Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

Now we are ready for Step-6, our last “A”, Apply Service – where we follow up.  Service is the key to future relationships and assuring continued success.  In fact, it may be the only difference that sets you apart from your competition.  The more similar your products and services are to competitors, the more different your selling and service should be!  Service builds your reputation and leads to repeat sales to build your business in good times as well as bad.  When does your service begin?  As soon as you greet, Approach or say “hello” to your customers!  It’s the “little things” that customers seem to remember and keep them coming back.  You cannot provide customer satisfaction by “brushing the customer off.”  Appreciate what you sell and appreciate the opportunity to serve.  It’s all about developing customers for life!

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

If no sale is made, what should you do?  Have you ever heard, “don’t burn any bridges” or “never say never?”  Always keep the sales door open.  Don’t allow your nonverbal to show disappointment.  Look for ways to keep your “foot in the door.”  Remember, “things change!”  Never insult or reprimand the customer.  This is negative, damages relationships and can create more problems for you later on.  Also, do not base the sale on what it does for you personally.  Being in a contest or feeding the family is your concern, not the customer’s.  This is unprofessional and comes across as “whining” to the customer.  Be aware of “overselling” a customer too.

What is overselling?  You talk too much which creates doubt with the customer.  One salesperson defined overselling as, “you just bought back what you sold.”  Complete your transaction, change the subject and look for a sales opportunity with another customer.  Closing is the emotional part of the sale.  It’s the culmination of the selling and buying processes coming together.  Master this step and you are well on your way toward sales success.

Sales & Service Tip Of The Week

Learn early to acquire the habit of asking for the order.  Take the initiative and look forward to it.  The close becomes an exhilarating experience for the sales and service professional.  It generates your enthusiasm and provides you with a feeling of self-confidence.  You want to sell every customer and succeed.  How many times can you ask for the order?  As many times it takes as you interact with the customer!  How do you ask?  What do you say?  Something as simple as, “Would you like to write that up today?” may get a positive response from the customer.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by asking.  As long as the customer is talking and interacting, keep asking.  But don’t be like a robot or parrot, which can come across negatively to the customer.
 
What do you do after you ask?  Shut up and listen!  That’s right!!  Utilize the “strength of silence” after you ask for an order or commitment.  There’s a truism in selling that says, “the side that speaks first typically loses.”  So, wait it out and let your silence signal your confidence and understanding that the customer is ready to buy.  What happens if there’s still no reply?  Ask again and be silent!  It’s all part of being a sales and service professional.

Sales & Service Tip of The Week

What is a trial close?  A trial close will shorten the presentation, ask for an opinion, qualify the customer further, determine readiness to close and surface true objections.  It’s like taking the customer’s temperature as to where they are in the buying process.  Trial closes help you to control time and finish sooner so you can be more productive by serving more customers.  It’s another sales fundamental that must be mastered.  It’s a learned skill based on experience.  Your subconscious is ready at any given moment to recognize a buying signal and immediately follow up with a trial close.  It should be instinctive and automatic, similar to athletes or accomplished musicians.  By practice or habit you are aware of these signals and it becomes logical, you’ve created a desire so ask for a commitment.  When you don’t have to rely on your conscious mind, you’ve instilled a new habit.  It’s all part of getting into the desirable “habit of selling.”  Trial close more often and sooner and you’ll increase your sales!