Sales Techniques Examples Sales techniques examples for an ever changing world to which all salespeople now find themselves selling into. We know that sale success is a based on two main things, hard sale skills, like product knowledge, and soft sale skills, which are harder to define. There is no doubt that selling today is highly competitive. Customers are more demanding than ever and even getting their attention is a huge challenge. Advancements in technology have made it so that customers can buy the products they need without you, or they can buy them from someone else without ever even leaving their office. So, every salesperson has to try to differentiate themselves. This means the needs and goals of any sales professional should be secondary to the needs of the customer. But first, maybe a good starting point to is try and define what sales means today. What Is Sales? Selling means exchanging value for value. The basic rule of selling is that people do not buy products; they buy benefits. Sales is about getting someone else to take action, to teach customers something new and compelling and provide reasons for them to act. To be in sales today is all about recognizing the true motivations of buyers and aligning solutions that matches their needs and desires. Sales Techniques Examples These sales techniques examples are designed to provide food for thought. To put this into context, a B2B buyer survey recently reported that they believed that the purchasing process is more tedious due to more detailed ROI analysis (77%), more extensive research activity (75%), and increased buying group members (52%). There is no one size fits all sales process, however most have certain steps in common including, identifying the type of customers who will buy, how to engage them, establishing sales conversations, building credibility, ascertaining if an opportunity exists, creating trust, presenting value and closing the deal. Understanding these sales techniques examples should help understand the various methods in sales in a way that benefits your customers and you. The commitment to implementing any sales technique takes time and effort. The role of the salesperson is extremely challenging. Salespeople now operate within a complex, demanding and dynamic working environment where they are prone to experience an array of different emotions through their various interactions with customers and prospects. Customer Target Selection Customer target selection solves involves identifying who is your target customer. This underpins the sales activities, resources, and other strategies for both the salesperson and the business.  Sales success is more likely to come from figuring out which type of buyer or business would understand the need for the product or service and recognize the most value in using it. Doing this research also helps to visualize and prepare to have conversations with a specific buyer profile. It’s easier to start a sales conversation with a customer when we know background information, industry trends, position in the company, and any recent news. Get to know what ideal customer profile will respond best to the company’s value proposition and selling will become more fruitful. Truly understanding who the target customers is, is a fundamental step to almost any type of sales activity. Know Your Value Proposition Ultimately, every customer will opt to purchase products and services that improves their situation in some way, in other words – to extract value. What is value? Well, value equals the rational and emotional benefits any customer will receive from selecting a product or service minus the price they pay. The value proposition for a salesperson to have in executing sales conversations is a short, compelling statement that articulates the specific benefits that the company, product or service is offering the target customer. It is the acid test in sales to make sure salespeople have something to say, which answers the customers “Why Listen” and “Why Care” questions if they were to consider a buying journey. In essence, a value proposition is a key building block in answering a customer’s question “why should we buy anyone’s product or service?” Building Rapport A professional salesperson talks a lot less than their customers do.  The job of a professional salesperson is build rapport, then control the conversation by asking well-crafted questions that prompt the customer to talk more and disclose their needs. Learning how to build rapport takes time, which is why it is one of the most difficult sales techniques to master. Building rapport is the act of building relationships with customers in which both sides feel there is something of value and are understood. Rapport in sales, builds upon the skill of effective communication, which requires that the ability to create shared purpose via open communication. Building rapport includes the ability to present ideas clearly, to listen without distractions, how a salesperson delivers the message appropriately and the content of the sales message is be clear and detailed. Solve Problems One of the most important sales techniques examples is to undertake to solve problems, not sell products. A customer wants a solution to a six inch hole, not buy a six inch drill. Too often salespeople are just too eager to talk about their products without understand the real pain points of the buyer. This happens because the salesperson has been conditioned to believe that they must get their canned sales pitch out on the table as quickly as possible. It happens automatically, like their brain is on cruise control as they wait for the customer to take a breath so they can jump in. To ensure that they are adequately meeting the needs of the buyer and their company, salespeople should follow a consistent and precise plan of communication. So, before a salesperson gets to the conversation about what their company can provide, they need to ask a series of discovery questions to identify which if in fact an opportunity exists at all. Then, and only then, can they formulate a solution that would be the best fit for the customer. To do this, salespeople need to acquire the confidence to explain they need toSales Techniques Examples