I had recently been asked by a friend of mine to come up with the three most persuasive selling skills I could think of that would help him close more sales.
I gave it some serious thought and here are the three most powerful techniques that I came up with: 1.
High Energy Levels I used to draw on this technique during my own selling days and I'll tell you why.
My own voice tends to be a little low and at a medium pace on most days and this is what I used on most of my sales calls.
However there were days when I had to up the pace in what I would call "massive action" Basically I needed more sales to get me on track or to get ahead of the curve.
I started to notice a pattern on these days.
When the momentum started to flow and the sales started to grow, I felt that my voice was getting more energetic and the pace of my speech seemed to move up another gear into a higher acceleration mode.
What did this do to my level of persuasion with customers? It seemed to have an almost magical effect and on certain occasions I was truly shocked at the way people reacted to my pitching.
Looking back at those days, especially in the timeshare and the insurance business, it all came down to my energy levels.
I'm not so sure it would have been possible to maintain those levels of energy on a constant basis, because it does drain more of your energy without doubt.
However if there's a time when you need to close more sales, you need to increase your energy levels.
2.
Build Instant Rapport If there's one thing I can be sure of in sales it's the fact that people are quicker to buy off people they like.
When people get on well with people it not only helps to close more deals but can also speed the process up considerably too.
If a customer likes and trusts the sales person they will often skim over certain procedures because they have that gut feeling that they will get the right treatment.
There are four key elements that can really help to build relationships quickly and if they can be used together the results can be quite astounding.
Mirroring Mirroring can come in many shapes and forms but it's basically mimicking what the customer is doing to make them feel more comfortable dealing with you.
Empathy Show that you genuinely care and most people will take an instant liking to you.
Humour I know some people don't think they are funny enough but if you're short on inspiration, get some ideas from books.
It will often make a difference to someone else's day so it's well worth it.
Adaptability Building rapport requires a certain amount of patience and the ability to be flexible.
If someone asks a stupid question, never snap at them.
Instead, smile in your mind and be as helpful as possible.
If you want to close more sales you have to work with all kinds of people, not just the ones you like.
3.
Show Your Expertise If there's one thing I don't like when I'm talking to a sales person it's that sensation that he or she is bluffing the answers to my questions.
It's irritating because if they can't give me the facts, how am I supposed to put my blinding trust in them.
The bad news is that it's a very common phenomenon in sales, and few businesses seem to care as long as the money rolls in.
Well they should care because it not only influences sales conversions; it more seriously affects repeat business rates.
People will often not return to make another purchase if they feel the sales person they dealt with didn't know what they were talking about.
I can understand a sales person not being very knowledgeable if they have just started a job, but there are too many sales people who are experienced and still have poor knowledge of their industry and their competitors.
So how do you make a customer feel comfortable about your level of expertise? Well I would start by learning the language of your industry.
I believe it's important to insert the odd technical term to show you know your stuff.
Now don't get me wrong here, we don't want to confuse the customer with a load of terms they can't understand.
It's more about inserting the odd phrase or specific term in your speech or writing to impress.
Expert terminology will give you a much more professional image and that's exactly how you get people to trust you.
What a lot of people don't understand about closing the sales is the fact that it should be the easiest part of the deal.
It should be the easiest part of the deal if you have done the groundwork properly and if you know how to prepare a customer for that moment.
Closing becomes easier when you create rapport, when you show that you really care, and when you come across as the true sales professional.