Sales Tips and Techniques

10 Sales Tips and Techniques you can start using today

The following 10 Sales Tips and Techniques work for any business in any market. Try to start using these sales tips today and make them part of your way of selling, marketing and doing business in general.

1. What you sell

Know what you sell. Do you sell products, services or both? Maybe you sell or you should sell total solutions and take your current products and services to the next level and help customers solve their problems and satisfy their needs more effectively. Even companies in traditional commodity industries are able to position themselves as non-commodity providers by offering additional features and benefits based on understanding the customer. Think about the ideal total solution that your business can offer. The way you talk about your solutions, products and services can make a big difference for your customers and prospects. Can you become a solution provider?

2. Your customer

Know your customer. Understanding your customers and prospects is the most important part of your sales process. Why do they buy? What is the core need, problem, pain, opportunity or issue they need to satisfy or improve? Understanding the real customer needs can give you competitive advantage because you will be able to offer the right solution for your customers. When you talk to a customer and prospect ask yourself - What are their core needs?

3. Your competitors

Know your competitors. Your sales approach will work only if you are able to compare your solutions with your competitors. Your prospect will do the same so do your homework. You may think you have the best solution for your customer - however without knowing your direct competitors you might missing the boat or leaving money on the table. Learn more about your business competition and do it every single day. Learn more about Business Competition

4. Your Competitive Advantage

Know your competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is the uniqueness in your business model that allows you to create and deliver better and more efficient solutions for your customers. Competitive advantage can be based on your business operations, product, technical skills… but in any case it gives you the advantage to offer and deliver better solutions. Understanding the real advantage of your business and explaining the importance of your advantage to your prospect and customer can help you sell better.

5. Your Unique Sales Proposition (USP)

What is your Unique Sales Proposition (USP) – if you don’t have one, you need to develop a good one. Invest some time and prepare your USP. Your USP will be based on your customers, competitors and your competitive advantage. It will help you focus on the most important issues for growing your sales successfully. Your USP answers the question why and how your solutions (products or services) are different and better for your customers.

6. Your Sales Pitch or Elevator Pitch

Improve your sales pitch today. Learn more about creating a Sales Pitch

7. Your Sales Presentation

When you have the opportunity to present your business in more details by giving a Sales Presentation you need to prepare well and take advantage of this opportunity. For more information on how to prepare and deliver successful Sales Presentation please visit Sales Presentation Tips

8. Sell Benefits – Don’t Sell Features

Many entrepreneurs and sales people are so obsessed with their product or service - they enjoy talking about them. In many cases the prospect is not able to fully understand the benefits of the product or service you offer. Focus on the benefits and talk about benefits not about product features. The features are used only to support the questions about the benefits in case you need to explain in more details when answering your prospect’s questions. Use your product features to explain how you are going to deliver the benefits.

9. Sell Value

There are still businesses and sales people out there who use mark-up pricing. Price = cost + margin. This will almost never help you grow a successful business. By using this approach businesses ignore customer needs, competitors and either will lose sales or cut their profit margins. Sell value - not cost. The more value you provide to your customers the more they are willing to spend money on your solutions.

10. You need to listen more than you talk

Listening is critical for understanding your customers. When you listen and try to understand the customer or prospect and read between lines to identify the core needs and preferences you are able to offer the best solution for them. Listen and develop solutions based on what they need and be flexible to explore different possibilities.

For more sales tips visit Small Business Sales