5 marketing rules every salesperson needs to know

Posted by Kate Summel
2
Apr 6, 2023
180 Views

Everyone knows that any company must be engaged in attracting customers and increasing profits in order to "stay afloat."

True, isn't it? Now that we've identified the first obvious rule, it's time to answer the logical question: who is responsible for attracting customers and who exactly should convince potential buyers to give their hard-earned money to your company?

If you answered that the responsibility lies with the marketing department, you are correct. If you think that the sales department should play the first violin, then this is also true.

After all, both sellers and marketers are mainly busy attracting customers to the company. The approach of the two departments to this issue may be different, but both of them, no doubt, will agree to perform this kind of task. If you want to know who called me, follow the link to find out more.

If the marketing and sales departments interact harmoniously, then they will work perfectly together and achieve the goal if their tactics for attracting customers are the same. The marketing department attracts customers interested in cooperation with your company, and the sales department develops interpersonal relationships with potential customers and convinces them to sign under the "dotted line" of the cooperation agreement.

During all this time, both departments work closely with each other to build relationships with a potential customer, which will eventually begin to bring constant profit to the entire company.

So, the overall goals for the sales and marketing departments are set. Now it's time to talk about what a seller should learn from a marketer in order to become even more successful, and list the basic rules for selling goods.

1. Know your target audience before you start working with them

Do a little exercise. Close your eyes and imagine your kindergarten teacher. She says something, teaches you something, gives a command that you do not understand. You keep hearing that same command for the next 20 years of your life, until it finally takes root in your head. Teacher after teacher repeated this phrase, and you still don't understand that they were trying to hammer into your head the most basic rule of sales and marketing: "Do your homework!"

This may have become the talk of the town, but when it comes to acquiring new customers, there is no better way to start. In fact, it is not worth starting at all until good initial research has been done.

In order to do everything right in the future, you need to remember the first rule of a marketer: “we don’t sell to everyone, but only to the target audience.”

When it comes to cold phone sales, the biggest problem companies face is a large number of calls with low sales, resulting in disastrous conversion rates. Ultimately, you will lose the main resources of the company - time and money.

Conversion rates will not decrease if you can move in the right direction. Any salesperson knows that a presentation can be perfect, but if it's not aimed at the target audience, your efforts will go nowhere. Therefore, marketing and sales experts focus on understanding and studying the personality of a potential client, instead of just communicating with him.

It doesn’t matter what you do, car sales or network marketing, if you don’t understand who your target audience is, then the conversion will be low. Interested in real estate directory, find out more by clicking on the link.

The basic rules of the sales manager at the stage of doing homework:

  • Study your potential client's communication style.  Pay attention to what phrases and expressions he uses. Do not use professional terms if you see that the client does not understand them. Speak the same language with him.

  • Create a profile of a potential client.  The Internet will help you with this: collect information through social networks or a personal blog / website / landing page of the client in order to get a general idea of ​​​​the personality of your client, about his hobbies. This information will come in handy when you start directly communicating with him. But keep in mind: using everything you can learn is not worth it.

  • Learn the characteristics of your target audience . Avoid general, obscure statements. Find out as much as you can about the product the customer is selling. The basic rule for selling certain types of goods: if we are talking about sports shoes, specify which brand of shoes is in the greatest demand, where the company's head office is located.

All collected data will help to understand the specifics of the client's activity, and you will be able to answer the question: "What need can we satisfy?". We will talk about this further.

2. Listen like an entrepreneur

A little reminder: the buying process involves several sequential steps that a potential customer goes through. These steps are aimed at assessing the quality and cost of the proposed product / service. The final action is to buy, that is, pay for the proposed product / service.

Naturally, a refusal to purchase is possible at any stage of this process. Hence, this is where both the marketing department and the sales department try to do their best to minimize the likelihood of this outcome as much as possible. “But this requires a lot of experience, how to achieve such a result?” - you ask. The answer is simple. And he has been known to you since childhood. Remember what your mother told you every time? "Listen carefully!" This is the basic rule of retail sales of goods.

If you are trying to sell your services to someone you are just starting to work with, and you are at the first stage of the sales funnel - the stage of establishing a personal contact, then you should not immediately use professional terminology that is characteristic of the industry of work. They just won't understand you.

Accordingly, it is impossible to use the same communication style and sales technique with those who are just starting to work with you, and with those who are at the final stage of the transaction: this can have a bad effect on the result.

