What to avoid in sales

As we have been dicsussing in class, there are certain presupposed ideas about the word salesperson and we all know, especially from personal expereince to avoid things associated with the salesperson. Pushy, slick, annoying were just a few. So we know what to avoid, but what are we supposed to do instead?

Key elements for a good salesperson

Below are some characteristics which I have learned over the years as a buyer and a seller which are great to ensuring a positive transaction for both parties.

1. Know what you are selling

This is the first point for a reason. If you don’t know what you are selling, you are not in sales for the right reason and you cannot serve the customer as well as you need to. Also, the customer need not bother with you because he has a smart phone or computer to find information you don’t know. You’re job as a salesperson is to know the most about your product and be the best service a customer can recieve, online or off.

2. Be confident

Alogn with knowing about your product, you must act like you know it and show that you back it. Usually  if you know everything about it, people will see that you took time to learn it, you probably use it, and therefore, it comes across as you backing the product.

3. Listen more than you talk

Many sale people are talkers, and I usually want to run away when I see someone like this, but most of the time it is too late because they won’t stop talking. So don’t be this person. Customers love to hear themselves talk and they love to know a stragner is interested in them and their wants/needs. You can learn a lot more from someone if they are talking to you rather than you scaring them off because you are barely breathing between sentences. Entrepreneurship is all about sales, sales is all about knowing your customer. And what better way to get to know the customer by talkign with them.

4. Customer first, product second

This is can be a dangerous way of selling but it is very much true today. Many sales people try to force things onto customers. The customer may end up buying the product and if they do, I am 99% sure they are unsatisfied with it. As the saying goes in the retail industry, the customer is always right. Do not force a product onto anyone, especially because the customer nowadays has so much power over companies. They may call the company and complain about the sales rep. They may write a bad review. They may never purchase anything from the company again and avoid the store like the plague.

5. Know you are only one piece of the customer’s puzzle

When a customer calls you or walks into your store, know that you are not the only piece of their puzzle. What I mean by this is that the customer already has ideas about a product in their head. They are at some stage of a sale whether they are aware, almost committed or completely committed to a product. You don’t know this when they come to you. The customer may know more things than you about better deals else where. You never know. But if you act as if you are only one part of the journey to find a product, you will not be pushy or annoying or act as if your life depends on the sale.