Saturday, May 28, 2011

The Four P's of Closing Small Business Sales

Author: Tom Hopkins ? | ? May 27th, 2011

What do you think of when you hear the phrase, ?closing the sale,? what comes to mind?

Force? Intimidation? ?Persuasion?

To me ?closing the sale? means? helping someone make a good decision. The key words here are ?good.? If you plan to be in sales for any length of time, you?d better get a handle on that point. The superstars in this industry understand that they?re serving a need?to help people make decisions that are truly good for them.

But, in order to get to the point where you can help a potential client, you have to have the ability to get them to like you and trust you. If they like you and trust you, they won?t fight the small business sales process. But, if they don?t like you and trust you, not only will the strategies not work, they?ll backfire and your clients will feel you are getting pushy. The balance you must achieve is to radiate empathy, while being able to call for a decision and close the sale.

Top small business salespeople have confidence. Have you ever lacked confidence? Have you ever been wary of meeting new people? Overcome this by learning certain phrases, learning to ask the right questions. By doing this we build our confidence?just by using the words and making them our own.

If you had to describe the greatest selling tool, what would you say?

That word is Enthusiasm?enthusiasm for what you do. I don?t mean the type of enthusiasm that is outward, bubbly, ranting and raving?but the enthusiasm that you have inside of you for the product you represent.

To have enthusiasm, close your small business sales and be successful in selling you have to live by the four Ps.

Pre-plan - preplan every presentation. ?Before you meet your clients, preplan. Before you demonstrate a product, preplan. Before you handle an ad call, preplan. All professionals preplan?they don?t wing it! They don?t just get in front of a qualified decision maker and start talking. They know exactly where they are going and have their strategies and techniques planned out in advance.

The second P is Practice. There are many people who practice what doesn?t work. They hear and watch an incompetent salesperson not recognizing the incompetence, and they start doing the same thing. The key is to find a professional who has done what you want to do, set your goal to practice what he or she does and then perfect it. And that?s the next P.

You should always be seeking ways to Perfect what you do. If at any point you feel you know it all, you?re in trouble. ?The more you know, the more you need to know. It?s just like your income.

As you sell more and increase your income and expand your clientele, you?re going to need to increase your knowledge level, too. Remember, there is always a better way of saying and doing things. Don?t let yourself to plateau.

The last P is Performance. You?re constantly putting on a performance. This doesn?t mean phony. It means saying the right words the right way to get the end result that is in the best interest of your clients.

So, when you talk on the phone, when you meet people in your store or showroom, when you go on a test drive, it?s a performance. Everything you say and do is part of it.

Become a student of selling, study the four P?s I have listed above, watch what the professionals are doing, and search for new techniques and you?ll find you are closing more small business sales!

?

Related Posts

Source: http://www.marketingforsuccess.com/blog/sales/closing-small-business-sales/

swing map of europe unstoppable derek boogaard moldova cate blanchett jimi hendrix

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.