During this year, I have learned the importance of learning to sell. I know that this skill can help me to achieve many goals and position myself as a successful woman in the work field. For this reason, I have been training myself to become a better salesperson, through reading books, and articles, but also taking action and selling American products in Colombia. Some of the principles that I have learned so far and that I plan to apply in my career for helping companies to grow and be profitable are the following:
1. Listen to the customer and identify his needs:
I have been learning to make connections with people, listen carefully to them, and identify problems they might have, and they want to solve. Some months ago, I struggled to present products to potential customers. I used to talk about all the benefits that they had without realizing first whether or not they were going to be useful for those people. I used to assume that because my products had high quality, they were appropriate for everybody. Thanks to those times I failed, I learned that no matter how great a product is, it cannot be valuable to a customer if he/she does not need it.
2. Being sincere:
Even though at the beginning of my sales journey, I had problems learning to identify customers’ needs, I have always been honest about the things I sell. I let clients know that they are choosing the wrong product when I notice that it won’t be beneficial for them. Even if it means that they are not going to purchase anything.
Being sincere not only helps me to feel good about myself, but it also helps me to close other sales in the future. Telling the truth creates trust and makes clients understand that I want to help them, and I am not just trying to make money. Next time they need a product I sell, they might remember that I am willing to serve them and they decide to buy them from me.
3. Positioning myself as a trustworthy expert:
Knowing everything about my products and the market they are in is crucial; this makes my clients feel confident about what they are buying. Letting them understand the advantages or disadvantages of acquiring the goods I sell compared to the ones competitors offer can help them to make better judgments and decisions. In this way, I gain clients’ trust, and consequently, I can close deals.
4. Do not show that I need a sale: I learned this principle in an article I read recently, that explained some keys to become a better seller. The author explained that it is vital to never, ever show to a customer that it is urgent for me to sell something. Clients prefer to close deals with people who are confident and successful. When they hear that their purchase gives a solution to personal problems the seller has, it might sound like he/she is trying to manipulate their decisions. Unless I try to get funds for a non-profit organization, the only reason why the customer should buy something is that he/she needs it.
5. Address price-value: It is vital to let customers know about the price of products. Even if they are expensive, I need to let them know their value. Avoiding to talk about it might give the clients a wrong perception of me. They might think that I am trying to charge more than they cost or that I am hiding information with a non-transparent purpose.
6. Close the sale: This is one of the most important steps but is not necessarily the most difficult one for me. Once I identified the customer’s need and the right product for solving that problem, and the customer agrees to buy it. I set up a time with him/her to deliver the product and to collect the money.
My roadmap to success in sales is not about complicated processes I push myself to follow. It is about building trust with customers and caring about their needs in life. The more I learn about sales and the most successful I become selling things, the more grows my interest in it. The best part about becoming a saleswoman is not just to make good money, but to learn to connect more with people and create better relationships with the ones around me.
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