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Sales Masters Guild Mentor, Lesley Jones, introduces us to her Sales & Negotiation Training and why people might not be buying from you.

 

Have you ever considered why people buy from you, and more importantly why they do not?

We are constantly bombarded with advertisements trying to sell us the latest gadgets, furniture and beauty products. Most of us try to ignore these adverts, we skip through them on TV or pay for apps on our phone so we aren’t inundated with them. As a nation, we prefer to buy rather than be sold to.

 

The way we buy our products has been revolutionised by the internet. We no longer need to visit a shop or speak to a salesperson, everything is there on-line for us to be able to choose the best products at the best price and take delivery at our convenience.

 

Yet, as small business owners we primarily sell our services to our network of contacts. People we meet at events and when out networking.

 

Have you ever been pounced upon at a network event or had a business card thrust into our hands and a smiley face say ‘I have a great service, it will grow your business, and you should buy it?’

 

Being on the other end of such pushy salespeople can leave a bad taste in your mouth. It certainly resulted in a slow start to my business as I became very conscious of how I was communicating with my prospects. Years of being contacted by pushy salespeople in my corporate life meant I was afraid to sell.

 

I had lots of conversations that led nowhere and often watched from the side-lines as prospects bought similar services from other people. Have you ever experienced this problem?

 

So many people say ‘I don’t sell’, yet without sales we do not have a business.

So what do people mean when they say they don’t sell?

They mean that people choose to buy from them. They have a product or service that people want; they know their ideal client; and they have taken the time to build a brand that their client trusts.

 

If a prospect likes and trusts you, has faith that you will deliver what you say and has a need for your service then they are likely to buy from you. Isn’t that what we all want to achieve in our business?

 

Once I had a better understanding of my ideal client, and began implementing a structured sales process, then my conversion rates improved. No longer was I left watching others grow their business at my expense.

 

If you would like to learn how to improve your conversion rates, then I highly recommend you attend my one day Sales and Negotiation workshop, where I will show you the science behind the art of selling.

 

This highly interactive workshop explores why people will choose to buy from you and gives you the skills and structure to effortlessly ‘sell’ your products and services.

 

There are 3 main areas to the workshop:

• understanding why people buy from you
• who your ideal client is
• structuring your sales conversations.

 

Why do people buy from you?

As a small business it is not just the delivery of the product or service you are offering, it is the way you interact with your prospects that encourages them to buy.

The saying that people buy from people they trust and are ‘like them’ is so true, would you buy from someone you didn’t like?

 

It takes time, effort and consistency to build trust. Firstly your prospect needs to be aware of you and understand your background and ethics. This will start to build belief and finally faith, which will result in them buying from you.

 

I will share with you this hierarchy during the workshop so you can identify any gaps in your approach to building your reputation.

Ideal Client

I often hear business owners say their client is everyone, especially if they are only a few years into their business. Whilst that may be true, most of us will have a client we enjoy working with, one that appreciates the time and effort we put in. The one that we want more of – this is your ideal client.

 

On the day, we will spend time identifying your ideal client, we will explore their desires and pains, so you can understand the emotions behind why they buy from you. This information can then form the basis of the messages in your marketing material so you can attract more of your ideal client.

It takes time and effort to research and identify your ideal client, but it is essential if you are to be successful.

The 5 step sales process – a simple way to structure your sales conversations

During the workshop, I will share with you a simple 5 step process that will enable you to structure your sales conversations so your prospects will not only be more likely to buy from you, they will also have a great experience that they will want to share with others.

Step 1: Establish rapport
Step 2: Ask great questions
Step 3: Find a want or a need
Step 4: Link their desire to your product or service
Step 5: Trial close and handle any objections.

 

Step 1: Establishing Rapport

Building rapport is so much more than asking questions about family, how they travelled to the meeting or whether they ‘come here often’.

It is about focusing on the person in front of you, using the right words, tone of voice and gestures. It truly is a science that once learned will make a big difference to how you are perceived by your prospects.

 

On the day, I will teach you this science and give you the opportunity to practise with the other attendees. This is an important part of the day’s learning and one that creates the most fun as you realise how easy it is to be responsive to your prospect and build that all important trust.

Step 2 & 3: Asking great questions and finding a need

There is nothing worse than getting to the end of a conversation feeling you are no better informed than you were at the start. So, the objective in step 2 is to find out what is important to your prospect.

Think of it as peeling an onion, gradually removing the layers and delving deeper and deeper until you have a good understanding of them and their business.

On the day, I will share with you a proven structure for asking great questions, one that if followed will give you the detail you require to establish whether your prospect needs your services or not.

Step 4: Linking their desire to your services

Having identified a need, it is now up to you to explain how your services can help them with their challenges.

It is very easy at this stage to blurt out all the wonderful things you can do, whether they are relevant to your prospect or not. DON’T. Keep your focus on the one or two elements that will have the biggest impact on their bottom line, the ones that you identified in steps 2 & 3 that were very important to them.

Be prepared to answer some detailed questions as they start to realise that they need you in their life.

Step 5: Trial Close and handling objections

You will get to a point in your sales conversation when it is appropriate to ask ‘would they like to buy?’ Make sure you ask this question directly, don’t assume your prospect will offer the information.

If their response is negative, they may have objections or need more information.

 

Welcome these objections and don’t get defensive. It just means they need more information before making a decision, so gain clarity from them by asking more great questions.

It is important you leave the conversation with a definitive yes or no, otherwise you will still be chasing your prospect months later for a decision.

 

During the workshop we explore the typical objections you will hear and how to handle them.

Summary of the day

Very few people have been trained in these types of sales processes. Yet we all have to ‘sell’ our products or services otherwise we won’t have a business.

 

The tried and tested techniques that we teach on the Sales and Negotiation workshop coupled with a knowledge of the psychology of selling that I will share with you, will place you in a good position to gain more prospects buying from you.

 

Using a selling system like ours will save you years of frustrating hard knocks. You will be more concise and on purpose with your conversations and will develop your self-confidence quickly so you can be the best in your chosen market.

 

Lesley’s Sales & Negotiation Training is open to anyone wanting to make an impact on their business.

 

You can contact Lesley directly if you’d like to discuss the training in more detail before booking through her Mentors profile page.

 

25 way to get more customers