I just finished up volunteering at a Scholastic Book Fair at a local elementary school and I was able to see the sales techniques in a different light. My biggest takeaway from the day was that you have to know who you are selling to before you become a successful salesperson.
For those that never had the privilege of attending a book fair or just forget those great elementary school days, the book fair is where all the newest children’s books are on sale in the school’s library to encourage reading. The fair is targeted to the students as well as their parents and the selling styles are effected by it. When selling to the students, the salespeople from the school try to be as energetic as possible in an attempt to get the students excited about the book for sale. However when trying to sell that same book to a parent, the sales approach is completely different. It becomes more relaxed and comes off as caring to try and convince the parent that the book will be great for their child.
Even though it was just an elementary book fair, it was a sales situation that made me think about how to become a better salesman. Anyone who wants to be successful in a selling a product has to be ready to change their sales pitch to fit their targeted audience. And to understand how to make a pitch that fits the audience, you have to know your audience.
testacr22
This is awesome! For me, learning about your audience is one of the most daunting aspects of sales. I often assume that it’s all about analysis and research, but sometimes the most important part of it is just relating to your customer in a way that makes them comfortable. This is a great example of that.