 words, you ask?! Remember, the Gettysburg Address
laid out a vision for the nation in only 272.
Body language is a mixture of movement, posture and tone of
voice. Research indicates that in a face-to-face conversation, more than 70
percent of our communication is nonverbal.
Our body language reveals our deepest feelings and hidden
thoughts to total strangers. In addition, nonverbal communication has a much
greater impact and reliability than the spoken word. Therefore, if your sales
prospect's words are incongruent with his or her body language gestures, you
would be wise to rely on the body language as a more accurate reflection of
their true feelings.
Be mindful of your own body language gestures and remember
to keep them positive by unfolding your arms, uncrossing your legs and smiling
frequently.
Create harmony by "matching and mirroring" your
prospect's body language gestures. Matching and mirroring is an unconscious
body language mimicry by which one person tells another they are in agreement.
The next time you are at a social event, notice how many
people are subconsciously matching one another. Likewise, when people disagree,
they subconsciously mismatch their body language gestures.
An effective way to begin matching your prospect is to
subtly nod your head in agreement whenever your prospect nods his or her head,
or cross your legs when they cross their legs, etc.
By understanding the meaning behind your prospect's body
language, you will minimize perceived sales pressure and know when it's
appropriate to close the sale.
Recognizing and acting on these 7 paradoxical sales
principles is critical to your long-term success.
1. To win more sales, stop selling.
When people feel like they're being sold, they react
negatively and put up barriers. Focus on helping your prospects achieve their
business, professional and personal objectives -- not making a sale.
2. To speed up your sales cycle, slow down.
The more quickly you push to a close, the higher resistance
you encounter. Go one step at a time. When your prospects know you want to help
them make the right decision, not a rash one, the process moves faster.
3. To make decisions easier, offer fewer options.
When you increase the complexity of the decision, you
decrease the likelihood of winning the sale. To help your prospects move
forward, give them less to choose from. Keep it simple -- always.
4. To be more natural, prepare like crazy.
Today's customers suffer no fools. If you're not ready with
the right message, questions or presentation, you'll stumble or be stilted in
your meeting. When you do prepare, you can be your best self.
5. To get bigger contracts, start smaller.
When you pursue the "whole shebang," decisions are
more complex and costly, making it much tougher to get approval. Reduce the
risk by starting small and proving your capabilities. Then, it's easy to grow.
6. To speed up your learning curve, fail fast.
It's inevitable that you'll make mistakes. So don't wait
till you've figured out the "perfect pitch" before moving forward. In
sales, there is no failure -- just lots of opportunities for experimentation,
learning and growth.
7. To differentiate your offering, become the
differentiator.
That's the biggest reality in today's market. Your products,
services or solution are secondary to your knowledge, expertise and the
difference you make for your customers. Invest time in yourself.
