Being successful means never having to ‘close’ a sale

That heading must sound like heresy.

But those people who are truly successful at sales get the job done much earlier in the ‘sales’ cycle than at the end when most people are trying to convince their prospect to buy what they have to offer.

You see, sales really is a process and the best sales people do all of their work as early in the process as possible.

Here are the keys to successful selling:
1. Be crystal clear about the VALUE derived by your clients from whatever it is that you’re offering

2. Make sure you also know:
– the goals they have
– what needs they are yearning to fill
– what desires are unmet in their hearts and minds
– the major problems they’re suffering from

3. Understand what their buying process is
emotionally – do they have to shop around or will they make a decision on the spot
‘physically’ – who else is involved in the decision, how the purchasing process works in their organization

4. Appeal to their preferred thinking style (relational, analytical, cautious, controlling)

5. Share stories of similar clients you’ve helped. Talk about the benefits they gained. Have your prospects describe for you what an ideal outcome would be of working with you

6. Anticipate why they might not buy from you and address those issues before they even come up

7. Give them a choice. “Based on what I’ve heard, here are the 2 – 3 options that I believe will help… Which one are you thinking is best for you? What would you like to do now?”

If you cover all of these steps, by the time you ‘offer’ your options, they’ll be salivating to work with you!