Listen!!
All of us are working diligently on getting more young people involved in our business today. And of course, many of those people are going to be involved in sales. These young people are going to need the right training to make sure that they become good, effective, and of course successful, sales people. To help you with developing that training, here are eight guaranteed great things to teach a new sales person:
Eight things, every sales person should know…and practice:
- Listen: Listen, more than you talk. Your customer does not really care about your company. She has no interest in who founded the company, or who built it. She is only interested in one single thing about your company, and that is what your company can do for her company. Nothing else matters to your customer.
- Listen: When your customer tells you about his needs. When he tells you about his company, his products, his business, and his market. This is what he cares about, and if he volunteers to tell you about these things, then, it is your job, as his sales person to sit quietly. and listen, and ask cogent questions when the right time comes.
- Listen: When your customer tells you what she expects from her vendors. Listen carefully to all of the details, because what she is really doing, is describing what it takes, to become a one of her great suppliers. Consider her words clues to a successful relationship with her company.
- Listen: When the customers tell you about problems they have had with other people’s products. This will let you know what to watch out for. Also, what is important to them and particularly, what they need from their vendors to help them create their own perfect end products.
- Listen: Very attentively, when your customer talks about her own business. About the market he is in, and what it takes to be successful in that market. The more you can listen, and hear, about what it takes for her company to be successful, in its’ marketplace the more you will learn about what you must do to help them to be successful, in their own marketplace.
- Listen: And be quiet when there is a problem with your product. Do no interrupt, do not make excuses, just be very quiet, and listen to the whole story. Absorb all the details of the problem, why it is a problem, and what kind of trouble this problem has caused their company. Gather all the information you can, so that you will be able to pass on very accurate information to you own company. This way you can make sure that this problem will never be repeated. Then, when you have all the facts right, you can go back to your customer and explain to them what happened, and why it will never happen again.
- Listen: When your customer is telling you about their future plans. This is especially important when they start talking about trends, new markets, and especially, new products. This customer is laying out the path for how you are going to service him, not only today, but in the future. This could be the most valuable information this customer ever tells you.
- Listen: Listen when the customer starts telling you about the state of her business. Whether the business is doing well, or not so well. It is important, that you are well aware of everything going on with your customer. The larger the customer, the more important, this information will be. Just think if one of your large customers tells you that they are going to be moving their business to a contract manufacturer, the sooner you know that, the better. If, you can get him to tell you which CEM they are using even better. Now, is a great time to ask for a recommendation from him, to the chosen CEM, to let you have a crack at the business.
9. And one more, in the spirit of under-promising, and over-delivering, here is the ninth tip. Listen: When the customers give you feedback on how you, and your company are doing. Once again, don’t interrupt, don’t argue, don’t even agree too emphatically. Whether, the news is good, or not so good, listen to what the customer has to say, and really make sure you actually hear what she is saying.
And there you have it, nine great tips that every new sales person (or all sales people for that matter) should learn, and apply, at all times. To review, these tips are: Listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, and one more time listen, it’s only common sense
