Sell More: How to Get Motivated Buyers To Call You First

How many sales opportunities have you lost to competitors who seemed to have the inside track? It's likely your prospect purchased from their emotional favorite.

Selling goes beyond communicating the value of your products and services. Selling is about communicating the value of doing business with you. It is about connecting with your customer and becoming their 'Emotional Favorite'. Success in sales requires three things:

1) A viable product that addresses a need

2) Credibility

3) Timing.

Some in sales claim in sales timing is everything; experienced sales professionals know timing is the ONLY thing.

There are a plethora of credible businesses with viable products. To be truly successful at selling you need timing - to be the first or second person your customer talks to when they need something. There are three simple ways to get timing:

1) Sheer numbers ? if you contact enough prospects, you'll eventually find opportunities

2) Referrals ? someone tells you the customer has a need for your product or service

3) Become your customer's 'Emotional Favorite' - the customer calls you first

Value Of Being First Being one of the first suppliers in front of your customers at the time they need what you sell is key to getting the business. Once the customer begins to shape a solution around a vendor's product or service, they become emotionally tied to that solution. People tend to make decisions and move on to the next problem.

What Is The Emotional Favorite? Think about the last time you purchased a product or service. When you picked up the phone, did you call the person who helped you in the past? The person who adds value to your business or your career every time you ask for their assistance? Chances are you did. The fact of the matter is most people do.

It used to be that people bought from those they know, like, and trust. To be successful in sales today, you need to go one step further and connect with your customers to become the person your customers know, like, trust?and want to see succeed.

The emotional favorite is the person your customers call first, regardless of what they need.

Becoming The Emotional Favorite So, if being the emotional favorite means you helping your customers fulfill their needs, how do you create this relationship where your customers think of you as their one-stop resource?

Start by asking questions about your customer when you meet for the very first time and at the end of EVERY sales call.

Think about the last time you encountered a 'stereotypical' sales person, the one who immediately launches into a sales pitch. How did you react? After a minute or two, did your eyes glaze over? As the sales person drones on, you stop listening waiting for an opportunity to end the conversation. Ultimately, that sales person falls to the bottom of the list of people you call when you need something. Not where you want to be if you're looking to become the Emotional Favorite.

Asking The Right Questions Obviously, you're not going to start with 'Hi, I'm Craig. What's your greatest challenge?'

Start with open-ended questions: Ask about how the latest government policy changes, or shifts in technology has impacted their business. Relate their business to your other industry contacts and share some of your own insights. Then you can ask about their greatest challenges and you will likely get the answers you are looking for.

Frame your questions outside your existing sales professional to prospect relationship because by default, your customer will answer in terms of your products or services. Start with "Let's forget about what I do for ABC Company for a minute" and ask:

· What is the biggest issue you have that you just can't get to? or,

· What is the one thing you are looking for but can't seem to find? or,

· What issue have you tried to solve but can't find a satisfactory solution to?

Now shut up and listen! When your customer stops talking, wait 6 seconds and listen to what they tell you next. First they'll tell you about the problem. If you don't interrupt them, they will tell you how the problem impacts them and the rest of their organization.

Now you have the enough information to connect your customer with a solution and if it's not available through you perhaps you know a colleague who can solve the problem.

What Are The Benefits Of Asking The Right Questions?

· You gain a better understanding of your customers and their organization.

· You will improve your customer relationships during a time when your customers do not need what you sell.

· You will get more time with your customers.

· You may learn of opportunities to sell.

Most customers don't tell you of needs they think are unrelated to what you sell. When you ask the above questions, you will learn of additional needs that may provide you with new opportunities to differentiate yourself and sell your products or services.

Craig Elias, a 15-year sales veteran and noted speaker on selling and networking, launched the first cross industry lead exchange company, InnerSell. Since then, InnerSell has won Tim Draper's "Billion Dollar Idea" pitch contest, received seed funding from the same silicon valley venture capital firm that funded Hotmail - Draper Fisher Jurvetson - and was recently chosen as one of the 40 hottest companies in Silicon Valley. InnerSell can be found at http://www.InnerSell.com

---

Chicken Little And The Disintermediation Myth

If Chicken Little were alive today he wouldn't be running... Read More

How To Shorten The Selling Cycle And Reduce Buying Stalls

The main reason for buyer resistance and selling stalls boils... Read More

How Many Ways Do You Have To Justify Your Price?

If you were selling a mansion, and you were selling... Read More

10 Amazing Product Selling Formulas

1. Sell your products at a wholesale price to retail... Read More

Success Reloaded: The Matrix

So the other day I'm watching the movie The Matrix,... Read More

Stop Talking - Start Selling

Selling is not talking. It's listening. You may have heard... Read More

UK Sales and Marketing Terminology

Terminology / AcronymsABC figures: This is the independently audited sales... Read More

Breaking Through The Comfort Zone Barrier

After completing a workshop on personal productivity or time management,... Read More

The Prejudging Predicament

There's a direct correlation between sales experience and prejudging. The... Read More

How Leaky is Your Sales Pipeline?

Does your Sales Pipeline leak? If you answered no, you... Read More

Going Global: Communication Across Mental Boundaries

A completed communication consists of a sender and a receiver.... Read More

Health Insurance Lead and Health Insurance Leads

Health insurance lead generation systems provide a stead stream of... Read More

Mindset Over Materials: The Secret Weapon of Sustainable Sales Success

Long-term sales success has less to do with skills or... Read More

Consumer Effort And The Purchase Decision

It is a basic tenet of behavioral psychology that people... Read More

How To Profit From Initial Consultations

"I'd love to work with you, but?"How many times have... Read More

9 Ways to Keep Clients Coming Back For More

A lot of effort is put into getting new clients.... Read More

At-ti-tude, n

At-ti-tude, n.One of Webster's dictionaries describes the word attitude as:a... Read More

60 Ways to Increase Your Mail Order Catalog Sales

This article is meant to inform. Please don't construe this... Read More

How To Sell Your Products or Services on Value And Stop Selling On Price Alone

Have you ever met with, or talked to a prospect... Read More

How to Build A Steady Stream of Customers--Step One

The success of a small business depends upon a steady... Read More

An Ideal Selling Situation

The largest sale that I ever closed was negotiated over... Read More

Telephone Techniques

TELEPHONE TECHNIQUESSelling face to face is different from selling on... Read More

Recommending Products Vs. Selling Them

Some of the best sales people I have ever met,... Read More

The Wall of Defensiveness: 7 Ways to Tear It Down

Have you ever gotten frustrated when you realize that your... Read More

How To Dramatically Improve Sales Closing Ratios

A closing question asks for a final decision. A trial-closing... Read More

Whats Your Clients Style?

When it comes to effective selling, one simple fact never... Read More

How to ASK for Business -- WITHOUT appearing Pushy --

GIVING Vs "SELLING"Never lose sight of the importance of providing... Read More

Instead of Discounting, Back Some Value Out of Your Proposal

Last minute discounting has become so prevalent that many companies... Read More

A Quick and Simple Tip For Gaining Customers

In the course of my career, I've had to deal... Read More

How To Take The Right Steps To Increase Your Selling Results

Steps - it is unrealistic for most salespeople to expect... Read More

In Sales Service Means Business

Some businesses flourish while others slowly fade away. There's usually... Read More

Your Best Friend - The Phone

We all know that you can't earn your commission until... Read More

Things You Need to Know Before Joining a Direct Sales Company

A lot of people are very intrigued by the idea... Read More