We all have go-to people we choose each time we’re in the market, but why do we choose those people over others? This week we thought we’d make a bit of a laundry list of the key attributes that we see our favourite salespeople exhibit.
Encyclopedic Memory
Your favourite salesperson doesn’t forget you. They remember previous orders, what went right or wrong, they remember your kid plays football and they ask after your partner. Everybody likes a little bit of the personal touch, and when they have it, you warm to them.
This is a hard one to teach or learn – after all, you tend to be born with a good memory or not. How can you get a better memory? You could install brain training games on your phone or tablet, or you could cheat a bit! Store key notes on your contacts in your CRM, keep them updated after every appointment or phone call, and refer to them each time before you make a call. Voila! Suddenly, you remember everything about your customer.
Relationship Building
Closely connected with a decent memory, our favourite salespeople form a relationship with us. They care about us and we care about them. They keep in touch even after moving jobs, knowing secretly that they may need us again one day. Who knows where each of us will end up on our career paths?
Don’t Bull**** Us
The best salespeople don’t treat us like mushrooms ie. keep us in the dark and feed us bull****. They engage with us, tell the truth and have price and technical information to hand. Nobody ever went back to someone who clearly was faking it, making up numbers on the spot and telling us lies about the product. The best salespeople are honest, accurate and responsible for their products.
Good Listeners
Great salespeople listen and react according to our problems. Sales are all about solving problems, and until you know the customer’s problem, you can’t help them with the solution. They know that sales is about helping people, not selling.
Know Their Numbers
Nobody will trust you if you don’t get your numbers right. The best salespeople know their margins, what will sell, their profit, and where they are against their targets. If they are accountable with their margins, you know you’re also getting a good deal.
Good salespeople use a CRM system to help with targets, understand your profit margins, and see your pipeline opportunities. With an app like BuddyCRM, you can check details on the go and know for sure that you can make targets or keep margins up in the current negotiations.