What’s the secret the best salespeople know (that they aren’t telling you) to take a list of potential leads and turn them into customers and profits for your business? We talked to successful entrepreneur Brent Beshore, founder and CEO of AdVentures, to get his five tips for making the leap.
1. Perfect the pitch. If your pitch leaves something to be desired, get another pitch—simple as that. If you don’t know a good pitch from a bad pitch, maybe you need some feedback. Test your pitch out on some honest peers or make an appointment with your local SCORE office to get some expert advice on how to create a pitch that works.
2. Focus on their needs, not your features. Customers want to be able to understand how your product or service will help them, not just hear about the benefits. Find out what each customer’s specific problems are and show how you can be the solution.
3. Follow up and follow through. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, and make sure you follow up to see if there are any questions you can answer—especially if the person seems hesitant. If the person asked a question you weren’t sure the answer to, find out and follow up. The effort will be appreciated.
4. Give them a reason to want to interact with you. Don’t just be a “salesperson” in the customer’s eyes. Be someone they want to talk to whether it’s because you’re a fountain of useful knowledge or you can get them tickets to a great event. Make them want to pick up the phone and call you (see #5).
5. Make it not all about business. Learn something personal about the prospect and be genuinely interested in the person. Don’t center the whole conversation on just the product or service. Leave enough time to give individual attention to each and every customer. The word will spread about your kindness. Even if you don’t get the sale, you may gain a friend.
Article courtesy of SCORE.