les magyar

So you have a big sales meeting in a couple of days and you want to rock it. You’ve practiced what you’re going to say a millions times. You’re confident that your offering brings value to your client. Everything is ready to go.

How do you increase the odds that your customer will perceive the value that your company brings? The reason people buy is because of perceived value. What do THEY see as valuable?

Not every product can easily sell itself. Some are complex. The value isn’t always obvious. The odds aren’t always in your favor from the get go.

Just focus on building a relationship, ask them what they consider valuable, and offer that to them. Ask questions to find out the “why” in your sales meetings. Why are your clients actually meeting with you? Why would they buy what you’re selling? Have them answer these questions for you and teach them why they should do business with you.

The simple answer to a common question.

“I can’t stand when salespeople try pushing things on me”

I hear a variation of that sentence everyday. When people think sales, they think of the stereotypical pushy salesperson who acts like they’ve had six cups of coffee. Someone who doesn’t listen, cuts you off when you’re speaking, and makes you feel like you’re being “sold”. I’ve watched people find some success with this style, but the upper echelon of salespeople approach the game much differently.

The best of the best salespeople don’t “need” sales, they don’t seem desperate, and they have the intention of actually helping their customer. This is the most effective sales attitude you can have.

When you’re a startup, you can put a ton of pressure on yourself to make those first few sales. You need to be conscious of coming across too strong. Make your entire focus on building a friendship, not on closing sales.

The Boiler Room

Auto, furniture, and real estate all have a pretty good reputation for having pushy salespeople. If you’re doing cold calls or door to door sales, you’ll come across this same perception. Fortunately for you, this stigma can be used in your favor. Before anything, the first sale that is made is you, the salesperson.

Personally, I’ve sold everything from skateboards to mortgages to high-tech green technology and everything in between. In the end, your end goal is the same no matter what you’re selling. Build a relationship.

People are people, they hate to be sold to. Whether you’re selling to an architect or a soccer mom, people can sense when you’re “selling” them. Just make your sales meetings a conversation. Don’t think of it as “closing the sale”, become their friend.

You need to position yourself as a person of value.

Did you give off a good first impression?

Were you smiling, friendly, and confident?

Did you engage the client with a question about THEM?

Did you differentiate yourself from the competition?

How credible and trustworthy were you perceived to be?

Did you exceed their expectations?

These are the questions that you should be asking yourself, not “How do I close the sale?’

Instead of trying out some closing technique that someone has trained you on, focus on building a relationship with the customer. The only closing questions that I’ve asked are similar to “Did you want to go with this?” or “How’s this sound?”. I learned many closing techniques during my time in corporate sales, none of them proved to be valuable. People don’t appreciate being manipulated.

I recently had a salesperson in a local mall kiosk stop me and try to sell me some expensive fingernail polisher. She tried to get me to say “yes” three times before asking her closing question. This was a technique that a corporate sales trainer had tried to teach me a few years ago. I didn’t buy into that idea then and I didn’t buy the $100 fingernail polisher now. Some view this as a persuasive closing technique. The truth is, true persuasive comes from being genuine.

Negotiation is one of the most valuable skills that you can learn in business. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a tech company in New Zealand. Their sales closing ratio was not nearly at the level they had expected last year and they wanted to know why. During the first Skype conversation we had, the question “What would your advice be to improve my team’s negotiation skills?”. This question comes up now and then while I’m working with startups as well. Here are 6 tips to get you started.

Always be prepared to walk away

This is by far and away the most important point to take away. If you are completely prepared to walk away empty-handed you’ll be calmer, have more confidence, and you won’t be giving the other party an upper hand. If you NEED it, you’ll show all your cards and end up with a lesser result. Prior to starting negotiations, you should have alternatives that you can live without if the talks don’t go your way.

Listen

This underutilized skill is also a great negotiation tool, one that many people seem to ignore. There’s a  stronger chance of your point being heard by the other person if they feel listened to. If the person you’re speaking with doesn’t feel listened to, they will feel annoyed or frustrated. After they finish a sentence, nod or smile, repeat their words back to them. Make them know you ARE listening. People appreciate a good listener.

