How Is Your Ability To Make The Sale?

by Jeffrey Gitomer

“ Jeffrey, what’s the best way to make a sale?”

When I’m asked this question (I’m asked it all the time), what the salesperson’s really asking is “What’s the easiest way to make a sale?”

EASY ANSWER: The easiest way to make a sale is to lower your price to a point where you make no profit. Not a good option.

REAL ANSWER: There is no easiest way to make a sale.

And just like there is no easiest way to make a sale, there is no best way to make a sale – but there are several elements that contain the word “best” that you must self-evaluate to discover why the sales take place or why not.

KEY POINT OF UNDERSTANDING: Selling is not manipulating. Selling is harmonizing.

Oh, you can occasionally make a manipulative sale. But if you’re still in the 1970s trying to “find the pain” or “sell an up-front contract” or “make a cold call” or “close the sale,” you’re toast. Sales toast.

Here are the BEST ways to make a sale:
• The best way to make a sale is to have your reputation precede you by word of mouth from your Google ranking and from your business social media presence.
• The best way to make a sale is to be known as a valued resource before you start.
• The best way to make a sale is to be friendly before you start.
• The best way to make a sale is to meet with the CEO or actual decision maker.
• The best way to make a sale is not to be salesy or cocky or condescending.
• The best way to make a sale is to find some common ground before you start the selling process.
• The best way to make a sale is to ask intelligent, emotionally engaging questions that draw out both needs and buying motives.
• The best way to make a sale is to walk into the meeting with two ideas in favor of the customer.
• The best way to make a sale is to have done pre-call preparation in terms of the customer.
• The best way to make a sale is to convey value rather than features and benefits. I know how it works and what it does. Tell me how I win.
• The best way to make a sale is to focus on how they profit and produce.
• The best way to make a sale is to focus on outcomes and ownership.
• The best way to make a sale is to relax throughout the entire sales conversation.
• The best way to make a sale is to respond in a heartbeat.
• The best way to make a sale is to make yourself available when a customer needs you.
• The best way to make a sale is to support and prove all your claims with video testimonials from existing customers who love you and are loyal to you.
• The best way to make a sale is to ask for a date of beginning or some type of commitment to move forward, after you are certain you have removed all risks and removed all barriers from your prospect’s buying process.
• The best way to make a sale is to have multiple relationships at different levels and departments within the same company.
• The best way to make a sale is to earn the status of a trusted adviser.
• The best way to make a sale is to create the atmosphere where the customer wants to buy.
• The best way to make a sale is to make the passion of your belief transferable.

And there are questions you must ask yourself that enable the list of the BEST ways to make a sale:

• Am I always achieving my personal best?
• Am I always preparing my best for every sales call?
• Is my attitude set on positive and positive outcome?
• Is my belief in product, company and self always at the highest level?
• Do I believe in my heart that the customer is better off having purchased from me?
• Am I always doing my best for every customer, every time?

REALITY: As a customer, I do not need a salesman. I need greater productivity, an idea that helps me grow, improved morale, a profit provider and a trusted adviser.

Is that you?

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of 12 best-selling books including “The Sales Bible,” “The Little Red Book of Selling,” “The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude” and “21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling.” His real-world ideas and content are also available as online courses at www.GitomerVT.com. For information about training and seminars, visit www.Gitomer.com or www.GitomerCertifiedAdvisors.com or email Jeffrey personally at salesman@gitomer.com.