The Three Truths of Selling

Turn Your Conversations Into Cash-flow

3 Keys to Success – You Can’t Close Before You Open!

When I ask people what their greatest challenge in selling is, the most common response I receive is that they don’t know how to close.  That’s actually good news because 75% of the outcome of any selling opportunity is directly related to manner in which trust and relevance are established in the initial stages of a presentation.  In other words, what happens in the end is determined by the way you begin.  You may have a complex sale with a  long sales cycle or a simple product with a very short sales cycle but in either case you can’t close before you open.

There are three keys to making sure you get your meetings off to a good start and help you establish deep and lasting trust.  These keys will ensure you can properly close when the right time presents itself:

• Make a positive and lasting introduction to every meeting.
• Ask intelligent questions before you try to sell anything.
• Confirm your understanding of the situation based on the answers you received.

The number 1 rule in communication is that people prefer talking to listening.  That means that you prefer talking to listening and it means that your customers also prefer talking to listening.  Two people are trying to communicate and both want to do the talking;  this is a conflict.

Most salespeople go into meetings trying trying to show how smart they are.  They begin the meetings talking incessantly: they’ve got the best product, or cheapest price, or the most incredible company with the most history etc., etc., etc., but none of this really means anything if you don’t know where the customer is coming from.  Customers need first and foremost to trust you and they can’t trust you if they sense that you don’t understand them.  Asking questions is the key to understanding it’s also the best way to get get relevant and to get your prospect talking!

Next a prospect begins a meeting with something like: “thanks dropping by, what is it you think you can do for us”?  You can simply respond, that’s a good question, but I don’t know what to tell you because I haven’t asked you anything yet.  Then ask a couple of intelligent questions, listen to the answers and you’re on your way to making a sale.

About Howard: Howard Olsen is President of High Output Training Systems, a Boutique Sales Training & Sales Consulting firm based in Vancouver Western Canada. As a professional sales trainer, keynote speaker and sales coach & mentor his powerful sales process and positive profit producing messages help thousands of sales people and business professionals look through the eyes of their customers to close more sales without pressure or friction every year. Follow Howard on Twitter @howardolsen or just give him a call at (604) 731-0901 to see if he can help you and your team.