sales process | Dr. Ivan Misner®

4Mar2021

Understanding The Buyer’s Perspectivestring(39) "Understanding The Buyer’s Perspective"

March 4, 2021

Selling has everything to do with finding out the buyer’s needs, collecting compensation, and completing the transaction. However, there would not be salespeople if it was that simple. The buyer’s needs could easily be fulfilled by a vending machine. In fact, many buyers shop online with only a vague sense of what might satisfy their needs. Turning a buyer’s vagueness into clear solutions is the job of the salesperson. The buyer is looking for the best solution, delivered in an effective and pleasurable manner. The search engine when shopping online cannot replace a well-trained salesperson.

Buyer’s thoughts are multifaceted

Buyers weigh the many pros and cons of a potential purchase when they shop. Some of these thoughts the buyer might share with the seller. Learning and adapting to the buyer’s various thoughts during the sales process is a complex and intricate task. It is the responsibility of the sales professional to ensure it happens.

The sales clock

Always look at both the buyer’s perspective as well as the seller’s demands with each sales scenario. Waiting out the sales clock after delivering your proposal can be stressful. As the seller, you have to earn a commission, meet monthly targets, and ensure your proper work scheduling. The last thing you want is for your own stress to create a negative impact on the buyer. Remember, it is all about the customer.

Three ways to tap into the buyer’s perspective

Attentive Listening

Attentive listening can help you, the seller, determine if the buyer is putting you off or merely attending to pressing internal demands.

Behavior Profiling

Modify your sales process to the style of communication most comfortable to the buyer. All customers prefer to communicate in a manner that is most familiar to them. Knowing the buyer’s behavioral profile will help you to customize a sales approach for each customer.

Product Presentation

Your sales presentation will have a strong influence on a successful sale. Talk about what the product will do for the customer rather than its features and keep the product presentation focused on the buyer’s needs.

Being able to read the buyer’s signals is crucial to meeting and exceeding the needs of your customers. Masterful salespeople combine a little science with human relation strategies to create a wonderful buying experience for their buyers, while still maximizing their commission. Most of the time, timing is everything.

24Mar2014

The Four-Letter Word That Should Be in Every Networker’s Vocabularystring(73) "The Four-Letter Word That Should Be in Every Networker’s Vocabulary"

March 24, 2014

Ivan Misner

Client Relationships, Four Letter Word, Networking, referral marketing, sales process, Sell, selling Building Relationships, Customer Service, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Networking Prep, Networking Tactics, Sales, Strategy 6

“Sell” may be a four-letter word, but it’s certainly not a “bad” word . . . far from it. “Sell” is a word that should be in absolutely every networker’s vocabulary.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run across businesspeople over the years who are fantastic networkers, but they think that just because they know how to network, they don’t need to know how to sell. They think that people will like them, and then their products or services will sell themselves. This kind of mentality is unfortunate because people who think this way may be leaving business on the table.

Anybody who’s experienced and successful in referral marketing will tell you that sales skills are needed in every part of the referral marketing process–not just in closing the sale with the prospect.

From the very beginning, you must sell yourself to your potential referral source. A referral is not a guaranteed sale; it’s the opportunity to do business with someone to whom you’ve been recommended. You still have to close the deal. You have to make it clear that you know how to sell, and that you can and will provide the products or services you’re expected to provide. If you can’t make that first “sale,” your potential referral source won’t become your referral provider.

Beyond selling yourself to the referral source, you have to sell yourself to the prospect to get that first appointment. Then, once you’ve made the appointment, you have to persuade the prospect to buy your product or service. This is the part that usually comes to mind when you hear the word “sell.” However, in referral marketing, closing the deal with your prospect is neither the beginning nor the end of the selling process. The sales process is all about keeping an ongoing relationship with the client or customer. This is something that the best referral marketers know and understand.

What are some of the tactics you use to continually sharpen your sales skills and/or ensure that you continually invest in an ongoing relationship with your clients/customers to actively keep the sales process afloat? I’d love for you to share your thoughts and ideas in the comment forum below–thanks!

8Nov2012

If You Don’t Get This, You Won’t Succeed at Networkingstring(66) "If You Don’t Get This, You Won’t Succeed at Networking"

In this brief video, Roger Green and I talk about the two styles of engagement (Relational vs.Transactional) and The VCP Process®.

Throughout the course of my research, I’ve found that, on the average, when it comes to networking, men’s behavior typically goes in one specific direction, and women’s behavior goes in a very different direction. It’s very important to understand this but what’s even more imperative to understand is the VCP Process®–if you don’t get VCP, nothing else you do will work at networking; you have to understand VCP.“

Remember: Generating business through networking is a referral process; not a sales process. After watching the video, please share your thoughts in the comments section regarding the VCP Process®–which part(s) of the process do you currently excel at and which part(s) do you feel you might need to work on? Do you believe your are better at certain parts of the process due to being either transactional or relational, or because of your gender?

30Aug2010

‘Mastering the World of Selling’string(44) "‘Mastering the World of Selling’"

When one of your business relationships passes you a referral, don’t assume that the prospect is ready to hear a presentation on your product or service. When an associate passes you a referral, say thanks . . . then start digging for more information.

You will want to determine whether what you offer is a fit for what the prospect needs. Taking the time to do this upfront saves a lot of time and energy–for both you and the prospect. Exactly what does the prospect do? What products or services does he want from you? Will your offerings truly fulfill his needs? What is his behavioral style? What are his business goals? How large is his company?

Even with the referral in hand, don’t skip steps in your sales process. Before you approach the prospect, decide on a strategy based on whatever you can find out about him–the same as you would when preparing for any sale. Although the prospect was referred to you, all you’ve really received is an opportunity to approach the prospect with a favorable introduction. (This is not a bad thing–a single referral can open the door to a prospect it may have taken weeks, months or even years to connect with–if you even could at all.) But whether the prospect becomes a client or not depends on how well you convince him that what you offer, at the price and under the conditions you offer it, will fulfill his needs.

It’s always a good idea to consistently hone your sales skills and strategies. If you need a good sales resource, look no further than Mastering the World of Selling. It’s a brand-new book by Eric Taylor and David Riklan, and it contains one of the greatest collections of sales training wisdom for the 21st century that I’ve ever come across. It features sales strategies and advice from 89 of the world’s top experts including Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Jeffrey Gitomer, yours truly and more. 🙂 To find out more about Mastering the world of Selling, click here.

Do you have any dynamite sales wisdom that you’ve picked up over the years? If so, I invite you to share it here by leaving a comment–there’s no such thing as too much useful information. Thanks!