subject: Top Sales Techniques [print this page] The key to success in any sales job is mastering the art of making the sale. This is comprised of the judicious use of several different sales techniquesall of them aimed at finessing your relationship with the customer. With these techniques in your arsenal, you will be able to handle any sales situation with style and graceultimately completing the sale and pleasing the customer.
Be Professional
The goal of a sales position is to successfully make your sale. That goes without saying. It is harder than it looks however. To begin with, there is no sale without the customer. For this reason most of the techniques of a successful salesman focus on responding to the customer in a timely and appropriate fashion. To begin with, you need to present yourself to your customer with the right attitude. Dress, speak, and behave in a professional manner so that you can make a good first impression. Crucially, you will need to be as prepared as possible when it comes to the product that you are selling and the customer that you are selling it to. Make sure that you are able to handle any questions that might be asked with aplomb.
Be A Good Listener
Your relationship with the customer should not be characterized by a professional remoteness, however. Instead, make yourself a trusted advisor to the customer by truly listening to the information that he or she is communicating to you. You do not just want to fill their wants and desires, rather, you want to go beyond that stage to discover what they need. Once you can give that to them, you will have earned your status as a person who is interested in them rather than in their purchasing potential. Tailor your sales pitch to their needs in order to successfully close the sale and set yourself up for future sales as well.
Be A Good Communicator
Finally, when you are trying to establish a relationship with your customers and make a sale, be sure to stay on topic. No matter what that topic is, make sure that you do not wander away from the point and into uncharted territory. Your first goal, beyond the customers happiness, is to make the connection, make the sale, and close the deal. Dont rush to the endpoint, but make sure that you do not get lost along the way either. Either move can lose the sale for good.
