A Sociable Sales Team is a Profitable Sales Team

It’s an art because it takes a personal touch to sell successfully, and every person’s touch is unique. The art is in the skill of generating your client’s interest and enthusiasm, overcoming their objections, delivering on your word, and leaving the customer satisfied that you have built a mutually beneficial relationship.

For naturally sociable people, this may all sound easy and obvious. For others, it may be a challenge, but these few simple tips should point you in the right direction.

Hopefully, before you’ve called on a company to set on an appointment, you’ve taken the time to familiarize yourself with their industry, products, and brand identity. Fortunately, In the age of digital and social marketing, the tools to do this are literally at your fingertips.

Within minutes, a Google search, a scan of their website, and a visit to their social accounts can tell you a lot about what their business does and looks like. You can get a feel for their brand voice and possibly learn about some of their key players.

This is all great information to have and know, but one of the best things this process will do is help you prepare questions for when you meet with the client. You will be able to speak intelligently enough about them to identify their strengths and needs. Only after this, you can begin to build an effective sales proposal.

As you develop the plan of what you want to pitch your customer, remember this: it’s nice to have data, but after being presented with three or four number-driven points, most people will either glaze over, get lost, or lose interest. You want to identify two to three key bits of information and then get to the ask.

If you have a client who wants or needs more context and data, great! Put a reference sheet in the deck you prepare and leave it behind for them. The person who wants this will appreciate it, and it will impress even the people who don’t want it.

Most experts in human interaction will tell you that people love to talk about themselves but respect people who listen well. In sales, this is critical. You will likely be dealing with managers, executives, or even entrepreneurs who created their own business. Let them tell their stories and listen to attentively with engagement.

Get the ball rolling with open-ended questions like “I really like this building. Tell me a little about it.” If they like the building, they will be proud and want to share. If they don’t, they’ll vent to you and you may learn more about them.

Avoid questions that can easily be answered “yes,” or “no.” Remember that in these interactions, less is more, and learning when to shut up is a critical skill in the sales business!

Whether they realize it consciously or not, people know when they’re being sold to, and they generally don’t like it. Avoid clichés like using the person’s first name over and over and talking about who great your company or product is, or what a terrific deal they’ll get from you and how lucky they are to get it.

You are there to partner with a client to give a solution to a problem or need. And it helps if you allow yourself to have a real conversation and be a real person. Just remember that it’s easy to overshare. Keep it about them, but always keep the conversation real.

Sales is just as much about the presentation as it is the product. If you work with your clients to serve them and build a relationship, the dividends of repeat business will pay off for years to come!