When communicating with your clients, is it apparent that you have their best interests in mind? If you have any doubt that you are not selling a great product or a great service you must choose a product or service that is great to sell. If you are selling yourself as a consultant, then you must be the best. You must constantly go the extra mile to make yourself part of the top 20%. This is where credibility begins.
An excellent manner of establishing credibility is that of being able to bring out the key drawback of your product or service and make certain that your customer sees that one flaw. Once you have done this you have not only established credibility but you have already dealt with what is normally the only "objection" to your making the sale, except money issues, which may or may not be easily solved.
Remember the overused call letters: WII-FM. They stand for, "What's in it for me?"
If you can put yourself in your customer's shoes and answer that question with a laundry list of benefits, (and features), you will begin making more sales, higher volume sales and a higher percentage of sales.
How do you appear less than credible on occasion?
Sometimes we get nervous in the sales process that our product may not be the best for our client and we continue to sell anyway. It is at this point that you must ask your customer, "If this product could only help you to this certain degree of X at this price, is it something that would be really useful to you?"
If they say "yes," you can allow the pangs of nervousness to leave. If they say "no," then forget making the sale. You could still choose to pull all the right strings, walk away with a check, but you will have created a Win-Lose, and that means your career will take a step backward. Never, ever, enter into any sales transaction where one party loses.
Never compromise your integrity. Never.
Creating beliefs (i.e.. levels of certainty) is critical. If you expect to fail you probably will. If you expect to succeed you probably will. What you say to yourself in private is what you become. Begin to see yourself as a provider, a helper, a caretaker, a creator of value. If this isn't possible, you are selling the wrong product.
You will have a difficult time selling a particular make of cars if you don't believe that they are the best cars, for the money in the country.
Believe it or move to a different dealership.
Refuse to sell what is second best. Never compromise your integrity. People will talk about you and believe in you if you are the best, selling products that have great value. Once you are selling something you believe in, your enthusiasm will be contagious.
Your potential in selling, and that of all of your competitors is correlated to beliefs. These beliefs fall into two distinct categories. First, ethical selling demands that you believe in your idea, product, service, etc.
Second, it must be evident that you KNOW that you are creating value by partaking in the sales process. If you feel tainted by selling then consider how your customers will feel if they are buying someone else?s products and services. Are your customers going to be buying second best if someone else goes to see them? Don't let it happen.
EXERCISE:
Name some people who you trust. Describe specifically why you believe these people to be congruent.
Name some people you don't trust. Describe specifically why you believe this people to be incongruent.
What can you do so you stay in the category of congruent people?
If you are not perceived as congruent and believable, you will not make the sale.
If you are perceived as believable and you sell excellent products and services, you will be on the road to success in selling. Your enthusiasm about the home you are selling, the stocks you are touting, the automobiles your customers are going to drive away in, is all going to be transferred to your customer like a mind virus. (A meme)
Your level of certainty, combined with pure rapport, and meeting their true wants and needs, allows you to sell at will.
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