Here’s a fact for all salespersons looking to close more deals- 50% to 80% of your workdays are spent communicating. Since you’re dedicating so much time to it, good communication is the key to doing well in sales. It helps you show your customers why your product or service is great and why they should trust you.
As a salesperson, your superpower is being able to talk to potential customers in a way that makes them want to buy from you. If you find a way to harness and unleash this power, you can ace every target and achieve exponentially high closures. Besides, communication skills are the #1 in-demand soft skills that can boost your career.
Now that we’ve convinced you of the need to hone your communication in sales, here are 9 tips to help you do so:
- Form Meaningful Connections with Prospects:
Before selling anything, a successful salesperson should form a connection with prospects. Start by asking them questions like where they’re from, or what they do for work. It’s a straightforward, yet personal and powerful way to start a conversation.
By building this connection, you can gain insights into their unique requirements and difficulties. This understanding will enable you to customize your approach to meet their specific needs. Inquiring about prospects’ pain points and goals has been directly linked to higher sales success.
- Actively Listen to Them:
Strong sales communication requires active listening. Don’t solely focus on talking the entire time or planning what to talk about. Instead, let your prospects share their thoughts, and pay close attention to what they’re saying.
This sets you up to know your potential clients on a deeper level, giving you important information about their actions, desires, and requirements. It will also help you ascertain whether your offering aligns with the prospect’s needs, because this is the key determining factor for whether or not you can close the sale.
- Offer Your Undivided Attention:
A skilled sales communicator must know the importance of giving complete attention to a potential customer. It’s crucial to remain fully engaged and concentrated on the person you’re talking to. This helps you stay prepared for their questions and concerns. Otherwise, you can be caught in a tight spot wherein your prospect asks you for an answer, but you haven’t heard the question itself.
Make an effort to get rid of any distracting thoughts that may take your mind astray during the conversation. If you appear disinterested, your prospects will notice and feel that you’re not concerned with their requirements.
- Put Forth Your Point Clearly:
When engaging with prospects, it’s crucial to prioritize clarity and brevity. This eliminates the scope of misunderstandings or communication breakdowns. Provide essential information straightforwardly, avoiding unnecessary embellishments.
Ensure that you cover all the important points while speaking with them. You can also include some powerful words for sales interactions which create a lasting impression and scale your chances of success. Last but not least, don’t focus only on talking about the product. Giving some personal touches to the conversation can greatly help.
- Pay Equal Attention to Non-Verbal Communication:
Up to 93% of effective communication takes place through non-verbally, and hence it is vital to master this. Non-verbal communication means the things that you say through your body language. Important traits like confidence, friendliness, etc. can be conveyed through the way you carry yourself in front of prospects.
For example, maintaining eye contact conveys sincerity and empathy, indicating that you’re attentive to their needs. Conversely, avoiding eye contact can be perceived as nervousness or disinterest.
- Be Curious About the Prospect:
Good sales communicators cultivate and showcase curiosity about the people they’re conversing with. By asking pertinent questions, you can gain a deeper understanding of your prospects.
This understanding is essential to successfully selling any product or service, as it allows you to tailor your pitch to their specific needs. Invest time to know their challenges, unique requirements, and pain points. Identifying these pain points positions you to offer effective solutions.
- Learn All About Your Industry & Product:
A thorough understanding of the industry you operate in is essential to gaining the trust of prospective clients. Alos gain expertise about your product, comprehending its features, benefits, and unique value proposition. This empowers you to strengthen and sharpen your pitch in a way that aligns with your prospect’s needs.
Being well-versed in your field also equips you to address client inquiries with confidence and competence. Prospects will only consider closing a deal with someone they can rely on, so it is essential to build this impression of yourself.
- Be Honest:
A successful salesperson is characterized by honesty and trustworthiness. Building lasting client relationships relies on integrity, so avoid dishonesty not just for the sake of securing a sale, but also to form lasting business relations.
Always provide truthful and transparent information, delivering straightforward responses even if they may not be what the prospect wants to hear. When uncertain, commit to providing accurate information later. If your product or service isn’t a suitable fit for the prospect, communicate this openly.
- Develop Comfort with Silence:
While silence may feel uncomfortable, it can signify that the prospect is carefully considering their options before responding. Resist the pressing urge that you may feel to fill the void with additional questions or information about your offering.
Allow your prospects the space to think without interruption, signaling that you respect their decision-making process. This conveys that you’re not being pushy or aggressive in your approach and reinforces the perception that you respect their decision-making process.
Also Read: Sales CRM Software: How is it the Best Thing for Your Small Business Growth?
Conclusion:
Implementing these tips is sure to take your sales communication a notch above. You can even consider adopting some of these measures for your internal team interactions, because 64% of teams that communicate well are able to perform well. Hence, you stand a chance to holistically improve your work, and relations with clients as well as team members.
