So recently I just finished reading “The 25 Sales Habits Of Highly Successful Salespeople” by Stephan Schiffman. It’s a pretty short read and if you’re serious about sales, it’s definitely worth picking up. In this post, I want to share 4 take-aways I got from the book. The cool thing is regardless of what kind of sales you might be in, I promise you’ll get value from this. And if you apply them I know you’ll get some results.

#1. Build rapport before you talk about anything else. – People buy from people they like and trust. If it seems that all you’re interested in is the close, you’re not going to get many. And even if you do manage to get a sale, it’s highly probable that your customer will cancel. If you want to close and retain more sales, take some time in the beginning to talk about other things that might interest your customer. If you see a ton of family pictures, then ask questions about their kids. If you see sports memorabilia, talk about that. Ask questions, let them talk and listen. Don’t be fake though, be genuinely interested in what they have to say. If you could establish rapport early, you’ll stack all the chips in your favor.

#2. Engage decision makers. – Always make sure that all the decision makers are there when you do your presentation. Not having all of them there makes it easy to get brushed off. Also, there’s nothing worse than one of the decision makers getting second-hand information. Typically what will happen is they’ll get second-hand information, then when you try to sit down with them they already have a preconceived notion of your product. Don’t make the rookie mistake of trying to close a sale without having all the decision makers present.

#3. Be a consultant, not a pushy cornball. – If you want to close more sales, all you have to do is solve your customer’s problems. There’s an old saying “Everyone likes to buy, but no one wants to be sold”. If you come off as a pushy salesperson, you’ll repel almost everyone. You’re so much better off identifying what their problem is, and then offering them a solution. They won’t feel like they were hard closed and sold, and you’ll feel better knowing that you’re doing a quality sale that probably won’t cancel.

#4. Always ask for referrals. – There’s no higher quality lead than a lead that has a relationship with a satisfied customer. For example, if my brother got a cold call or a mailer about some product, chances are he wouldn’t pay too much attention. But if I called him and enthusiastically told him that I just got the very same product and that he needed to get it to, there’s more of a chance of him being interested. At the very least, he’ll probably agree to at least meet for more information. Always, always, always ask for referrals. The answer is always NO if you don’t ask. Plus, if you keep yourself in the referral market (which is a very warm market area) you’ll be able to keep and maintain a high closing ratio.

As you can see just from these 4 take-aways, there’s a lot of value in the book. It’s a quick read so even if you don’t like to read, you’ll be able to get through it. And what’s cool is the tips are generic so whether you’re in traditional sales selling real estate, or you’re in network marketing sharing your opportunity or product, the tips will work for you.

Source by Jaime Soriano