Written by: Simon Haigh, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Sales is the life-blood of business, driving growth, market share, and shareholder support. Selling requires skills of persuasion, which we all have in us to varying degrees from the very earliest of ages. Selling is essentially the act of persuading someone else to provide you with what you want.
Remember stamping your feet to get what you wanted as a young child? Persuading, convincing and, therefore, selling are some of the most natural, familiar, and oldest of all human skills.
An accomplished salesperson can navigate the inevitable differences in objectives, drivers, viewpoints, prejudices, and even cultural differences between themselves and their customers. That said, ever-lurking to counter our innate skills of persuasion are the equally powerful human emotions and states of ego, anger, greed, ignorance and self-centeredness, any of which individually or collectively can, at any time, derail a deal. There are, however, as you will see, a number of mechanisms a good deal-closer can use to minimize these very basic, yet powerful, human factors.
Sustainable selling is not a quick fix, scatter-gun exercise. It is about empathy, doing your homework, identifying where you can help and how you can contribute. It is about listening, identifying and tracking the market and your customer needs. It is about being a valuable partner ‒ being useful (rather than being another cost), even if that initially means saying no.
We recommend the following seven Ps for Sustainable Selling:
Plan
Understand your target audience and the problem it needs solving. Plan and research demographics, sectors, gender, age, location factors, etc., and regularly track the market. You also need to ensure you are reaching out to the right person (usually the one who holds the budget).
Pitch
Leverage first impressions. You need to show you know what you are talking about. Grab your potential customer’s attention, ideally through a captivating one-liner. Use humor, if appropriate, to get attention.
Provide Value
Show that you believe in your offering. Also, show that you are understanding of your customer’s needs through your value proposition — the reason they should buy from you.
Personalize
Personalize your message and ensure the relevance of your unique selling proposition. Engage with your customer on an authentic, empathic level. Once you have established attention through trust you are more likely to get that all-important first meeting.
Problem-solve
Provide a tailored solution to a known need or problem of your customer through your offering. You need to have something your customer does not have and wants and/or needs. This helps trust to develop, which in turn makes it easier for customers to return and repurchase. Review and evaluate what is working and change what is not. You can use the SPIN Sales Model: (a) Situation: ask the buyer to tell you what facts they need addressing; (b) Problem: ask the buyer to tell you what pain they are suffering; (c) Implied Needs: ask the buyer to explain the effects of the problem then propose a solution(s); and (d) Explicit Needs Pay-off: ask the buyer to tell you about their explicit needs and then ask them to explain the benefits your solution(s) offer.
Pursue
Think close, close. Chase the lead within a week, otherwise, you risk losing it. Always ensure meaningful activity in your sales funnel. Don’t let leads dry up. Follow up every meeting. You will lose 100 percent of opportunities if you don’t ask for them.
Persevere
Do not give up. Brush off rejection. Stay focused on the goal and look after yourself physically and mentally. In sales, the seller’s unique selling value proposition-the thing (whatever it may be) that differentiates the opportunity in the other side’s mind from an alternative is the key reason why the other party gives the deal closer what he or she wants. Value propositions are a very powerful tool of persuasion. A value proposition is a definitive statement that promises, from your proposal, the delivery of value to the other side. The more specific the value proposition is the better, not least as it demonstrates to the other party that you understand what they need and/or want. More importantly, it indicates that you recognize that the deal is not just about you.
Simon Haigh ‒ GlobalGurus.org Top 10 Negotiation programs
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Simon Haigh, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Simon Haigh, known as The Growth Strategist, helps organizations and leaders unlock, build and sustain business, leadership, brand, and mindset growth through his coaching, consulting, training, publications, speaking, and e-learning programs. Simon’s clients include high-performing leaders, companies, business schools, professional organizations & Government bodies globally. His work is endorsed by world no. 1 leadership thinker Marshall Goldsmith. He is nominated by PeopleHum Top 200 Influential Thought Leaders 2021, Thinkers 360 , 4 Sales, 9 Entrepreneurship, 10 Legal & IP, 13 Health & Wellness, 33 Mental Health, 37 Management & 47 Emerging Tech, and featured in the PeopleHum Top 100 Thought Leader series for Mindful Negotiation. He has also been featured on numerous global TV and radio outlets, and two of his three Amazon 5 Star books – How to be a Better Dealcloser and Dealmaking for Corporate Growth, are endorsed by Marshall Goldsmith, and he is an associate member of the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching Organisation. Simon is also an acclaimed Keynote Speaker.
