Sales training in Bucks – Helping SME’s in Bucks to optimise sales, increase repeat customers and sustain revenue growth!
Sales Training in Bucks – If there’s one thing, I get asked a lot by SME clients, it’s “How can I increase sales?”. For me, having worked as a sales professional for nearly 4 decades, and having studied and used advanced sales psychology for over 30 years (i.e., understanding what makes us buy, and how we make internal buying decisions), the solutions are relatively straight forward and easy to implement.
Sales – A real Mental Martial Art! – They say ‘Sales’ is the oldest profession, which is logical if you take a moment to think about it. However, watching and listening to a true sales professional in action, is for me, a real art-form (Mental Martial Art!). Hence, I always get pleasure from listening to and watching great sales people in action, despite that I usually instinctively know what they are going to say or do next (and so I should after all these years, Lol!). Of course, the flip side to this is listening to and watching inexperienced sales people in action. This can sometimes be almost a painful experience if you really understand the psychology of selling (how and why people make internal buying decisions).
They also say that great sales people are born. However, my many years senior sales management experience proves that this is not actually true, as sales techniques and skills can be taught to virtually anyone who really wants to become proficient at selling. Hence, I have enjoyed training many sales people over the years, and helped many to quickly become ‘Sales Superstars’. So let’s take a very quick look at a few quick sales basics as typical examples of the many essential disciplines of true sales professionals, as follows:-
Pre-selling prospect qualification – Sales Training in Bucks
One very common mistake I see a lot, is inexperienced sales people trying to sell to somebody without having gone through the essential up-front pre-sales qualification checks. Accordingly, there’s no point in trying to sell to someone who simply can’t afford it, or who perhaps really isn’t at all interested! Hence, why they always say that the best sales people are good up-front listeners, who ask calibrated questions (to gain key information and understanding about the prospect and their individual circumstances). This then enables the sales person to quickly decide if there’s a realistic chance that the person in front of them is going to buy, OR NOT!
Accordingly, prospect pre-qualification forms an essential sales tool that enables a sales person to quickly identify real ‘Prospects’, as opposed to others who may happily listen to your amazing sales pitch, but whom have no intention of buying (we refer to these as ‘Suspects’). Hence, how you spend your ‘TIME’ is sales is critical to your success! Asking simple loaded questions like “so what is your maximum budget?”, or “What is the sign off process here?”, or “Who else needs to approve this?”, or “How quickly do you need it? etc, are all typical examples of this critical discipline, thus ensuring you are at leats trying to sell to someone who may potentially buy from you.
Hence, how you invest your time in sales is crucial to your success. As ‘Brian Tracy’ says “If you want to increase sales then spend more time in front of better qualified prospects”. Therefore, do not underestimate the importance of pre-sales prospect qualification.
Overcoming objections and using them as key pointers – Sales Training in Bucks
“If you can discover the why not’s you can deal with them one by one and often convert the mindset of the prospect!”. So many people I have trained in sales firstly see customer objections as negative feedback or reasons not to buy. However, trust me when I say that prospect objections are really just buying signposts. What I mean by this is that the prospect is actually sharing their reasons why they are not convinced about your pitch. If you take a moment to stop and think about this, such feedback is sales gold dust because if you are fully prepared, it enables you to overcome common objections like:
- Oh, it’s too expensive!
- Well how about if I could arrange for you to buy over 6, 12, 24 or 48 months at a low interest rate?, or
- Similar customers have said the same thing at first, but then found that this particular X was much better value for money than Y over the longer term because of Z!
- Or whatever other common objections for your particular product or service might be! It’s all about knowing your typical customer needs, knowing your product or service, knowing the benefits of your product or service (how it will improve the prospects life/situation for the better), and then making a relaxed, sincere, but compelling pitch.
Knowing when to just shut up and listen! (Avoiding un-selling!)
Again, this is such a common issue that I come across, especially with telesales teams. Inexperienced sales people often believe that if they keep talking positively about their product or service, the prospect will eventually buy. We refer to this as ‘Selling it to death!’, which never works. Hence, why it’s so important to ask the right questions and then listen carefully (without interruption) to the reply you get back from the prospect. Once you have identified a ‘Prospect Buying Signal’ it’s time to go in for a sincere close. A suggestive close might perhaps be “How about if we could deliver to you next Tuesday?”) AND THEN SHUT UP AND WAIT FOR THE REPLY! Wait for the prospect to respond. Don’t be afraid of the silence if it comes, just hold your nerve and wait (and hold eye contact if they are with you in person). You will be amazed at how effective this particular technique can be if delivered correctly. – Get in touch to find out more!
Testimonial: “Stuart’s input over the past year has enabled us to leverage new business in some key strategic focus areas of the business. His work to improve our online digital marketing / website & SEO / regional presence etc, has generated additional significant revenue for the business, whilst also improving our online profile (Google page 1, Positions 1-8). Hence, I would highly recommend his services.” – S Mughal – Leading dental practice owner in Herts and Bucks.
Using Advanced Sales Psychology Techniques –
Experienced sales professional know how they can strongly influence the buying decision process of a prospective customer (suggestion, reciprocity, mirroring, tactical empathy, limited time offers, calibrated questions, and so on…!). Learning how to sell professionally can be deeply satisfying as well as financially rewarding. There’s so many highly effective techniques that you can quickly learn and put to work for your SME business in Bucks!
The “Make me a SALES-SUPERHERO challenge!”
Having managed and coached countless high-performance sales professionals over the past 30 years, Stuart is confident he can quickly convert low performers into high performing sales superheroes! In fact, he’s says “Give me your lowest performing sales people to mentor and I will transform their sales effectiveness!”.
Start increasing sales for your SME business today! Get in touch now!
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