The list of what makes a sales process effective can be a lengthy one but can boil down to a few key factors: listening, asking questions, honesty, and empathy in an interaction. These few things will most likely come out in any sales dealings and if used correctly can give a stronger chance of a sale. Listening will help to better understand what a customer needs, what their pain really is, and how to best solve their problem. Asking questions will further knowledge of a customer’s desires by creating a space and enticing them elaborate on their own thoughts. Honesty is a necessity in any interaction but is especially important to communicate through actions in a sales dealing. If a customer begins to trust, they are more likely to buy. To be able to have empathy and relationship with a customer is valuable. To connect in this way is to understand the pain and problems and desire to right them.
In my experience in sales, while small, I saw this first hand. Even in something as simple as selling high-end chocolate it is key to be asking questions, listening to the customer’s answers, deal honestly, but also to know the product and to develop a relationship or at least conversation. In all sales situations, the customer does know what they want but the job of a sales person is to make the connection for the customer between what they want and the solution that fits their needs. When it came to chocolate most people already knew what they liked, whether that be milk chocolate or dark or fruity or nutty. They didn’t, however, know how to connect their preferences to the products that they would like the most. As the salespeople, that is our job. To ask and understand what a customer’s desires and needs are, listen, and use our knowledge to link those preferences with the solution that will best satisfies their problem. By knowing the kind of chocolate a customer initially liked and with just a few follow up questions, it wasn’t hard to use my own knowledge to pin point the product we sold that would best fit to those preferences and what they would like the best. Most often, making this connection, from the want to the product that best satisfied the want, would lead to the most sales. Customers that were not coursed into purchasing but purchased because they found exactly what they were looking for and could now enjoy it.
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