Selling Technique - The Confident Sales Rep

How to close more sales by being confident.

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Selling Technique – The Confident Sales Rep

As a Sales Manager I get asked these questions over and over again:

• What makes a successful representative?

• How can I make more money?

• Why does Kelly or Jim make so many more sales than I do day in and day out?

To me it boils down one thing – Confidence. Sure you have to know how to sell. You have to have a lead source. But you cannot really succeed in sales without confidence in yourself and the product you represent.

Confidence means the ability to take control of the call. It means you have the tenacity to take on all objections. Having confidence tells the prospect that you are the authority figure. It tells the complaining or difficult customer that the “buck stops here.” 

Confidence also means that you don’t have to give a price discount. It means that you know you have a solid product and you know the prospect needs the products you sell. All you have to do is make the prospect want the products you sell.

Let me elaborate… “Confidence means you believe in yourself, your company, and the product you represent.” If you can just get that one line in your head, repeat it, and truly believe in it you will start selling 20% more tomorrow.

When you project a confident manner over the phone your prospect “hears” your authority. They “hear” your expertise. Your prospect doesn’t know that the only person that gave you this authority and this expertise is yourself but they do understand completely that you are in charge.

Being in charge first and foremost means taking charge of the phone conversation. I can’t stress this point enough. You have to be in charge of the conversation if you plan on selling anything. Being in charge doesn’t mean being arrogant or disrespectful. Just the opposite, it means asking appropriate questions that keeps the sales process moving in the right direction. That right direction is always leading towards a close.

When I get off the phone with a prospect my reps always comment on how well the direction of the call went. They also like me to jump onto their calls because I’m the resident expert on the subject. Here the trick to driving the call and becoming the expert… I’m the expert because I want to be the expert. I have command over the call, driving that call in a particular direction because I want to have that control. I am extremely confident in my sales ability. I may not close every deal but I approach every call like I’m supposed to close that deal.

How can you gain the kind of confidence that I have? 

1. Learn your product. Learn every aspect of the product so you can anticipate every question that may be asked. Here is the easiest way to learn the product – use the product you are trying to sell. You will be amazed at what you will learn by using the product. When sales reps fail to reach their goals they typically fail right here. They try to get by on their sales ability and they fail to learn their respective product so they can’t answer objections.

2. Learn how to ask open ended questions to your prospects. Always line up your questions so that they are heading towards a close. The next question you ask has to be leading the prospect towards the answer that you want. That answer should help the prospect solve for a need that they have. Here is why reps fail to ask open ended questions – They are afraid that the customer will give them an answer that will keep them from closing. It’s just easier for reps to pitch features than to ask questions that may accidentally lead them to an objection they didn’t anticipate.

3. Learn to listen to you prospect. Why do reps ask 2 or 3 very good questions but fail to listen to the answers. This happens every hour of every day. The prospect is feeding you answers. They are feeding you what they need from your product and what they want from your product. Listen to them. Quit thinking about the next question and listen to the answer being given. If you listen you will be able to drive the conversation towards the direction you want to go.
   

Confidence isn’t something that is given to you, or that you earn. Confidence is a requirement for all sales representatives. You will acquire immediate confidence in your sales ability and close more sales if you will learn your product, learn how to ask questions, and finally learn how to listen to your prospects. Why do Jim and Kelly earn more than you and close more sales day in and day out? It is because they have confidence in their product, their company and their own sales abilities.

Sincerely,

David Peterson

Author of: 

Been There - Done That

David Peterson's Search Engine Optimization Guide

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