If you truly desire to succeed in your selling career, dedicate yourself to being a student your entire life. It’s sad but true, that too many salespeople believe and act as if their education is complete once they’re out of the formal school environment. The sign of a true professional is how much they can learn after they “know it all.”

In sales, one of your most powerful learning tools is your power of observation. Many valuable selling skills and nuances can be picked up just from observing various business and personal situations.

• Watch how a child gets his or her way with adults. They’re usually very specific about what they want and persistent.
• Observe waiters and waitresses, retail clerks and family interactions.

Who gets the “sale” of their point or desire? How did they do it? Did they say something verbally or use body language or both to close the sale? Constantly think about how you can apply what you observe in your selling situations.

I’ll keep posting sales training strategies and tactics for closing more sales. To succeed in selling, keep learning!

Most sought-after audio sales training program: How to Master the Art of Selling Anything

This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

When there is more than one decision-maker, you are likely to run into a situation where one is ready to go ahead and one is not. This may be a husband and wife or it could be two business partners. When you reach what looks like an impasse, use this strategy:

Phraseology: “John and Mary, when two people are involved in making a decision, it’s often impossible to find one simple solution that satisfies both of them. So life then becomes a matter of compromise. Now, the measurement of the decision becomes this: Does it satisfy most of the wants of each of the parties?” 

If it does, you’ve just closed the sale. If it doesn’t, you’ll at the very least uncover an area of concern that you haven’t fully addressed. Grab hold of that concern and handle it properly, then go for the close again. Remember, the average sale is not closed until after five closing attempts are made.

 This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).

Learn even more closes from Sales Closing for Dummies.

Most people think that in order to persuade others, you have to be a real good talker. You have to have “the gift of gab,” “a silver tongue,” or be a “natural born salesperson.” The truth is just the opposite.

The true professionals—the successful people in sales are great listeners. What are they listening to? Their potential clients telling them their wants, wishes, needs and fears…and what they want to own. Yes, people will pretty much tell you what they want to own, if you’ll only give them the chance to speak. All you need to do is get them started. Then you simply guide the conversation along the lines you know it needs to take in order for you to determine needs, qualify and close the sale.

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How do negative thought patterns affect your life? They give you the emotional droops. Your drooping emotions bring on a mental sag. Then your sagging mental powers cause a downturn in your job performance. That downturn leads directly to a sharp decline in your income. The decline in your income gives you more negative thought patterns, and they add more spin to your downward spiral.

We all go into declines. We all slide downhill now and then. Here are a few things you should be continuously doing to keep from getting exposed to depression:

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Once all of the rapport-building is done and you’re ready to get down to business, it’s important to set the tone for your time with these clients. I suggest creating a consultative feeling by using a legal pad to make notes. In some types of selling, this doesn’t make sense, but it is helpful if you can do it. When you make notes of their concerns or other details they are sharing, the potential buyers feel that you’re truly interested in them. They feel you care enough to pay attention to their pain points. Read the rest of this article »

Three Guidelines for Asking Questions

Because asking good questions is such an integral part of good selling I’ve given the matter a lot of study and thought over the years. I’ve boiled down all that knowledge into three basic guidelines.

Guideline #1. Establish a bond before you attempt to control the process with questions. Establishing rapport is essential because people want to do business with people they like and trust. They’ll never get to the trust issue if they don’t like you. There’s no need (or reason) to attempt to become “best buddies” on the spot, but it is important that your prospect comes to like you very early in the process. This is one of the reasons for the brief chit chat that takes place before the selling begins. Read the rest of this article »

There has never been any argument in advertising circles that the most effective business advertising is word-of-mouth advertising.

That’s why direct selling is so dramatically successful as a method of marketing every imaginable product and service, and why direct selling is such a great business in which to be.  As a direct salesperson conversationally telling another person why you like a particular product, you are much more convincing advertisement than any TV commercial or magazine ad.

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As much as we all hate the idea of entering a period of inflation, indicators are showing that there is very likely going to be one in the not-too-distant future. I don’t want you to be caught by surprise or to wonder how to make sales during an inflationary time. The recent Great Recession has been tough enough. Let’s be well-prepared to sell during the projected upcoming inflationary times.

The Inflation Close is used to help people rationalize parting with their money for something that either earns a greater return than the inflation rate (such as certain investments) or to improve their lifestyle with products and services whose investments are likely to increase. Read the rest of this article »

In my comprehensive selling skills book, How to Master the Art of Selling, I teach three ways to get more business from existing clients (Chapter 18). I like to think of it as “expanding your sales volume.”

One system for expanding your sales volume covered in that chapter involves using your imagination. Keep thinking of ways to add-on accessories, warranties, extended programs and additional products. Share different uses for your product or service with your existing clients. They may only have thought about using it for a single purpose. When additional benefits are recognized, additional needs may also come to light.  Read the rest of this article »

In my sales training, the Alternate of Choice question is usually used to get a date or time commitment to visit with a future client. The Alternate of Choice is a question with two answers — either answer is an agreement. The key is to give two solutions that both lead toward the sale.

Another great use for it is regarding a location for a meeting or to deliver product. By giving two choices, one or the other is usually chosen. This is much better than what happens when you give one choice and the only other option is “no.”

The Alternate of Choice can also be the most simple close you will ever use.

Phraseology: “John, you’re really a whiz with that new software today. Would you prefer to train your staff yourself, or shall we provide the training?”

Either way, he needs to own the software in order to train, doesn’t he? Read the rest of this article »

If you’re faced with a client who doesn’t want to make a decision about your product, service, or idea, you can tell a competitive-edge story to help them along. These stories don’t need to be elaborate, and they’re not meant to talk your clients into anything they don’t want or need. The stories just remind clients that they have competitors. So if you’re not telling them anything they don’t already know, what’s the appeal in competitive edge stories? In a word, survival.

“John, remember that many of your competitors are facing the same challenges today that you are. Isn’t it interesting that, when an entire industry is fighting the same forces, some companies do a better job of meeting those challenges than others?

My entire objective here today has been to help provide you with a competitive edge. Gaining a competitive edge, no matter how large or small, makes good business sense, doesn’t it?”

To read all of my closes, get a copy of Sales Closing for Dummies. To listen to them delivered and learn how to write your own, listen to my audio titled, Academy of Master Closing — available in both CD and MP3.

This information is copyrighted by Tom Hopkins International, Inc. for reprint permission, contact Judy Slack (judys@tomhopkins.com).