Selling is a science like others. There are several things that if done properly will increase your chances of success by a lot. With a sale, whatever you are trying to sell, there are processes that if properly implemented will almost for certain assure that you close the sale or you will learn how to do better the next time.
Like marketing and other critical areas of the business, the main purpose is to fail fast and cheap. The idea is to learn quickly while in the process so you can go to the next prospectus and keep going.
I lay down below some elements absolutely fundamental to every sales process, that has to be present and have to be taken care of so you can improve your overall sales.
Know very well what you are selling
That is the first thing. If you do not know what type of problem you are solving, in which sense your product or service can help a company or an individual, it will be very challenging. You have to understand the ins and outs of what you are offering. If you are selling a B2B Saas if you have to know exactly what are the main benefits and what you are solving with it. If you have that clear, now you can go to the next step.
Know what is your buyer persona
Before taking your spouse to have dinner out, you can choose whatever restaurant you want, but the chances of a great dinner will increase if you know what is your spouse’s favorite food or at least what he/she does not like. The same thing happens with the buyer persona. You have to know exactly to whom you are trying to sell in order to better communicate and which angles to use during the selling process.
Qualify like crazy
Qualifying is the process of the filter of those who manifest interest in your product or service, the ones who can actually use it or afford to buy it. As soon as you can do it, the best for you. You want to cut as fast as possible with the ones who are not able to buy your product or the ones who will not be able to make the decision of buying your product, like if you are talking with the Marketing Content Creator when the one calling the shots are several steps above. This does not mean disregarding him or treating them bad. Not at all. You simply want to get it as soon as possible for the decision making. Qualify is key to understanding what your real profile is. You can start thinking that your ideal customer is one, but in the end, the ones who show better interest in buying it are completely different. Qualify will help you with that.
Build Rapport
When you are making a business, it does not matter if you are selling to companies or individuals, the ones deciding it will always be humans, and for that reason, emotional connection is key in every process. The capacity to create deep connections with the ones you are trying to sell is key. If you are able for them to like you, you are much closer to having a successful sale.
Create authority and credibility
In my recent company, when we create great quality content, show in the newspaper, or have great people on our podcasts and lives, all of these actions are enhancing our credibility and authority on the matter. You are not doing direct selling, but all these elements are definitely part of the customer journey before making the decision of buying or contacting us. You have to assure that people will see you as a reference in the field.
Find necessities or build new ones
The majority of directors, CEOs and people in leadership roles that I have been talking with, they are not aware, at least in the beginning, that the services we are offering can actually help them. They simply never felt it was needed. But at the same time, it is our role and responsibility to show them how much our product and service can have an impact on the overall results. And for that, you have to know exactly what is their main goal. If it is revenue, this should show up on the key consequences of starting to use our product.
There is also a second option, which is you realise new needs that you or she/him did not realise in the early stages of a conversation. One day I was talking with a school Director, and during the call, he clearly dismissed our solution, but he mention things that he has been struggling with and if you could help him with that.
Present a solution
Show how you can solve their problem. It is not about the nice features, characteristics or specifics of your product or service. It is about showing how it will help them solve their problem, and improve their results and the results of their department or company. If you focus on the solutions, I can assure you they will tend to you as a solution as well.
Get to know them as much as you can
Selling it is much more about listening than talking. And when talking, use that time to make questions and get to know them better.
Use objections and negotiations in your favour
Every salesman will tell you that an objection can be seen as an opportunity. And they are right. Every objection means 2 things: i) they are interested in the product but want to have further clarification, which means they did not disregard to buy it and ii) you have a chance to prove how great your product it is by tackling from the very beginning that problem. And what is the best way to tackle objections? With questions that will help you understand why is that objection is relevant for them. With that, you are collecting more information and when answering, will be even more compelling, and you are one step closer to closing the sale.
All these steps, with no exception, are key factors to a success of a sales process. You will have to pay close attention to which one of them to improve your results.
By Vasco de Matos Ramos
Vasco Ramos 
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