Sales Articles

Boost sales through precise customer query responses. Here’s how

Salespeople should say just enough to close the sale. Equally, to boost the customer experience, those in service should respond to customer queries with just the information sought. This is so, especially when it’s a direct query that could be a potential sale. Such is what an effective response to customer enquiries entails. For instance,

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To close with confidence, repeat back the problem to the customer

It is not enough to think you’ve understood the customer’s problem. No. Repeat the problem back to him to confirm. Miscommunication costs, not just immediate, but future sales and, unfortunately, trust. “I want a kioo in my cars (lifts),” so the mzungu prospect told the lift selling company salesperson. They had a good laugh at

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Mr. Branch Manager, is your branch an operations or sales centre?

Dear Branch Manager, do you run your branch focused or costs and operations or sales and profit? Perhaps yours is a service centre focused purely on the former and that’s what’s required of you. And if that’s the case, that’s okay. Just know that, that’s the exception, not the norm. Still, don’t sit too pretty

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Avoid high pressure selling: Use this 10:80:10 doctor’s prescription

To avoid high pressure selling, salespeople should take a page from the playbook of doctors when it comes to engaging with customers. Think back to your last visit to a doctor. As a percentage of the duration you took, what would you give for how long he took to prescribe? Better still, split the engagement

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Use the power of reframing as a catalyst for your sales success

Just by changing the frame of a picture, you make it look different. Try it. Easier still, watch the same video on your phone, in landscape then portrait- it’s a completely different experience. And that’s what reframing is. In sales it means getting the customer to see the same thing in a different frame of

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Effective salespeople aren’t always likable personalities. Here’s why

Contrary to popular belief, your personality does not determine success in Sales. For instance, there’s a pervasive myth that effective salespeople are extroverted, charming, charismatic, and instantly likable. The only problem is there’s no evidence that it’s actually true; it’s a widely held belief but just that-a myth. While charisma can certainly be an asset

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The debt collection dilemma : Should salespeople take charge?

Should deal makers be debt chasers? Should salespeople do debt collection? At first blush the response, would be, “Duh! Yah. It’s their job. Further, it makes financial (cost) sense as opposed to having others do it and in any case isn’t a sale closed, when payment is received? Why should someone else do it and

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Boost your sales with problem identification, not problem solving

Are you engaged in problem identification or problem solving? Are you identifying problems, or solving problems identified? Confused? Well, if you are selling in a hardware shop and a customer comes in stating, “I want a drill,” do you sell him one, or do you find out why (or what for)? If you do the

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Connect the dots to being a seasoned salesperson or entrepreneur

Connect the dots is a form of (children’s) puzzle containing a sequence of numbered dots. When a line is drawn connecting the dots, the outline of an object is revealed. In the sales profession, connecting the dots will determine professional health or morbidity. Connect the dots to sales success Why? Because, the ability to discern

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