General Sales Techniques

Best practices for salesmen include multiple criteria that produce optimal results. Follow the helpful tips in this article to improve your own sales techniques. 

One of the most important elements of effective sales is to "warm up" a lead. This is something that has been established and repeated time and time again by many different people. In order to be effective at selling, it is important to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with the prospect. This is what many businessmen today call "win win."

Three Criteria

For the process to work, both the salesman and the prospect need to believe that the relationship is beneficial for both parties. In order for this to be the case, both parties need to explicitly or implicitly understand that three criteria have been met.

First, both parties should believe that the product meets the needs of the prospect. Not only that, but they should agree that it is the best product for their needs. Finally, they need to believe that it is also the best price for a product of its kind.

Once the salesman and the prospect both agree that these three criteria have been met, the sale will take place. The sales process should be designed so that both parties agree that these three criteria have been met, every time that they are met.

The Process

The sales process is divided into three basic parts: qualifying, presenting, and closing. During the qualifying phase, you need to determine what the prospect actually wants. If you start by asking them how they would like their life to improve in the near future, this will help you identify what it is that they actually want.

Once these desires are understood, the next step is to strengthen those desires by moving from "thinking" to "feeling" discussions. Get the prospect to talk about how making changes in their life would make them feel. This causes them to make themselves feel more interested in the benefits of the product or service.

It is at this point that you should shift into the presentation phase. During this part of the process, you discuss the benefits and features of the product you are selling. You should establish how these benefits align with their desires so that they come to agree that it is the best product for their needs.

The best time to address the question of price is during the closing phase of the process. This is when you establish how low the cost of the product is. One effective way of doing so is by establishing the cost of the use of the product over a lifetime. For example, you could estimate the amount of hours that they would use the product in their lifetime, and use this to tell them how little money they would be spending for each hour they used it.

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