Patience is a virtue

From my experience, most people lack patience. I don’t think a day goes by where someone admits that they are impatient in nature. One thing that I’ve learned in life is good things come to those who wait. Much of the time you will get what you want simply by waiting out the situation and letting the other person make a move. It’s similar to when I tell startups to keep their mouths shut once they’ve asked a question. “So what do you think?”, then let the other person respond. Do not say a word. You’ve asked a question for a reason, now respect the silence and use it to your advantage. No matter how awkward it is, let the other person have a chance to digest your question and respond. Patience is much easier if you are prepared to walk away before negotiations even start, don’t underestimate this skill.

Be direct and ask them what they want

A question like “What are you looking to get out of these talks?” will help you prepare what you’re going to offer. It can also determine that you’re both wasting time if you are a million miles apart. If they respond with something like “I’m obviously looking to get the best deal possible.” respond with something like “Well John, let’s get it all on the table so we can work together and get this done.” Asking them what they want directly will also show that you care. When trying to come to a win-win solution, this is an important point.

Give the other party a “win”

Before you start negotiations, figure out something that you can live without. When I’m sales coaching, I always tell people to keep something in their back pocket. Like a killer feature or benefit that will blow the client away. In negotiations, do the same thing. Have something in your back pocket that makes them feel like they have won something when they walk away. Make them earn it, it will increase its effectiveness.

Be professional and always friendly

Always maintain composure and never be confrontational. You don’t want to give the other person a reason to be harder on you. This makes it more difficult for everyone involved. It’s just like when you hear a hockey coach tell players to drop the trash talk because he doesn’t want the other team more motivated and playing harder.

Whether it’s for salary, a big deal you want to close, or terms on a business partnership, you want to come to a win-win situation. Keep a calm demeanor, stay focused, and don’t cave in the first time someone throws something at you. Improving your negotiation skills will gain you respect amongst your coworkers and increased revenue for your company. Continuous education and improvement is key.

Listen, don’t hear. People will enjoy speaking to you even more. Connecting with people is an art form. The psychology behind this shows that there are many factors involved when it comes to building rapport with another person. Your body language can help or hinder your efforts. Are you glancing sideways or looking into their eyes? Are you sighing or smiling? The list goes on.

My average week consists of meeting many companies, from one person startups to huge corporations. It still amazes me how often I’m asked “How do I build rapport with this person?” or “How do I break the ice?”. It doesn’t matter how much experience the person has or how big their company, people struggle with connecting to people who they’ve just met. It’s a skill that you’re born with or something you can develop. Either way, if you want to make sales and money, you need to be aware of its importance.

Usually the first thing I tell people is to genuinely listen to the other person. Don’t think about what you’re going to say next. Don’t think about how great you look in your new shirt. I’m sure you look unbelievable, but really listen to their words.

If you have trouble when it comes to “listening”, which many people do, look into how you can improve. Focus on maintaining excellent eye contact is a great start. Not to the point where the person feels intimated or weirded out, but maintain a reasonable amount of contact.

5 Step Checklist To Get You Started

1. Mentally repeating what they’ve just said is a good practise.

2 . Don’t prejudge people. Remember, don’t judge a book by its cover.

3. Listen with empathy. How would you rate your emotional intelligence? Don’t know what EI is? Introduce yourself, every relationship in your life will improve.

4. When someone interrupts you, don’t interrupt them back, no matter how much you want to. When you have a customer speaking, you’re learning about them and their situation. This is key to controlling a sales conversation and asking better questions.

5. Learning to become an excellent listener requires effort on your part, just like it takes an effort to become active in health and fitness. The more you work at it, the bigger the results.

Listening saves you time and effort, creates fewer misunderstandings, and makes the other person feel appreciative. Until you have built some sort of relationship, you can’t even begin to sell anything effectively.