Sales: The Engine that Drives EVERY BusinessWritten by David Geldart
No matter what business, every company needs sales. It doesn't matter if it's in business of manufacturing, services, a worldwide conglomerates or a corner grocery store. As difficult as specialized technical functions may be, with years of training and expertise, sales is equally challenging. While a salesperson could never do job of an engineer or a programmer, they couldn't do job of a salesperson either. Without sales, they don't have a job.Every business is essentially a people business. Machines don't buy things; although they may execute transactions, people do buying. When sales falter, every area of business suffers - targets aren't met, investors lose confidence, budgets are cut, people are laid off, top talent looks elsewhere. Innovation feeds sales, and sales feeds innovation and growth. Sales is oxygen to a company. There's a saying that goes "sex is like air, it's only important when you aren't getting enough". Sales is like that too. When orders are flowing and everybody is working to fill them and keep customers satisfied, dealing with logistics and problems, they might not really appreciate contribution of saleperson - sometimes staff may even grumble and wish sale had never happened, so they wouldn't have to deal with customer and hassles of getting order through!
| | Sales 101Written by Sue and Chuck DeFiore
For many individuals in business hardest part is selling. For majority of business owners, jobs they had before don’t prepare them for dealing with selling products. So, this article will deal with some basic tips to help you with sales.Always be sure to go to head honcho. Ask to see person in charge, individual who makes decisions. This avoids hearing, “let me ask my supervisor, my boss, etc.” Also you project an image of confidence in yourself and your abilities. Don’t be long winded. Remember KISS principle. Time is a big factor today for all of us and quicker you get to point better. So be sure your sales pitch is short, sweet and to point. Have 3-5 benefits, don’t bore them with all features. Remember, always to turn features into benefits. One of most important things to do, is to listen. Think of yourself as a problem solver. To solve problems you need to know what your prospect needs. So ask them a question and then listen, and I mean really listen. By listening you will be finding out what will make them buy. Listen to what they say and take it in. Be sure to write down points they are making, don’t rely on your memory. This also helps when you are closing sale because you can refer to each point they made that this is how you can solve this concern. This is how you get sales, by solving their concerns and problems. When you are making your pitch or answering questions, you also need to be sure to make eye contact with your prospect and to be aware of their body language. Good sales people know when they have lost someone. The prospect eyes glaze over, they don’t maintain eye contact with you, they are looking everywhere else, but at you. They readjust themselves, push their chair back, feet on desk. At this point you need to be able to bring them with back with a question or a different voice pattern. Don’t acknowledge you lost them, just get them back on track. Good sales people can change at a moments notice. Since this is not going to happen to you overnight, always be sure that your presentation is well organized, covers all basic points, you know it forward and backwards, and you ask for sale. Initially, you are not going to be able to shift gears at a moments notice, but with practice and experience you eventually will. So that if your client asks a question in middle of your presentation, or makes an objection, you will be able to answer him and then pick up where you left off. You will also eventually be able to pick up on silent signals that people give off. So until you hone these skills, always be sure to have a brief outline of your presentation on a index card. Remember, it is always more important to be responsive to your prospect, and talk spontaneously than reverting to your prepared speech. So be sure to prepare. Be careful, though, remember, over preparation can make your presentation sound stale and robotic. Keep it fresh.
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