One profession which have never got it's share of due respect is Sales.
For the customers they have always been the nuisance or disturbance in the daily routine. The smart jabbering guy who is always after their money and with an intention of only selling something.
In the organisation Sales department is looked upon as a group of self boasting people who have something/somebody else as a reason for every failure and himself as the reason for every success.
Basically, although doing one of the most fundamental work in the organisation they are looked upon down and are never truly appreciated.
Similarly for the customers the sales people are actually problem solvers trying to provide them with products or services which can make their life easier. But they are always looked down upon with contempt and neglect.
So how did we end up this way? Why did one of the most important job ended up being loathed upon the most?
The answer might lie in one of the 2 most important skills required in the Sales Profession- Listening and Speaking.
Speaking, as we need to convey information about the products and services we intend to sell. Listening, so that we can listen to our client's spoken and unspoken needs and requirements.
In a typical conversation between the sales executive and the customer, it's 80% of the time when the executive is speaking and 20% of the time when client is speaking. This imbalance leads to a feeling for the client that he is not being heard or understood. A master salesman will alter this ratio upside down, where he will speak just for 20% of the time and let the customer talk for 80%.
Most of the speaking is about the products or services and the way it have helped the earlier clients. This kind of talks, when goes on continuously turns out monotonous and boastful. Both these emotions are negative which might give you momentary victories but loose the over all negotiation.
We need to be prepared with other forms of communication apart from only vocal to make the client aware about our products and services. When we talk about the benefits of our products and services we need to use more engaging forms of conversation like story telling to convey information to our clients.
A sales executive's ultimate test is to minimise the amount of talking in any negotiation and resort to listening to finalise the deal. Listening from our hearts will let us know much more information about our clients.
Happy Selling!!!
Dev Borah - Founder
Source URL: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/a-knowing-salesman-dev-borah/
