Salespeople must be good at interacting with customers if they hope to close a deal. Customers need to know that they are spending money on products or services that meet their needs from companies that truly care about their best interests. What are some tips that business owners can give their sales reps to help them better interact with customers?
Listening Is Better Than Talking
One of the best ways to figure out what a customer wants or needs is to listen to that person. This will help a salesperson find out what a person’s objections may be and how to overcome them. Listening is also a good way to make a customer feel in control of the sales process, which may make it easier for him or her to feel better about eventually making a purchase.
Ask Questions to Ascertain Customer Needs
There are times when a customer knows that he or she wants a particular product, but not which features or accessories they need or want. For instance, someone buying a car may not know whether to get the four-door sedan or the sports car with the V6 engine. However, by asking questions about what the customer needs the product for or how he or she will use it, the salesperson can point him or her toward relevant product or service offerings.
Be Subtle About the Upsell
People don’t like to feel pressured or manipulated into buying things that they don’t want or need. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t offer accessories or service packages in addition to a core product or service in a natural manner. For instance, if a customer is buying a computer for his or her daughter away at college, it doesn’t hurt to talk about the extended warranty that is honored at computer repair centers throughout the country. This may help a worried parent feel good that the computer will do its job helping a child get good grades while helping the company make more money.
Don’t Be Afraid to Show a Human Side
It is perfectly acceptable to show off a human side when talking to customers. If your salesperson finds that he or she and the customer both have a newborn, that can be the perfect way to bond and form a rapport. Customers generally prefer to work with people who they like, and the ability to see a salesperson as a human as opposed to just a corporate pitchman may allow some barriers around the customer to fall.
Answer Questions Quickly and Accurately
Salespeople have to know everything about the products or services that they sell. If the customer is expecting to get certain features with their new lawnmower and don’t get them, that person will be angry. The best way to avoid that issue is to say you don’t know if there is a question that can’t be immediately answered. A customer would rather have the salesperson go check with a supervisor or online for the correct answer then get the wrong answer and feel misled.
The way that salespeople interact with customers could be the difference between closing a deal and losing money. By working with customers to determine their needs and showing products or services that meet those needs, it can be much easier to convince people to part with their money and feel good about doing so.
Jessica is a professional blogger who writes for Faxage, a leading company that provide Internet fax service for individuals and businesses.