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Selling is all about the other person. All salespeople should believe in their wonderful product or service; an attitude which is both a blessing and a curse. It is easy to get all product/service focused and tell people what you can do - without first establishing what they want.
Ideally get them to define what they want then merely agree that you can provide for what they need. Be a total fan of what they're after. Keep questioning until you really get a sense of the outcomes they want. They see this as genuine interest (which it should be!) and warm to you in exposing their issues, which can be goals they want to achieve or problems they want solving.
Remember the ultimate question: What makes that important to you? Often, this questioning alone will clear their thinking for them and you can propose to their exact requirements. At the point of moving to the next step of the sales process (often called the 'Close'), consider your prospect's colour preference and ask these kinds of questions:
Predominant RED Energy
(Business-like, abrupt)
- So, do you think this will get the result you need?
- What's your timescale? When do you want this?
- So what do you want me to do next?
Predominant YELLOW Energy
(Lots of enthusiasm, smiles and expression)
- I reckon this will be great for you lot - don't you?
- How do you see this working for you?
- When can we team up on this?
Predominant GREEN Energy
(Sincere and interested. Allow time for answers)
- Do you feel this may make a difference and give you and your colleagues the benefits you want?
- Is this something that your colleagues might find valuable?
- Do you have a sense of when your team could get together for this to happen?
Predominant BLUE Energy
(Relatively slow, serious and prepare for longer silences)
- So what are your thoughts?
- What other information do you need in order to make a positive decision about this?
- From a time perspective is this something you think could happen within the present financial year?
These have worked for us, but you should incorporate your own style (rather than just reading them off by rote!) However, the principles should be clear: Red = Results, Yellow = Enthusiasm, Green = Team, Blue = Detail.
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