In our latest personal coaching article International Speaker, Peak Performance Trainer and Business Mentor Arnon Barnes says effective communication = more sales.
Sales is the lifeblood of a company. Without it, a company simply cannot exist. Studies have shown that the top 20% of salespeople generate 80% of the total sales. What are these people doing that others are not? That’s where I come in. Over the last years, I’ve had the privilege to teach entrepreneurs and their sales teams, from across the board, about effective offline communication. How do you go from ‘shaking hands” to signing the deal? Keep reading, because in this article I’m going to share my top five keys you can apply today and generate more sales.
Listen
Great sales people are excellent communicators. The smooth, slick, fast talking salesperson might come to mind. However, from my experience the opposite is true. In actual fact, great sales people are excellent listeners. A conversation you’ve walked away from thinking, ‘wow, what a pleasant conversation’ was most probably because the other person genuinely took the time to listen to what you had to say. Make gestures, such as nodding, looking in their direction and when appropriate repeat what they’ve said, so they understand you are truly hearing what they say.
Ask questions
That segues straight into my next point. Whilst listening acutely also strive to enter into a dialogue with potential clients to understand their needs even better. Your chances for a successful sale increases when you ask direct questions that evoke a concrete response from your prospect. Instead of responding to their story with your own experiences or stories, ask them specifically about their experience. A simple tool to use is to repeat the one or two key words from their sentence into your question. So, when your prospect is telling you the story of how their new analysis tool has revolutionized their business, ask them about that new analysis tool. Invite your potential client to elaborate on their story. By doing so you will not only create an enjoyable dialogue, or get more insights into what your client finds important, you may even learn something new!
Keep it short and simple
You won’t achieve effective communication by adding complexity and beating around the bush. Express your message in a simple, clear and powerful way. Know your product or service inside and out. Be specific. This is crucial because specifics sell. Being vague however, confuses the mind. And a confused mind will always say, ‘No, thank you’.
