Sales Technique

Having a collection of sales strategies to draw from is useful, but it's also important to know how and
when to use those strategies for the biggest impact. Review these steps for improving your overall sales
technique:

1. Focus on the customer

When meeting with a potential customer, keep the focus on them. Allowing customers to talk
about their pain points, needs and wants is a great way to build rapport and learn important
information that can help you when it's time to offer your sales pitch.

2. Research the buyer

Before you meet with a potential customer, make sure you research them. You'll also want to
know about the company they represent if you're selling B2B or probe if B2C. Still, having
personal knowledge about the individual you'll meet with can help you establish a positive
relationship and increase your chances of making a sale.

3. Build rapport
Find a connection with your potential buyer unrelated to your sales pitch. Rapport is one of the
best ways to earn a potential customer's trust and build a relationship. Salespeople with strong,
positive relationships with their leads are often more successful in their sales.

4. Know the market

While making each sale to a person, it's important to understand your target market as a whole.
Ensure you study your company's chosen demographic and know the basics regarding their pain
points and needs.

5. Use active listening

During a meeting with a potential customer, you should speak less than your customer. Take the
opportunity to truly listen to their wants and needs. Use active listening skills like making eye
contact, nodding to show understanding and making sounds of acknowledgment to demonstrate
you hear your customer.

6. Employ psychology
Use psychology to your advantage by recognizing and employing certain psychological
strategies when talking with potential customers:
Anchoring effect: The anchoring effect is a phenomenon in which you gauge any information against the
first piece of information you were given in a presentation or conversation.
Loss aversion: With the loss aversion phenomenon, people are often more concerned about losing a
benefit or asset than acquiring a new one.
Curse of knowledge: The curse of knowledge phenomenon happens when someone with deep subject
area knowledge can't understand how little another person understands about that subject.
Confirmation bias: With confirmation bias, people are much more likely to agree with and believe
something that matches their beliefs, even if there's evidence or proof of the opposite.

7. Mirror their behavior

Making your potential customer comfortable during your conversation or meeting is a useful
way to build the necessary rapport to make a sale. Mirroring your customer's behavior is a good
way of meeting this objective. People often trust and like others who act and speak like them
more than those who don't.

8. Remember who you're talking to

Not every customer interaction will take place face-to-face. Conversing online or over the phone
can occasionally distract you from the fact that you're still working with a real person. Make sure
all your interactions are personal and customer-focused, particularly online or over the phone.

9. Keep the pitch simple

When it's time to make your sales pitch, keep it short and simple. It's often useful to practice
your sales pitch before meeting with your client to ensure it's easy to understand, not too
aggressive and highly persuasive.
10. Practice selling yourself
Often, you're not just selling your company's product or service—you're selling yourself. Make
sure you present yourself in a professional and appealing manner to your client in terms of your
appearance and demeanor. Practice engaging in positive, rapport-focused conversations to hone
your skills before a client meeting.

11. Find a way to help

Remind yourself during a sales meeting that you're primary goal is not just to make a sale, but to
help your customer so that they'll come back to you in the future when or if they need more
assistance. Reframe your thinking to ensure you're acting as a helper and supporter, not just
salesperson.

12. Go to sales training

Attending professional development specifically for salespeople is one of the best ways to improve your
sales techniques. You'll get to hear from and work with other successful salespeople in a setting designed
to help you get better at all aspects of selling.

13. Use role play

Practice selling in various situations by engaging in role-play exercises with colleagues or friends.
Consider sales situations where you could have been more successful in the past and practice different
methods for improving your sales abilities under those circumstances during your role-play sessions.

14. Seek support

Find a mentor with a strong sales track record to help you improve your abilities. You might ask a senior
colleague in your company if they'd be willing to mentor you or look outside your organization for other
excellent salespeople to work within a mentorship.

15. Review past communications

Review your past emails, phone calls and meeting notes to see which strategies you used were effective
and which you could continue to hone and practice. While reviewing, you'll likely get a better sense of
your strengths and areas for growth overall as a salesperson, and you can use that information for focused
skill-building.

16. Track your progress

Keep track of your progress as you meet with clients and practice different strategies and techniques.
Note what seems to work well and which are ineffective for you or your target market. The more data you
have, the better you'll be at creating a personalized and effective sales strategy for you and your
customers.