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I once read that more than 80% of selling is in the mind and the other 20% could be achieved by anybody. There are many ways to increase sales that can be achieved by simply changing our behavioural attitude and here are some suggestions that will improve sales considerably when applied over time.

applied over time.

Reciprocity

Customers are faced with so much choice these days that they will tend to buy from where they feel they are getting the best value and the best service. In order to stand out from the crowd the sales person must offer value and great service before the sale takes place, whenever and wherever possible. People feel a natural obligation to do something in return for someone who genuinely goes out of their way to help them. People buy from people, especially when they feel that the seller cares about their well being.

Identify Your Selling Strengths

Most entrepreneurs like to feel that they can put their hand to many different tasks within the business. However we are all born with different talents and therefore can't be "anything to everyone" without making serious compromises. It's therefore much more sensible from a selling perspective to identify key strengths and to focus more on them. One person may be great at writing Ads while another may be brilliant at selling to people on the phone. Once we find our talent we will nurture it with greater passion and interest. Someone else can do the tasks that we struggle with.

Get to Know Your Customers Better

This may seem a little obvious but it's so easy to fall into the trap of trying to influence the customer in the direction of our own personal gain. Instead we should be making an effort to get to know the customer, in particular when they reveal something about their personality, as this can used to build better relations and gain greater leverage. People are more influenced by people who they feel know them better. It's not rocket science and it definitely works.

Focus On the Transformation the Customer Will Experience

Start observing Ads from a seller's point of view and you will realise that sometimes the focus is in the wrong place. You will frequently notice that some companies are so absorbed in their own products that they forget about the customer experience. It's a common pitfall in marketing and even the biggest companies out there make this mistake. Companies can literally pour millions into advertising campaigns that fail to communicate with the customer's needs.

If you ever read the children's story about the "king's costume" you would know what I mean by this. In a nutshell, the king hires a tailor to create a beautiful costume to make a princess fall in love with him. The tailor works all night but can't come up with anything that he believes is spectacular enough. In the end the tailor says that only intelligent people can see the fine material which in reality doesn't exist. The king therefore pretends he can see it so he doesn't appear stupid. He then goes on the parade naked and everybody laughs at him. The princess finds it funny and falls in love and everything ends well, as it usually does in children's stories. Marketing people will also tell their boss that the Ad is wonderful in order not to appear like they don't get it.

Personal Branding

We live in a world of globalisation of industry and fashion which inevitably leads to similarities wherever you go. It's a bit like this in the commercial world too and this makes it more difficult not to appear very similar to another person selling similar goods or services. This is where personal branding can be very effective. You as the sales person need to show your individual personality to the prospect or customer. As a result, they will either identify themselves in you or will be repelled by your branding. This comes back to what I said earlier, that as an entrepreneur you can't be "anything for everyone" You need to choose your market and as difficult as it may seem, you also need to choose your client.

So it really all boils down to the customer experience at the end of the day. It's just such a pity that our sub-conscious tells us to put our interests first and that we have to constantly fight the voice in our head and persuade it to think of others.

David Lynch is a Sales Training Designer, Author & Sales Coach. He has more than 20 years experience across different industries such as hospitality, Insurance & software. He has written works such as "25 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling" that can be downloaded FREE at http://www.saleswillgrow.com/freesalestraining2.html and you can find out more about David at http://www.saleswillgrow.com

By David Lynch
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