That is, if you decide to communicate with all customers in the same way, then the chances of success will be small. Based on how the customer company is aware of the specifics of your activities, you should prepare a presentation. What do you think, if the client is satisfied with everything and, in principle, he is ready to buy from you, does this give a 100% guarantee that the transaction will take place? Probably not.

Convincing someone to buy is much more difficult than just talking with the client in the same language and words he understands. In the first case, the outcome is likely to be: “Great idea, but I don’t need anything,” but in the second case, it is likely to be: “Take the money, your product / service is just what I was looking for” .

The second rule worked here - the ability to listen. In fact, all marketing strategies to attract customers to the company come down to constant communication with the client. You, as a seller, have a unique opportunity to show the client exactly what you can do to make their plans come true. Listen to what the client says, what worries him: what prevents you from sleeping peacefully? What need can you satisfy?

Listen to what problems he faces and offer concrete solutions. Confirm that you have heard the customer by describing their needs, that is, reiterate what you have already heard and help them imagine how the customer's business and personal life will change when he starts using your product or service. You can't help if you don't know how things were before the moment I met you.

3. Sell yourself

This rule is already clear, but still requires careful consideration.

It doesn't matter if you sell software or sell sandals, the consumer is always interested in one thing: why are you better than others?

No, the answer to this question does not imply a detailed essay on a given topic. If you can answer convincingly and briefly, then you are an ideal seller.

The “sell yourself” rule involves a lot of work that needs to be done before you start communicating with a client.

Spend some time improving your presentation. How to clearly and concisely tell about your advantages over competitors so that the client understands that they need to buy from you? Here you can use another rule of marketing - testing.

Go beyond just one presentation, pay close attention to what can affect success. Experience and attention to detail will help determine the right sales technique, which will ultimately lead to greater success. Don't be afraid to ask existing clients "Why did you choose us?". Be a friendly person who makes a good and positive impression.

Since you are a salesperson, you are likely to come across a lot of negative stereotypes. You will need to prove to your client that you are not some small trader, greedy for money and wanting to get this money in any way.

If you can prove that you are forward-thinking and dynamic, your company will succeed. But if you behave like a slippery snake, they will most likely rush to say goodbye to you.

4. Don't be a bore

Imagine that when dialing a number, you made a mistake and called the wrong person. To your dismay, you landed on a telemarketer. He, not listening to you, begins to press and persuade (or even force) you to sign up for a monthly shipment of rabbit slippers. Your response: "Thanks, but I don't need it."

But the seller doesn't care. He continues: "These rabbit slippers are recognized as the best in the US, and you are missing the opportunity to see it." Further, his pressure becomes stronger, because you did not know that there are different colors of slippers. Patience is at the limit, and you throw curses at this company (including rabbits, slippers and everything else).

Upon hearing the word "salesperson", most buyers will scatter in horror.

The main reason homeowners hide behind a curtain when they see a salesman on their neighbor's doorstep, or hide their eyes to avoid eye contact with a kiosk worker in a public place, is that everyone feels uncomfortable when they are pressured.

Selling is associated with commitment, flattery, perseverance.

The same thing happens in digital marketing. Advertisements climb into the eyes: “stop! don't leave!" Banners and pop-up windows are full of annoying or even desperate calls. But how to avoid such radical methods? Just stop issuing the standard thoughtless monologue and build a dialogue instead.

Grab the client's attention by engaging naturally in the process, without resorting to persuasion and pressure that doesn't always work out well. Give back to the customer the opportunity to make a purchase decision without unnecessary pressure, simply by providing all the necessary information and quality service, and the audience will reward you for being respectful.

5. Sales don't end after the sale

If you managed to convince a person to pay the bill, then you managed to win his trust and attract him to work with you.

The main reason the client stayed might be because you built a trusting relationship with them during the initial negotiation. But in no case do not ruin your reputation by forgetting about this client immediately after you receive a commission on the sale.

Your relationships are of great importance in the future. Sometimes even a perfectly completed team effort can be overshadowed by a bad salesperson experience. If your goal is to turn customers into fans of the brand, then it will take everything
necessary to ensure that they are convinced that you love and respect them.

Conclusion

Relationships with regular customers are like old friendships. Listen, be kind, learn more about people's lives, don't lie or bother.

If you decide to engage in sales, then this job will teach you to understand people and find a common language with everyone.

High conversions for you!

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