Posted on: 02 December, 2001
Author: Kevin Nunley
A lot has been written about what makes a good salesperson.Education, experience, training, and even a certain inborn"killer instinct" have all been mentioned as necessary qualitiesto be good at sales... A lot has been written about what makes a good salesperson.Education, experience, training, and even a certain inborn"killer instinct" have all been mentioned as necessary qualitiesto be good at sales. From my experience, however, the bestsalespeople are the ones who are the best "people watchers."In other words, to be able to sell to your customers, you have tobe able to know who they are, what they want, and what they arefeeling. All of these can be determined with good research,strong observation skills, and an attentive nature.Knowing your customers is not just a one-time act -- you want topay attention to your customers before, during, and after thesale:BEFORE THE SALE:You should have a feel for your "ideal" customer before youlaunch any advertising or marketing campaign. What newspapers,magazines, and e-zines do they read? What topics interest themmost? What groups or associations do they belong to?You can devise a questionnaire to send to your best customers andprospects. Entice them with a free offer or a big discount.Many actors start developing their character by writing down along list of words that describe the character. This helps theactor think deeply about the part they are going to play.This strategy works well to help you figure out what kind ofpeople buy often. You likely know far more about your prospectsand customers than you realize. This method helps you get aclearer understanding of what you probably already know.DURING THE SALE:You can save yourself time and energy by paying close attentionto your customers during the sales process. One thing you shoulddefinitely do is watch for signs that the customer is ready tobuy.The more expensive your product or service, the more time ittakes to sell it. Customers want to know all about how it worksand what it can do to make their life or business better. Helpthem work through this process and you will make more sales.Here are a few signs customers give you when they are ready tobuy.The customer suddenly speeds up the pace. She has decided shewants to buy and is moving with more purpose toward the sale.Some people are just the opposite. They slow down the pace whenthey get serious about buying. Rush them and you will lose thesale.Your customer starts asking a lot of questions. Remember thatcustomers only ask about things that really matter to them. Takethis as a good sign you've got a serious prospect.Others will ask all about terms of payment, delivery, andguarantees even before they tell you which item they want. Theyfeel more comfortable doing this because they can show seriousinterest in buying without letting you know exactly what theywant to buy.AFTER THE SALE:This could be the most important time to pay attention tocustomers, especially if you want to make repeat sales or getreferral business.Contact your customers to see if they are satisfied with theirproduct or service. If the customers have questions orcomplaints, do your best to answer the situation quickly.Remember that you can sometimes head off future problems bypaying attention to customer concerns.If you find that your customers are completely satisfied, ask ifyou can get a testimonial. Nothing helps you make a sale likestrong testimonials from satisfied customers. Prospects areimpressed when they hear positive things from those who havealready bought your product or service. "This gadget doubled mygas mileage and saves me $200 a month! Buy it!"Some types of customer recommendations work better than others."This is great stuff" is a good testimonial but "This stuff cutmy costs by 20%" is even better. Try to get customerrecommendations that tell what kind of results the user got.When customers say something good about your business orproducts, ask them if you can use their comment in yourmarketing. Almost everyone will be delighted and flattered thatyou want to use their words. Write them down and file them awayfor later use.Even though the Internet is probably the most technological thingin our lives, we need to remember that Internet BUSINESS stillrevolves around PEOPLE. We should always make sure that we payattention to the people we do business with -- there really NObetter way of doing market research. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com