Modern sales entail the ability to effectively communicate with customers, and finding mutual benefit. The following selling techniques are based on those principles. It is important for businesses to adopt the modern sales techniques and to apply them in order to see how these will enable business goals to be attained
1. Engage in Conversational Sales & Marketing
The future of sales is about having conversation against delivering a sales pitch. Organizations are coming up with onsite chat programs that allow conversations to occur in real time versus online lead forms that offer no interaction. The immediacy of onsite chat allows you to qualify the prospect in real time and schedule a demo, instead of waiting for them to fill out a lead form that gets rooted within the organization and ends up taking several days for an appointment.
Onsite chats occur while the prospects are focused on the issue and allows the conversation to progress naturally. Being in a position to ask well-timed and well researched questions will yield better results than sending an email about pain points and how your product can solve them.
Conversational sales are all about asking questions, listening and learning about their business and finding ways to add value. They immediately build the intimacy and trust with prospective customers to close deals.
2. Determine the Right Compensation
A vital aspect of any sales plan is determining a compensation and commission structure for salespeople. Sales commission is typically variable based on sales performance while compensation is fixed. The right compensation and commission package will attract top talent and incentivize sales representatives to reach or surpass their performance targets.
3. Develop a Boot Camp
Investing in onboarding, training and mentorship programs will build employee trust while improving team performance. Sales representatives want to work for organizations that have invested in their career growth and development. Implement strong onboarding, training and mentorship programs to increase team-wide transparency, improve skill sets and promote employee’s career development.
Training Industry such as Magazine projected that it takes more than a year for a newly hired salesperson to match the “same performance level as tenured sales representative. “Employee onboarding programs lay the foundation for an employee’s success with a company, it will also help new employees get ramped up faster.
4. Use the Sandler Sales Method
The Sandler sales method encourages salespeople to act as a reliable, trustworthy source. Here, the buyer actually convinces the seller to sell. To get to this point, Sandler-trained salespeople facilitate an in-depth, heart-to-heart discussion moving beyond technical issues and focusing on the impact of a challenge on a business.
The buyer emphasizes the high-priority needs, not just for the company, but for themselves. A seller should focus on 3 levels of pain:
(a) Technical: The seller explores the very details of technical issues and encourages the buyer to outline the problem on a business and personal level. This way, the buyer actually convinces the seller they should invest in your offering. First meetings with prospects are about discovering their needs, so jumping right into a demo is out of question
(b) Personal Interest: Try to put these problems in a personal context. People sometimes make decisions for their own personal reasons, not just for the company. A potential buyer who can personally gain something from your solution will be much more committed to the deal. The only way to get to this point is if a buyer convinces you and more importantly themselves, that a solution is a very high personal priority
(c) The Business-Financial Impact: Buyers usually aren’t convinced to buy something just because it helps solve their technical issues. However, if a solution actually brings business value like saving time and money you can spend on other more relevant projects, this is when you can really get your buyer’s attention. Go beyond cost-saving arguments and quantify the impact of a solution such as being able to focus on priorities.
5. Use Social Media to Build Your Brand
Social media is increasing transparency and customer expectations and companies need to empower their team members to build their brand in order to be successful today.
Social sites like LinkedIn engagement pods, allow you to post comments in a group where engagement such as likes and comments help the content go viral more quickly. You can link to a product demo or another piece of content on your company website in that first comment, allowing you to build a network for yourself.
6. Use Storytelling
Humans have been telling stories for eons using a variety of media. What started as cave paintings long ago has transformed into movies, magazines, TV shows and more. Storytelling is an effective sales method your sales teams in the field should employ to win customers. Humans are biologically wired to consume information via stories. According to Jennifer Aaker, a Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor, “Research shows our brains are not hard-wired to understand logic or retain facts for very long. Our brains are wired to understand and retain stories.” A story is a journey that moves the listener and when the listener goes on that journey they feel different. The result is persuasion and sometimes action.
In conclusion, you’ll find that deployment of the above tactics will give you the edge over competitors and elevate your business to newer heights. At Springboard Capital Ltd, we help you drive your sales by financing your businesses stock through our business loans solutions. Find more information about business loans here and get in touch with us on 0700 944 444 and capitalize your business for success.
Article written by Florence Karuitha, A relationship officer at Springboard Capital whose strong relationship building skills as well as strong persuasion and negotiating skills helps increase SBC sales.
Sources
Modern Sales Techniques: 5 best effective sales methods
The Simplified Guide to a Modern Sales Strategy for Business
